Wartime cast steel gearshift knob

Does anyone know what size threads these have? I'm guessing 1/2" SAE. How far off I'm I? The tip on my 49M's is not threaded. I need need to cut threads to match. Either that or drill out the threads and glue it in with some JB weld, or some just plain 2 part epoxy. Would that work? Has anyone else done that? Don't have the knob yet.



TIA
Patrick
'49M

Screw a 1/2 unc bolt in and see if it fits. Also, most tap and die kits come with a thread gauge.

Take it to the hardware store and find a bolt that fits, then measure it on their chart. Ellis

You probably know this but I am going to toss it out in hopes that
no one takes a shot at me. I am kind of big on keeping things
original. The 49M would have had a rubber knob on it and new ones
are not expensive (maybe $10). What's your reason for wanting to
use the steel one? Your tractor, your choice!

Well, here most Farmall M tractors and W4 and AW6, AW7 etc all had the cast iron gear knob. I had never seen a rubber one until I bought a Farmall H. To be honest I prefer the cast iron ones as they last forever. Not hard to find here in Australia…
SadFarmall

Why? Well, at the risk of sounding contrary, and with all due respect, this might sound stupid and dumb to some people, but I'm trying to make my M into something that its not. By that I mean I want to give it an early war vintage look. I'm sure the correct police will be shaking their heads and rolling their eyes on this one. And I'm sure they will rake me through the coals for it. Well, so be it. My tractor, my choice. I'm sure it will never win at a show because of it. To me, the early M's had a more cooler and cleaner look, not all cluttered up with that array of hydraulic hoses all over the place like the late M's. That's just my opinion. I'm sure others would disagree. This isn't going to be a farm tractor, so I don't need all that stuff. I'm just trying to create a nice clean package here. And it's just not the knob. I've already replaced the front hubs, front tires, seat, steering wheel, and oil filter canister from that time frame. Out with the new, in with the old. Boy oh boy, it sure is costing me though. lol

Well, I guess I better duck for cover on this one.

Thanks guys.

Patrick
'49M

Don't duck for cover! As you say, it is your tractor. I use my tractors all the time. My grandfather was an engineer and he did what he saw fit with them. My Farmall H has Delco-Remy starter and generator, Lucas lights and switch, a New Era headlamp relay and Soviet military fuse holder and warning lamp. I like it just fine. The 1939 Farmall is something of the reverse of yours. It has remote control hydraulics fitted, with Australian 3 Point Linkage (Cylinder inside the gearbox), Armstrong-Holland grader, Super AM drawbar setup, Cherry & Sons steering damper etc etc. It isn't all original, but it works and I'm keeping it. Enjoy your tractor!
SadFarmall

Don't drill it out. If you can't get your lever
threaded I'm sure I have a threaded one kicking
around.

My Farmall 53 Sh has that shifter knob on it. My original shifter
was flat worn out and the rubber was long gone. I found the
complete shifter with steel knob and had the tip built back up to
the correct size. It now shifts perfect and the steel knob will never
rot off.

Don't feel like you have to justify anything, the correct police have
no authority.

My guess is that it is an SAE 1/2-20 NF.

I have a wooden gearshift knob that is marked to have been on a Farmall tractor. Have no idea what model. It's threaded and appears to be the same diameter and threads as yours.

Your '49 M has a gear shift lever that is tapered at the top to accomodate the rubber shift knob. Because of the taper, it will be nearly impossible to cut the necessary threads. Only solution would be to cut off a portion of the lever and then weld a short length of 1/2"x20 to it.

When I was aboy in the 60's our 1940 H had no shifter knob. My sister was twirling her baton one day and I realized the end on it might work well on the H. It was sparkly and pink but when I pounded it on it stayed quite well. It lasted until about 4 years ago when I was restoring the tractor I tried to remove it for painting purposes and it split. Dad laughed and my sister never learned where it went but she was not happy.

Don't take this the wrong way but why didn't you look for a good M of the time period you wanted and not have all the expence ,time and trouble of finding parts to switch over?

(quoted from post at 11:14:04 02/27/13) Don't take this the wrong way but why didn't you look for a good M of the time period you wanted and not have all the expence ,time and trouble of finding parts to switch over?

Click to expand...

That's a good question, and one that I sometimes ask myself. And if I had to do it all over again, that's probably what I would have done. But here's the deal. I was not in the market to buy anything yet when this deal came up. I was just sort of shopping around. The seller was very anxious to sell. It seemed like he was in a real bind, and although he was asking $1000. he offered to sell it to me for $600! So what's a feller to do? How could I not turn that down. So not knowing what I was really getting into, I went ahead and pulled the trigger. At the time I didn't know one farmall from another. All I knew was that their were big ones, and little ones, and I liked what I saw, especially the M's.

That was back in June, and life for me has now taken a different course. All I do now is live and breath farmall M's. I've learned a lot since last June, and along the way I started noticing the suttle differences. Me being a amature WWII historian was also a motivating factor.

If I knew then what I know now, I would have probably turned the deal down. I blame it all on RFD-TV's "Classic Tractor Fever". That's really what got the ball rolling.

Thanks again guys

Patrick
'49M

(quoted from post at 05:10:16 02/27/13) Don't drill it out. If you can't get your lever
threaded I'm sure I have a threaded one kicking
around.

Click to expand...

Thanks for that offer sir. My inexperiance makes me a little scared of breaking into the tranny. It's working so good right now, that I'm afraid I'll mess something up and open up a can of worms. Just don't feel that confident yet.

> Don"t feel like you have to justify anything,
> the correct police have no authority.

Right. I have a brass doorknob on the shift lever on my 544. I was able to tap the lever end adequately despite it being tapered.

Besides, if you are trying to restore something realistically to the way it probably was during the war "make do" is the way to go.