Straight Stick plus Gleaner power

 Well the wife and I made the 300 mile trip to Columbus Oh this weekend to visit our daughter and her family. This old WD was very close by in Delaware Oh, so we swung by and took a look!

Yep Just as the wife and I expected from the pictures. A crusty old WD (Straight stick) with a gray Gleaner engine stuffed into it. Words were exchanged with the owner, the tractor was "tested on" a little and the deal was done! Cheryl was so tickled!

Here she is with the tractor:

Thought I had more pictures? 

Carb side, I did not get the carb number yet. Many things to check out. Just got home.

The two other items that came with it were not very special: A homemade 3 point, not even sure how you might use it?:

and a very rusty pull type brush hog: Loaded up this morning, for the trip back to NWPA.

Many things to look at. During the test drive I was able to run through all the gears and that seemed Ok. Visual check on some of the clearance issues with this type of heart transplant checked out ok. More details later on that too. Tractor started good with no smoke. Oil looked clean but black. All the tires are good. Wished the rears were 14.9-28's but not! But they are good Firestone Field and road units in 13.6-28 size! So I have a new toy that followed us home! The Powerstroke and gooseneck never complained a bit at 70 mph. 

Haven't even unloaded it! Pooped out! Will provide some updates as we learn more about this old tractor and its power plant. 

First impression is that the tractor seems fairly tight in some areas like good snap on the hand clutch. Brakes need looked at: weak.  Will get some pictures of details.

 I have to tell a story about the hand clutch: I got on and took it for a ride. Said the hand clutch had good snap and the owner said that was the hand brake! asked him what he meant and he said he thought it was a hand brake? I said did you ever use it? He said no, it always had plenty of power to brush hog any thing he did. I told him it was a hand clutch to give it live power. He never knew! We can all learn a thing or two some days!

Regards,

 Chris

 I agree the rubber is in pretty good shape on this old WD. All the other ones I brought home had either front or rear rubber issues. I looked at the pictures of it pretty hard before I went. Those tires (front and rear) are about the same value as the entire rest of the tractor! 

I do see a seal/ oil leak in the right rear final drive shaft. Pretty common. Not easy to fix, but I have done a couple of them so I know the drill. 

One of the first things will be to review the coolant status. Couldn't see any in the rad. Got some brown liquid at the block drain. We are heading towards colder weather and I don't want any problems in that area.

 Regards,

 Chris

 Rain let up and the weather has turned much cooler. Started to check out the old WD.

Started to get some of the information and numbers.

- Serial number on the rear end: WD116571

- Number stamped on the left side of the block: 17-66326-Z

- Brass data plate on the carb: TSX-464 with 54 under it.

- trans cover casting code: 200931

- front tires: 5.50-16 60%

- Rear tires Firestone Field and Road 13.6-28 80%

- 9 spring pressure plate 

- looks like newer throw out bearing.

- battery is a 12 volt negitive ground.

- still has a generator that may not be working?

- sheetmetal:

  fenders : couple small tears no visible holes fairly straight

 Hood and grill pretty good some damage to the grill shroud, dents

- radiator may have a leak in the bottom area?

- greased and lubed all the fittings.

- Brake springs broken, need new ones. Not sure about the pads yet?

- oil in the air cleaner is black. 

- filter mesh doesnt look too bad.

- I believe it is a 45 air box.

some pictures:

Not sure on the governor? Seems a little loosey goosey??

clearance between steering and oil lines looks ok

fender: Hand clutch has like new snap. Would be nice if it was a 3 plate in there too!

batttree

tool box has weight reduction/ drain/ vent

hood:

The lower cover is missing at front of the bell housing. I can see the rear main area its dry. Also the front crank seal are seams dry too. 

So far I haven't found any major problems. Hope to get the brush hog and tractor off the trailer this afternoon.

Thanks for checking in on me! Hope things are good in Orange land!

Regards,

 Chris

 Busy getting ready for the local tractor pull this Saturday in Sagertown PA. All are welcome. Weigh in starts at 9:00 ish and pull will start around noon ish. 

The WD went on a weight reduction plan today:

Removed the Hydraulic pump system,

Did a PTO delete.

New gasket made and used a cover from the old parts WD carcass.

Rock shaft is laying in the pile.

Step is off but I may need to add something to make it a little easier to climb on and off!

 Hydraulic cylinders / hoses and brackets off.

I flushed cooling system and added 50-50 mix of universal antifreeze.

new filter screen and gasket on sediment bowl

cleaned out the brake compartments, yikes what a mess!

Put on the new springs and adjusted the stop bolts  and then set the brake adjuster nut. Have lots of brake now! Must be some shoes in there somewhere?:)

Removed the front seat pivot assembly. and replaced the two new bushings! No more seat wobble!

Removed the battree box to get the steel hyd line off. 

While in there I removed the hand clutch cover and found as expected the two plate WD clutch.

Camo-ed the gray engine block to look more like the rest of the crust. A mix of Krylon PO#1 and Rustoleum black.

Made it inside to work on some items.

Tooks the WD45 down to the show grounds and Matt was firing up the 1800's Steam engine for a test of the new system.

Also I aksed Nic if I could use his wheels for the weekend. He removed and delivered them. So I guess I better try the 14-9's!

Hope things are good in Orange land!

Regards,

 Chris

Yes this gray engine stuck out like a sore thumb. I saw this done on some new fenders on a patina tractor. It was brown and rusty looking just like the rest of the original tractor. Haven't got it out in the sun to see what it looks like?

Will work on the hydraulic pump delete plate today. Change some tries, work on some weight brackets too. 

 I think this is going quickly towards a dedicated pulling toy! May have to move this to the pulling section??

Thanks for checking in on me! Hope things are VERY good in orange land!

Regards,

 Chris 

Update on the WD. I pulled in 3500, 3750 and 4000 lb classes. Was beat by a strong WC with a combine engine in the first two. (I think I my have outpulled my neighbor with his strong WD in the first two but not sure where I placed?) But I did receive a trophy for first in the 4000 lb class! I didn't get any actual pulling pictures. I was too busy helping, hooking, running the sled, announceing, pulling or grooming the track. 

Not bad for its first pulling adventure for the WD:)

 I pulled in second gear several times and it did not seem to mid at all! 

We had a rainy cold drizzle to start the day, dried out and was sunny but cool for the rest of the day. Beauty and the Beast!

One of the many Allis' pulling today a CA. We had about 80 hooks. Not bad for a cool fall day.

Thanks for checking on me.

Regards,

 Chris

Darn leg cramps got me up!

 Picked up a Denso alternator from local tractor parts dealer. It is a one wire. Going to try that. I know it adds weight, but I like to have the battery charging. Have new key switch and volt meter to rebuild the dash of the WD.

Also stopped by Sandy Lake and returned some parts and bought a new Allis flame hat. 

I have started on a custom bracket for the alternator. Will change to a larger pulley, if I can find one in the vast warehouse! Will get some pictures tomorrow.

Hope things are good in Orange land!

 Regards,

 Chris

 I know most of this thread is directly related to antique tractor pulling. And I know a lot of us dont go there or dont start stripping and ripping tractors apart to get into this hobby! I am Ok with both original tractors and modifications to enhance them for strictly pulling although I am VERY new to the pulling thing and have only been skirting around the edges of it fo maybe the past 5 years. This is the first tractor that I have attempted to modify for just competition. I have been watching a lot of tractors, taking some notes and this happened to be set up with a lot of the things already in place, Like the stronger Z code engine. Its a bug that bites just like a lot of other old man hobby things. 

That could be why a lot of folks may view this thread but not have much input. And Thats OK too! They are not pulling and or don't like to see tractors become specialized competitive type units??

Since I have had practice taking apart 4 of these machines I am pretty familiar with the components and moves to make. 

One thing is my goal is to not damage the tractor in any way that it cannot be put back to original condition. 

But since it had the Gleaner engine when I bought it I guess it had already been modified in a way that was close to how a person might make one into a more competitive machine and still stay loosely within the Allis guidelines.  Ok maybe slightly outside the guidelines!:) It was not set up for pulling. it was a tractor used for brush hogging pastures.

On the trailer. A deck over to haul two WD's would be real nice.  Then I would haul more tractors and spend more money!:) But I do like my little one tractor car hauler too. Its small, low to the ground makes it easy to load and climb on and off of easy too.  I have a good sized tool box and a Warn winch.

Regards,

 Chris

Even a old tractor needs some attention to make it a little more reliable. So the electrical upgrades were in order. I lived with tractors that were not maintained and would not start for so many years on the farm that one of my pet peeves is to get the charging system functioning and have the tractor start when I want.

As expected the old wiring was brittle, the generator was not charging, and the dash was in unknown condition. 

Pulled the Gen and built a custom bracket from two WD gen brackets to mount the Denso alternator. Basically added additional bracket 1 inch away from the old one. Cut the end off the bracket that wasn't being used just to sanitize the mount a little!  Was way less work to mount this small alternator than a larger GM type unit! I like it! What I like is that the original bracket base has the step for Allis swoop sheet metal! I love those details!

The right thing to do would have been to drain the rad again, remove the bottom hose, replace the old cracked fan belt, resize the alternator pulley and correct the top bracket to tighten the alt. 

I did none of that!

 Found some old bolts to attach the alternator and bracket to the tractor, cobbled up a spacer from junk on the work bench, and we are good to go! Oh yea re-tapped the threaded hole in the top adjuster of the Denso unit! It was some kind of odd thread size. Could have been those metric trolls? We can't have that on a old WD! Ran a 5/16 tap through there and found a bolt in the vast warehouse with patina in place snugged the old belt, and tightened it down! Belt alignment was to spec!

Ran new wire for every thing except the coil which looked decent. I will try this as a one wire alt ,if it preforms Ok I will leave it. I would like it to charge at low idle on start up. and not have to exicite the alt with a wire / diode if posible.

The dash before, (the switch for charging may have been good)? Fuse was blown:

Welded up the hole in upper left, partial welded the hole for the light switch. Yes I have a light fetish too. I may not put them on right now but will run the new wires up under the tank. Sometimes we are at pulls into the night and lights are a plus:

Also added my spray paint "PO/rust" patina on the shiny ground surfaces. 

Components to upgrade the dash:  Marine grade (which means they were made under water in China) Light toggle, New key switch, and NAPA volt meter.

Total cost of this electrical upgrade maybe $160, tractor starting when it is supposed to priceless!

Hope things are good in Orange land! I need to be prepping for winter! Brain is stuck in fix old tractor mode! I know Don(MO) is getting tired of me calling him!:) He has been a big help on some of the details!

Regards,

 Chris