Farmall Super A

[DeerMeadowFarm]

I wasn't looking for another tractor. I happened upon CL and this ad had just been posted. I thought it was a misprint but replied anyway. As I expected no response....but later that night, there was one! Lady said she had a lot of responses but I was the first; could I come and get it the next day. The next morning, I showed my wife the ad and the response. She told me to reply and ask her to call the home phone to see if it was a scam or not. Less than a minute after I hit "send" the phone rang. It was the real deal. 1949 Farmall Super-A:


  

  

  

 
A woman owned it. She bought it from a guy who ran it in parades. She used it around her small horse farm to pull a trailer and a spreader. Her brother was there, visiting from Georgia. He said he used to tune it up for her each summer, but he had vascular disease and had lost a leg. He was in a wheel chair for 3 years and couldn't travel and even if her did he couldn't have worked on the tractor. One summer, it wouldn't start for her. She tried the basics, gave up and tarped it. She didn't want to see it rot away. She told me she had gotten 60 replies to her ad. Price? $100!

[Ljohnsaw]

Pretty sweet deal.  But I would feel real bad giving her only $100.  It's worth at least $300 ;)  Neat looking tractor - funny how they are offset.  I would worry about rolling one if you were the wrong way on a hill!

[Jack S]

You got yourself one nice little tractor. I grew up on a 1939 farmall A  and had it from 1955 until into the 1990s. they were offset for one row cultivating  with an attached name called cultivision. so simple and easy to work on also. We lived in hilly country and never felt that it was tippy from being off set. enjoy your new tractor  Jack

[sawguy21]

You bandit!!!  I would have felt guilty. :D There are still many in use in our area, a lot of farms are less than a quarter section.

[Roger2561]

Man, you stole that thing!  The one my dad owned plowed many gardens and mowed many fields over the years.  My uncle used to use it to plow the snow out of his drive way every year.  We had a belt driven saw on the back to buck up the smaller stuff when we used to fell trees for firewood.  I can still hear the ring of the blade as it spun.  I agree, a very simple tractor to work on.   Roger

[DeerMeadowFarm]

I just got off the phone with my brother-in-law. He has a cordwood saw that was made for the model A that he used to own. Told him I picked up the Super A and he told me I could have the saw!

[Ox]

You're a lucky sunuvagun.  :laugh:

[DeerMeadowFarm]

Gotta get lucky once in a while!

[sandhills]

Have the police come to get you yet?  I bet you sure are happy you called first eh?   :D

[DeerMeadowFarm]

Have the police come to get you yet?  I bet you sure are happy you called first eh?   :D

I almost didn't reply at all.

[loggah]

Nice tractor !!! a friend of mine uses his every year pulling a tedder when hes haying,we also use it to run my Lane 24" lag belt planer with the rear belt pully. ;D

[DeerMeadowFarm]

I'm thinking of using mine to rake and tedder too.

[Onthesauk]

One just showed up on Craigslist this morning for $2,400, looks almost identical.  You got an incredible deal!

[Ox]

I've raked a whack of hay using a Super A before pulling a Gehl side delivery rake.  I remember thinking 3rd gear was too slow and it didn't have enough power to pull in 4th gear and it was frustrating when in a hurry.  But if no hurry then it was enjoyable.  Smooth running, quite transmission, surprisingly good ride for such a small machine.  Neat little tractors.

Be sure to check the bull gears for good oil.  A common place to cheat on maintenance. 

[chevytaHOE5674]

Not sure what I'd do with a tractor that small. But for 100 bucks I would have bought it in a heartbeat and found something for it to do, or resold it..

[Ox]

We also used it to move around empty wagons.  Once I moved a loaded hay wagon with it.  I won't do it again.  It was almost out of control the whole time.  Pucker factor is an understatement.  Some guys around here hook up a Woods belly mower and mow their lawns and pastures with them.

[DeerMeadowFarm]

I'm thinking raking, teddering, cordwood saw, some sap collection, maybe take it in the woods when I go cutting but aren't skidding anything...

Of course, this all depends on if I can get it running again!

[Ox]

If she don't have no water got into her she'll run again.  It's real hard to kill old Farmalls.  One of the things I used to like to do was bringing old iron back to life again.  You'd be surprised what will run!  :D

[DeerMeadowFarm]

My father-in-law one set an old hit-and-miss engine on fire to free it up so if anyone can do it, he can. He is concerned though.... The woman told me it was under the barn overhang and under a tarp. The only water would be a driven rain or snow but my FIL thinks otherwise. The engine is stuck pretty good. I'm bringing a flexible scope over tonight to look into the cylinders. We'll see....fingers crossed!

[Ox]

Just put it in high gear and try to tow it a little bit.  It won't hurt anything in the engine.  Get a strap wrench and put on driven pulley to try to turn.  Only time you can really hurt a stuck engine is by great big long cheater bars/pipes or by hammering.  Putting a little kerosene/atf 50/50 mix down the spark plug holes will help a bit.  I'll bet she ain't stuck too bad and just a little work and she'll be running again.

[DeerMeadowFarm]

We've used half a can of expanding (foaming) penetrating oil in each cylinder so far.... :(

[Ox]

I was trying to save you money with the quick, easy, cheap ways.  I've never used what you mentioned but I know the 50/50 ATF and kerosene works great as a penetrating oil.  Sometimes you need to take the head off and get inside the jugs to work on them.  Sometimes you need heat.  I hope water didn't get down the exhaust - that makes a big mess if it happened over and over again.  I hope what you did works.  How are you trying to spin the engine?

[chevytaHOE5674]

All of my equipment is a little large for something that small.  :D

If you want to wait a 50/50 mix of ATF and acetone or some Blue Creeper down each of the plug holes, then a socket and bar off the front crank pulley with a weight hanging on the end. Let it sit for a while and one day you will come out and the weight will be on the floor and she will be free.

If your in a hurry pull the spark plugs and the oil pan, get a piece of wood and start smacking the bottoms of the pistons until things start moving.

[DeerMeadowFarm]

The exhaust had a rain cap on it so I'm thinking that's good. We put 100 pounds of air in the cylinder and left it overnight. Also tried turning the pulleys.

[Gearbox]

Here is what I have done in the past on a very badly rusted LUC John Deere . Pulled the head cleaned the cylinders or rust as best I could then warmed the pistons with propane then cooled with penetrant and let sit over night and repeat . Lightly bump the pistons with a hammer handle or a block of wood . took a few days be for it started to move . I have also had ones that I had to push the liners out with the pistons in them . Good luck and do not get rough with it and break some thing else .

[Kbeitz]

I seen a spark plug adapter and a grease gun get the job done.

[Bark Beetle]

My super a drug most of the logs for the framing of our house

[DeerMeadowFarm]

Pulled the starter last night. Looks too rusty to be just condensation:

 



 

Pulled the valve cover and there is zero rust on any of the bolts up there. Drained the radiator and it was full but only tested to be good to 5 degrees.

Pulled the bottom off the air cleaner and it was full of water. We freed up one of the hydraulic valves but the other one is still stuck.

We scoped the cylinders and they appear ok; some light rust but probably will clean up with a hone. Just have to try to get it free. My FIL has a few more tricks up his sleeves...we'll see....

My FIL thinks the tractor was submerged or in a flood at some point but the farm I got it from didn't have a pond that I could see and the woman said when it wouldn't start it was pushed under the overhang of the barn and tarped. It got snowed and rained on but she says that's it. My FIL is calling BS to the story...

Main thing is to get it free and go from there. On a good note, my FIL pointed out that the rear wheel weight I have is worth "gold" according to him. There is a large weight on the inside of the wheel that I hadn't noticed before. He said in all his years, he thinks that this is the 2nd or 3rd one he's ever seen.

[thecfarm]

I am not a fan of tarps. The tarp could have got worn and allowed water into the motor.

[Gearbox]

That starter looks normal for one that has sat for a while . If it was stored in a steel building they will sweat and rust .

[timberlinetree]

Still deal of the century! Looks like flooding to me,but have not been around flood stuff to much though.Little work and will come back to life. Might have to buy some BLUE CREEPER. Nice tractor!

[gspren]

Still deal of the century! Looks like flooding to me,but have not been around flood stuff to much though.Little work and will come back to life. Might have to buy some BLUE CREEPER. Nice tractor!

Anybody that messes around with old iron should look at the new metal squirt can from BLUE CREEPER. Ever since I got a can for testing I've been using it where I used aerosol oils in the past, much better results with BC!

[DeerMeadowFarm]

  Anybody that messes around with old iron should look at the new metal squirt can from BLUE CREEPER. Ever since I got a can for testing I've been using it where I used aerosol oils in the past, much better results with BC!

I am working on getting some. I have a connection that will get some for me next week.  ;D

[Ljohnsaw]

There is a telltale clue with flooding.  Silt or sand.  If neither are present, it was not in a flood!  Unless you washed out the starter, I don't think this tractor was in a flood.

[chevytaHOE5674]

Doesn't look like a flood to me either. Looks like years of condensation, rust and crude built up in the flywheel and starter, which from all the old sitting tractors I've torn down seems pretty common. Seems to be much more prevalent when there is a mouse nest in there.

[Okrafarmer]

From what I've been told, the Super A design was very little changed straight through the Model 140. The 140 looked different in the grill, but was essentially the same machine as far as I know. So were the 100 and 130 in between. All these are still used here in SC for cultivating in the vegetable farms. They were real popular here, along with AC C, CA, and G.

[Ox]

I don't see signs of a nest, but that kinda rust looks like rodent urine damage.  That stuff is well known to be the smelliest, most corrosive stuff on the planet.  :

[Plankton]

Awesome Score! Old farmalls are tough/impossible to kill. I have an M and a H on my farm. Tough old girls.

One possibility is if the coolant only tested down to 5 degrees and its seized and rusty could it have had a headgasket leak/cracked block and have gotten hydrolocked at somepoint and sat with the water in the cylinders etc?

I guess the coolant was full so that theory doesnt really work, did the oil look clean?

Nice find anyway though!

[DeerMeadowFarm]

The news isn't good. Lots of rust inside. 2 gallons of water came out when we drained the oil. Engine is sleeved so in theory it can be rebuilt but who knows if the block is cracked? Need to do some hard thinking here....

[Ox]

Ooh.     Not the best news.  Everything can be brought back with enough time and money, though. 

I bid $150.   ;)