So, as some may recall, there was this 1947 John Deere B that had an ownership dispute. The guy I bought it from had it in his barn for years, but the woman across the street claims she never gave up ownership. He claims she gave it and other tractors to his mom.Anyway, after much wrangling, I got my money back for the tractor and a few hundred more, and she is going to haul the tractor back. I paid $1100 for this B, and I rebuilt the carb and got it to run. But it needs a bunch of work still- notably gas tank repair, needs a front tire, rear tires are very bad, rims are rusuted out, wiring is essentially not there, guages are bad, needs a seat, every seal leaks badly, etc. I decided that it was not worth the hassle, expense, and bad blood of trying to take her to court to keep the tractor (I have a cancelled check). So, her farm hand calls me up and says that If I give her $2400 I can keep the tractor (they supposedly checked prices on ebay). I said I would *think* about it (mostly to give me more time). $2400 is what a complete, usable, running B would go for, and this is far from that. I poked around on ebay to see prices, and I happened to spot a 1940 hand start styled B that was actually not that far from me. In fact, it was only about 15 miles from my mother-in-law's house in Westminster MD, which is where we were going on Sunday anyway. So I was able to inspect the tractor. Anyway, I got it (for $1073 delivered)! Sn 95130. So I told the woman she can come and get her precious tractor. I think she has no idea how much work is needed to make it usable. I like my 1940 B better anyway. The engine was stuck, but after one evening's work, I unstuck it. Diesel fuel in the plug holes and a few hours of soak, and a long lever on the flywheel did the trick. It is still very hard to turn over, but at least it is not frozen up any more. I plan to pull the head to see what is going on in there, and see how the cylinders look. From my peeking in the plug hole, the cylinder walls look basicaly ok. I prefer the metal seat and the cool "John Deere" in the casting of the rear end. I also like that it is a hand start and magneto- no battery to worry about. Assuming I keep it tuned up, and work out a place to park it under cover on a hill, it will be ok! Another nice thing is that this one has powr-trol (decal and all), whereas the other one just had powr-lift. No apparent leak around the PTO like on the other one. So, I am swapping some sheet metal with the one that is leaving and I think I will end up with a nice tractor, for not much money.
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