1947 Farmall M After First Wash

I got onto the new Farmall M on New Year's Day (it was very hot here) and started to remove the grime. Some pictures attached. The grease and dirt which has adhered to the engine is remarkably difficult to remove, particularly as I am trying not to destroy what remains of the paint and decals on the tractor.
Pictures show:
1. Water Pump detail
2. M Decal
3. Front of Tractor
4. New Oil Pressure Gauge fitted
5. Does it need a new tyre? Surely this 6.50-16 road tyre has another twenty yards in it!
6. Ammeter & Headlamp Switch (minus centre bolt)
7. Decal on rear seat (Geo scratched in, being written there by the original owner's son when he was a boy fifty years ago!)
8. Power Take Off - Be Careful Decal
9. View of off-side from front (Belarus 920 tractor and Apollo bus in background)
SadFarmall

Sad, she is shaping up nicely. Might be a great candidate for "keeping in her work clothes"............

I like the way those "RARE" rear wheels/tires looks on it!

Now,go get some new front tires and put on it! You are scaring me !!!!!

(quoted from post at 04:48:13 01/04/12) I like the way those "RARE" rear wheels/tires looks on it!

Now,go get some new front tires and put on it! You are scaring me !!!!!

Click to expand...

"Rare" rear wheels/tires?

Yes, the rear tires are an odd size:

13.50x32

Can you post more pictures of the amp meter box? I
find the mounting interesting. The US models bolted
to the side of the steering post. It's cleaning up
nicely. Yes, that tyre is about to have puppies!

The switch box looks like one of a W-4 or W-6 which attached to the steering column via a U-bolt.

Thanks for replies! I have already purchased a new set of 6.00-16 front tyres and tubes, but I have to wait for a place in Melbourne to re-open so that I can have the rims re-rolled. The instrument box is mounted very strangely; not standard for here or anywhere else so far as I know. The whole electrical system is odd for Australia. It has Delco-Remy starter, generator and regulator and headlamp switch and Hobbs hour meter, but Lucas headlamps mounted on the radiator cowling. I think the tractor is like this because it was imported fairly soon after the Second World War when tractors and parts were very difficult to get here, especially in an out of the way place like Bungowannah, New South Wales. The IH dealer in Albury would have fitted whatever parts he could get. Most likely he could not get a Farmall H/M mounting bracket, or the bolt on the side of the panel broke, so an alteration was made. The location is absolutely hopeless because the switch is difficult to reach when driving and the ammeter is difficult to read. Moreover, this being a very dusty country, the instrument boxes always fill with dirt, so it will have to be modified to keep its interior clean.
SadFarmall

that is a sweet looking M you have got there SAD, is it a new purchase,
PS. i have lost your ph number.....

Hello melonreo, my e-mail is open, if you send me a message and/or phone I can contact you.
Cheers,
SadFarmall

Here are some more photographs of the instrument box… you can see the bolt hole in the near side of the box to take the bolt for affixing the instrument box and panel to the steering upright.
SadFarmall

The cast bracket on the back of the box is not the same as the ones on a W-4 or W-4, looks as if someone put a bracket together. Very few tractors coming to New Zealand from 1939 to 1945 had lights or starters (or belt-Pulleys). Wartime restrictions. Many that came in were also on steel wheels.

Very true. I think the dealer in Albury made up the bracket to fit from whatever he could find. The chap I bought it from said his father had wanted to buy a decent tractor just after the war. He was going to buy a John Deere (very pleased he did not, otherwise no Farmall M for me!), but said he would take whatever arrived first, providing it was not Massey Harris. The Farmall arrived before a John Deere and so that was what he bought. I checked on the serial number FBK 145920 and engine number FBKM 143020, which makes the tractor built November 1947 by my calculations.
SadFarmall