Our farm AC since 37. Your tires may be matched, but not orig would have had 12-28s, not sure when tire nos changed, but we had new 57 D-17d and it had upsized Goodyears 14-28s, none of the decimal point numbers. As the second one worth restoring, again time and money and what else is in the barnyard. Green guys would have large brass plates made proclaiming the history and expect double normal auction price-Oliver guys would look up the build sheet, tell you what day and shift it was built and where it was shipped. Good luck!
If the engine gets a full tear down. Check the cam cause the first few hundred were dealer demo tractors and had an Lp gas cam grind to up the power. They lugged more than a standard gas. We have one and so does a few friends and found out when we wanted the special grind done on them. The seat is a Monroe seat. The snap coupler was standard in 53. The pad on the block by the cab should have a serial number. It should be very close to the serial number of the tractor if correct block.
Interesting find. The seat appears to be a Joy Rider aftermarket seat, not a later AC seat. The carburetor is not the correct one. I also noticed it never had the snap coupler hitch system added to it. The first WD45s did not have snap coupler. Looking forward to its restoration.
I just looked at the block from my WD45, mine is AM3853-10. I forgot to look for a number below it. My tractor is a 1955. I'm guessing that AM3853 is the actual casting number, the -10 (or -21 in your case) may refer to the patterns used to make the sand molds for casting? Since they mass produced these I'm guessing they had more than one set of patterns, and the number would help identify which pattern made the mold if manufacturing problems came up. I work in die cast tooling and the same type of system is still used to identify mold cavities in case of production problems. It's cool you realized the significance of that tired old tractor. Personally I like them unrestored because then I'm not afraid to work them, but that one probably deserves a restoration. Thank you for being willing to save it! Hope you have a good one!
I would say restore it back to original. The first tractor I bought was a WD45 back in the early 80s and farmed with it so I have a soft spot for these tractors so make her stand tall and proud again. Bandit
Our farm AC since 37. Your tires may be matched, but not orig would have had 12-28s, not sure when tire nos changed, but we had new 57 D-17d and it had upsized Goodyears 14-28s, none of the decimal point numbers. As the second one worth restoring, again time and money and what else is in the barnyard. Green guys would have large brass plates made proclaiming the history and expect double normal auction price-Oliver guys would look up the build sheet, tell you what day and shift it was built and where it was shipped. Good luck!
Total restoration...
If the engine gets a full tear down. Check the cam cause the first few hundred were dealer demo tractors and had an Lp gas cam grind to up the power. They lugged more than a standard gas. We have one and so does a few friends and found out when we wanted the special grind done on them. The seat is a Monroe seat. The snap coupler was standard in 53. The pad on the block by the cab should have a serial number. It should be very close to the serial number of the tractor if correct block.
Interesting...looking forward to seeing a video of it restored!!
Full resto!
Great video! Nice history on WD45s.
Interesting find. The seat appears to be a Joy Rider aftermarket seat, not a later AC seat. The carburetor is not the correct one. I also noticed it never had the snap coupler hitch system added to it. The first WD45s did not have snap coupler. Looking forward to its restoration.
I just looked at the block from my WD45, mine is AM3853-10. I forgot to look for a number below it. My tractor is a 1955. I'm guessing that AM3853 is the actual casting number, the -10 (or -21 in your case) may refer to the patterns used to make the sand molds for casting? Since they mass produced these I'm guessing they had more than one set of patterns, and the number would help identify which pattern made the mold if manufacturing problems came up. I work in die cast tooling and the same type of system is still used to identify mold cavities in case of production problems. It's cool you realized the significance of that tired old tractor. Personally I like them unrestored because then I'm not afraid to work them, but that one probably deserves a restoration. Thank you for being willing to save it! Hope you have a good one!
Thanks for the info!
I would say restore it back to original. The first tractor I bought was a WD45 back in the early 80s and farmed with it so I have a soft spot for these tractors so make her stand tall and proud again. Bandit
Thanks Bandit, I think a full restoration is in it's future.
Fix it up if you have the time and money and energy.