John Deere Van Brunt Grain Drill

[Mike in NC]

Friends of ours just bought a Van Brunt grain drill made by John Deere. It was found in the original owners barn, that is now owned by his son. They even got the original manuals and wrench with the drill. We went and picked it up this morning. As far as we can tell, it has never been left outside, and has not been repainted. The stencils are still clean. There is even ogirinal paint inside the seed and fertilizer hoppers. This is a real nice piece. He wants to know what should be used on the this to preserve the paint and stencils? Thank you for any help. Will post link to a photo page when the server is back working again.

Van Brunt Grain Drill by John Deere

[Mike Edwards]

Mike,
Not being 100% sure about the preservation of this outstanding discovery.I would suggest your friend could contact some historical center or museum in your area.Maybe even contact the John Deere factory direct and they could point him in the right direction. I got to believe the more calling around and investigating that is done the more chances there would be that someone can help in advising on how to properly preserve the JD Grain Drill. You sure wouldn't want to do something that would destroy this artifact.

Mike

[John Schwiebert]

We used to have one like that at home. I used to sow wheat and oats with it when I was a kid. If you go back to a horse hitch and I see half of it is there the wood is painted a bright yellow and the wheels are yellow. The hitch on it is not orignal. We sold ours to Amish 30 years ago. Ours was a 10 hoe and had a grass seeder also. I found the orignal sale bill for it this winter. The drill dates from the 30's. Don't forget the Van Brunt name was used on drills by John Deere for years after that.

[Joe Morris]

Mikre, The best thing that I have found is boiled linseed oil thinned with mineral sprits. brush it on, that wipe off the excess. It will bring out the colors in the paint and lettering as well as preserve the wood from the weather. Joe Morris

[Roger White]

I agree use 1/2 boiled linseed oil and 1/2 mineral spirts. Do a small test section on the bottom of the box or some place out of site. You will be very surprised with the results.

[MoRo]

Don't boil the linseed oil too hard though, it can catch fire!If Axel West was still alive, he'd tell you all about that!

[hit-n-miss166922]

Hello from Wisconsin!! The John Deere company bought the Van Brunt company in Horicon, Wis. Check the John Deere Horicon Works.. It might talk about lawn and garden and lawn mowers. I lived my early life in Horicon!!! My father and father-in- law both worked there..

[OldAgIron]

The linseed oil mixture works very well. we wait until a good warm day and let it sit out in the sun after we brushed it on. really brings out the color well. It s grerat to see these nice original condition pieces.
mike

[ChadYelland]

Nice find, I found a nice wooden boxed Van Brunt 24 run shoe drill, missing part of one trip mecansim, and all the spouts were in the box

[MoRo]

Chad. Do you have pix of your Van Brunt? What do the trips look like, I may be able to help you out if you're interested. We've got an old drill like that on the farm, somewhere. Stuff prob'ly all rusted to heck, but..........

[Wayne Stewart]

I have a drill like the one pictured. I would greatly appreciate a copy of the manual and detailed pictures of how the tongue and hitch gear attach to the drill.

[Max Cox]

We have used a mix of equal parts linseed oil, clear wood sealer and mineral spirits with good results. We apply it with an airless sprayer with a coarse nozzle. Apply it on the hottest day. It takes for ever to dry. That's good because all that time it's soaking into the wood. Try to get as much dust out of the cracks as you can, otherwise it's there forever.

Max Cox

[John Hanson]

That's an interesting setup.... Wayne, if you look at that first picture, it appears that the L/H singletree is hanging there... so the doubletree (evener) must be underneath?? I'd like to see more details on that myself!
JH

[John Schwiebert]

It also looks like he is missing the foot board to ride on if you are using a team of horses to pull it.

[Mike Lucius]

I use boiled linseed oil and mineral spirits 50:50 or the best I've found is Marine Penetrol. Smells like linseed oil but dries quicker and does wonders for old paint. I buy mine at home depot. About any good paint store should carry it, it's used to level oil based paint.

[Wayne Stewart]

I have a drill like the one in your picture. Someone replaced the original wood tongue with a steel pipe. I want to restore it back to a wood tongue. Would you please take pictures of specifically how the wood tongue attached? Thanks in advance.

Wayne

[Wayne Stewart]

Originally Posted by John Schwiebert

It also looks like he is missing the foot board to ride on if you are using a team of horses to pull it.

My drill has the foot board and supporting steel angles. I would be happy to provide more details for anyone needing them. I'm still trying to get details on how the tongue and hitch gear are attached. Wayne