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With out any fanfare I told my teenage son that he would have the honors of steering. I gave him a pair of vise grips to attach to the steering shaft coming out of the bolster, told him to sit on the head studs sticking out of the engine and told Leonard to give her a push. Dog gone ole Leonard, this one time he did as I said and the tractor started to roll, down hill, faster and faster (I never dreamt she’d roll that freely) with Kris hanging on for dear life! As I said before, I get confused easily I was laughing so hard I could hardly take a picture, then it dawned on me; we had taken the brakes out. He was going down hill, gaining speed with a seasonal creek bottom at the end; I stopped laughing and started praying! I hoped the young man would have sense enough not to jump off, but just ride it out. The youth is a natural born equipment operator when it comes to steering a tractor with vise grips, while sitting on head bolts sticking out of a bare block. He rounded t! he corner, maneuvered the tractor across the creek culvert and almost ran it into the shop like a pro. (I’m glad he didn’t make it that far though, as a few years ago, while learning to drive he’d knocked the barn door off, (from the inside) while learning to drive my truck, but that’s another story in itself. Sweat Success, She’s in the shop! It is now decision time again, should I start breaking her down now? Or try and get some lights, a leak proof ceiling etc into the shop. Not wanting to work in the winter with one whole side of the building open I elected to do the shop work. For the next six months or so, we, (Leonard and I) removed center posts and installed real rafters, replaced all the poles holding up the sides, insulated, sheet rocked. Installed wiring and hooked up the lights. (I told you I knew how to sweat talk ole Leonard) There were times however; I just couldn't take it. I had to get my fix and work on the tractor. We removed the pan, beat on the pistons with 2x4s, using a 3 pound hammer, pried and eventually even beat the clutch cover off (it came off in pieces and now I know how it could have come off in a single piece as it was designed to do.) We still couldn't get the pistons broke free however, so I finally pulled each rod cap and beat the Babbitt beari! ngs around so I could remove them, thus giving me approximately an eighth of an inch of free space between each piston and the crankshaft. In this way I was able to beat each one loose without the crank having to move. After many pieces of 2x4s cut into twelve-inch lengths, many sore muscles, many frustrating days, the crankshaft rolled over. Not easily, not freely, but by golly it finally came around. Bert Benjamin is one of my heroes, right behind my Lord, My dad and my father in law (If you don’t know who Mr. Benjamin is---grab any book on the history of the farmall. You will remember it better if you look it up yourself) anyway, to my utter amazement, with lacquer thinner, W D forty and quite a mess, the two main roller bearings are just fine. After forty years of just sitting, caked in old dry oil, they cleaned up and turn as if new. I didn’t remove them, the crankshaft or flywheel, In fact the sleeves and pistons are original. It took a bunch of honing, new rings and a dandy valve job, by Larry, but this girl runs, plows, and disks just fine! It’s an amazing feat of engineering. (Bert, you done good!)
 
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