A friend is restoring a BN and wants to put a coolant temperature guage on it. Where were they mounted....if ever used at all? I've looked at a couple of BN's and they didn't have a terperature guage, I guess with the thermo-siphon system they didn't think one would be necessary. Any help appreciated...

They were never made with temp gauges. Just make sure the cooling system is clean and thats all you need.

Andrew

On the SuperC, which did have a temp gauge on a pressurized sytem, the sensor was mounted in the radiator inlet elbow between the head and the radiator hose on the hot side of the thermostat. There was a boss cast into the elbow that was tapped out to thread in the sensor.

A SuperC elbow will NOT fit in a BN. The geometry is all different due to the taller radiator on the SuperC. And I don't think there is sufficient metal in the one on the BN to tap out enough thread for the compression fitting.

If your buddy is intent on having one (and now I'm only guessing) it might be that the elbow from a SuperA with a pressurized system has provision for a temp sensor, but that's only a guess by way of a suggestion of an alternative he might look into. IF there were such a beast that would work, he'd still need to find one.

My thought is that while he's looking for one (again assuming that there is such a thing) that he'll run the tractor as he intends to in the meantime and figure out that he really doesn't need it. Is he planning on working this tractor long and REALLY hard?

Those old thermosiphons are pretty efficient and not easy to overheat. I've run them with the grill off and even well warmed up after runnin' under load a while you can hold your hand quite comfortably to the bottom of the radiator when the top is too hot to touch. The two factors that make that happen are the number and capacity of the tubes in the radiator (he DOES want to make sure they're clean, as well as the rest of the system) and the fan capacity (from a distance you'll hear the fan of a working 113/123 above any noise from a muffled exhaust).

The only ones that orginally had a temperature gage were the ones set up for distillate (kerosine) fuel. The gage was so you knew when the engine was hot enough to run on the distillate. The temperature was controlled with radiator shutters to restrict air flow through the radiator. The gage on those that had one was in the lower elbow. The gage won't tell you much on a thermosyphon system that has no shutters. If the system is clean and operating correctly, the lower elbow will always be cool. If it gets hot at all, there is a restriction in the system and maintenance is needed. I'd forget the gage instead have the radiator cleaned and flush out the water passages in the block.

A heat indicator was available as a separate attachment (although not initially). I was also included with the radiator shutter attachment. Both were part of the distillate and kerosene attachment.

The head of the gage mounted above the governor. The sensor was in the inlet (LOWER) elbow. The standard elbow was not drilled for the sensor.

What makes you say that as lots came with guages it was a dealer option when ordered. The engine didnt have to be a dual fuel model either same would apply to an A. I have seen the guages on both models.

A question, Gene. I've never seen one of those gauges and after what Haas and Jim Becker I had to go out and get into the parts book. Found it on the page with the shutters, probably the last place I'd have looked if the other guys hadn't tipped me off).

The gauge they show looks like it's connected to the motor's inlet elbow by a tube, or at least something rigid. instead of a wire. Is that the case, or is it just the illustration throwin' me off?

The tgemperature guage was standard on distillate and kerosene burning tractors, togewther wioth the radiator shutter. It was an option, with appropriate lower radiator elbow, for the gasoline tractors if the farmner wanted to pay for it. My 1948 Super A has a armoured wire from the sensor in the lower elbow to the gauge which mounts above the governor.

Who would know when a tractor was ordered in those days. I have seen tractors that were very original an had the temp guages both with the starting tanks for dual fuel and plain gas models. The sender was located in the lower outlet. I have had some tractors that had the port with a plug in the senders place but never had a guage on it.When you restore them and sandblast the parts you can tell if the parts were on the tractor when built or added later. They had so many oarts when building one that lots of things were added or left out. Many sent here in IOWA had the glass jar pre-cleaner. Still one will show up with original paint thats been well taken care of over the yrs and its not hard to see what was original. I have a 221 cult off a B that apparently was never taken off as paint was still on the tractor and all the square head bolts were there verry verry still much original. I know a restored B with heat guage and shutters but never had the starting tank on as there was paint in the threads and no three way sediment bulb on the gas tank no hole in the hood ect.I just in the last month tore down an engine with original bearings and the crank was still within spects so i guess the bottom line is you just never know what you can find. You can tell when the tabs on the locking bolts for the main bearings have never been removed.