Brought the old girl home today

[woodsman2011]

Hey folks. Finally took the plunge. After driving all day (some of it being lost) I bagged a Commercial 12. Been sitting over winter (or longer) so I jumped it off of my truck battery. It would run with ether shot to it but I can fix that. Fuel pump does work. It seems that it has something keeping the fire off of it (no spark). I noticed when I was tinkering with it at the po's house that it would quit running even with ether so I'd say it was lose spark then. Any quick thoughts on this is welcome. But it did start right up with no smoke, knocks or other noises. I can't wait to get er running. I'm going to put some pics here. There is one with the placard on the engine blower housing. Can anyone here decipher the numbers and tell me any info (year model, etc)? It has a Studebaker emblem smake dab in the middle of the front (what would be a grille).

Thanks folks

Kelly

P.S. I'm looking for a rotary turning plow in the worst kind of way. Need a good one if anyone knows of one. I'm in western N.C.

P.S.S. The tractor serial # is J-32738.

Thanks

 

[woodsman2011]

OK. Found out some info on this thing. By the serial # it was made in 1968. That per Richard at GravelyShop.com. Seems real knowledgable about thes beast and told me quite a bit about my tractor.

Mechanical issues: The key switch is the loss of fire so I got one of them coming in tomorrow. Carb was TOTALLY gummed up so disassembled and its in the carb soak right now. Kit coming in with the switch tomorrow (or so I'm told).

If all goes well, this baby outta be purrin' like a kitten tomorrow evening. I guess we'll see.

Kelly

 

[rmully]

Good luck with that!! Seems like a fun project. Are parts available?

 

[Samandothers]

Nice I really like the Gravely's. I have never used one like yours. Have a early 70's Convertible I really enjoy. Great for tight locations.

 

[jamesn]

i have a rotary plow, i live in texas though, call me tomorrow at 281-659-0107 my name is james, i also have a 5260 for sale, runs good, 8 hp kohler, smokes a little, nothing major though, have the mowera 30 inch rotary sulky. i want 700.00 for all

 

[woodsman2011]

Good luck with that!! Seems like a fun project. Are parts available?

Parts are still available for the tractor. Richard has a bunch and there are some other parts outlets on the web. I maybe could've had it running yesterday but I saw, what I thought was crud in the bottom of the needle seat. But what I was looking at was a rubber mating part of the seat. Did that stop me from diggin' it outta there? NAH, not me. (my eyes ain't what they used to be). But on the flipside, I ran carb cleaner through the fuel inlet and checked the flow and it didn't seem to be what it should. In short, a good overnight soaking and a kit won't hurt.

Side note. My truck ran real crappy coming back and still don't seem to run like a SB Chevy outta run at highway speed. Looks like I have another carb to overhaul and fuel pump too.

Kelly

 

[woodsman2011]

Nice I really like the Gravely's. I have never used one like yours. Have a early 70's Convertible I really enjoy. Great for tight locations.

My daddy built these things when Gravely came to the Clemmons NC location. I lost him June 2010 and felt a need for one of 'em. Makes me feel a little closer to him even though he's gone.

Kelly

Really important to me that my mechanical skills don't fail me now.

 

[Samandothers]

Use to go by that Gravely shop on 158 between Winston and Clemmons often. First Gravely I used was a late 40's or early 50's L my dad had. I remember the handles were wooden. He/we used it until he bought the 70's unit I have. When he passed in 2005 I got the one he had.
Like father like son. I had bought a 1961 unit used and used it for several years. I sold it after getting dads. Great memories and great pieces of equipment.

 

[woodsman2011]

I just noticed your location Sam. I bought my tractor from a fella in Harrisburg. Pretty fair little haul from here. And I agree, probably the toughest machine in a small package that has ever been built.

Heres my update on getting this thing running:

Carb is back together and on the tractor. Waiting on a new switch which I'll have tomorrow. (last one was wrong, my bad). Not sure if this will fix the no fire problem but if it does or it don't, I'll be converting it to a breaker point ign. system with a little help from GravelyShop.com. Talked to Rick today and he said he could send me a kit with all I need to make the switch. Did anybody know that the wire that runs from the bottom of the coil into the blower housing carries something like 150,000 volts. (I think thats what Rick told me, anyhow its a bunch) and he told me that when this thing is running, steer clear of that wire. He knows of a fella that didn't and he hasn't been right since. My tractor currently has the breakerless electronic igntition. After the swap I'll not have that problem. Another reason to do this swap; there is 3-4 components in the ign. system used on my tractor and Rick told me that if I had to buy them all I'd be lookin' at @ $1000.00. Not for me, I'll take the points.

Anyhow, I'm gonna put the switch I get tomorrow on and see if it'll run. I want to see how my carb overhaul works out.

Kelly

 

[woodsman2011]

OK. Put on the switch and now have fire going to the coil, but still no spark. Can't wait to get my hands on the conversion kit and get this thing going. i did find a rotary turning plow. I'll look at it next weekend and see if its worth getting.