Farmer fixes

[Rock Hornbuckle]

A couple months ago,I did a *farmer fix* of sorts.I was driving along a country road when the engine died.The drain plug had fallen out of the carb& the gas was running out.I was beside an orchard so I looked around & found a small branch & shoved a piece of it in the hole & was able to drive home & get a plug from a spare carb.One of the great things about these cars is that it doesnt take much to keep them running.

I was driving 'ol' 29 Nellie home from a parade when the flange on the tail pipe broke off and the entire exhaust system hit the pavement. I had a roll of tie-wire used for tying rebar in the trunk. I was able to tie things up and drive her home. I had learned alot during my penniless teenage years about keeping my old Ford Coupe wired together.

 

[oldmanandakid]

Regarding the comment about the expense of overhauling the Ferguson engine: I remember going with my dad to a Tractor Supply store in 1954 or '55 where he bought an overhaul kit for our TE-20 Ferguson. It had pistons, rings, sleeves, main and rod bearings, valves, valve guides and gaskets. Cost was $50!

It wasn't too long after that I was working as a cowboy at $40. a month plus board and room. Fifty bucks was a lot of cash then. I still cringe when I have to break a $50.

 

[Shadetree]

When I was a youngster my neighbor had a 1942 Chevy pickup. A rod started knocking so we straddled a ditch with the truck and pulled the oil pan. The engine had Babbitt bearings so we found the culprit that was knocking and removed the cap. With a file we took off enough metal from the cap for a good snug fit. While we had it apart we figured it would be worthwhile to do the other five rods. We put it all back together and the engine wouldn't turn over. We towed it and it would scoot the rear tires in 3rd gear. So we straddled the ditch again and removed the pan. We shimmed all of the rods with tin from an evaporated milk can.

It lasted a few days...

 

[Craig Lewis]

When I was a youngster my neighbor had a 1942 Chevy pickup. A rod started knocking so we straddled a ditch with the truck and pulled the oil pan. The engine had Babbitt bearings so we found the culprit that was knocking and removed the cap. With a file we took off enough metal from the cap for a good snug fit. While we had it apart we figured it would be worthwhile to do the other five rods. We put it all back together and the engine wouldn't turn over. We towed it and it would scoot the rear tires in 3rd gear. So we straddled the ditch again and removed the pan. We shimmed all of the rods with tin from an evaporated milk can.

It lasted a few days...

Awesome story! I say we need more of this stuff

 

[Farrell In Vancouver]

Dems the Brakes:

 

[Fred K-OR]

Another "farmer" type fix. This is what I found on my 29 std coupe. The angle iron was welded to the front of the already well welded front cross member. It then went under the front spring to hold the spring to the cross member. Had to cut it off with a torch to get the axle out.

 

[dumb person]

i was told this picture fits this threads theme.

 

[Rich in Tucson]

How many can you spot?

I know at least one guy who resets his timing before every drive in his car but the guy who owned this one must have really been obsessed with it.

 

[Growley bear]

Brake drum field repair.

 

[Tom Endy]

Farmer fixes

Tom Endy

 

[400A-64]

This is not a farmer fix, but "Get the job done NOW".

On the World tour(1982) I broke an axle in Syria!! We had everything to do the job EXCEPT JACK STANDS !! WE gathered rocks, Set the wheels on them (Two high) to gain enough space to pull the rear end out. We laid out a blue tarp under the car so I would stay out of the dirt. I asked to guys to grab my ankles so the could pull me out if the car shifted too much!! I was jerked out from under three times !!! 6 hours later we finished up .This was done in the darkest of nights with flashlights!.
Bruce Davis
a400usa@nccn.net

 

[Ted Duke]

I don't have pictures, but when I was a kid way back in the forties and fifties my family had a friend who had a Model A pickup, 29 I think, and as the years went by and he dinged it around the farm (or once a tree fell on it) he made quite a few patches with expired Maryland license plates attached with nuts and bolts.

P. S. I tried to buy it several times until about 1985 when his wife told me she gave it to her nephew.

Ted

 

[TK in LA]

The latest acquisition had an interesting breather pipe on it. It was made from a sink drain pipe that was plugged and a hose leads under the motor just far enough to remove the vapors.

 

[SeaSlugs]

lets see, headlight switch is out of picture but over on passenger side, horn on dash, knife blade and key switch.

battery tray in engine compartment, check out the massively welded head.

All was done by my great grandpa whom Ive never met or my grandpa who will be missed dearly. Both were very creative with what they had. I didnt find many mechanical scary things, occasional nut and bolt instead of pin and cotter or most creative was a square nail, spring, washer and cotter pin as a emergency brake pin...took me a bit to figure out what everything was!

 

[Tom Wesenberg]

Here's another farmer fix, and of all places it's a cobbled up fan. Two blades were cut off, then the cut area was welded to the hub.

 

[jeep44]

reviving this thread-here's a "fix" I found on my recently-acquired 31 CCPU-it's a cable clamp, and a couple of bolts, making a sort of spring shackle. New shackles are sitting in the bed, waiting for me to tackle them.

 

[califfarmer]

All these posts show just how "Out standing in our fields" us farmers. I'm going to have to remember some of these ideas. When your out working you make do with what is at hand.
Go Farmers!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Lona]

My parts car in 1956 was an A running roadster with no top or hood or trunk. It had two transmissions mounted in line which I would think was fairly common in the farm community to provide extra pulling power for their home made loggers.

Also had a friend traveling across country (not an A) and threw a rod through the side of the engine. He replaced the rod and used a flattened oil can and perma-tex to plug the hole and drove it home. Don't know if he screwed the tin to the block or not.

Glen

 

[BILL WILLIAMSON]

Not really a farmer fix, but Chief described a PILE DRIVER, built by the W.P.A. It was a rear end, mounted on an "AA" flatbed, run by the P.T.O, brakes operated by hand levers, reels mounted to the drums & cables up to a tower, with a HEAVY driving weight.
In the '50's, I saw similar designed rigs, used to stack HAY, using LETHAL looking BIG PRONGED FORKS. It was AMAZING to see the operator in ACTION!!! He could throw hay bales atop a HUMONGEOUS TALL STACK! Wish I had pics.
Bill W.

 

[JAKEFORD]

Most of these are very ingenious and to me display the determination of the people involved. They never gave up.