630-730 John Deere

I want to get a 620-630 or 720-730 John Deere. It will be a chore tractor. Use for haying, hauling manure,etc. Is one tractor better than the other? I do not find much price difference between the 630-730 tractors. The 720-730 tractor are offered in diesel. I am wondering about starting (pony start) and stopping there diesel motor. Hard on them and higher upkeep down the road? I am leaning towards the 730-720 (gas) because its a little bigger. But the 630-620 might be better on fuel savings. Thank you for your imput. Have a good day. MNHighwired

we have 2 620's, a 730 gas and a 720 diesel. of the 4 the 1 620 gets about 90% of the hours that we put on the 2 cylinders through the year. but in the others defense the other 620 has a suspected head gasket leak but that one used to auger every bushel of wet corn in the fall for quite a few years faithfully, the 730 had ignition issues that we seem to have solved with electronic ignition last winter, and the 720 has leaking fuel pumps. so the one we do use the most is in the best mechanical condition but the others are usable.

as for you, depends on if your in the hills and what equipment you intend to pair up with it. 620s are pretty easy on gas, 720/30 probably not as much but have never done a comparison to see how they hold out doing the same job or what have ya. if you want a diesel and don't need it in the winter i would go with an electric start, easier and quicker to just start the diesel than have to start the pony and get it wound up then start the diesel. my 720 came converted to 12 volt elec start and i put a pony back on it, if i had it to do over i probably wouldn't have done it but i wanted it back to original.

i think quite a few people on here have said if you arn't going to be working ground or some other hard labor that would need the lugging ability of the diesels that you are better off to get a gas.

i am kinda partial to the 720/730s but the 620/30s are really more handy for the jobs we have for them and are just as pleasurable to run.

For the kind of jobs you intend to do the 620-630 might be your best choice for several reasons. The starting procedure of a 730 diesel is too complex to be a handy every day hop on and go chore tractor. The diesel was the thriftiest tractor you could buy for many years but it is more a field work machine. A 730 gas is thirsty. Not as many 720-30 gasses were made so finding a gasser is tougher. A 730 doesn't have all that much more HP than a 630 but the 730 has more lug.

I good 720/730 diesel are great tractors, a not so good one is a money pit.
Just like all machines there are things to watch & listen for. Repairs for the
most part will hurt your wallet less on a 620/630 over the diesel versions. When
using a 55 + year old tractor with 15K+ hours you hafta pay attention..

I think I would look for a 630 or 730 gas with 3 point hitch. The 730 diesels I have been around were money pits. Fuel injection systems can be expensive to work on and most have flywheel/crankshaft problems or have been repaired one way or another. This can be a problem on any two cylinder, especially if someone has not put the flywheel back on correctly but the diesels seem to be more troublesome with the problem than any of the others. What kind/size of implements are you wanting to use behind it?

Hi The Tractor has to pull a 12 wheel rake for haying. Once a while grind feed. Maybe pick up on the 3 point a 800-1000 lbs hay bale. If needed in the fall run a 8 by 50 or maybe a 10 by 60 auger? No heavy tillage, but I have a 10ft drill or 6 row narrow corn planter maybe it could pull. I have gently rolling hills that I farm. I could look for a newer tractor But I have fond thoughts in getting a put-put. Some 50 years ago I drove a 60JD with a hay wagon while one man picked up small squares and put them on the wagon. The other staked. The first tractor I drove by myself was a hand start B with a 2-16 JD plow with rope pull. One time I could not get the plow out of the ground. I did not watch where I was going and killed the tractor in middle of a graval road. I needed help to get out of that one. I want a 2 cylinder to have a little fun with and to be able to some tasks around the farm. Thank you and have a good day. MNHighwired

I have never been around a 12 wheel rake so i can't speak on that one. My 630 has ground tons of feed with a 320 Arts Way. It's not the fastest in the world but it works. A 730 would do it a bit faster. The 630 used to carry tons of bales with the three point, one bale in the loader and one on the three point. It should pull the 10x60 auger OK. My neighbor runs a 10x72 auger with a 656 gas and he had trouble pulling it one time when the auger was cranked up high and the corn was wet. A 60 foot auger is 12 feet shorter. When i was a kid my neighbor had a 730 gas and we had a 630. I was a little jealous of him because he had a bigger tractor. LOL I put many hours on his 730 running the baler before i was old enough to stack on the rack. He traded the 730 for a 4020 in 1970. Our 630 is still on this farm. Drove it yesterday.

i think a 620 or 30 would suit you great. we augered a lot of wet corn through a 10" 61' swing hopper auger with the 620 for years before we put up a leg. it was pretty neat at night you could turn off the lights and see the manifold and exhaust system glowing. it seemed to have plenty of power to run the auger with some to spare.