For as long as I’ve known Jason (like… a hella long time now) his dad has had this old pedal tractor just hanging out in the flower bed in front of the house. I never really gave it much thought until recently when I got a wild hair to fix it up.
Note the rusted wheels, missing tire, missing right front tire, dent in the hood, and complete lack of actually being functional.
So, I knew the hardest part of this project was going to be removing all of the old rusted bolts and screws. I wasn’t disappointed.
After the wheel, I decided to tackle the cover plate on the bottom of the tractor. After soaking everything in penetrating oil for a few days with no results, I ended up taking a chisel and just breaking the heads off all of the screws. And what did I find? Bees…. I found bees.
Also, the chain is literally rusted into that position and doesn’t move.
With the cover plate removed I could then remove the bolts and nuts that held the rear axle assembly onto the chassis. I just took my dremel and cut the chain in half so I didn’t have to deal with it. I’ll just get a new one.
I managed to get the steering wheel off without a fuss, but the seat is held on by a carriage bolt and nut that’s rusted in place. I can’t get ahold of the carriage bolt, so the seat stays for now! Now that the rear axle is removed, it’s time to split the case. Two of the screws actually just threaded out fairly easily. The rest of them I had to use my trusty chisel, dremel, and vise grips.
Finally I got all of the bolts removed and could split the case. Inside I found some more bees and the steering linkage!
The story, as I was later told, was that the giant dent on the top of the tractor was from Jason hitting it with a hammer as a child. This is why we can’t have nice things! The metal is some sort of casting. I asked a friend about it and they said it was probably “pot metal” and not cast aluminum. So since pot metal is essentially the hot dog of the metal world since you don’t really know what’s in it, I had to be careful to not just break it. I gently beat it back into shape as close as I could and then used some JB Weld as filler to make it mostly flat.
After many hours with the grinder and brass brushes, the case was ready for primer and a fresh, well deserved, coat of John Deere green!
The steering wheel is some sort of rubbery plastic that was pretty moldy and gross. I sanded off as much as I could to smooth it out and then glued it back together where it had cracked. After the glue dried I hit it with the heat gun. That melts the top layer of the plastic and makes it shiny and black again!
I did the same thing with the seat after I drilled out the center of the carriage bolt holding it hostage.
I got the steering all cleaned up and put back together. I just ordered new front wheels and tires that slid right onto the axle. The end caps just hammer on and we’re set!
Now that the steering is done, I can bolt the case back together since everything else is accessible through the bottom of the tractor.
The rear wheels were super rusty and pretty shot. One tire was already missing and the other was damaged so I took my cut off wheel and removed it.
The wheel sounds like it has confetti inside with all of the crusty rust particles. It took me a while to get all of the rust off the wheels but finally I managed and got both of the wheels straightened out and painted bright yellow.
Fun fact: the tires for this little tractor are expensive and like solid rubber. To install them they literally get baked in the oven for half an hour. Made the house smell awesome.
Now it’s time to tackle the rear axle. After a lot of hammering and a few choice words I finally got the other wheel off. We then realized that the reason the wheel was so hard to remove was that the axle was bent. Awesome. Jason got his propane torch he uses for cooking (melting cheese) and we heated up the bent part and hammered it back straight.
Now that the rear axle is installed I need to install the crank!
The wheel on the right side is the drive wheel and the left just spins freely. Now that the rust is removed and the axle is straight the wheels just slide onto the axle easily. It’s amazing how much easier reassembly is when everything is clean and pretty!
Next up is the seat. I hit the plastic with a heat gun to make it shiny again. The hardware that bolted it on originally had to be drilled out, so I replaced it with an allen-head bolt so even if it rusts again it’ll be easy to get out! The steering wheel was also easy to reinstall. I used all stainless hardware because we’ve spent too much time on boats not to!
I also ordered some reproduction decals for the sides of the tractor to really bring it back to factory specs!
It looks nearly new! I’m really happy with how this little tractor turned out. I didn’t know if it was going to be possible because of how rusty everything was, but aside from being a little sloppy it’s a fully functional pedal tractor again!
Parting shots with the big tractor!
After Christmas, Jason and I loaded her up in the back of the jeep and headed south to McAllen Texas to visit Jasons sister and her husband and the tractor’s new owner Clay! He seems to be pleased with it!
Mission accomplished!