New WD-45 owner

I just purchased my first tractor, it's a 1956 (from the serial number) WD-45.  My wife and I bought it to do things such as plow up our horse pastures, and move round bales.  Problem one started when we unloaded it off the trailer, I had stopped at a gas station and filled it straight from the pump, which apparently broke 60 years of dirt off of the bottom of the tank, and clogged the fuel filter.  I cleaned the filter 8 times, then cleaned the tank out, and all the fuel lines, and rebuilt the carb.  Problem 2 came when it would run fine for a minute or two, then die.  A friend of mine helped me with problem 2, by showing me that either the charging switch, or kill switch were bad (you had to play with either of them to shut it off or make it run, but it ran fine if the ground wire was disconnected from the magneto.)  I decided to rewire it, but, whoever did the 12 volt conversion left the factory ammeter on the dash, and I wanted a voltmeter.

45's didn't come with a mag but that doesn't mean someone didn't put one on it. I find that the dist does look similar to one on a car. With a dist the wires should come out the top and have a round cap. with a mag they will come out the end (horizontal) and have a squarish cap. The dist will have an external round coil and the mag should have the coil inside . If it infact does have an alternator and 12v batterie make sure you have a 12v coil or voltage reducer if it has a distributer. Good luck with it and you'll get any help you need right here. HTH 

Welcome!!  I agree with Deere, Steve will be the best shot for you.  He will see your post and get in touch with you.  You will get a lot of help here as there is a wealth of knowledge here on this forum.  Congrats on your purchase of what I consider the best of Allis.

Speaking of J.D. I helped a neighbor get a 1951 J.D. started. I thought it had a mag. It looks like a mag, and it has Wico on it, and no round coil near it. Surprise it is a 6 volt battery ignition with the coil inside it. It has a wire going to it. I thought it went to a kill switch, but the wire is the 6 volt power to it.

beezpic wrote: I just purchased my first tractor, it's a 1956 (from the serial number) WD-45.     (you had to play with either of them to shut it off or make it run, but it ran fine if the ground wire was disconnected from the magneto.)  I decided to rewire it, but, whoever did the 12 volt conversion left the factory ammeter on the dash, and I wanted a voltmeter.   I have no experience whatsoever with a magneto powered tractor or vehicle of any sort.  What I do know, is the alternator has one post on the back of it, then a plug in the side of it with two wires in it, so I imagine it's the "3 wire" alternator everyone talks about here.  I'd like to use just 2 simple on-off toggle switches, and the voltmeter, so what wire from the alternator goes where?   I also wired off road lights to the front and rear (65 watt each, one each direction.)  Do I want to keep the alternator turned off when I'm just running the tractor, since it's a magneto, and keep it on when running the lights, or does the voltage regulator handle overcharging the battery?   Sorry if these are stupid questions, like I said, this is the first thing over a lawn tractor I've owned, and so far it's plowed about 6 acres in the few weeks we've had it, so it will be used.  I just have a lot to learn about repair and upkeep on something other than a good old car.

 First, welcome to the site and you have a great tool for around the farm chores.
 Please help us help you by posting the tractor number and the engine number, or take pictures at least of the right side of the engine and post them.
 Many people misread the serial number lists and there are lists on the web that are way wrong. It sounds like your engine must have a magneto which tells me you do not have a WD45 engine. If you disconnect the wire to make it run, you are disconnecting the ground, kill switch wire from a magneto.
 The alternator and magneto have no connection to each other. Any working alternator will regulate itself whether the lights are on or off. If properly wired you should only need one switch to turn the tractor on and off and one switch to run the lights.
 There is lots of help out here for any questions you have and the only stupid question, is one you don't ask. Charlie

Sounds like somebody has done a little "shade tree" wiring on your tractor. You are correct that the 45 never had a mag but who knows what somebody may have installed on it. A WD mag will bolt right up to the 45 engine. You could even have a WD engine in it (does it have a plate bolted to the side of the block?). The two separate switches to make it run is screwed up also.

Sometimes it's just best to rip out all the hacked up wiring and start over from scratch. There's not a whole lot of electrical on a 45. It's about as simple as they come to rewire.

Okay, I did a little closer checking today, and the engine on this tractor doesn't match the factory owner's manual for the tractor.  The intake and exhaust manifold don't match what the picture's in the owners manual are, and the "magneto" doesn't match the picture of the "distributor" in the owner's manual.  My wires for my plugs come straight out of the back of what I think is the mag, whereas the owners manual shows the distributor at a 90 degree angle of what I think is the mag.   The guy I bought it off of owned it for 6 months and said he had too many near death experiences on it with the narrow front end, thinking he'd roll it...he lived on basically the side of a mountain, and there were no places on his property that were'nt at least a 15% grade, so I can believe him there.  The guy he bought it from claimed to have owned it from brand new and never really did anything to it.  The guy I bought it from was the one who put the alternator on it, he said it was still 6 volt when he bought it.

I can't figure out how to post pics here yet, so for now, the pics can be seen at:  http://s909.photobucket.com/albums/ac299/timzrabbit/Allis%20Chalmers/  I hope this helps you all figure out what I've gotten into.

Looks like a WD......does have a WD45 carb though.....looks like a marvel schebler carb found on a WD45 anyway....can't tell if my eyes are playing tricks on me....The air hose is the same diameter on both ends it looks like also...so if it has a WD45 carb it also has a WD45 air cleaner.

Edited by 79fordblake - 09 Nov 2011 at 11:26pm

I'd like to overhaul it next spring, if for nothing more than to give it a completely fresh coat of paint, so I'll probably take your advice.  Would that more or less give it the power of the WD-45?  And is there really that much of a difference?  The most we'll do with it is some plowing with a three bottom plow in solid rock, which it does fine now, and some snow plowing during the winter.

Main diff is WD has strait cut gears and you shift gear teeth into gear teeth.45 has helical gears in constant mesh and you shift collars onto splines like modern day automotive trans only without a synchronizer.They just shift a little nicer but not a big deal.I have both.I could swear the ratios are a little different but can't confirm that. A WD is still a great tractor!

SteveM C/IL wrote: I could dig out the book but a WD was 35hp? and a 45 was 43hp from factory.You notice the diff when under heavy load. The extra 1/2in stroke gives it more "guts"!

If he changes to WD45 crank....D17 pistons...and maybe D17 governor spring he is gonna be going from 35hp to 50hp.

104290 is a 1951 WD. WU214144GA appears to be a 1949 engine, maybe a power unit transplanted to the tractor. The G on the end is for gas fuel and the A I believe means it had higher compression for high altitude.

It is possible that your WD has been upgraded already, most would have been overhauled at least once by now. I have a WD and a WD45 and the main difference is my WD would not pull a 3 bottom plow although it handles 2 very well.It could be our soil I suppose. my WD45 will pull 3 14's and the D17 3 16's or 4 14's.

Nice WD there.