John Deere two cylinders

[JW IN VA]

I've often wondered how farmers ever accepted the John Deere two cylinder tractors when other makes like IH/Farmall and Fords ran so smooth and quiet. Growing up, I was mostly around Fords. Either n series or the 600/800. Some used H or M Farmalls. Only "odd" sounding baler around was an old NH 77 with a Wisconsin motor. The people who had it pulled it with a Case 300. Another smooth,quiet engine.

 

[simme]

Those old 2 cylinder Deeres had a hand clutch. A couple clutch disks located on the left side of the tractor could be replaced in less than an hour. Get a new clutch for a few dollars and an hour of labor. The farmall's required way more effort for a new clutch.

 

[Twisted]

I've often wondered how farmers ever accepted the John Deere two cylinder tractors when other makes like IH/Farmall and Fords ran so smooth and quiet. Growing up, I was mostly around Fords. Either n series or the 600/800. Some used H or M Farmalls. Only "odd" sounding baler around was an old NH 77 with a Wisconsin motor. The people who had it pulled it with a Case 300. Another smooth,quiet engine.

My dad had 2 A's and 2 B's, including all the equipment for them, belly cultivators and all. They are still on the farm with a couple more he had for parts. He loved those tractors.
I loved to hear them run but didn't care much for riding them all day.

 

[Lucky_P]

I grew up on a JD 430 and an old Farmall 'A'.

When I was about 15, Dad bought a tricycle JD 'B' that some pulpwooders had... it had that hand clutch and a blade on the front that would go up & down... I think they mainly used it to push loaded pulpwood trucks up the muddy roads when cutting pulpwood. Also had a winch from a small bulldozer mounted on the back. I can't even remember how hard it was to operate that thing... Hand clutch, shifter knob, lever to run the PTO driven hydraulic cylinder for the blade or the dozer winch, and steer the monster at the same time.

 

[jltrent]

My experience on driving an "A" was it had better than you would think power, but without power steering it took all the power you had to steer. Those tractors were simple, and a lot are still going today. A lot of those tractors are 80-90 years old. Those models 50, 60 anf 70s built in the 1950s a lot are still being used today. Some with power steering.

TractorData.com John Deere A tractor information

www.tractordata.com

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TractorData.com John Deere 620 tractor information

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TractorData.com John Deere 3010 tractor information

www.tractordata.com

 

[Silver]

My neighbour had an 80 when I was a kid. You could hear it popping away late into the evenings. They tell me an 80 is a rare beast. I wish I knew where that one went.

 

[crossbreed]

We had the old Jonny popper as a kid also. Can't remember if it pulled a 3or 4 bottom plow. Had the rope you pulled to trigger up and down we had one section in agg for corn sillage on dairy. That old D plowed the field our IH ran the drill and cutter and the D ran the belt on the auger to fill the silos.

 

[Atimm693]

My dad still has a 730 Diesel. Still get asked now and then if it's for sale, it's not. It's a wide front, row crop with the gas cranking engine.

I can see what you mean, when it's idling you can visibly watch the front tires bounce with every stroke. I have not spent many hours on it but can see how the putt-putt could be fatiguing, especially the bigger diesel models. It does have live PTO/hydraulics, power steering, and a decent suspension seat, really not a bad tractor to run in that regard.

The connecting rods are about as big as your forearms, pistons are like coffee cans. I read somewhere that JD discontinued the 2 cyl not because it was antiquated or inefficient, but with tractors needing more and more horsepower, the parts were simply getting too large for a farmer to handle. The flywheel on that 730 is probably 150lbs.

I was very young when he was using it regularly and don't really remember it that well, and the crankshaft broke around that time so it was parked for a good while. From what he's told me, it was his main "big" tractor for a long time, and even had a loader fitted at one time. Talk about busy hands with the hand clutch.

 

[kenny thomas]

My dad still has a 730 Diesel. Still get asked now and then if it's for sale, it's not. It's a wide front, row crop with the gas cranking engine.

I can see what you mean, when it's idling you can visibly watch the front tires bounce with every stroke. I have not spent many hours on it but can see how the putt-putt could be fatiguing, especially the bigger diesel models. It does have live PTO/hydraulics, power steering, and a decent suspension seat, really not a bad tractor to run in that regard.

The connecting rods are about as big as your forearms, pistons are like coffee cans. I read somewhere that JD discontinued the 2 cyl not because it was antiquated or inefficient, but with tractors needing more and more horsepower, the parts were simply getting too large for a farmer to handle. The flywheel on that 730 is probably 150lbs.

I was very young when he was using it regularly and don't really remember it that well, and the crankshaft broke around that time so it was parked for a good while. From what he's told me, it was his main "big" tractor for a long time, and even had a loader fitted at one time. Talk about busy hands with the hand clutch.

I had a 1957 720 diesel with the gas pony motor. Pulled it in pulling competition. Converted it to 12 volt starter. Sold it soon after. Makes me want it back now.

 

[chevytaHOE5674]

My kids love the "Johny Poppers". I'm just not rich enough to buy one just as a toy to putt putt around on.

 

[greybeard]

LuckyP, that pulpwood setup was called a log hog in East Texas. Cinched a log or two up tight on the rear winchline and take off! Usually with front tires off the ground the whole way. Ya steered with the brakes. They were ugly but went places a heavier machine couldn't.