D12 Series 1 "live" power?

Hello everyone, first off this is a great forum.  I’ve looked at several tractor forums and sights online and this is the best I’ve seen hands down.  Which is great because I also like AC tractors.  My grandpa used them and my father in law still does.  My family thinks I’m strange (or worse) for liking tractors without a use for one but what the heck.

We just bought a house outside town so I want a small tractor, it will be used for finish mowing my 3 acre yard… that’s my justification to the wife.  It's really more of an expensive toy though.  I decided a D10/12 series 3 would be perfect, it’s small, lightweight, has good features for any future needs, has the power director, looks good.  I would use it for mowing 3 acres, plowing a garden, plowing snow, grading a gravel driveway, running an emergency generator.

Unfortunately the D10/12 is an expensive and hard to find machine.  I ran across a real nice all original D12 series 3 with AC trip bucket for $5K but passed on it.  I just ran across an early 1960 D12 series 1 with the small 138in^3 motor.  It has a trip bucket and no power director so I have a few questions about it that I didn’t find definitive answers to when searching the forum.

 1.  Assuming the hydraulics are not “live” how would they work?  I read here they only became live late in series 1.  As I understand it if I wanted to lift some gravel for example I would have to:

-put in neutral, let the clutch out then position the bucket (Assuming I can’t position it on the move)

-put in gear and drive into the pile

-put in neutral, let the clutch out and position the bucket to drive

-put in gear and drive off

Is that correct?

 2.  For mowing without the power director as I understand it the blades would stop whenever I push in the clutch.  And I should get the overrunning PTO for safety.  Would a CA be a better mowing machine?  It would be cheaper for sure, but not quite as capable for other stuff or as purty

 3.  I’d like to get a plow or tiller to work the garden eventually.  I’ve read that without the power director you cannot go slow enough to till and can’t get a “nice” plowing speed.  Since the tractor was designed to work with a plow that seems a little strange but I’ve never plowed before so who am I to say.  Is this true or would it plow just fine without the extra gears from a power director.

 4.  I’d like to tinker and maybe “restore” a tractor if I really liked it.  However I am no mechanic nor do I play one on TV so I am intimidated (scared) of trying it.  Am I crazy to start with a D10/12? How much worse than a smaller simpler machine like a B would it be?  Without the power director I assume it would be fairly close to a B actually.   

I’ve never driven a tractor without the power director so I’m not real sure what to expect and I didn’t want to throw down $30 on an operators manual for a tractor I probably won’t buy. 

 Thanks for the help I’ve typed enough, sorry for the long post, again this is a great sight. 

#1. Correct, except you can raise and lower the bucket on the move.

Welcome to the site, Steve. I mow with a CA without a working hand clutch, and the finish mower isn't really a problem. I use a brush hog on a CA with a working hand clutch, There you need it unless you use an overiding clutch. I use the CA for all types of farming needs except using a tiller. It's too fast and the hand clutch would not last long if you slipped it continously to slow it down. A D-14 would give you all of the power and conviences that you would need. The power director is a wet clutch so you could possible use a tiller. The CA would be the least expensive way to go and would have all of the power that you would need.

Thanks for the great information, I had a feeling that without the hand clutch the tractor would be a lot less useful at worst or a pain to use at best, now I know. 

Eldon/Bob thanks for the heads up I had no idea there was a difference between a power director and range transmission.  The power director sounds much more capable, I’ll have to read up on that topic.  Thanks for the information.

 John thanks for confirming my thoughts.  I came  to the same conclusion on the B as well, it’s small and simple which would be great for someone like me to learn on but when the time, sweat, and money is over you have a B, which isn’t terribly useful compared to the D series.  I’m just a little overwhelmed by the size/complexity of something like a D14, I’ve done some work on cars but nothing as big and heavy as a full size tractor.

 I zeroed in on the D10/12 because from what I could tell they have the same motor as the D14/15 and weighed 1000lbs less so I figured for mowing lighter is better.  I definitely noticed you get a lot more bang for your buck with any WD or D series tractor over the D10/12.  Heck you can get a nice D17 with a FEL for the same cost.   

Thanks again for the information Ill have to do some more reading.  Again great sight.

Steve