Some John Deere tractors which were built during WW2, were set up to run on kerosene, since food production was important to the war effort ! Even farmers were subject to finding what fuel was available.
What made the sound of those old 2-cyl Johnnies so distinctive, was that those 2 cylinders fired so close together. Those old tractors were often started by the flywheel, and the firing points were cast into the flywheel (for easier tuning, I assume). In any case, the two cylinders firing so close together, made a distinctive sound.
The old joke was that.."John Deeres ran entirely on their flywheel 3/4 of the time".
...And yes, I can recall the food and gas rationing during WW2. We weren't hit as hard as the city folks, since being "out there' beyond the sidewalks, food could be rustled up !
The food which we as rural dwellers as well as city dwellers found to be in short supply, was the kind we could not produce ourselves. In our case, sugar was scarce, while I suppose it was quite available in Louisiana.
Of course, the case in our area was that maple sugar & syrups were being produced. Availability was still not simple outside the producer's use, because it sold at a premium through the regular markets.
