Witte Engine Repowers Deere B

Witte Engine Repowers Deere B AG WORLD Ag World Orville Schraeder s Witte engine-powered Deere B tractor gets lots of attention when he drives it in parades The stationary engine mounted on the old B really stands out Start it up and the single cylinder grabs even more attention It gets a lot of looks when it starts barking says Schraeder It has a throttle governor so it backs off when the engine gets up to speed Schraeder had fixed up the Witte engine but with its double flywheels and pressed steel frame it was too heavy to move around easily Replacing a frozen engine on the B with the Witte solved two problems I kept everything on the B up to the transmission recalls Schraeder I sealed the transmission to hold the oil and had a flywheel pulley made to replace the B flywheel A reverse belt drive connects the pulley on the engine to the pulley on the B flywheel One of the advantages of the B is its battery-powered starter Schraeder is able to start the Witte with it If the battery is charged up it starts pretty good he says A machinist nephew made the flywheel pulley for Schraeder Other than that the biggest complication was simply leveling the Witte The frame had about a 2-in drop from one end to the other Schraeder used channel iron to level it The main challenge was lining everything up for the belt and getting it to the right length says Schraeder The repowered 7 hp Witte/B travels at about the same speed as it did with its original 14 hp Deere engine Schraeder says it will take off in 6th gear from a standstill It has good torque he says It would do a good job powering a corn cutter for silage or a saw rig Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Orville Schraeder 4265 State Hwy 54 W Wisconsin Rapids Wis 54495 ph 715 887-4159

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