1. Art and Diseño

YESTERDAY’S TREASURES
FEBRUARY 2015, #66
With February fast approaching, it’s nearly time for our show season to start.
Our first show this season will be the Oak Hollow Farm Chili Cook-Off on
February 28th. I’m looking forward to seeing everyone there, as well as
some newly restored tractors of yesteryear and hearing some good tractor
stories. Hopefully we will sell a good many raffle tickets on the 1957 Ford
‘640” that our Club restored last year. Work on the donated 9N Ford is
progressing at Richard Carrier’s shop. The engine has been removed and is
at Ronnie Carroll’s shop for rebuilding. On January 8, 2015 the SAATEC
Board of Directors met and approved $2500 be allocated for restoring the
donated 9N Ford as our 2016 raffle tractor. Club members who wish to
work on the 9N Ford should contact Richard Carrier.
Dates to Remember
Feb. 5, 2015, SAATEC Monthly Meeting, Senior Center, Foley, AL, 7 PM.
Feb. 28, 2015, Chili Cook-Off, Oak Hollow Farm, US#98 South, Fairhope,
AL, 8 AM.
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Showcase Tractor of the Month
PHOTOS BY KEN FROST
This month I have chosen my restored 1939 Farmall “A” (#2616) as our
featured tractor. I bought this tractor from Bobby Glasscock near Lucedale,
MS in September 2011 (picture on the right). Mike Coburn called and told
me this hand cranked “A” was not running and was going to the scrap yard
unless it was rescued by someone that loves old iron. The following
Monday I took my trailer and $500 and drove to Lucedale with Mike. I have
always had a yearning for and “A” and now I had one. However, this one,
was going to take a lot of TLC and $$$$ to make it into a show tractor. Like
Santa, I had a lot of helpers and advisors on this project. To name a few:
Steve Foster, Jon Lapointe, Richard Carrier, Bob Crookston, Lloyd Dillon,
Norman Gagnon, Bud Hodgkins, Ronnie Carroll, Bill Coon, Mike Boileau
and Dallas Smith.
The TLC included sandblasting, grinding the valves and shaving the head,
and replacing the following: tires, grill, hood, steering wheel, muffler, precleaner, clutch, seat, magneto, manifold, radiator, seals & gaskets, hoses &
clamps, fenders, break bands and sediment bowl. At this point the engine
seem overly stiff and Jon LaPointe thought it would be best to take the
engine out of tractor and remove the pistons and examine the cylinders,
which had not been done earlier by yours truly. Two cylinders were found
to have some rough spots in the sleeve walls and the associated pistons had
seriously stuck rings! Therefore all the cylinders were honed and new set of
rings were installed and the engine put back together. To go back a little
further in my story, Richard Carrier had earlier offered me a clutch bell
housing for an “A” that had the starter mount cast in it. So since the tractor
was split, he and I agreed we might as well put his clutch housing on my
tractor so it could have electric start. All the measurements said it could be
done, but I would need to get a flywheel with a ring gear, an electric starter,
a starter switch, a battery, a battery box, a generator or alternator, ammeter
& amp box. I found the flywheel on E-Bay and decided
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to go with an alternator and a 12 volt system. Jon timed the engine with the
head off and his timing proved perfect. We started the engine up in his shop
and it ran very well. Remember this is the very first time that I had heard
this tractor run! However, there was one serious problem; we could not get
the tractor in gear! Richard worked on adjusting the clutch to no avail.
After many perplexing days, it was thought by Bob, Richard and Brian
LaPointe (Jon’s brother) that the pilot bearing in the aft end of the crankshaft
must be at fault. This was proven by splitting the tractor for the umpteenth
time and removing the clutch and rejoining the tractor then starting the
engine and still the transmission could not be engaged. A new pilot bearing
was ordered and installed and the clutch worked fine. Moral of the story…
if you replaced the clutch spend an extra 30 minutes and install a new pilot
bearing, which usually comes with the clutch kit. When I took the old
bearing out it appeared to have been installed so it was whap-pee-jawed and
therefore it would turn the clutch shaft all the time and did not let the clutch
do its job.
117,552 Farmall “A”s were produced from 1939 to 1948, when the Super A
replaced the A. My “A” was built in the summer of 1939 and at that time
electric start was optional. These tractors were powered by 3.0” bore x 4.0”
stroke, four cylinder, overhead valve all fuel engine displacing 113.0 cu. in.
and developing 17 HP on the drawbar and 19 HP on the pto/belt. These
engines were rated at 1400 rpm. In 1940 the hand cranked “A” sold for
$515 and weighed 1870 lbs. The first “A” rolled off the assembly line June
21, 1939. The prototype for the “A” was called the “1-F”. It had both
adjustable rear and front axles. IHC felt its main competition would be the
Allis-Chalmers “B” which had done well in 1938 (its introductory year)
selling 11,000 Model Bs. The Farmall “A” & “B” would eventually replace
the F-14.
Tractor Humor
A man who was very miserly called a doctor to help his ailing wife. The
doctor knowing the man’s reputation ask if he would get his fee. The man
told him he would get his fee no matter whether he cured her or killed her.
But, despite all of the doctor’s efforts, the woman died. When the doctor
asked for his fee, the husband said, “Did you cure my wife?” “No,” replied
the doctor. “Did you kill her?” the man asked. “Certainly not!” the shocked
doctor replied. “Well, then, I owe you nothing,” said the miserly man.
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Answer: Rugs, fish batter and savings & loan executives.
Question: List three things that should be beaten every Friday.
Johnny Carson on the Tonight Show
News
President Dillon has been getting our shows lined up for this year. Below
are listed those that he has conformation for:
February 28
Oak Hollow Farm Chili Cook-Off
March 21
Foley Bar-B-Que & Blues
April 11 & 12
Loxley Strawberry Festival
April 25
Stockton Old Tyme Historical Festival
May 1 & 2
Gulf Coast Hot Air Balloon Festival
May 16
Foley Centennial Celebration
th
May 29 & 30
7 Annual SAATEC Plow Day
September 22 – 26
Baldwin County Fair
8 AM
8 AM
8 AM
8 AM
8 AM
8 AM
8 AM
12 AM
I’m sure there will be more to come.
If you have not paid your dues for 2015, please do so asap. $30 per member
and $12 for family members if they are going to drive.
Ken Frost
SAATEC Secretary
9596 Hildreth Drive
Perdido Beach, AL 36530
251-961-7773
251-979-9395
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