John Deere 60 repair

[ricky racer]

Looking good! One issue that John Deere carbs had is so many of them somehow end up with water in the float bowl. When it freezes it will bust off the stem that secures the bowl. Since the stem is a cast feature of the carburetor body, it renders the carburetor useless. You're lucky your is good!

[cjet69]

Looking good! One issue that John Deere carbs had is so many of them somehow end up with water in the float bowl. When it freezes it will bust off the stem that secures the bowl. Since the stem is a cast feature of the carburetor body, it renders the carburetor useless. You're lucky your is good!

I've seen a couple that had that happen. I have a video on rebuilding these JD carbs from Roberts Carb Repair and they make new threaded ends and have a jig to weld them back up. I think the company changed hands so I don't know if they offer that repair anymore.

[cjet69]

Received the new radiator core and a later model upper water pipe assy that has the thermostat in it. This tractor is an early model that used a bellows type thermostat in the lower radiator tank that ran a shutter to control the temp. The old bellows doesn't work and it didn't have the shutter on it. Both castings and the water pipe diameter are different between the early and late model upper water pipes.

[cjet69]

Sandblasted and primed the water outlet. To get all of the parts needed he had to buy some duplicates from Ebay sellers. I'll get some green shot on these tomorrow along with the distributor.

[cjet69]

The upper water pipe and extra casting are all sprayed green along with the Distributor, coil, and mounting brackets.

[ajhbike]

I too had the ball plugs and didn't want to drill them out so I ended up bending a small torch cleaner...I used the long drills for the other 2 of the 4 holes that are kind of together for the all gas carbs.

[cjet69]

Radiator core is installed. I'll get the water pump bolted on and then its time to install on the tractor.

[cjet69]

Had my brother come over to help wrestle the radiator up onto the tractor. Managed to get it on without any damage. After it was on, I installed the water pump, hose, and lower water pipe. Had the shroud laying over the fan shaft before the rad was put in place.

[cjet69]

Installed a new oil filter and setup the pressure tank to pre-lube the engine. Plumed it in to the oil pressure port on the governor. Pumped about a gallon through it and got oil at the rod and main bearings and up to the rocker shaft oil tube. Its ready to put the rocker cover back on and the crankcase cover. Its getting close now. I just have the upper water pipe, carb and intake pipes, air cleaner, and the alternator. most everything is just bolts and gaskets with a little wiring. Can't wait for the test fire.

[cjet69]

I have pretty much all of the parts back on the tractor except for the hood, grille, flywheel cover, exhaust pipe, and steering shaft. I need to set the timing and fill with water and then its time to go for startup and check it over for any issues like water or oil leaks. Hopefully this will happen tomorrow. If all goes well, I can finish up the wiring for the alternator and button everything up.

[ajhbike]

Enjoy the anticipation when you stomp on that starter pedal! It'll start...you know too much for it not to.
I too put in a 1 wire alternator and I made it simple...I went from the alternator to an on off switch straight to the battery. I have the switch to stop any vampire malarkey and can charge when I need to. No magneto cut off. Looking forward to hearing it run

[cjet69]

Enjoy the anticipation when you stomp on that starter pedal! It'll start...you know too much for it not to.
I too put in a 1 wire alternator and I made it simple...I went from the alternator to an on off switch straight to the battery. I have the switch to stop any vampire malarkey and can charge when I need to. No magneto cut off. Looking forward to hearing it run

I hope your right. Hopefully I don't have to chase leaks or other gremlins once its going. Dad would often put in a pressure switch in an oil line to cut power so you don't end up with a dead battery. We'll see if we need something like that on this one.

[cjet69]

Miracles do happen. The JD 60 runs again after 25 years. After filling the carb with fuel and the radiator with water it popped on the first revolution of the starter and after choking for a couple turns it came to life. It seems to rum good. The oil pressure came up right away and the charging system is working. When filling the radiator, we noticed the water pump was leaking out the weep hole. After running for a while, it is still leaking so my cousin is going to order a new one along with a new exhaust pipe. I guess after 25 years some things are going to get lost. Need to finish tidying up the wiring, change out the water pump, and get the steering shaft, hood, and grille installed and then maybe it can go home.

[dgrapes59]

Congratulations!! A job well done, you should be proud! I do think you failed with the subject title... "repair" .... what an understatement!

Thanks for all the pictures and documentation, it was enjoyable to follow,

[cjet69]

Congratulations!! A job well done, you should be proud! I do think you failed with the subject title... "repair" .... what an understatement!

Thanks for all the pictures and documentation, it was enjoyable to follow,

The project did grow quite a bit from what we originally talked about. I'm just glad to get to this point where its running again.