Well I bought a '41 B yesterday and brought it home. I've had an H for awhile and know those pretty well, but I don't know much about the A/B's. This one has a few curious things, I'm just wondering if its supposed to be this way or not. Judging by the serial number and casting codes, its a early 1941 tractor.

It has a electric starter and battery.... but no generator, ammeter, lights, or lightswitch box. The seller said before he had to replace the fan, it didn't even have the 2nd belt pulley for the generator. My thinking is this tractor might have originally been a crank start only tractor and someone added the starter and batt... or did they build some like this?

Also it has no temperature gauge. Is that normal or should it have one... if so, where does it mount and where does the sender go into the engine? The oil PSI gauge is mounted down by the oil filter, I assume thats correct, and thats the only gauge it has.

It currently has just plain ol "B" decals on it... but I've seen them with "B Cultivision" decals. How do I know which is correct for this tractor?

It's major oil leak is coming from the hole where the left brake linkage goes into the left axle housing. Once you get it warmed up gear lube nearly streams out of that hole. I've got repro manuals ordered for it, but I'm just wondering how big of a job that will be to fix?



Thanks!
Paul

I had to go out and look at my BA to make 100% sure. Ya I have a BA made from part of a B and part of an A. Any how sounds like you have one that a starter was added to it later in life since it should have a double pulley on the fan shaft if it at one time had a generator on it. I have had a few Bs over the years and still have 2 that are parts machines if you find you need some parts

Yes, the oil pressure gauge is in the correct spot. You are also correct in assuming that those tractors don't have a water temp gauge. They should operate at somewhere around 175-200 degrees, however. There is also no water pump on your tractor (I actually don't think there are water pumps on any offset Farmalls). Coolant is circulated by "thermosyphon". It operates on the principle of "heat rises and cold sinks", and is pretty efficient, with the main benefit being that there is one less item to break.

SF

Remember you have bought a tractor thats over 60 yrs old and what has been changed since new sounds like a bunch. You can update and have generator,lites and the rest as parts are around. There is a seal where it leaks and that lube is coming from the pan on the bottom of the final drive.The large gear pick up lube and carries it to the top where there is a bearing for the differental shaft. To change you need to remove the differential housing next to the tranny. Then you can remove the brake drum and then the housing then you can remove the shaft out thru the final drive and then get to the seal. Ive been around those since1947 and have bought and sold repaired,painted new engines and whatever and will be glad to answer and help in any way i also have parts. enjoy great little tractors. Located in eastern Iowa near Iowa City

yeah I realize after 70 years there's no telling what all has been changed or modified... just trying to get an idea of what might have been correct.

If this tractor was originally a crank only tractor, I might take the starter and battery off and keep it that way, otherwise I have quite a few parts to track down. Were they still offering these without electrical systems in 41? And is there some kind of plate that would go in place of the starter if I decide to remove it?

Thanks for all the replies, learning a lot here!

Check the level of the gear oil on the transmission. There is a pipe plug behind the brake linkage on the left side. That is the fill level. If oil comes out there pretty good, plug it back up and crack the bottom drain plug just enough to let it drip. If the B was outside much it might have a gallon of water in the bottom. That would make that seal leak pretty good.
Charlie

(quoted from post at 13:22:23 07/20/11) yeah I realize after 70 years there's no telling what all has been changed or modified... just trying to get an idea of what might have been correct.

If this tractor was originally a crank only tractor, I might take the starter and battery off and keep it that way, otherwise I have quite a few parts to track down. Were they still offering these without electrical systems in 41? And is there some kind of plate that would go in place of the starter if I decide to remove it?

Thanks for all the replies, learning a lot here!

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Electric starter, generator, and lights were an OPTION through the entire manufacturing run of the letter series tractors. That is why ALL of them have the hand crank stub sticking out in front.

Cowboy,how old are you,the older I get the more I like starters,This tractor will resale better with electrical parts,and they are pretty cheap

jimmy

THe original 1939 and 1940 tractors had no provision for a starter. In later tractors it was always and option. There is no water pump, thermo-syphon cooling was used. If the original tractor was for kerosene or distillate fuel there would be a starter tank for gasoline (extra hole in the hood opposite the exhaust pipe hole) and the tractor would have radiator shutters and there would also be a temperature gauge. If it was a gasoline tractor then the temperature gauge and shutters were optional and most would not get them. The temperature sender was fitted to the top if the water inlet from the bottom of the radiator to the bottom of the block and the gauge was positioned above the governor unit. The oil pressure gauge is located at the bottom of the oil filter. The oil coming from the brake rod housing sound like the seal between the transmission and the brake housing is leaking and this would require removing the reduction gear housing and axle from that side of the tractor. Heavy but can be done.

(quoted from post at 14:29:22 07/20/11)

(quoted from post at 13:22:23 07/20/11) yeah I realize after 70 years there's no telling what all has been changed or modified... just trying to get an idea of what might have been correct.

If this tractor was originally a crank only tractor, I might take the starter and battery off and keep it that way, otherwise I have quite a few parts to track down. Were they still offering these without electrical systems in 41? And is there some kind of plate that would go in place of the starter if I decide to remove it?

Thanks for all the replies, learning a lot here!

Click to expand...

Electric starter, generator, and lights were an OPTION through the entire manufacturing run of the letter series tractors. That is why ALL of them have the hand crank stub sticking out in front.

Click to expand...

Yes but the question is were those things options individually? Until now I've never seen a tractor with a starter and battery and no charging system. They usually either have the whole system or not.

(quoted from post at 14:58:19 07/20/11) Cowboy,how old are you,the older I get the more I like starters,This tractor will resale better with electrical parts,and they are pretty cheap

jimmy

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I'm 32. I've cranked my H a few times, its not bad... I can only imagine a B would be even easier. Crank start tractors are kinda like kick start motorcycles... if everything is tuned properly they practically start themselves.

(quoted from post at 15:11:28 07/20/11) THe original 1939 and 1940 tractors had no provision for a starter. In later tractors it was always and option. There is no water pump, thermo-syphon cooling was used. If the original tractor was for kerosene or distillate fuel there would be a starter tank for gasoline (extra hole in the hood opposite the exhaust pipe hole) and the tractor would have radiator shutters and there would also be a temperature gauge. If it was a gasoline tractor then the temperature gauge and shutters were optional and most would not get them. The temperature sender was fitted to the top if the water inlet from the bottom of the radiator to the bottom of the block and the gauge was positioned above the governor unit. The oil pressure gauge is located at the bottom of the oil filter. The oil coming from the brake rod housing sound like the seal between the transmission and the brake housing is leaking and this would require removing the reduction gear housing and axle from that side of the tractor. Heavy but can be done.

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Thanks, that clears up a lot. On the 41 and newer tractors without starters, was there a blockoff plate or did they just leave the hole open?

Best I can tell this is a gasoline only tractor. No extra tank, no shutters, no extra hole in the hood, no temp gauge.

Earlier ones didnt have the hole later the hole was blocked off with a plate. There was a field conversion kit available and when the flywheel had a ring gear and also before that it didnt have an place for the starter gear. Lots of production changes after production started.

The water pump became standard on Super A1, built in 1954, was on the 100,130,140 until the end of production. It was an option on the A and Super A.

You're right. In any case, the B does NOT have a pump.

SF

yeah I'd read about the thermo-syphon cooling system before buying it, it was the lack of temperature gauge that surprised me. I think I might add one just for peace of mind.


Anybody know where I can get a original starter block off plate? Didn't see any reproductions in the YT store or steiner catalog.

if there is no charging system on it then i bet it has a magneto...which will only use power to crank over and wont drain the battery... Sounds like it was originally a crank start and somebody just threw a battery and starter on it

Yes but the question is were those things options individually? Until now I've never seen a tractor with a starter and battery and no charging system. They usually either have the whole system or not.

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Starter and lights were each available separately. If it had either one, it would have a generator (even if it didn't have a battery).

Anybody know what determines if a tractor has plain ol B decals or B Cultivision decals? Thats about the only question someone hasn't weighed in on.

This one currently has B decals, but its been painted and they've been replaced so I'm wondering what it would have had originally.

(quoted from post at 12:07:57 07/21/11) Anybody know what determines if a tractor has plain ol B decals or B Cultivision decals?

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The plain B decal was replaced by the Cultivision B decal during production. I don't have an exact date, but it was pretty early, before 1941. The correct one for your tractor is Cultivision B.

(quoted from post at 09:57:48 07/21/11)

(quoted from post at 12:07:57 07/21/11) Anybody know what determines if a tractor has plain ol B decals or B Cultivision decals?

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The plain B decal was replaced by the Cultivision B decal during production. I don't have an exact date, but it was pretty early, before 1941. The correct one for your tractor is Cultivision B.

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Great, thanks! If I had to pick, I prefer the cultivision decal better, good to know thats the correct one for the 41.

I have a 1945 BN It does have a water temp gauge (not hooked up but it is in place). Like they said the oil gauge is on the right side under the oil filter.It also has the brackets for the lift system. can be started with a crank, it is 6 volt and does have the double pulley. The former owner put a power steering pump on it under the seat so the plow on front does runs off the belt. Not pretty but it is great in the snow and the yard