John Deere D Fan Color

mossicle

New User
I realize this topic has been covered already, and I'm not trying to bring it back up. Just trying to offer some incite.

I've been restoring an 1928 John Deere model D, SN 56748. Last night I was working on the fan when I found the following shown in the pictures.

I apologize for the photos. All I had was a cell phone.

As I was stripping away the paint/rust on the side marked Front all I found was layers of green. However, as I began sanding and stripping the back side I found evidence of yellow paint hidden under the layers of green. This was on all 4 fan blades.

Maybe a suggestion that Deere did hand paint them yellow on the back side only.

Take it for what its worth. Just thought it was an interesting glimpse into the history of this tractor.

Jesse
 
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They should be yellow. If you paint both sides and someone tries to tell you that only the back should be yellow put your hands over your ears and start screaming until they go away.
 
"<font color="#6699ff">[b:654c4848f0][i:654c4848f0]I found evidence of yellow paint hidden under the layers of green.[/i:654c4848f0][/b:654c4848f0]</font>"

Reviewed the [b:654c4848f0]<a href="https://www.amazon.com/John-Deere-Tractor-Data-Book/dp/0760302286">JOHN DEERE TRACTOR DATA BOOK</a>[/b:654c4848f0] in [b:654c4848f0]Appendix 1: Paint and Decal Specifications for John Deere Two Cylinder Lettered Modes[/b:654c4848f0] under the [b:654c4848f0]Model D[/b:654c4848f0] heading [i:654c4848f0]1926-1930[/i:654c4848f0] list on page 174.

"[b:654c4848f0][i:654c4848f0]2. Fan blades painted yellow.[/i:654c4848f0][/b:654c4848f0]"

Hope this helps.
 
The late Paul Ostrander, who did extensive research in the archives about "GP" tractors back when the general public was able to access that information, stated that he found an old decision dated sometime in March 1927 that authorized painting the back sides of the fan blades white. Furthermore, he found another decision dated about two months later that changed the color to yellow. The yellow was used until sometime in the early 1940's, according to most.

As we know, the tractors on the assembly line were sprayed green all over, and the "hazard color" (yellow) was brushed on by hand afterward. So a truly original fan of that era would have been a little green (or nothing) on the front side, and hand-brushed yellow on the back side.

Another knowledgeable person has stated that replacement fans from the factory in that era were painted yellow all over, so there is a good chance that an old fan that is yellow on both sides may be a replacement from years ago.
 
Thanks for the feedback.

The front side didn't have any evidence of yellow paint, but the level of rust made it difficult to tell if it was fully green or not.

The back side definitely was yellow at some point. This may imply an original fan possibly.

I know there can be some debate over restoration back to factory vs restoration for personal enjoyment, but in my opinion, it seems like yellow for the back side of the fan makes sense.
 
(quoted from post at 12:05:48 04/04/17) The late Paul Ostrander, who did extensive research in the archives about "GP" tractors back when the general public was able to access that information, stated that he found an old decision dated sometime in March 1927 that authorized painting the back sides of the fan blades white. Furthermore, he found another decision dated about two months later that changed the color to yellow. The yellow was used until sometime in the early 1940's, according to most.

As we know, the tractors on the assembly line were sprayed green all over, and the "hazard color" (yellow) was brushed on by hand afterward. So a truly original fan of that era would have been a little green (or nothing) on the front side, and hand-brushed yellow on the back side.

Another knowledgeable person has stated that replacement fans from the factory in that era were painted yellow all over, so there is a good chance that an old fan that is yellow on both sides may be a replacement from years ago.

I remember reading this white fan story but haven't been able to find the serial number range in years.
 
Seems I saw somewhere that only one or two fan
blades were brush painted yellow on the back
side on an H. Maybe so a deaf person could tell
it was running.
 
That's interesting. I'm restoring a 1930 GP and when cleaning up the fan in the cabinet powder blaster, I noticed the fan had yellow on the back side under the green. No evidence of yellow on the front side of the fan.
 

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