Office of Steam Forum for Model & Toy Steam Gas & Hot Air Engines

The Big Stuff => Full Sized Gas & Oil Engines & Tractors => Topic started by: Nick on September 14, 2019, 05:10:23 pm

Title: Re: F-12 Followed Me Home Today...
Post by: Nick on September 18, 2019, 08:58:35 am
I prefer to blow snow, we get too much that pushing it just makes a mess. Grandpa had a blower on his H Farmall, but sold it at auction in ‘05. He currently uses the bucket on the front of his Oliver 770, it’s a larger bucket (twice the size) that he drives his bucket into. There is no cab, just a heat houser that goes up to the height of the steering wheel, open top. The heat off the engine keeps you warm. Some winters tire chains are needed, but very rarely... if you start to get stuck you can usually back out.
Title: Re: F-12 Followed Me Home Today...
Post by: txlabman on September 18, 2019, 05:09:31 am
A great thread Nick and some very useful tips. Thanks!

Have you ever hooked up a snow plow to one and attempted to push snow?
Title: Re: F-12 Followed Me Home Today...
Post by: Nick on September 17, 2019, 08:53:54 am
One of the many reasons why my dad liked his John Deere B was the lack of battery. He also liked the flywheel start with pet cocks. Very easy on back and can use two hands.

How is are the Farmalls to start? Are there pet-cocks? The McCormick Deering 10-20 required a lot of heft to start which admittedly is short supply from office workers.

As for bands, I didn't realize you'd make them removable. I thought I saw folks weld them right to the lugs.

Great-grandpa had 5 tractors that went on his auction in '05, unfortunately I was in 10th grade and broke. He had an M Farmall that you could idle down and practically count the rpm's by the fan blade. There was also a B John Deere that I fell in love with and drove around all summer and like you said, very easy to start with the petcocks.

The Farmalls are easy if the timing is set right, because you only need to crank them about 1/4 to 1/3 of a turn before they fire up. If not set right, the F-20 is a little hard to crank over. The F-12 has a very small engine, and mine as a Heisler overdrive. There is a lever on the clutch pedal to keep it pushed down for starting which makes it even easier.

Yes, the bands will just have a piece of angle welded on the inside of the band on the two ends that will fit in the space between the lugs and will simply bolt together.
Title: Re: F-12 Followed Me Home Today...
Post by: SeeSteam on September 17, 2019, 08:30:06 am
One of the many reasons why my dad liked his John Deere B was the lack of battery. He also liked the flywheel start with pet cocks. Very easy on back and can use two hands.

How is are the Farmalls to start? Are there pet-cocks? The McCormick Deering 10-20 required a lot of heft to start which admittedly is short supply from office workers.

As for bands, I didn't realize you'd make them removable. I thought I saw folks weld them right to the lugs.
Title: Re: F-12 Followed Me Home Today...
Post by: Nick on September 16, 2019, 09:58:00 pm
Why not remove the steel lugs and bolt on rubber strips?

Because I like lugs and still want to use them most of the time without spending half the day bolting them back on  ;)  I don't need traction when I am using the bands.

Road bands are an original option and much quicker to put on and take off and I like the look of them far better than rubber.

Diameter also doesn't change as much as you'd think as the lugs rarely go too far into the ground.

I took the lugs off my B Allis since I use it so much in my yard and used skid loader track for tread so I didn't have to bolt on rubber lugs. The rubber is fairly thick, but the tractor seems to sit low in the rear now.

Road bands also give a smoother ride on pavement than rubber lugs or rubber tread wrapped around a wheel. Not something I really care about though as I drive them with lugs most often.
Title: Re: F-12 Followed Me Home Today...
Post by: SeeSteam on September 16, 2019, 09:31:14 pm
Why not remove the steel lugs and bolt on rubber strips?
The trouble with banding is that the diameter of your wheel is too big and you don't get traction.

I've cut baler belt and was easy to cut. If me, I'd have 2 layers, a base layer and strips for traction.

One outfit a few years ago sold rubber lugs.

This article has great suggestions:
https://www.redpowermagazine.com/forums/topic/89495-steel-wheel-rubber-tread/
Title: Re: F-12 Followed Me Home Today...
Post by: Nick on September 16, 2019, 04:48:36 am
Wow Nick!

I might have to get one of these. I had no idea they were so affordable.

I love the saw. And I wonder how it would do cutting on Mesquite. 🤠

The F-14 (red with saw) was even cheaper at $550. I almost had it for $250, but the auctioneer dragged the bidding out so long that someone else finally jumped in. There was about 30 cords of oak in the barn that had been cut with the saw in the past 2 years.

I prefer pre 1940 tractors so I don't have to keep up with batteries, and am trying to convert most of them over to steel wheels as tire prices are ridiculous... I have 5 tractors at home and not one of them needs a battery.

Running F-12's on rubber can easily be bought for $300-500 around here, but they are a fairly small tractor. You can find a running H Farmall (with starter) for about $500... I have my great-grandpa's 1940 H that he bought and farmed with in the early 50's. A little bigger for plowing days and faster for parades (16.4 mph), etc. You can come get my F-14 after I steal the saw off it and drive that back to Texas at a whopping 4 miles per hour  ;) :D :D  My F-20's max speed is 3.8 mph. What you really need is an 8N or 9N Ford, nice and low to the ground and very comfortable to drive, but they'll bring $1500-2000 right now.

Common tractor prices are down right now, and cheaper than a lot of our toy steam engines. The prices seem to go up and down based on what people remember "grandpa" having or what they grew up with.
Title: Re: F-12 Followed Me Home Today...
Post by: txlabman on September 15, 2019, 11:55:13 am
Wow Nick!

I might have to get one of these. I had no idea they were so affordable.

I love the saw. And I wonder how it would do cutting on Mesquite. 🤠

Title: Re: F-12 Followed Me Home Today...
Post by: Hero on September 15, 2019, 11:25:35 am
Ah. You're lucky to be able to roll your own, so to speak.
Title: Re: F-12 Followed Me Home Today...
Post by: Nick on September 15, 2019, 09:49:41 am
Nice one, Nick. Is that an E4A magneto I see on it?

Steel wheels look like the ones on my McCormick Deering 10-20. If you do make road bands for it, please tell me how you went about it, as I need some myself.

F4 Mag. The tractor was listed as running, but obviously hadn't ran in the last 15-20 years. I worked on it a little last night, cleaned all the kerosene out of the tank and got gas flowing all the way down to the fuel pump, everything was plugged. It does not yet have spark, but the inside of the mag was all wet from sitting out the past week awaiting the auction. Previously it had been in a dry shed.

Dad has a roller, so simply going to roll bands and weld angle on the ends that will fit between the lugs and bolt together.
Title: Re: F-12 Followed Me Home Today...
Post by: Nick on September 15, 2019, 09:45:02 am
Nick,
Those steel wheels are quite valuable here in Amish country!
Things still follow me home from shows and auctions, but i quit bringing my trailer or the Box truck!
crazydoug

The Amish were there and bidding on a lot of old equipment on steel. They bought one of the 3 threshers/seperators, my friend ended up with a wooden one in decent shape for $300. They were also very interested in the lever operated drag saw that I bought.

I gave $650 for the F-12, and I know I would have to pay more than that for just the wheels. Front steel alone can bring $500-600. The block had been welded up (from not draining the water), but looks to be a very old repair and doesn't show any signs of leaking after the repair.  A running F-12 in this area on rubber is very common and only worth $400-600 so if I end up having to buy a parts F-12 I won't be out much.

I went to the auction in my car, so I was sure to win one of the tractors  :D
Title: Re: F-12 Followed Me Home Today...
Post by: Nick on September 15, 2019, 09:39:15 am
A good looking Farmall for sure Nick. You're lucky to have so many great examples close to you.......must have been a good dealer or two in the area.

The owner who had the sale is 92 and just moved into the nursing home. He was a dealer and his yard was about the size of a small town with a road running through it. Was an all day auction with 2 rings. There were four F-20's, a Regular, three F-12's, two F-14's, several McCormick Deering 10-20's, 15-30's, 22-36's, and probably 30-40 other tractors.
Title: Re: F-12 Followed Me Home Today...
Post by: Hero on September 15, 2019, 08:32:06 am
This hopped on the trailer and made the trip home from the auction... oops...  :D

(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48733768741_e34db988f0_b.jpg)

Nice one, Nick. Is that an E4A magneto I see on it?

Steel wheels look like the ones on my McCormick Deering 10-20. If you do make road bands for it, please tell me how you went about it, as I need some myself.
Title: Re: F-12 Followed Me Home Today...
Post by: crazydoug on September 15, 2019, 07:13:28 am
Nick,
Those steel wheels are quite valuable here in Amish country!
Things still follow me home from shows and auctions, but i quit bringing my trailer or the Box truck!
crazydoug
Title: Re: F-12 Followed Me Home Today...
Post by: jkbixby on September 15, 2019, 05:03:38 am
A good looking Farmall for sure Nick. You're lucky to have so many great examples close to you.......must have been a good dealer or two in the area.
Title: Re: F-12 Followed Me Home Today...
Post by: Nick on September 15, 2019, 12:22:04 am
How many Farmalls do you have?

Short answer, not enough  ;)

Currently - F-12 (full steel), F-14 (rubber), F-20 (rubber), H (rear steel), and a 560

Half owner (grandpa says they're mine someday as I keep them running good for him  :D ) - two H's and a Super M

Would like to find a McCormick Deering 10-20 on steel and I know of an F-30 that an 85+ year old friend's dad bought new... sits in the shed not running, but he won't sell it to me yet...
Title: Re: F-12 Followed Me Home Today...
Post by: Dr.Rev.DelmarMacReady on September 14, 2019, 11:11:37 pm
Good looking tractor, Nick. Sounds like a fun day at the auction.
Title: Re: F-12 Followed Me Home Today...
Post by: SeeSteam on September 14, 2019, 09:57:28 pm
How many Farmalls do you have?

My dad used a buzzsaw but without guards on a JD-B. The closest we were allowed to get to it while buzzing was more than 20 feet away.

When little, we only used fuel oil to keep the house above freezing. All degrees above that were from wood. Every fall, we would take the JD B into the woods and cut up dead elm trees. By dad would use a chain saw to cut the tree and then he'd run the longer branches thru the buzz saw. After the wood was cut and littered on the ground, us kids would go around and toss wood chunks into the wagon. Preference was log diameters that didn't require splitting since elm split poorly not to mention too much work since we didn't have a hydraulic log splitter - only an axe and wedges. 
Title: Re: F-12 Followed Me Home Today...
Post by: Nick on September 14, 2019, 08:01:23 pm
Iron tires .... nice, but I don't think that one is capable of actually "hopping" on your trailer all by itself. I suspect that you gave it a bit of incentive
and possibly even hopped it on there yourself!   ;c)

When new rubber is more than the value of the tractor, it's the way to go  ;)

Now to make some road bands...
Title: Re: F-12 Followed Me Home Today...
Post by: Nick on September 14, 2019, 08:00:12 pm
Not staged, the blade would just follow his crack and do no damage  ;) :D
Title: Re: F-12 Followed Me Home Today...
Post by: Stoker on September 14, 2019, 07:58:41 pm
Iron tires .... nice, but I don't think that one is capable of actually "hopping" on your trailer all by itself. I suspect that you gave it a bit of incentive
and possibly even hopped it on there yourself!   ;c)
Title: Re: F-12 Followed Me Home Today...
Post by: Jim on September 14, 2019, 06:18:59 pm
Yeah I don't think there's any doubt it was staged Dennis :)
Title: Re: F-12 Followed Me Home Today...
Post by: Scorpion2nz on September 14, 2019, 06:16:55 pm
That saw looks mighty sketchy  :o
Nothing wrong with saws like that
They are as safer than any chain saw unless you are a idiot


(https://i.ytimg.com/vi/uHfJMwy6jcY/maxresdefault.jpg)

definitely a staged photo as you can see the blade teeth so not rotating
Title: Re: F-12 Followed Me Home Today...
Post by: Jim on September 14, 2019, 05:52:54 pm
This Regular with one-row corn picker and hopper is what I went to the auction for, but unfortunately for me it sold for $3200. Probably a good thing as it wouldn't fit through any door I have  :D

(Attachment Link)

That looks interesting Nick.
Title: Re: F-12 Followed Me Home Today...
Post by: Jim on September 14, 2019, 05:52:11 pm
That saw looks mighty sketchy  :o
Nothing wrong with saws like that
They are as safer than any chain saw unless you are a idiot


(https://i.ytimg.com/vi/uHfJMwy6jcY/maxresdefault.jpg)
Title: Re: F-12 Followed Me Home Today...
Post by: Nick on September 14, 2019, 05:48:23 pm
This Regular with one-row corn picker and hopper is what I went to the auction for, but unfortunately for me it sold for $3200. Probably a good thing as it wouldn't fit through any door I have  :D

[attachimg=1]
Title: Re: F-12 Followed Me Home Today...
Post by: Nick on September 14, 2019, 05:42:52 pm
That saw looks mighty sketchy  :o
Nothing wrong with saws like that
They are as safer than any chain saw unless you are a idiot

They say a chainsaw is the most dangerous tool sold in the hardware stores. I would say it's usually operator error...
Title: Re: F-12 Followed Me Home Today...
Post by: Nick on September 14, 2019, 05:41:42 pm
That saw looks mighty sketchy  :o

Has a sliding table that you can kind of see in the picture below. I've got one that flips up on my H Farmall

There was a little girl out near my grandparents that was killed 30-40 years ago by one, helping her dad cut firewood. He looked away and she got too close, it sucked her scarf in and pulled her head in. I think everyone in the county has heard the story because I heard about two dozen different people at the auction say that's the kind of saw that got Leland's daughter.

It's not something that I use too often, just think it looks neat mounted on the tractor. My chainsaws are much more convenient.

(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48733549813_028b7d0a76_b.jpg)

I also came home with a hand-operated drag saw, something I have never seen before...

Similar to this

(https://www.officeofsteamforum.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.americanartifacts.com%2Fsmma%2Fdragsaw%2Fds2.gif&hash=7cf0a1f0ac562cde336a65d5495b5d5bb50567a5)

Identical to the one in this video

https://youtu.be/slzgIv5tWns
Title: Re: F-12 Followed Me Home Today...
Post by: Scorpion2nz on September 14, 2019, 05:36:35 pm
That saw looks mighty sketchy  :o
Nothing wrong with saws like that
They are as safer than any chain saw unless you are a idiot
Title: Re: F-12 Followed Me Home Today...
Post by: Jim on September 14, 2019, 05:32:58 pm
That saw looks mighty sketchy  :o
Title: Re: F-12 Followed Me Home Today...
Post by: Nick on September 14, 2019, 05:23:27 pm
Gee that looks ancient Nick, whats its circa?

1937

Here's a better picture of the '38 F-14 I picked up last month. Probably going to take the saw off and put it on the F-12 and sell the F-14 on

(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48733488118_f78c0f01fe_b.jpg)

And my '36 F-20

(https://live.staticflickr.com/880/40996961980_783f6136d5_b.jpg)
Title: Re: F-12 Followed Me Home Today...
Post by: Jim on September 14, 2019, 05:16:29 pm
Gee that looks ancient Nick, whats its circa?
Title: F-12 Followed Me Home Today...
Post by: Nick on September 14, 2019, 05:10:23 pm
This hopped on the trailer and made the trip home from the auction... oops...  :D

(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48733768741_e34db988f0_b.jpg)