Iowa Fire Hydrant Restoration

Iowa Valve Company Early Model "50" with PAT FEB 14 1928

This project is all my sister's fault. She saw an Iowa Fire Hydrant in Pacific Grove, CA and posted a pic to Facebook. I look up the company and find out that they made these hydrants from the early 1900's to the late 1960's. Apparently they are located all over the U.S. Iowa Valve Co. History

 

 

This is all pretty cool in my book. I get to wondering if there are any around for sale so I check Craigslist and low and behold there is one for sale in San Diego. I call the guy up and 24 hours later it is sitting in my garage. Now what?

 

Iowa

Valve Co

Oskaloosa

Iowa

Pat

Feb 14 28

The short term plan is to tear this thing down, powdercoat it, and turn it into a automatic dog waterer. I hit all the nuts and bolts with some PB Blaster and let it sit overnight. The top came off, no problem.

Except for a couple of whacks with the hammer on a large pipe wrench, it came apart pretty easy.

 

There isn't an actual valve in these hydrants, they were made for cold climates and the hydrant controlled a valve that was below the frost line. These are considered dry hydrants. This is how the valve would control the water from the main.

 

 

Sod Installation

The wife wanted some grass in the back yard so I took the opportunity to add a horseshoe pit. Since our yard is on a slope, I had to terrace out a couple of sections. The lower section is about 18 feet wide and 45 feet long. The upper section is about 13 feet wide and 60 feet long. 

 

 

 

The top section gradually slopes down to meet the lower section. We cannot get a Bobcat or any large machinery into the back yard, so the terracing was all done by me with a flat shovel. After gettting it shaped up, I installed sprinklers to keep everything green.

 

 With the sprinklers in, it was time for sod. I installed Marathon I sod which was developed for Southern California. Although this shows only me carrying the sod, I had a lot of help.

  

 

We put down about 1300 sq feet of sod in about 3 hours.

 

 

 



Love is when your wife lets you park your tractor in the kitchen. Well, that's what happens when you marry an Iowa boy!

Assembly is a bit of a bear. You need three hands to keep everything together while manipulating the body half around the pedal crank. The rear axle is installed without the sprocket being welded. It must be welded to the rear axle after assembly. I also used bearing keeper on the rear axle as well.

I got a few scratches while assembling the two body halves. So I scuffed down the assembled body and shot a couple of more coats of green. Then I attached the steering wheel and tires.

Painting Body

Got the body panels painted. The John Deere paint goes down easy. I applied multiple light coats for about 30 minutes.

Left and Right hand body panels

Left body panel

Also received new bushings for the rear axle. I got these from Dakotah Toys They don't fit tight so I ordered some locking collars to keep them in place.

Still waiting on a replacement steering post and rod before I can assemble the sides back together.

Received the AlumPrep 33 and primer from Aircraft Spruce. You never know where things are going to ship from these days. They shipped 5 miles from the house. Glad I didn't request a two day rush.

Got just about everything in primer tonight. Scrubbed all the parts down with Alumprep 33 and then rinsed and dried them. Applied a light coat of primer which needs to dry 24 hours. Hopefully they'll all be John Deere green tomorrow. Right now it looks like a clothes line of pedal tractor parts.

RH casting in primer

RH and LH castings in primer

Misc parts  in primer

Paint Prep

Contacted Samuelson Pedal Tractor Parts about the bent rim I received and they are sending a new one. Seems like a really nice guy running the place. Apparently he was helping his Mother and Father run the business and both of them have passed away in the last 16 months. They've been in the pedal parts business since 1978 and he told me they're always busy. Can't imagine how many of these little tractors are putting around. Does anyone have ERTL production numbers? I also ordered a new steering post to go with the new front rims as the old rims and front axle were narrower than what is being reproduced.

I just noticed I was out of AlumPrep 33 which is used to clean aluminum parts prior to painting. It cleans and etches the surface prior to painting. I've used it to prep motorcycles engines and parts with very good results. I also ordered some zinc phosphate primer which will make a good base for the John Deere green. I get the AlumPrep 33 and Zinc Phosphate primer from Aircraft Spruce.

AlumPrep 33
Zinc Phosphate Primer

Apparently John Deere Classic Green paint cannot be sold in California. At least when I tried to order it from John Deere they would allow it to be shipped here. Well it's gotta be John Deere green, not Valspar, Rustoleum, or Krylon green. A little research revealed other sources that have no problem shipping to California, and my cans of authentic John Deere Classic Green showed up this weekend!

The Real McCoy!

I hope the EPA bubbas don't show up on my doorstep this week.

More Stampings

In addition to the body halves being stamped 1L and 4R. The seat and steering bracket are also stamped. The seat is stamped 2 and the steering bracket is stamped 8.

Seat stamped 2

Steering Bracket stamped 8

Repairing old parts

The steering rod that connects to the steering wheel has a washer welded to it. The weld was broken on this tractor and need to be re-welded.

Steering Rod Washer

This washer rides against the casting in the left and right body halves.

Steering Rod Installed

I also had to re-weld the front axle to the steering post.

Steering Post

Parts Arrive!

I ordered all my replacement parts from Samuelson Pedal Tractor Parts and they just arrived!

New Pedal Tractor Parts

I opted to go with new wheels, tires and hubcaps. The rear axle on my tractor was broken in half and needed to be replaced. The sproket will need to be welded to the axle once it is installed and aligned with the pedal shaft. The steering wheel on my tractor incorrect, broken and bent.

Original Steering Wheel

The new pedal shaft incorporates new bushings with lock collars instead of the old split bushings and welded on washers.

New Pedal Crank Arm

I had a couple of problems with the new parts. One of the small rims looks like it was bent when the tire was installed.

Bent Front Rim

The other problem is that the rims are too wide for my front axle. The hub on the original rims did not extend out past the edge of the rim like the new ones do.

Original Front Rim

Cleaning Up

The side casting, steering bracket and wheel are made of cast aluminum. I wouldn't recommend sand blasting to remove the paint. I have used a soda blaster to safely remove paint from motorcycle engines in the past, but I used aircraft paint stripper on the tractor. I've had good luck with Klean-Strip Aircraft Paint Remover.

Klean-Strip

Read all the direction and be careful with this stuff. It burns if you get it on your skin.

Stripper applied

Stripped Left Side Casting

Finished cleaning everything up that would be reused.

Stripped and Cleaned Parts

Disassembly

Disassembly is pretty straight forward. The rear wheels were a little rusted onto the axle, but with a little coaxing they came off. The body is bolted together in 6 spots. There is a washer welded on each side of the crank arm that needs to be removed in order to split the halves.

Pedal Crank Arm Washer

Careful work with a grinder will remove the weld and allow the washers to be slid off the crank arm. Then you should be able to work one of the sides around the crankarm.

The early pedal cars employed a skip tooth chain. Apparently these are no longer being produced. Luckily mine was still in pretty good shape and just needed cleaning up.

Skip Tooth Chain

These front tires look like they've got quite a few driveway miles on them. Both the tires and rims are being reproduced.

Original Front Tires and Rims

The rear tires are original ESKAs from Dubuque Iowa. The rear tires are rims are being reproduced. My steering wheel had seen better days as all 3 spokes were broken. I don't think the steering wheel is original to the tractor. From what I've been able to determine, it should have a round 3 spoke wheel. All the steering wheels are being reproduced.

Steering Wheel and Rear Tire/Rim

The front steering post on these tractors are usually bent, just below the welded washer, from years of running into things and uneven sidewalk cracks. I put mine in a vice, heated it with the torch and straightened it out.

Front Steering Post

I located 3 stampings in the left and right hand castings. The inside right is stamped R4.

Right Side Casting Stamp

The inside left side is stamped L1.

Left Side Casting Stamp

The outside of the right side is stamped MADE IN U.S.A.

U.S.A Stamping

John Deere Pedal Tractor Restoration

Growing up in Iowa you can't help but like the pop-pop of a John Deere tractor. My Grandmother had given me a 1941 John Deere B when I was a teenager. After driving it 35 miles from the farm to my house I spent the next few months sanding it down, repainting it, and applying fresh decals. It was a blast to putt-putt around the fields on and in the winter no amount of snow could stop it. I ended up selling it to the couple who farmed our land and last I knew it was still running the grain elevator during picking season. That was my last tractor until this week...

1952 ESKA John Deere Small 60 Early Version

I came upon this tractor during my weekly Craigslist review. While not quite a full sized Johnny Popper, it looked like it would be a lot of fun. The ad didn't ask for a price, just to make an offer. I immediately called and left a message on their voicemail and waited like a giddy kid for them to return my call. While I waited, I purused the internet to see what replacement parts would cost in addition to trying to identify and attach a value to it. My research led me to discover this in a ESKA 1952 John Deere Small 60 Early Version pedal tractor. I figured it would require a couple of hundred dollars in new tires, paint and decals. I located a few tractors on eBay that had sold in the $800+ range recently. Armed with my information I was ready when the owner called and I inquired what he was looking to get out of it. A few minutes later, sight unseen, I agreed to a price and jumped in my truck to fetch my new treasure.

The owner had the tractor cradled in a wooden box and had been carting it around for 10 years hoping to restore it someday. He had recently purchased a new home and was packing up and decided to put the tractor up for sale. We pulled the pieces out of the box and I was relieved to see all the parts intact. The steering wheel and the rear axle were broken, but at least everything was there. I loaded it up and headed home.