parade choices---John Deere 60 or Farmall 300

Hey all,
Well I have been asked to pull my church's float in a couple of Christmas parades this weekend and am still trying to decide which tractor to use. My 1957 John Deere 720 that I was planning on using crapped out on me yesterday with a bad switch. I ordered one but it won't be here until Monday at the earliest. So therefore I am forced to find another tractor to pull the float. The float is about a 10x20 hay rack with a John Deere W1 gear. I am estimating the hay rack at being around 2000lbs with approx 500 lbs of decorations and probably twenty people for approx 1500 lbs. that makes approx 4000 lbs to pull. The parade is a gradual uphill grade for approx 1/4 mile then flat to slight decline for approx 1/2 mile. So here are the two tractors I have to consider. First is a 1953 John Deere 60 all fuel with approx 30 hp. It is a tricycle type with one set of wheel weights and no fluid filled tires. I think it weights in around 5000 lbs. The next is a 1955 Farmall 300 with approx 33 hp. It has 3 sets of wheel weights and one set of front tire weights but no fluid in the tires. With all the weights I think it is around 6800 lbs. It pulled the same wagon about a month ago very well. I guess my question concerns more so the JD 60 and if it will pull it. They have asked me to try to bring a John Deere if possible for the looks and the sound and I would like to as well. Anyway what are your opinions? Thanks
 
The 60 will do very well I use my JD A to pull wagons for hay rides that size your not going that fast in a parade
 
Yeah i know. Both have good brakes, run good and look pretty nice. My darn 720 I have really spent some money getting it fixed up for the parade thing. The 60 has older paint and older tires, the 300 has newer paint, new tires, lights and all that. I just think that in my area of Western NC people like to see those rare narrow fronts.
 
The 60 should not have any problems with that load even on a decent sized hill. To give you an idea 4,000 lbs is about 70 bushel of corn. We pull 300 bushel wagons full of corn out of the field with my JD 60. A lower gear will keep you from using the breaks. I think you will be just fine. Good Luck!
 
I'd use whichever tractor is more popular in the area. The IH red is more of a Christmas color.
Either will do a good job.
Make sure the gas tank is not full of junk, seems to cause problems for me on these occasions.
 
Either one would work. You should not be using high gear in a parade anyway I wouldn't think. 4th. on the Farmall and 5th. on the 60 would give you plenty of pulling power and engine breaking on the small grades going downhill.
 
i would think the choice is crear, run the deere. but then again, i dont make a habit of running farmalls.
 
I know what my choice would be :^)
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the john deere will stop THE farmall might not lol dont no why our farmall 350 D never had brakes and ih fixed them all new long ago
 
brakes will kill you quicker, on hill side farming any way they take of like a sleds, aways used low gear and the tractors weight to hold any thing back,
 
Keep this in mind with the weighting... the 60 has more weight on the rear, where it counts. If the tractors weighed the same, the 60 would easily do more as a higher percentage is on the back end.

My grandfather had a 50 A and a Super MTA, and when it really got snowy, the A went on the manure spreader, dispite no live PTO. Why? The front wheels on the MTA carried too much weight, and would plow into the drifts and the tractor would spin out. The A, especially with the tongue weight of the spreader, would ride over the hard packed drifts much better.

The A is still here, with fluid in the tires. The MTA went to the junk a long time ago.
 
parade duty
I have a lot of different brand tractors,
and non-tractor people always go
to the JD 49 B I have.
And if it is running....no contest

as said, working on them, I've always noticed how
heavy the rear is on the JD compared to similar
size off brands,
and those little brakes work surprisingly well.
I'd go with the JD
 
I have taken many a 2 cyl. switch apart and with a little care and cleaning is all most needed.
 
When taking the handle off a switch I use a Delta faucet handle puller, you can get them at Home Depot or Lowes for a couple bucks, they work great the stem goes down into, but not on the thread and the bails fit under the handle so you don't pull the switch shaft out prying on it..just a helpful hint stumbled onto a few years ago...
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I bought the high priced switch from deere and also put on a new brillman wire harness. It worked for about a week then smoked out from inside the switch. The off and front lights section works but the run and rear lights don't. I replaced the coil, condenser, points, spark plugs, plug wires, rotor, and check my wiring for leaks probably a half dozen times and I am still not getting fire to the plugs. I have another switch, dist cap and starter button on order to complete the upgrade. I am just running out of time for this weekend. Thanks for all the input. I think I will run the JD 60 if it doesn't crap out on me when I give it a pre-parade workout today. Thanks
Joel
 
My 300 was like that. I replaced the discs and balls about two months ago and they are holding well now. For me the adjustment was tough to figure out but after running it a few hours they got better.
 
I'd use the JD because the hand clutch is a lot easier to use in starting and stopping like I've always had to do in parades...and slipping it once in a while to ease the start ups. We've got both Farmalls and JDs...and a Minnie with a hand clutch too. Just seems like the hand clutchers are easier to parade with, especially pulling some kind of display or people loaded float.
 
The all fuel 60 tested at nebraska with no weights at 5950. With one set of wheel weights it should weigh 6230.
 
I have both and much prefer the 300 for parade work especially with a load of people on. Easier to get on both brakes at the same time.

Brake pedal positions on the 60 are hard for me to get to and even harder to apply evenly.
 

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