[racinwyocowboy]

My brother and I inherited this B. My grandpa bought it new and my Dad restored it 3 yrs ago. The temp gauge doesn’t move and I’ve let it run for 20 min about 1/4 throttle. Yes it has coolant. The gauges are original and easy to read. Should I see the temp gauge move in 20 min?

 

[flyweight]

View attachment 780893
My brother and I inherited this B. My grandpa bought it new and my Dad restored it 3 yrs ago.

Beautiful tractor.

The temp gauge doesn’t move and I’ve let it run for 20 min about 1/4 throttle. Yes it has coolant. The gauges are original and easy to read. Should I see the temp gauge move in 20 min?

I would expect it to move after only 5 minutes.
Place a section of cardboard in front of the radiator to see if the gauge move.

 

[BigJim55]

nice restoration there. does the jd B haven't to have shutters on it? my model 50 doesn't-but my uncles model 50 does.

maybe the shutters aren't working? other than that i don'tknow--i have to run my 50 around a bit till it heats up.

 

[tommyhawk]

Nice tractor for sure!
As far as I know, all styled B tractors came with shutters. Look through the grills up front to see if they are still there. The lever below the throttle operates them. Pushing that lever forward opens the shutters, pulled back closes them.
The thermo-syphon cooling system (no water pump or thermostat) works very well with a clean radiator in these old two cylinder B's. The very latest B's may have a water pump, or one added. I have not seen one yet, though. It is not unusual to run the engine for quite a while before seeing the temp gage go above 160 degrees. Especially when the air temp is low. It usually takes some hard work, meaning a heavy pull for some time, to raise the temp above 180. Plowing, disking, belt work, or PTO load will do it.
That appears to be a gas model (one fuel tank) rather than an all fuel model. The all fuel engine needs to be warmed up before switching it from gas to kerosene. The shutters in the closed position will help raise the temp. The fan will make a different sound in the closed position.
Something you might find in the operators manual is to never shut the engine off until the temp is below 190 or so. Let it run just above idle to let it cool then shut it down. Shutting it down while it is in the 200 or more range could result in a cracked head.

tommyhawk

 

[Trebor]

nice restoration there. does the jd B haven't to have shutters on it? my model 50 doesn't-but my uncles model 50 does.

maybe the shutters aren't working? other than that i don'tknow--i have to run my 50 around a bit till it heats up.

I agree with BigJim55. Our 50 very seldom moves the needle. We have to put it under a heavy load to get it to move.

 

[racinwyocowboy]

Thanks for the replies. It does not have shutters or a water pump and has a single fuel tank. The air temp was in mid 50’s so probably not warm enough to get the gauge to move. Not that I have it at my house I’ll use a infrared thermometer and see what I find for temp. Serial # says it’s a ‘51.
It hasn’t been run much in the last 2 1/2 yrs so I did a service before loading it and changed oil and filter. Drained fuel and replaced with a few gallons of fresh fuel (non ethanol), new battery and it fired right up. Been doing a lot of reading about the power-trol system and looking for manuals, couldn’t find my dads but still have lots of stuff to go thru.