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Need Some Advice on Starting an Old H

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Bama Red

05-20-2001 18:05:41




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I've been negotiating with the families that own these two H's for the past few weeks and it looks like I'm going to get the opportunity to buy them. The one in front is a 1947 H and appears to have two fuel fillers - the one toward the front is clearly labeled "Gasoline" and leads to a small cylindrical metal tank under the hood which is completely rusted out at the bottom. The other tank is not labeled, but I'm assuming this is a distillate enginge H. The engine is not stuck. How will I need to proceed when I go to start this tractor for the first time. It already has new plugs (which I will check for proper gap). I'll take along a fresh battery, oil and tools. Sorry for the long post.

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Michael Soldan

05-21-2001 12:40:02




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 Re: Need Some Advice on Starting an Old H in reply to Bama Red, 05-20-2001 18:05:41  
First of all I have to say this " YOU LUCKY S.O.B.!!!" Now, I would agree with the other guys, you need fresh gasoline after you have done the other preliminaries. I find that a squirt bottle with a "mist" on the nozzle is an excellent way to get fuel to the cylinders. Remove the air tube to the carb and as you crank the H give her a couple of shots of misted gasoline, if you have spark she'll fire! I am not against ether as it will dry a wet plug and fire when gasoline won't, ether will fire even if you have a weak spark, but we all know ether can do damage if you overdo it Just a little whiff...where did you say these H's were???? Mike in Exeter Ontario...Good luck!

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Bama Red - with More Pics

05-21-2001 20:45:49




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 Re: Re: Need Some Advice on Starting an Old H in reply to Michael Soldan, 05-21-2001 12:40:02  
Mike - These H's are in Huntsville, Alabama, sitting in a field in front of an abandoned house. The gentleman who owned them died and the sons and daughters inherited everything. There are apparently several children and getting them to agree on anything is difficult to say the least. One of the sons has expressed "an interest" in keeping the tractors and will be in town in 2-3 weeks to look them over. I'm hoping he will find them too much of a challenge and agree with the others to sell them. I have offered $500 for the pair. The '48 engine is stuck, the '47 is not.

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The Red

05-22-2001 07:27:16




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 Re: Re: Re: Need Some Advice on Starting an Old H in reply to Bama Red - with More Pics, 05-21-2001 20:45:49  
Good luck BR but don't lose any sleep if you don't get them. I would have bid $500 also for the two.

Check your camera lens. All the pictures were a little blurry on the left side for some reason.



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Bama Red

05-22-2001 09:27:43




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 Re: Re: Re: Re: Need Some Advice on Starting an Old H in reply to The Red, 05-22-2001 07:27:16  
Thanks, Red. Some dumb ole redneck (me), musta put his thumb on the lens afore the pitchers was took. Got that problem took care of now.



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Michael Soldan

05-22-2001 05:46:52




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 Re: Re: Re: Need Some Advice on Starting an Old H in reply to Bama Red - with More Pics, 05-21-2001 20:45:49  
Bama Red, good luck I hope things work out. I enjoyed the pictures. Looks to me like theres all kinds of possibilities in those two H's and $ 500 would be a good price..keep us posted as to how you make out....Mike in Exeter Ontario



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Bama Red

05-21-2001 06:49:55




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 Re: Need Some Advice on Starting an Old H in reply to Bama Red, 05-20-2001 18:05:41  
Thanks to Bob M, Charlie & Bill. If I get the tractor, I'll let y'all know how it works out!



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Bill Smith

05-20-2001 20:22:52




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 Re: Need Some Advice on Starting an Old H in reply to Bama Red, 05-20-2001 18:05:41  
Sounds like Bob M has a pretty good set of steps to follow. I've just a few things to add. If you use the same oil, which chances are you won't, make sure there is no water in it. Do this by loosening oil drain plug enough so that liquid begins to drip. Water always settles to the bottom of the oil so if oil comes out and not water you are good to go. If it has water in it make sure it is not coming from cooling system. If so I would advise you to fix it before doing any engine running. I would advise you to drain all the existing fuel and add new gas to the bigger tank. You can only burn distillate fuel if you have two functional tanks. I have one of these myself and always just run it on gas in the bigger tank. If your float sticks in the carb that must be fixed. Sometimes they stick open and sometimes closed. If it sticks open gas will usually start dripping out of carb shortly after turning gas valve on. If this happens and you actually get tractor started it will soon flood out. Also make sure there are no stuck valves before turning engine over. If a valve is stuck far enough open and you turn engine over you could cause damage. I would check this by cranking engine over slowly with hand crank making sure there are no hang ups and then again after you put plugs in making sure there is compression on each cylinder then you know there are no stuck valves. I have been fortunate enough to get a few tractors like this started with little trouble. I hope you have good luck.

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Charlie

05-20-2001 19:02:19




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 Re: Need Some Advice on Starting an Old H in reply to Bama Red, 05-20-2001 18:05:41  
When I bought my H about 15 years ago it had sat outside and not run for about 10 years but I knew the owner and he had kept the exhaust covered and turned over the engine once in a while. I think I was a bit lucky as it didn't take a lot to get it going. I just needed to get it to run long enough to load it on a truck. I checked the oil and the radiator. It had a distributor and I had to put in a new battery. The points had rusted shut so I put in new points, condenser, cap and rotor. A couple of gallons of new gas and some cranking and it started with a shower of rust from the exhaust. It ran pretty darn well considering most of the gas in the tank was 10 years old. Hope yours goes as well.

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Bob M

05-20-2001 18:36:28




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 Re: Need Some Advice on Starting an Old H in reply to Bama Red, 05-20-2001 18:05:41  
Bama -

What you've got is an H originally setup to run on distillate (hence the small gas tank for starting)

I've fired up several H's and M's that have been sitting idle for several years. Here's how I've done it:

1 - Check the crankcase oil level. If it's down, or the oil looks questionable, drop the old oil and replace with fresh. Also put in a new oil filter.

2 - Remove the spark plugs and shoot an ounce or so of motor oil (several squirts from a hand oiler) into each jug. Leave the plugs out for now.

3 - Connect the battery and try cranking. If you are lucky the motor will spin. Crank it until oil pressure shows on the gage, then crank it another 30 seconds or so to distribute oil up into the valve gear in the head. Keep an eye on the starter - let it rest if it starts warming up!

4 - While you're cranking, listen for the mag impulse coupling to "snap". If it snaps - great! If it doesn't, take it off, clean it, oil it up and put it back on.

5 - Remove the sediment bowl and clean it out.

6 - Dump a couple gallons of fresh gas into the large tank. Open the fuel shutoff a moment to make sure fuel flows, and to flush out any crud.

7 - Replace the sediment bowl (use a new gasket on it - the old one is guaranteed to leak!) Now open the drain cock on the carburetor, then open the valve at the sediment bowl. Again if you are lucky you'll get some gas draining from the carb. If not, you're gonna have to open the carb to clean it or fix a stuck float.

8 - Finally replace the spark plugs. Set the governor at 1/2, pull the choke and crank her up. If you're having a good day you'll be rewarded with a running H.

9 - If it fires up, don't let it run more than a minute or two until you've filled the cooling system with water.

Good luck! ...Bob M

PS - Before you do anything, check for wasp nests up under the hood, in the clutch housing, behind the radiator, etc. Otherwise you may be in for a NASTY surprise! (I've been there a couple of times...)

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