new wd 45 engine questions and more

my brother in law bought a wd45 from a friends dad who has had this tractor for more than twenty years and we have a few questions.  it has been untouched since he has owned it and he said as far as he knows its original. first it looks like a 45 engine but instead of the spin on oil filter it has a canister style filter on it. secondly it has a mag on it instead if a distributor. someone told him it was a combine engine but i dont know . is it possible that it came this way?? it runs very good and is really a nice complete tractor except the pin style drawbar (he wants to switch to s-c) and bald front tires. i thought it was a deal for $550. as always, thanks for any input...Jb

What's the serial number of this tractor?  The "no snap coupler" puzzles me, unless someone intentionally changed it.  The oil filter type *might* have been changed.  I've never been a fan of the original type of filtration system. 

Edited by DougS - 08 Dec 2011 at 9:03pm

You guys post faster that me. lol

The curved shifters came out with the late WD's so that doesn't make it a 45. Maybe it was put together from a few different tractors.

ill get the serial number and some pics . wheres the engine number?  i know the shifter doesnt matter, im just trying to give you guys all the info i can until i get the serial and engine numbers. is it possible that it  didnt come with s-c.? was it standard or optional?..Jb

Just about anything can be changed on these tractors as old as they are getting. I've put together several tractors from parts I've had lying around myself. Sometimes the only real way to know what you have is to pull the head and measure the stroke.

SC was standard equipment from WD146607 on. 

My Dad's WD45 had the four bolt wide front axle support and didn't have snap-coupler on it until he bought a 70 series 3 x 16" plow.

the canister filter sounds just like  Leroi. I had one.

I'm not too sure about the Leroi's.

im going to the farm first thing in the morning with a pen and paper and a camera. it will be late evening before i get the info up...maybe then we'll have some answers...by the way thanks for all the replies..Jb

here are the pictures of the tractor. serial number 175252. i compared this one to my 1955 wd45 side by side and they are identical except the mag,carb,oil filter and the head is different. the head off the subject is the top pic the 1955 wd45 is the pic below. the difference is the shape of the head at the spark plug. it has a zenith carb. there is no plate on the side of the engine. there are numbers on the block but i didnt have anything to scratch the peeling paint off with...Jb

i had to make room for the pics here they are

without knowing the actual height of your head (the first one pictured) it looks to be 3" tall. You should measure it to be sure.

that "looks" to be the 201 Leroi engine. Its got the short head, so it is most likely to be the 201 cu in engine. Allis put the 4 inch head on a few 201's, but I pretty sure they never put the 3" head on the 226 cu in block.

Since it appears to be the 201 cu in engine, and it doesn't have that large plate on the RS of the block, I'd say you have a Leroi engine.

The Leroi that I had come across, had the same filter canister (which if you need the filter, its the same that is in a FORD 8N, so ask for that in a parts store). Mine had a distributor, not the magneto, and that looks to be the only difference.

Also, i am curious to knwo about your tractor, on the Left side top, is the manifold that goes up to the upper radiator hose......does it have a "large bump" in the manifold that comes apart, for a thermostat?   the tractor I had didn't have a thermostat at all!!!

The manifold covered the two ports (some only cover 1 port in the head), and it was just a straight throat to the radiator hose. No thermostat housing.

Thanks for the photos of your tractor.

so if this is in fact a 201 leroi engine, first, it is possible that this engine came in this tractor from the factory? second, are parts available still as far as rebuild kits? third, why would they use different engines in these tractors? last, what would the horsepower be on this engine .  im still wondering why it has a mag and not a distributor?     we talked to the man again that he bought this tractor from and he said he has been around this tractor for many years before he bought it, and he had it for twenty years or so and swears it came this way but who knows...thanks for the input on this...Jb