1946 W4 comes home.

Kiwi Farmall · Mar 22, 2015

This 1947 Case Dex is as close to one my grandfather had, that Dad and I could find. (Sadly it is not one of the original family tractors). My grandfather had three Case tractors , D , Dex and a DC. My grandfathers Dex had steel wheel cutoff rims altered to take rubber tires. Dad and I will restore this one , and it will be Dad's tractor (I have a 1941 Farmall A and a 1947 W4). My Uncle has a Case D similar to the early one my grandfather had, so only missing a DC.

Marveltone · Mar 22, 2015

Looks to be in pretty good shape. I'm familiar with the D and DC, but never heard of the Dex. Is it an Australia/New Zealand model?

Kiwi Farmall · Mar 23, 2015

Hi Joe
The Case DEX is an export model. I have seen photos of the DEX in NZ, UK, Australia and South Africa but other info is hard to find. I am not sure (yet) what all was different about the DEX to the standard D model.
The 1947 DEX has full rear fenders but my Uncle's 1940 D has the clamshell style, but have seen full fenders on the standard Case D as well.
We have the cylinder head (off the DEX) at the engine reconditioners as one valve is stuck open. We haven't had it running yet (we bought it with a suspected blown head gasket).The rear fenders are rusted at the back and will need repair but overall not too bad. We also bought the spare tires that the previous owner had bought to go onto it as the rear tires are mismatched and are getting hard to find here.

Kiwi Farmall · Mar 23, 2015

My Uncle 's 1940 Case D. It has been fitted with the wrong size rear tires and still need to be replaced with the correct size.

Kiwi Farmall · Mar 23, 2015

Joe how is your W4 going? Are you restoring it or getting it running and leaving as it is?

My 1947 McCormick Deering W4 in original condition (it will stay this way). Has faded to a gold colour which I think is due to the lack of red pigment in the red paint when IH used yellow to make the paint go further. It would paint up well but the attention it gets being gold is unreal. I have clear coated it to try and preserve it.

DJ54 · Mar 23, 2015

Maybe I'm weird, but after years of seeing them all cleaned up and shiny new paint, the one's in original condition w/faded paint, will draw my attention first. A tractor that has been taken care of for 60+ years, and in great condition overall. A little ding here and there gives them a lot of character. And since it seems nowadays we've become a throw away society, it great to see someone took a lot of pride in maintaining a piece of equipment they made a living with.

Marveltone · Mar 23, 2015

Kiwi Farmall said:
View attachment 417776
Joe how is your W4 going? Are you restoring it or getting it running and leaving as it is?

My 1947 McCormick Deering W4 in original condition (it will stay this way). Has faded to a gold colour which I think is due to the lack of red pigment in the red paint when IH used yellow to make the paint go further. It would paint up well but the attention it gets being gold is unreal. I have clear coated it to try and preserve it.

That's a nice piece of equipment you have! The gold is really unique.

Mine is in a state of Limbo at the moment, although I'd like to get it running and probably just leave it in its "work clothes". However, my baby girl is graduating this spring, my oldest son is getting married shortly after, and my wife and I are hosting a family reunion later in the summer. To add to all this, last night, we just found out some dear friends of ours are moving away, so we're thinking of taking on some of their livestock, which means more building projects for me in the form of animal housing. I seem to have a bit on my plate this summer.

I'm afraid the old W4 will have to wait for yet another year.