A+ restoration on John Deere B
Mechanic Nick Hoffman starts up his 1951 two-cylinder John Deere B after spending six months restoring the tractor. (Press photo by Molly Moser)
By Molly Moser
“All my life I wanted to be that guy that could do anything mechanically,” said rural Guttenberg resident Nick Hoffman, who brought his restored 1951 John Deere B tractor to Plagman Barn show days in September. “A lot depends on how bad you want it.”
Hoffman bought the tractor from his uncle, a Monona-area farmer, and it originally belonged to his great-uncle. After sitting unused for 16 years, it was “nothing but a boat anchor,” said Hoffman. The pistons were seized, the brakes were locked, and the clutch was unmovable – among other things.
The mechanic brought two tractors to Plagman Barn this year: the John Deere and an orange Allis Chalmers he also owns. He currently works for CJ Moyna as a maintenance mechanic, and has also worked as a truck driver and heavy equipment operator. He took shop classes in high school, but beyond that, Hoffman says his mechanical skills are self-taught. When he gets stuck, he looks to Google or YouTube to find others who’ve overcome the mechanical obstacles he’s facing.
In October of 2015, Hoffman started the John Deere restoration by taking out the tractor’s spark plugs and filling the cylinders with lubricating cleaner foam. Then, he physically rocked the tractor to get the pistons moving. Within a half hour, the parts started to unlock. “It was a very exciting moment,” Hoffman told The Press.
Next, he worked at unlocking the brakes – which each engage with a separate pedal – and unlocking the rusted hand clutch. He hired Carquest Auto Parts of Elkader to rebuild the starter, and in the mean time, he parked the tractor on a hill and pop-started it by having another driver pull the tractor until he could throw it into gear. He rebuilt the carburetor, replaced the front tires and wiring, and built several add-ons himself, including a mud flap. "Kenny Greve of Millville built the steps and did an awesome job," he said.
After draining and replacing the fluids throughout, the next step was restoring the body of the 1951 tractor. “I wanted to keep everything original, which is why I did all the body work myself,” said Hoffman. He pounded out dents and filled holes with three to four layers of body filler, making them nearly invisible to the untrained eye.
He spent days repairing the tractor’s front grill, which he says is one of the most commonly abused parts of an older tractor. “If you have to see a lot of progress to stay interested, you’re probably not going to like doing a restoration,” Hoffman chuckled. “The grill alone took me two weeks.”
Finally, Hoffman began sandblasting and painting the John Deere its classic green and yellow colors. He used a spray gun with an air compressor to do the job, which is a delicate one because applying too much paint will cause drips – meaning a painter has to start all over.
“You have to be patient. You’re not going to fix everything in a day and you might have to do it six times. I painted this thing seven times before I was satisfied,” said the mechanic.
His persistence and hard work paid off, and after six months, the project was complete. Hoffman brought both his tractors by trailer to Plagman Barn, where they joined the ranks of the area’s well-preserved pieces of agricultural history.
