..with two issues.



The first is I lost my mind and bought, not just one, but two John Deere H tractors sight unseen.

I really don't know what I was thinking, but the deal is done and both are home now. Frankly, I don't think any of you can help me with my obvious mental instability so we'll just skip it at this point.



My true (debatable) problem is the one tractor that shows promise is seized. The pistons are rusted tight in the bores. Well at least one is, by the sound they make tapping on them with a wood block and a hammer.  The first week, I soaked the cylinders with WD40 and had zero luck. I've since removed the head and discovered most of the muffler inside the exhaust ports. Also found a mouse skeleton inside the water jacket of the head. How the hell does that happen?  I've scraped most of the rust out of the bores and have applied copious amounts of heat and PB Blaster many, many times. After cooling I've applied some torque to the flywheel with a 6' bar very gently and it simply will not budge. I'm starting to see some oil coming past the piston on the back side of one, but not much.



Right now Im trying to remove the con rod caps to see if I can get the block, rods and pistons out in a single unit, but I'm having a hell of time getting to the cap bolts. It's like giving a gopher a colonoscopy in there.



Is there any other tricks that I could be doing? I'm going to rebore and replace pistons, but I have to get these damn things out first.

Sell em to some sucker.

My ex father-in-law restored a lot of old tractors, and was pretty damn good at it. He had the same kind of mental issues as you, it sounds like

His Farmall M sat for about two months, plum full of kerosene and automatic transmission fluid before he got it broke loose. He swore by it.

I think he said it sat in an old hay barn from about 1967 till he bought it in 1988.

+1.  Let it sit for a while to do it's magic.

Thanks for the input everyone.
The thing is and I could be way off but I figured since this is a horizontal cylinder motor, there was no way I would be able to get any "juice" up to the top of the cylinder where it's really needed. Especially with the sparkplug hole only about halfway up.
After that first week of messing around with it, I've taken the head off and have been heating, spraying and tapping on the top of the pistons with a block of wood and a two pounder every day. One piston gives a dull thwack sound so I think that one is somewhat loose. The other rings like a bell.  Just sounds tight in there.
Right now the plan is to disconnect one connecting rod and turn the crankshaft to push the block forward off the main case with the stuck piston in it. The disconnected piston/rod assembly will ride along in the block as well. At this point I should be able to get to the bolts to remove the other connecting rod.
Then at least I can get the block out of the tractor and orientate it with the cylinders and pistons pointing up. Then whatever cocktail of stuff they say works will reach all the way around so to speak. Also, it'll be much easier to swing a 16 lbs RBFH if it comes down to that.
The other tractor may be a lost cause. I knew the block had been very obviously brazed a number of times. It wasn't till it was on the trailer and out of the rattlesnake infested grass that I saw the bottom of the main case has been blown out with frost. I was willing to do another block, but the main case is a death sentence, I think.  It does have some good parts on it, a full set of shutters, electric starting motor, lights, etc.
I need to get this first one apart first as I don't even know what oversize pistons to start looking for even.
 
 

Are you in the market for a couple of rather large paperweights?

I think we both know who the sucker is here.



 

Both tractors are mid 40's vintage and have been sitting since the late sixties. Outside. In the weather. Exposed to rain, snow, squirrel piss and whatever else could crawl into them.



I wonder sometimes just what the hell I'm thinking at times.



 

I've heard good things about acetone and ATF.  Might try that.



 

I saw that when I was elbow deep in the crankcase.


It was a "Well I'll be damned" moment.





I was also surprised the camshaft isn't bigger really.


Kinda cool they way they let it make torque multiplication like that.


Crank runs twice as fast as the cam.



Well, the temp just dropped below 90 so I'm going to go work on it some more.