1944 John Deere B

I have a 1944 John Deere B that im going to start pulling next year in the farm stock class. Which gear would be best for pulling it weighs 3425 pounds with driver.

1st or lower if you can lol these are pretty gutless when factory like mine

Hey Jdman forgot to wish you a Merry Christmas and it's almost time to say Happy New Year to you up North there, So I will. PS, you don't have to pull those green things, You have a real tool in your arsenal!!!! LOL. mEl

Unless you do some major work, the only 2 gears that you will need are 1st and reverse. If it's stock, there's a good chance that 1st won't be low enough.

well mel merry chritmas and happy new year o you too but my green puller will just play with my dc lol

most likely won't pull real well in 3500 lbs but may
in 3000 if you can drop the weight

Jdman Let me have ur DC for a few weeks. mEl

Brutal Honesty from a JD Guy, there's a first time for everything

as long as you foot the bill lol

JDman, let me get this right, you want me to supply the parts AND do the labor on your tractor then you come and get it!! How about I just come and get it and bring it back in the bargain yet!!!!!!!!!!!LOL. PS did you know they are relocating TR's track about 300 ft from my house, you can come over for free coffee yet in the bargain. Seriously though, just having fun, after all you DO know what your DC is capable of. mEl

i know the track is at jerrys house sorry dont drink coffe but the rest of the bargain sounds good so if its 300 feet from your house does this mean when my jd hooks up i might run into your house? lmao do you know what my A is capable of? after all its still factory stroke and 2nd in points in 3 classes at t.r. josh's dc cant compete with me only in the 5000 and thats because he runs smaller tires i havent seen a good built A go up against jerrys dc to compare but im not a big fan of strokers ok if i dont have to foot the bill when they break

You may make it to my house if you can negotiate the tombstones with that big A and the sled behind it but the picket fence may be an issue. But you are welcome to come without the tractor, I also can brew up some tea, Sorry, don't do Beer at this household.

Josh has plenty of power for a engine with stock stroke and just 4 1/16 pop up pistons, His biggest problem is hooking up and for his first year he has done well. I am surprised he does as well as he does with the tires he has'

Jerrys DC 4 is stock stroke what ever anyone chooses to believe, I did everything except grind the cam and that engine cranks unbelievable power for what it is. The best Gs in the state have lots of trouble with him since he went to our 18.4x38s. I challenge anyone to get that much HP for the little money spent. People are sending many thousands of dollars to the midwest builders to get crate engines delivered to their door to compete against our homegrown stuff and two winners at the Keystone Nationals was better than I expected of our stable of tractors.

Of course i am amazed that people will actually pay someone to build engines so they can overload a few nails with Blue,Red n Yellow ribbons LOL..mEl

im looking for a set og 15.5-38 for my A i want them pretty wore out maybe only an inch or so of tread left if you hear of any for sale thinking with all the torque i have the new tires are killing me by the time i get to the end of the track i have a foot or better of dirt pilled in front of the sled i would really like to go to top cuts but not every place i go allow them unless i want to compete with people like jerry i dont do beer or tea either lol

Both sets that Jerry is presently useing are ours, the 15.5s are BFs and the 18.4s are Armstrong, probably 60 yrs old as we used them on our NTPA super in the 60s. Lost track of them for a few years and then saw them laying along the road at a business , enquired about them and got them back, a stroke of luck I guess. Jerry has dressed them up and they work darn good. The 15.5 BFs should be taken down a bit as they still have a bit more height than I like but are still a good working tire, Jerry's preference is Armstrong but there are lots of opinions. I believe that I heard that Safemark has more lugs. Of course there is a solid group that swears by Firestone.

Jerry has a nice collection of used tires that he has collected so you may want to check with him.

I hope to have my 39 together for next season but will pull it in the later year classes, It will be a dedicated puller and although not large in CID will incorporate many other of the features I build into the larger engines +some new wrinkles before not tried but of sound practice for performance. This will be a time consuming deal as the DCs are so ancient in design that the mains must be line bored in place in the block so I'll have to take a shaft and get it ground just enough to get the throws and main journals round then bore the bearings accordingly.

No coffee, no tea, no beer, I use Schneider super skim so I'm pretty sure you won't drink that so I guess that you will just have to byo drink. LOL. mEl

ok i will check with jerry i will see him at the banquet i heard that about the safemarks and i have a set on my 70 so i counted them the 14.9 safemark and firestone field and road has the same number of bars im wanting 15.5 to slow my A down so i can grab another gear maybe cut that h.p. down a bit and make the tires bite better

mEL

The Keystone Nationals was A good Showing for our Corner of the Woods!

I Would Say the VA Suprised A Lot of People In 6250 when I Won with it!

The VA Likes Heavy 6 MPH Classes for some Reason!

All Our Local VACs worked Good there too!

My Su C done ok But hope to be Inproved for Next Year !

Cliff S

Cliff, considering the quality of the tractors there it was good to grab a couple classes. As far as the VA is concerned it was not to surprising to me as the tractor had beaten some of the top contenders during the regular season and no one has a great power advantage over it, it will easily hold to the speed limit with a lot of reserve power left. Sure, a lot of things have to go right to win at an event like that but to think it was a fluke is not reasonable. It was not that you won the class but that some of the strongest tractors did not get within 30 feet until the MM at the end which was good as it showed that there were other tractors capable of the win. That may be a long time happening again as a lot has to go right but we'll take it this time.

Keep working on the S C and who knows?

I Guess i Souldnt Conplain about the Su C It Finished 2nd Behind Jimmy VAC in 3000 5mph and Genes 230 was 3rd!

And 7th in 3500 !

I just need More Speed! 4.5 under load is too Slow in a 5 mph Class!

Cliff S