farming with 2 cylinder stories

swindave

Member
does anyone farm, or did farm with 2 cylinder tractors?
anyone want to share their favorite story of using their tractor? good or bad !
i have a 49 model a and a 59 model 530
 
I have a few here on our dairy farm... milk 350 cows. They run augers, move wagons at harvest time, pull my corn planter starter wagon, etc. Currently use an A, G, 70. Friday the 70 got used to unload forage boxes at the bagger. Yes, 8235R on chopper, 2 4020s and a 4320 hauling, 70 unloading! Put in about 55 loads in 8 hours.

The 70 usually only gets used when hauling longer distances and we need plenty of tractors to keep up. But it is a favorite to unload with- easy on and off, simple controls, hand clutch to ease ahead with the bagger.
 
Re-contouring a grassed waterway here.....sprayed it with my JD 2955.....plowed it a few days later with my MH 44 Sp......disced it with the 2955....graded and levelled with the JD 2120, and today I will resow it with the 1960 JD 630....everyone has a job to do!

Ben
 
We used several <a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/JamesLHowell?feature=mhsn">John Deere</a> tractors in our hay operation.

We still use some for mowing and spraying.

Welcome to YT as a new member to the John Deere forum.
 
BTO I worked for in HS & college had mostly New Generation tractors, pair of '64 4020's,traded for a 4320 & 4020 in spring '69, bought a used gas 4020 with an additional 160 acre farm, bought a very slightly used 4230 with turbo, but always seemed to have some old 2 cylinders around. Ran his #60 quite a bit, then there was a worn-out styled A that was second string on the manure spreaders. His most used tractor was his 520. He planted ALL his corn with it when he used his 494 planter, also planted all his beans with a home-made #690 6-30 planter. He also cultivated everything at least once with the 520, bet it struggled with that 6-30 fry mount cultivator! I never ran it. The guts were blown out of the muffler, I could hear it over a mile UPWIND when he ran it. He used it to haul in when we chopped haylage, sometimes from almost a mile away. He had two of Deere's biggest Chuck Wagons, I'm sure I would have felt much more comfortable with a heavier 4020 pulling those loaded wagons. 520 only had a 10 mph road gear. I could slide an H or M FARMALL from 3rd to 4th to 5th gear on the move without ever clicking a tooth, but could ANYBODY shift a Deere with that gated shift pattern and hand clutch on the fly? I never had enough guts to try it. Our '40 styled B had a 4-speed, 4.5 mph road gear, the R diesel had a 5-speed, 11 mph 5th, it would start on hard surfaces in 5th gear pulling a plow or disk out of the ground. Interesting fact, the Super M-TA we had when we had the R went 11 mph in 5th gear with the TA back. It would easily idle off in low side of 5th too, then let the TA ahead and be hustling down the road at 16-1/2 mph. Dad bought the R with the intent that he was going to get to farm Grandpa's 160 acres that was 20 miles away, almost ALL state highways. I'm actually glad that never happened, running all those miles with our 14 ft disc in tow at 11 mph. Yes, I would have been the one to drive. Dad would wait a half hour to 45 minutes later and take off in the pickup and still beat me there.
 
I grew up with an 80 and a 730 on the farm. (They're still on the farm.) Some time about 1985 my dad put new radial tires on the 80. (They're still on the 80.) It was the main plowing tractor (still is the main plowing tractor) pulling a 5-16" hydraulic reset plow he'd bought new about 1970 to go with the 80. We were plowing a low area in a field which he recently had tiled, and it was solid with an old stand of cattails, dried from the tile. When that 80 came to those cattails with those new radial tires, the front end of the tractor came right off the ground! I couldn't keep it down! It kept jumping up and leaving the furrow! The old girl barked, blew black smoke, pulled its front off the ground--but she kept that plow going forward! I held on and struggled to keep it in line with the brakes, which I did fairly well. That was pretty exciting to a 15 year old kid. I'll never forget it.

Not long after that I was plowing an old dry stand of alfalfa with that tractor at night. I pulled into the furrow and lowered the plow, and within 50 yards, fire stood up off the stack a good eight inches! And it stayed there for the length of the field, getting shorter or taller depending on how tough that alfalfa was, pulsing with those big cylinders. The muffler glowed a dull red! I watched my gauges and kept her going. The front end bounced and jumped, fire stood off the stack, and I thought I was in farmer heaven. I don't know how a tractor can take that, but it did. Water never got over 175. Great tractor.

My dad has overhauled that 80 twice over the years that I remember. Last month I plowed a 28 acre field with that tractor and plow and then seeded it to alfalfa with it. Great machine. I always feel like patting it and saying thank you when I park it in the barn.

Joel
 
Two cylinders, at least the row crops where you can see the belt pulley, are very easy to shift on the go. The ones with a high/low like a G or 70 are easiest.


I've never tried it with a standard tread like an 820.

Maybe I should make a video...

I've yet to figure out how to shift my new to me MM U on the fly yet though.
 
I have always been a four - six cylinder guy.

My dad told me about the sound of the RD road maintainers.
 
When I was very young, back in the 60's, we had an A, a R and a 830. First tractor I remember driving was the R, about 4 years old sitting in my Grandpa's lap and pulling a plow.
 
I farmed with a 730 diesel and a 60 for a while, but I can't say I have a lot of fond memories of doing it. They were tractors and were what I had, but it wasn't anything special.
 
Plenty of two cyl John Deere tractors in our neighborhood and we all got to drive each others tractors because we exchanged help during threshing and haying seasons. First one came about because neighbors old Fordson was about worn out and he needed a new tractor. Went to the First National Bank to see about a loan and was turned down. Told the John Deere dealer about it and dealer made him an offer he didn't refuse. Use old Fordson with it's Oliver 2-12 plow for a down payment and he'd bring out a brand new model AR with a brand new 2-14 trailer plow and then work out the payments to match up with farm income. It worked so well that the neighbor next to him did the same thing. This was in 1936. Then another neighbor followed. Finally, by 1949, we had 9 or 10 John Deere tractors, mostly As but a couple of Bs and one guy bought an H and only used it for cultivating. Another farmer that thought he'd get by with a team of horses finally bought an M. All in a relatively small neighborhood as most farms of that day consisted of around 100-160 acres. And mostly brought about because of bankers that didn't trust farmers and John Deere that did. All of those early John Deere tractors started on gas and then were switched over to fuel oil causing many plumes of blue smoke on early cold mornings. That was before ethylene glycol anti-freeze which meant either using alcohol or draining the radiator after each use in cold weather. Alcohol was problematic so the guy with the AR would haul out his manure every day all winter long with nothing in the radiator. I guess you could call that one "air cooled".
 
I have an old black and white photo taken in 1953. In the picture shows my dad on a old Fordson pulling a 2 bottom plow with my older sister then 3 sitting in his lap, in front of him is my grandfather on his best buddy a 1928 John Deere D pulling a 3 bottom plow, in front of him is my Uncle on a 1940 John Deere B pulling a 2 bottom plow, and at the very front was the hired hand driving a 1935 John Deere A pulling a 3 bottom plow. Sadly less then 2 years later my father died in a farm truck accident. Wish I could find the negative so I could get the photo blown up larger. I grew up driving the 40B. Grandfather told me not to become a farmer so I went away to college and started a different career. Cousins still own the 28D and 35A. Today I own a different 40B and a 50G. Love the sound of those 2 cylinders and miss the farm!! Tom in Mn.
 
I spent forever on a 49 A pulling a 5 disc Athens tiller or a Case drag disc harrow.
Also did a lot of other jobs with it.
Did all that on my Grand Ma's farm.
Built my fish pond with it and a 4 wheeled dirt pan.
Also spent a ton of time on my Daddy's 52 Ford 8N.
Now I have a 42 JD H that I use in the garden cultivating.
Also use it planting and plowing up potatoes and side dressing with my home made stainless steel side dresser.
Still use my Daddy's 8N also.
Richard in NW SC
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My dad had a 1938 unstyled G. I spent many hours riding the seat ahead of him on that tractor. He did everything on the dairy farm with that tractor for many years. He also did custom work pulling a thresher all over the valley and with a custom made buck rake on it during haying season. It was the big tractor in the neighborhood as most of the other guys had fords or IH Hs so it was on call whenever anyone got stuck. My dad put a generator and battery and a large light for fall plowing. Until a few years back it was still the only tractor on the place and did all the work including plowing the garden in the fall. I don't remember my dad ever putting anything but water in the radiator so we drained it everytime it was used when frost was a possibility, I still have the tractor but it generally just comes out for tractor shows. I haven't had the heart to repaint it as my dad said he always liked the old tractors in their work clothes. I really appreciate my newer old tractors with power steering, live hydraulics and live pto but they are more complicated to keep running than the old 2 cylinder G.
 
I never drove a G although one neighbor about 4 miles away had one. On the 1936 AR with high/low, first and third were on the low side and second and fourth were on the high side so if you were plowing in third and had to shift down it was easiest to just go from third to first. Just one lever, one movement. But if you were plowing in second and had to shift to first, it required moving two levers which somehow could probably done on the fly but not easily.
 
First big tractor I ever drove and did serious farming with was my uncles black dash 820. Still impresses me to this day on how much work you can get done and burn so little fuel with a 2 cylinder diesel. And the lugging ability was unmatched. We also had an R back in the day as a used tractor we used along side an IH TD 14A crawler . A JD 5010 retired both tractors. We also had a JD 830 bought brand new and we traded in a IH 600 for it. Funny thing is the 830 was obviously the better tractor but today I would love to have the 600.
 
Old Fritz had a 1936 A and when he'd pull up to the threshing machine with a load of oat bundles he would occasionally put on his drunk act. He had the compression petcocks open so the tractor was hissing and pisting all over the place, he had a corked beer bottle that he carried water in and he'd be drinking from that and steering in all directions, looked like he was going to run right into the machine. Then, when he left he'd back away with the wagon going in every which direction. To top it all off, he looked a lot like Jonathon Winters. We had a lot of laughs pulling practical jokes like pulling off one spark plug wire, greased steering wheels, wet seats, etc.
 
That's a great looking 630. My dad had one in the early 70s that had a narrow front end. Never got to use it much as Dad started renting the farm soon after I went to college, he owned it up into the early eighties.
 
Growing up I harrowed and drilled grain with a 420c pulled either a 3 section spike tooth harrow or a 14 foot 620 international press drill I loved it I still have that tractor hope to get it going again in the next few years need to find a 2 x12 bottom plow for it I have an 8 foot tandem disc and still have a 3 section harrow
 

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Probably a one bottom plow if I want to put it in the ground I have the hood need a new front grille
 
I had a 720 and a 730 for a very short time. I was offered to much profit on them from a collector so down the road they went to be replaced with 3020's. I also had a 630 when I first got married. My wife came from a red family and the hand clutch was not her thing. One day she got on it and when she went to shift the gear shift lever broke at the snap ring. I can still see her standing up and throwing the gear shift lever.LOL It was replaced with another 3020 as well. Dad started farming with a 70 and a 720 diesel. When running a two row chopper they would lug down and loose rpm's. That wouls slow the chopper enough that the silage would barely make it into the wagon. Both were traded off on 4020's.I have had several 620-630 since and enjoy them but as I get older the slower power steering and only six speeds make running one more like work than fun. Tom
 
Growing up farming with a Model A Jitney and loving it until I heard my first 2 cylinder John Deere. Our neighbors used a 520 and 620 haying is was forever hooked. I spent so much of my spare time helping them as much as I could eventually working for them a couple seasons. I loved hearing those tractors working so much I bought my first Harley Davidson at 14 yrs old because of the same sound. Have since totally restored a 50,60 and 70 also own several other John Deeres along with implements.
 
I grew up on a 35 A, a 51 A and a 630. Still have all three and they all are capable of a good days work. I did not drive a foot clutch tractor till I was 16 years old.
 
We can shift from 4th to 6th or from 5th to 6th with either the 730 or the 80. Mostly that's just to get a load started on the road.
 
Dad bought a 1945 "B" when I was 5 yrs old. Started driving it at about 7 or 8. Got to close to a ditch when I was 12 and rolled it over,
Dad was not happy! We bought a 39 "G" in about 53 it was a beast. Spent a lot of hours on those Tractors, Dad bought a 1955 "60 wf in the early 60s it was great to run the 14T baler with LIVE PTO . I now have a 1950 "A", 53 "60", and still have the 45 "B" used only for Shows and Parades. Our JD Dealer at that time was Eisners in Kellogsville Ohio just over the PA line . Great memories of growing up in upper Northwest corner of Pa.
 
When I was 8 years of age my legs were to short to reach the clutch / brake pedals of my parents Ford 8-N.

I had a chance to operate a Styled JD "D" with "hand clutch" on Threshing day....:) I would head to the field pulling two 16' wagons designed for bundles. On the return, as I approached the belt driving the thrashing machine, an adult would accompany me as I pulled into position.

In 1975 I purchased 244 acres of land (100 acres in crop) with a line of small machinery that include a styled JD "AR".

I then purchased two JD "R's, one for parts and one in first class condition. I left the farming area to follow a career that I retired from in my 40 th year, returned back to my farm community,married the widow across the road and purchased another 122 cares of land.
Before I retired in 2011, I would purchase any affordable Styled JD "Ds" that caught my eye,transport them back to my property.
I required a well equipped Tractor for every day usage around the yard. At an auction I purchased a well known John Deere "520"...
Our JD 520 was petty much useless with the narrow 38" tires...with the 18.4 X 30 loaded this 520 is a perfect match for our requirements.
Our property is rented to the neighbor, we spend time breathing life back into old JD's.

Bob..
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I mowed a lot of prairie hay every year when I was a kid with a narrow front B John Deere.I still remember what it felt like when I hit that badger hole and took the front end off of the old B.Still have a 520 and 620 that gets some use yet today.
 

Many things on our little farm of 80 head total 36 milking are done with 2 cylinders. There is a one owner 42 6 speed B, 47 Little M , I resurrected a 44 A from parts & pieces that I refused to scrap. 2 model 60's, 57 620, 59 , 630, 2 1960 730 diesels. 1959 530. All of those are used for something in our operation. Normally the B rakes hay & hauls wagons fix's fence. 530 Teds hay & sometimes rakes hay. 620 & 630 bale hay, hauls silage wagons , plant corn or run the roller harrows. 730's run hay bines a 1219 & 1209 run the blower for filling the silo & one gets a 3pth NH chopper mounted on it for opening corn fields. The m cultivates the sweet corn, puts equipment away & hauls fire wood , buzz's fire wood. 60's haul the manure spreaders move round bales, wagons, run the grain drills. When the going gets tough the 2750 4wd & 3250 4wd are used for all the heavy tillage work & running the 2 row choppers & round baling. When the snow gets deep the 2750 is used on the spreader. The old 44 A is now electric start, with a 12v Model G starter motor, square seat battery box & float ride seat, char-lynn power steering it has more parts & pieces that don't really belong on it like a 52 A clutch pulley & 1st reduction gear to slow down the transmission. It's used for hauling hay wagons , wood wagons , stone boats & sports a 8' snow plow in the winter with a winter front. I even used in on Saturday pulling a 12' set of disc & later plant the last piece of corn on 4 acres we already took the hay off. Everything else was hooked to something being used? Currently have a 40 that went through a garage fire I picked up cheap, it doesn't run yet but it will someday when I have the time. Most of the 2 cylinder are put up in the winter, but ready to use if needed.
 
Mom's father had a JD 70 gas. I remember being around 4 years old and hearing it chug on a JD table blower from my grandparents house 200 feet away. Closer to home there were a couple of late A's and a couple of 60's in the neighborhood even though we did not have any. Guy up the road that had the nicest 72 4020 diesel I ever saw also had a 720 gas and a JD H.
 

Yes you can, maybe not on every model A, but this one worked Perfect. I had wanted to use the 1st reduction gear cover off the 52, the bolt pattern
is different down low at the lower part near the pto brg cap. The larger gear does clear everything fine. I wanted the pulley guard at the rear of the
pulley. I used the complete clutch from the late A. This late A had a cotton picker clutch handle, it's longer like the one's on the 50's & 60's but has
small ball at the top. It slows the transmission down a lot. Since I planned on using it for a snow plow tractor, I removed the pin in the reverse fork so
I have a high speed reverse, save time backing up the long driveways. Everything I've done to this OLD A can be reversed to factory. I wanted a short hood
which makes the starter easy to service if needed. This tractor went through a Tornado in 1985 was all smashed, I bought at the time just for the parts I
thought? After removing the bent & broken parts it started to look better & I had stored many parts I've saved over the years. Bought many of the needed
parts off Ebay most of them at a price I was willing to pay. But like many OLD Deere's I have too much money in it to sell for a profit. Currently sitting at
2300.00 is what I've put into it over the course of 7 years resurrecting. The Char lynn unit & slowing the trans down are the biggest improvements. It has a
block from a 46 A, Head is off a 47, the uncut hood & grills are from a 45 46 & 39 A's. The Generator is a 20 amp from a 3010. I picked up 90 over pistons new
in the box off ebay for 47.00 delivered to my door, found the correct complete engine gasket set for 9.99. About the only New deere parts I purchased were the
rings. Has distributor ignition from the 52 A The power of the tractor is good for an old A, pulled the 12' disc in second gear. I have a split pedestal from
the 52 A I'd like to install on it so it has rollamatic but pretty sure the bolt pattern is different? I don't want to weaken that on piece cast steel Front
Frame. So I believe it will stay as it is. Power troll box was also updated from the 52 A. It really was a joy to start & drive it under it's own power after
near 32 years of sitting in a fence row. It actually runs perfect & it shouldn't, the carb is from a cyclone B I had on the shelf, after spending 100.00's of
dollars on the A carb, it never ran right, One day I decided to throw cyclone B Carb on it for a test, that was 2 years ago, that carb made the difference in
the whole tractor. I'm still looking for a Live Hydraulic pump kit for it. It requires a lot of time & records keeping them all maintained. All the 12V
tractors I've installed a hour meters to help keep track. This 44 A is a Johnny Cash Special hand built.
 
My family had a dairy farm for over 50 years. Before I came along my mother and older brothers handled the farm while dad worked as a conductor on the railroad. They had a JD 70 diesel, and one day mom was parking the tractor in the shed. She tried to stop, and couldn't get the clutch to release. She stayed on the brakes and the tractor just lugged down and went through the back wall of the shed. She made a big circle and parked it the second time. Dad never said a word... but traded the 70 on a new 3020 not long after. I learned to drive on the 3020. I'm very blessed to still have both parents (88 and 83) and still going strong!
 
Thanks for sharing. A long time ago, my maternal grandfather had rollomatic installed on his 41 A. I'm not sure if they swapped out the whole front shaft or what, but it is still on there! That tractor was a bit like yours- started out hand start, flat backed tractor- ended up a"long hood" with gas conversion, power lift and rollomatic!
 
He was able to buy a 1946 A brand new when he left the Army from WW II. He also had a 1935 B that had a loader on it which was also used to mow hay with a JD no. 5 mower. As my older brother and I got older we would both be in the field with the G and the A that had a power block added to it. That is where I first experienced "destructive" and "constructive" sound waves. When we drove past each other sometimes it would get totally quiet for a brief time and then double loud for a brief time. I later learned in the mid 1980's in physics class at the local junior college about this phenomena. "Destructive" waves cancelled each other out and "constructive" waves amplified each other.

My Dad died September 10,1970. We kept the farm going and I officially started farming in January 1973 of my Senior year of high school, I bought all of the cattle and machinery including the A, B, D, and G and used them the next few years along with a 4010d. I still have them all except for the G, but I bought a 1953 G a few years ago so I would have the original "herd" of tractors again. So many good memories along with a few with my newer 4020, 4320, and 4440. I have driven many ages, breeds, and modals of tractors over the years with good memories as well.
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mrslesq - Very good story and very good pictures!

That last picture - the one-man hay operation - is one that I've never seen.
 
The first part of my story got lost, so here it is; Dad had a 1929 D that my grandfather bought new. My Dad was a kid and remembered the D being unloaded in the corn crib for some reason and they had to put a couple of lugs on it to get over a concrete curb. I remember riding on the transmission case while he plowed. When he came driving home from plowing with a 3-14" little genius plow, the cats would start to gather. He would usually have 2-3 gophers that he had shot with his .22 pistol to give them. A few years later he bought a 1951 G and gave the D to our milk man George Miller. When George died his widow gave it back. Unfortunately it sits in my machine shed stuck and with the rear rims rusted badly from calcium chloride used as weight. Here is a picture of steam power before the D.
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Heard stories about guys warming a can of soup in Johnny Poppers with the big radiator cap. Also if they forgot to vent can having it burst!
 
In 1948 the John Deere dealer in Titusville Pa. delivered 48 cyclone A to the Farm. It was the 1st one that the dealer revived from Deere Co. Mar of 48. Next day they brought the 3 bottom trailer plows & 10' disc later a #5 mower. Neighbors came to the farm to see this New Big A, Dad & Grandfather were told that our corn
wouldn't grow because the tractor was too heavy & would compact the ground. They marveled over a 3 BOTTOM PLOW!~ We were also told why would anyone buy a tractor that was too heavy to put on a barn floor. Well that model A was the 1st of many that have came to the farm, later a MC crawler arrived, + we had purchased 630 & a 730 diesel at local auctions. The 1948 A left the farm in 2000, I hated to see it leave but it wasn't my call, my father bought it new & I don't think the purchase price was anything over 2000.00 for just the tractor. It was our BIG tractor up till around 1970. Some guy wanted it & offered 2000.00 for it so it left. Since my birth in 1957 I only know of one other brand of tractor we had & that was a Oliver 60 that was used to cultivate & rake hay , pull a wagon. 1942 B is still on the farm, we had a 1946 A for many years that was a used Auction tractor & it left in the early 70's after the 630 & 730 Arrived. I have personally had a 50,70 gas, H, a few cyclone B's a Couple A's that I bought & sold. If we like them they hang around & get worked. One memory & I think there is a picture someplace of 5 John Deere A's hooked to a Stone boat, with one very large Pa. Rock on the boat & another Model A pushing to get it off the field. That Rock is still right where we left it.
 

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