I'm still here

[JV]

With the headaches I have had with my 4wd industrial loader tractor I'm about ready to get my old '37 Case L on steel out to skid with.  Simple and reliable which is more than some of the late tractors.   >:(  Cheaper to work on too.

[Okrafarmer]

With the headaches I have had with my 4wd industrial loader tractor I'm about ready to get my old '37 Case L on steel out to skid with.  Simple and reliable which is more than some of the late tractors.   >:(  Cheaper to work on too.

Yes indeed! I can't blame you for feeling that way.

[sandhills]

Faron, what kinda tractor and whats the ailment? 

[Piston]

Sure must have been a JD LA or L model.

I don't think so  ???  I did a quick google image search and the offset steering wheel looks right, but I seem to remember the 'engine and hood area' coming further back, and not such a large space there.  It looks like most of the L's were available only with the standard front end.  This one certainly had the smaller tricycle front end on it.  Unless maybe someone converted it? 

It's hard to remember though so I could be wrong, but I definately remember the skinny front end, and oh ya-there was a hand crank in the front of the engine.  I'll ask my grandfather if he has any old pictures of it.

[Faron]

Faron, what kinda tractor and whats the ailment? 

Massey Ferguson 2745.  I don't exactly remember just what the problem was.  I think it may have been sucking air into the fuel system after installing a rebuilt pump.  I think we ended up replacing a water trap that had deteriorated.

[Okrafarmer]

Sure must have been a JD LA or L model.

I don't think so  ???  I did a quick google image search and the offset steering wheel looks right, but I seem to remember the 'engine and hood area' coming further back, and not such a large space there.  It looks like most of the L's were available only with the standard front end.  This one certainly had the smaller tricycle front end on it.  Unless maybe someone converted it? 

It's hard to remember though so I could be wrong, but I definately remember the skinny front end, and oh ya-there was a hand crank in the front of the engine.  I'll ask my grandfather if he has any old pictures of it.
[/quote]

The only ones JD made that were a narrow front end and could be hand cranked from the front were the MT and its replacements, the 40, 420, and 430 in T configuration. The seat and engine were offset just enough so you'd notice, but not as drastically as a Farmall A, for instance. The steering shaft was very short and went directly into the dash on all four of those models.

The L and LA hand cranked from the front but were never offered from the factory in narrow front end.

All other John Deere tractors up until 1960 hand cranked from the side (if you could do it at all). All John Deere's other narrow front tractors from 1933 onward were symmetrical too, at least as far as the seat, steering, hood and wheels were concerned.

The wide tread GP built ca. 1929-33 had some components offset and had a narrow front end, but it cranked from the side, and it was fairly rare as well.

[Weekend_Sawyer]

I still have dad's 42 or 44 farmall H. The other day I went to move it out of the shed to back my M in to store it till I can get back around to tinkering on it. That H had not been started for a year and it's a hand crank. I primed it, pulled on the ignition, gave it one more pull and she fired right up. After all these years that mag is still sparking hot!

I love old tractors.
Jon

[beenthere]

Okra..and Piston

Right, if narrow front end it was likely the models that followed. I had the 420 and the offset was there, but not as much as was the LA that I had before that. Each model had a rowcrop front end.

These models had a two cylinder upright engine thus the crank in the front. The larger models were two cylinder horizontal pistons with the large flywheel to turn them over on the side.

[jdtuttle]

Glad your back David. Hope all is well.
jim

[Piston]

Okra..and Piston

Right, if narrow front end it was likely the models that followed. I had the 420 and the offset was there, but not as much as was the LA that I had before that. Each model had a rowcrop front end.

These models had a two cylinder upright engine thus the crank in the front. The larger models were two cylinder horizontal pistons with the large flywheel to turn them over on the side.

Well at least you guys narrowed it down for me.  My grandfather never really knew how to run the tractor, it just came with the property in the '60's when he bought it.  There was an old sickle bar mower  that my dad and uncle would tow each other around on to try to mow the fields.  The old sickle bar is still there and other than the wood on it, it is in surprisingly good shape.