Found Under A Collapsed Barn, This 1953 Farmall Super C Needs All The Help It Can Get!

[Farmall_Needs_A_Friend]

Hello Experts & Enthusiast's!

We have a 1953 Farmall Super C that was just unearthed from a barn that fell over many years ago. This tractor is covered in green algae and has been sitting in extremely wet rainy conditions here in the Pacific Northwest for the last 25 years! It belonged to our grandfather who used it religiously during his lifetime and it is our hopes to restore it so we can bring life back to this farm and begin plowing our garden this season. Let me give you a few details about it's current status.

We were told it was running when it was last parked 25 years ago. It's a 6V system with a dead battery. Can we use a 12V truck battery to test it before buying a 6V battery that we cannot return? I feel like the generator / regulator has got to be bad on this thing from sitting in the weather so long and conversations are ongoing about possibly converting it to a 12V system to save on future and expensive repairs. I see one wire alternators listed on Amazon but I'm hesitant to purchase the wrong one. The Ignition box is swimming in water and muck. Hard to believe anything survived.

Front tires turn nicely and appear to hold air. The rear tires however are flat and spewing water when we tried to put air in them. They are both locked up and neither would turn either direction when we jacked up each individual side. One of the rear tires has a few 12" horizontal tears on the sidewall from sitting flat for so many years. Can we patch the sidewall with a boot patch on Amazon without having to spend a massive amount of money to replace the outer tire? Both have good tread and we were hoping to replace the inner tubes ourselves after watching a couple of videos. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

We managed to remove the brakes from the brake pedal side but haven't removed the brakes from the clutch side just yet. We're not sure if this is why the tires are still stuck or if another problem exists with the axles or bull gears? The transmission appears to be in neutral so we don't think it's a clutch or transmission issue. We would like to tow it closer to our garage to work on it further but with the tires being jammed and the front bucket lowered to the ground via the hydraulic system we're not sure how best to accomplish this task. To be honest I feel like the odds are against us. Family doesn't care about anything anymore and we're pretty much on our own trying to restore this place.

Thanks for taking the time to read this post! If anyone has any helpful tips to get this beautiful tractor up and running again we plan on spending the entire weekend doing everything we can to get this thing running or at least towed closer to our garage so we can continue working on it.

[ajhbike]

Yes you can briefly test to see if the starter will energize, but I would see if the engine turns freely first. Yes conversion to 12V is pretty easy and yes I would get a 1 wire alternator...DB electrical has good ones...you don't need much amp generation but you want to make sure the pulley size is right. 6V, generators and regulators are a pain and to replace will be about as much as converting.
I would try towing the tractor even with the bad tires a bit to see if the wheels will unlock...yes taking the disk brake assemblies off takes that variable out of the equation (save the 3 brake balls!). Tow it backwards would be best.

[staninlowerAL]

Welcome to the forum. Sounds like you have your work cut out for you. I would try to establish someplace for the project that has protection from the weather. You're going to be opening up the internals so that's going to be a priority to give it all the protection that you can. Next I would concentrate on getting major systems (first the engine and then the transmission) moving as it should. You can then assess the other parts of the tractor and determine what you want or are able to do to get it operational. I would not buy any parts until you can get a good assessment of the scope of the project. Good Luck with your family heirloom. JMHO Stan

[Farmall_Needs_A_Friend]

Hello Again!

After spending much of the weekend trying to get the Super C running I must say I'm not having much luck getting it started. Two issues I'm having would be getting it to start with a 12V battery on a 6V system and possibly a bad or malfunctioning starter?

I was able to switch the two cables on the back of the ignition coil which I believe converts it from Positive to Negative ground. Likewise, I was able to switch the two cables on the ammeter which I am under the impression also converts it from Positive to Negative ground. I disconnected what I believe is the L Terminal cable on the Ignition switch (two wires connected to one prong for headlights and regulator) but once I connected the battery cables backwards (ground cable from tractor to positive on battery / positive cable from starter to negative on battery) I received no response when pulling the ignition rod that was connected to the starter? No noises whatsoever it was just dead silent...

At this point I'm uncertain whether I have configured something incorrectly or if the starter itself is faulty? Can anyone give me any reccomendations on troubleshooting this issue? We do have a hand crank to start the Super C manually but I'm not sure if you can hand crank a tractor that has a bad starter or possible electrical issues? Thank you very much for reading this post. I'm determined to keep trying if anyone out there can lend me some advice!

[ajhbike]

I am not sure what you mean when you say you connected the battery cables backwards?

When I get to this point where I have made a bunch of changes I would check to see if the switches are functioning. And I am by no means proficient at this but if you think of the path the power has to take (referencing some ignition charts) but struggle through the testing. At least see if you have 12V at the starter when you pull the rod to engage the little rocker switch with the other lead grounded to the tractor.

Ignition charts will help you determine correct ignition pull switch, ammeter and coil hookup. I wouldn't worry about the regulator/generator. You need to get the starter to turn. Then you can move on to distributor, plug wires, etc. It has been a while since I have had to do the simple system stuff, but the Deere, Ferguson, Ford and Farmalls are similar except for the odd solenoid.

Anyone else jump in here.....

[staninlowerAL]

My approach would be to remove the starter and using jumper cables connect it to a good battery (6v or 12v doesn't matter at this point), ground the starter to the battery and briefly touch the post directly on the starter (not the saddle switch) to see if the starter will run. If no response you've either got no electrical contact or the starter is in need of some internal repairs. If it runs, then trace the path from the "hot" battery cable to see it there is a continuous path. Likewise, trace the "ground" path to see if it is continuous. BTW, the starter grounds through the frame so the path needs to be wire brush shiny clean. JMHO Stan

[Farmall_Needs_A_Friend]

Hey Guys!

We have some good news to report. We managed to get our tractor to crank with the 12V battery Thursday. The ignition switch, starter switch, and ignition coil all showed 12V when we tested it with a multimeter. We confirmed the fan is spinning and all the belts/pulleys appear to be working correctly. We're not sure how many valves are working inside the engine but it's not seized and sounded strong.

We also managed to get the brake cover off the clutch side and confirmed both wheels are unlocked and spinning in both directions! Everything seems to be heading in a positive direction and I believe our persistence has paid off. I do have a couple of questions if anyone can chime in with a tip or two?

The gas tank had about 3 gallons of varnished fuel but nothing would flow through the inlet at the bottom of the tank into the sediment bowl. The fuel line to the carburetor was also dry. The on/off lever for the sediment bowl was open but something is keeping the gas from flowing from the tank? We managed to remove the gas tank but have no idea how best to clean the flakes of rust and debris inside or refurbish it? The inlet piece underneath it is also super stuck to the bottom of the gas tank and we don't know what the best approach would be to remove it? Any recommendations would be super helpful! you very much for all of your helpful tips!

[Don McCombs]

Use your favorite penetrant on the fuel strainer threads. PB Blaster or similar. Keep spraying it every day for a week.