Carb shop frustration

CPACy · Mar 7, 2018

Last summer I spoke with a business advertising their carb repair services at a large tractor ride in central Iowa. The man at the desk said they specialize in Deere, but work on anything when I told him I had a carb off of a Farmall H that needed work. He said it would probably be 8-10 weeks before they'd get to it but they could fix that, so send it in early as I told him it was going to be my winter project to go through it and get it back up and running.
I shipped it to them in mid July and they still have it.
I called in several times and get the similar response from the lady answering the phone of it is cleaned up and awaiting any needed parts. I asked what parts did it need and she said she didn't know but that they don't have parts for these "odd" carbs and have to order them in and they were still searching for a place for parts. I can't imagine a carb used on an H, or its parts are that rare since Farmall made more than a couple.
I told her it has been almost 8 months, not weeks since they've had it. She said he never should have told you it would take 8 weeks.
At this point, they have the carb and I do not know what they have/haven't done to it.
Really wishing I would have just bought a reproduction carb last spring and moved on.
Alright, rant over. Thanks.

rrlund · Mar 7, 2018

Been there,done that. The hood and fenders off one of my tractors sat at two different body shops for a total of two and a half years and didn't get done. I finally had to bring them home and do it myself. They came out looking like I did it,and that was what I was hoping to avoid,but what are you gonna do. I'm working on that orchard tractor myself. Two and a half years is enough time to learn to do it yourself and get pretty darned good at it if you think about it.

GordoSD · Mar 7, 2018

There's probably a dozen guys on this forum that could have that done in one day. Call them and insist they send it back to you. No charges.

pete 23 · Mar 7, 2018

You have been given the Deere run around meaning they put all their Deere jobs ahead of yours. Tell them to send it back now. Plenty of people who can repair your carburetor, promptly. Right on this forum.

M-MAN · Mar 7, 2018

8 month's on a carb? They either did major damage to something and haven't figured out how to fix it or it was shipped to someone else. Either way you aren't getting that carb back so you might as well start looking for another one. JMO

Dave H (MI) · Mar 7, 2018

Not a criticism, just a question. Why did you not work on it yourself? I am no mechanic, but after I got my first carb apart I realized this was something I could do. Now when I have carb issues I spread a thick pad out right here on the desk in my office, take it all apart, soak it and clean what needs cleaning, then put it all together. Soaking can run overnight but my time into it otherwise is maybe 90 minutes or less. Now I did have a carb on my SAV that was an odd one. No kit available. I worked with rustyfarmll over on the IH forum for parts and advice but we never did get that one working and I replaced it with the correct carb for the tractor. At this point, buy a carb and move on would be my best advice.

tomturkey · Mar 7, 2018

Just wondering if that shop has a little gingle with their advertising. i.e. brass or cast?? Just wondering so I do not make the same mistake. gobble

Steve@Advance · Mar 7, 2018

None of this makes sense!

Carb repair is not a line of business that is overwhelmed with work.

There is a carb repair shop down the street, he has a good reputation, lots of parts, new and used. But definitely not backed up with work. It's a dying occupation.

I would demand it back. If they want a big diagnostic fee, write it off as a lesson learned.

BarnyardEngineering · Mar 7, 2018

What a load of manure you're getting from this place!

You can walk into your local Tractor Supply 7 days a week, and they will usually have a carburetor rebuild kit for the Farmall H right on the rack! Not the best kit but good enough to get most carbs back in fighting form.

Can't find parts suppliers? Google shows about 1000 different places to get H carburetor kits from.

I would call and demand my carburetor back.

This carburetor shop's name doesn't start with a "D" does it?

CPACy · Mar 7, 2018

I did try. Thanks to reading many posts on this forum, I realized there were not that many parts in a carb and there was no scary monster in there that I'd let loose if I did take it apart. This was my first attempt at working on something like this.
I had printed out the detailed explanation on how to adjust that one member posted multiple times. The problem was that only one of the screws to change the different adjustments would move and the other two were too mangled for me and they would not/could not adjust. Lord knows I tried, but I figured it was beyond my abilities.
Between not being able to adjust screws and I couldn't get the fuel to stop running out of the bottom drain plug no matter how I adjusted the float, I had given up.

CPACy · Mar 7, 2018

I was told that if they were going to guarantee it for a year they HAD to be certain that the parts were quality and couldn't be just something off a shelf at a big box store...
Thanks to you fine folks on the forum, I knew to avoid the mentioned "D" location. This one is in NW Iowa and is more of an "R" location.

rustyfarmall · Mar 7, 2018

(quoted from post at 08:27:59 03/07/18) I was told that if they were going to guarantee it for a year they HAD to be certain that the parts were quality and couldn't be just something off a shelf at a big box store...
Thanks to you fine folks on the forum, I knew to avoid the mentioned "D" location. This one is in NW Iowa and is more of an "R" location.

I am now retired and out of business, but I have a few H carburetors stored away. All rebuilt and ready to go. Don't really care if I sell them, but I probably should.

MT RON · Mar 7, 2018

I'll bet I can name that carb shop but I won't,I had a similar thing happen to me about 5 years ago.Took over 4 months to get it back which I thought was bad enough,the lady kept saying it's being worked on as we speak,she was also the grumpiest thing I ever dealt with too.

Frantz · Mar 7, 2018

Man that stinks. One thing I've learned over the years of being interested in old stuff is, if the repair is too much for me to tackle then it probably costs too much to get done right (for my budget anyway). If the carb had some damage or bad screws you might well have been better off buying a repop anyhow. Shop bills add up quick and finding those screws is a little more involved than finding a carb kit. Their response has been horrible IMO, but the inability to quickly get the work done isn't a surprise. They likely don't have a warehouse full of old carbs to steal parts from, and they don't have people trained to comb the internet like hobby folks do. Sorta like why you shouldn't take an old car to a body shop for a restoration, when it's a little bit outside their expertise nothing goes smooth. I am a bit surprised someone can stay in business these days specializing in John Deere carbs... that's a little too narrow of a niche. If it were me I'd call and stay on the line with them until someone can give a better picture of what they have done, and what they are planning to do to make it right. If it's not to your satisfaction have them send it back to you and use it as your own parts carb down the road.

Billy Shafer · Mar 7, 2018

My best guess is they have lost your carb and are hoping you will go away. I see this all the time rebuilding generator engines. I don't know the H carb. But I am sure it is not some odd carb. Last time I was in TSC they had a rack full of carb kits.Get it back if you can and have somebody on this site rebuild it for you.You are getting the BS treatment. If I can get a kit for a 1932 Onan. I am sure you can find one for your H.

the tractor vet · Mar 7, 2018

Lets see here Farmall H carb , Hummmmmmmm last one i did i had for four days and it was nasty , one day in the tank one day i had to go work on a tractor in the field and a day for the parts to arrive and was half way back together and had to fix the car and back on the H on the forth day . Yea them H carbs are really rough to work on .

Traditional Farmer · Mar 7, 2018

Too late now but before sending any parts anywhere you need to run it by the guys here as there are some ripoff places around unfortunately,that said most are honest but a bad one will ruin your whole day.
Also it usually takes me about 30 minutes to an hour to clean up and put a kit in a carb like yours.

rustyfarmall · Mar 7, 2018

(quoted from post at 09:37:31 03/07/18) Too late now but before sending any parts anywhere you need to run it by the guys here as there are some ripoff places around unfortunately,that said most are honest but a bad one will ruin your whole day.
Also it usually takes me about 30 minutes to an hour to clean up and put a kit in a carb like yours.

A carburetor from a derelict tractor that has been setting outside for several years will be a little different ballgame, but with patience and care, can function like new once again.

showcrop · Mar 7, 2018

There is a carburetor repair shop in Ohio that advertises in magazines that has an extremely bad reputation among pullers. The wife of the owner answers the phone, but it doesn't sound like the same place because you didn't comment about the lady being abusive to you.

old · Mar 7, 2018

Nothing to rebuild a carb for an H. Shoot I have one in the trunk of my car that I rebuilt a number of years ago when I was working in a guys H so I had 2 carbs to use to get him working again.

Mark-Ia · Mar 7, 2018

Sounds like you sent it to Roberts Carb In Spencer Iowa.

John Achmann · Mar 7, 2018

Had the same problem with the local carb/mag shop. Sent them a mag and after a couple months and some lies I went and demanded it back. Got it back and was in many pieces. Also heard he does the same with carb work. I do my own carbs but haven?t had the courage to try a mag yet. Good luck with your issue!

fixerupper · Mar 7, 2018

If it’s that ‘R’ place they have really gone downhill if they are doing the work themselves. I wonder if they sent it out and it hasn’t come back. I know they don’t do all of the Deere carb work in house. They send the carb bodies out to be bead blasted in batches. Their reground cams are sent out to be ground, they don’t do that in house either.

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