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JD 420 -- What horsepower?

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John

01-02-2003 02:37:08




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Gents, What horsepower is the 420 rated for? And what can you tell me about this tractor? A friend is making me a deal on his and I know little about it.
Thanks,
John




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CPeter

01-02-2003 16:04:32




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 Re: JD 420 -- What horsepower? in reply to John, 01-02-2003 02:37:08  
John, I have had a 40C for over thirty years and bought it to work and worked it hard on my place digging a cellar hole, pulling stumps, putting in 800' of driveway, pulling logs out of the woods and for twenty years plowing snow. Yes, they eat spark plugs and yes, they like to have the carb looked at from time to time, but it has been a faithful friend and helper. Ten years ago I bought a 420U and put a Lord loader on it. It is my helper now and I have had very good luck with it also. This past fall, I picked up a 420C to fixup(not a restoration) to use in the woods. I hope to make it presentable and usable and plan on working it. I don't know how much the 420 you are looking at is priced or what model, but for a utility tractor, I like them very much. I like the "U" as it is wide and low and that makes it stable. To see what the different models look like, check out the photo gallery on this site.

Feel free to email me with any questions. I don't know as much as some, but have lived with Dubuque tractors for a long time and have a few good ideas on them.

CPeter

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Wayne in Tn.

01-02-2003 15:06:22




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 Re: JD 420 -- What horsepower? in reply to John, 01-02-2003 02:37:08  
John, looks as if you started out looking for some serious advice on the 420. You mentioned you were not familiar with them. The 40-420-430 models are the only ones I collect, (or work on) mostly because I was raised up on them. Somehow My Grandfather managed to make a living for us with them. I never got used to the hand clutch on the bigger models, so guess that is one reason I like the 420. As to a working tractor, it will do as much or more than your 4600. They are fine for what you want to do with one. As to problems, any machine 50 years old will require some repair. If there are any specfics you would like to discuss, please feel free to e-mail me.

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L.C.

01-02-2003 15:02:44




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 Re: JD 420 -- What horsepower? in reply to John, 01-02-2003 02:37:08  
The 420 was available in several variants, including a crawler. It was made in the 1956-58 model years. As a general rule, all-green 420s were made in '56, green w/a yellow stripe on the hood were '57s, and the '58s had the yellow stripe and slant steering.

You can look at the serial number tag to see what type it is: the model will be "420" with a letter following: "W" for the row-crop utility, "T" for the row-crop (usually a tricycle front end, but wide-front was optional).

The weight is probably going to be around 3000 pounds without additional weights, fluid in the tires, etc. (The crawler is significantly heavier.)

Hopefully, for mowing, it'll have the "live" PTO option with the two-stage clutch. If not, you'll need to add an overrunning clutch to negate the flywheel effect of a bush-hog type mower. Power steering was available. It has disk brakes (non-hydraulic).

The known weak link in the transmission is that the PTO gears can get stripped if the tractor is used for heavy brush-cutting without a shear pin or slip clutch in the driveline.

Price range on these tractors seems to be around $2500 and up. YMMV.

Post back if you have further questions.

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Ray

01-02-2003 11:47:05




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 Re: JD 420 -- What horsepower? in reply to John, 01-02-2003 02:37:08  
How do you know it's a deal? You can easily spend
more on a 420 than what it's worth.They also
require a lot of tinkering to keep running,
more of a collector tractor than user,I'll bet
your friend found this out.



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John

01-02-2003 13:11:53




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 Re: Re: JD 420 -- What horsepower? in reply to Ray, 01-02-2003 11:47:05  
Ray, I didn't specify that it was a "good" deal, per se ;) -- just that it was a deal. Your valuable, insightful and experienced input will no doubt guide me in determining the quantity of greenbacks I am willing to give him for it. These Green putt-putts are all new to me (My name is John and I am a Farmall guy...) If this tractor has a bad rep, I'd certainly like to know -- so thanks for the input!! But the truth is, if I end up buying it, it's only real work will be a little mowing and running a sprayer unit once or twice a year for my Christmas Tree farm. The rest of the time, it will be a toy.

Regards,
John

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Ray

01-02-2003 14:57:45




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 Re: Re: Re: JD 420 -- What horsepower? in reply to John, 01-02-2003 13:11:53  
The 420 will work great for that,the point I
was trying to make is I've seen a lot of people
who didn't know much about tractors get talked
into a tractor that wouldn't do the job,or needed
someone who liked to tinker with old tractors
to keep it running.I've probably owned 25 of the
420 models,have several 430 models now,plus several new generation tractors.If you need any
help,let me know.

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Dennis

01-02-2003 12:03:19




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 Re: Re: JD 420 -- What horsepower? in reply to Ray, 01-02-2003 11:47:05  
Ray, I think there are probably more than a few 420 owners out there that will take exception to your negative view of the 420 as a "user" tractor.



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Ray

01-02-2003 13:10:19




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 Re: Re: Re: JD 420 -- What horsepower? in reply to Dennis, 01-02-2003 12:03:19  
There probably are a few good ones left out there,
but most are wore out,trannys make noise,steering
is loose,front ends broken,constant carb problems,
I've owned several as collector tractors,but
wouldn't buy one just to use,to many nicer
tractors with PS,a lot better hydraulics and
brakes,not a good yuppie tractor,best buy a Kubota or something and keep the 420 for parades.



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John

01-02-2003 13:44:31




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 Re: Re: Re: Re: JD 420 -- What horsepower? in reply to Ray, 01-02-2003 13:10:19  
third party image

Ray
:)
Do I look like a yuppie to you? And by Yuppie tractor, are you refering to my hydrostatic 4WD 4600 that enables me to enjoy my mint julep in one hand whilst waving to the ladies with the other as I pull into my reserved parking spot at the country club? Actually, I guess it IS somewhat of a Yuppie tractor, isn't it? But it works it's butt off (Unlike a lot of Yuppies I know...)

Yuppies (expletive deleted). If you see any yuppies around MY farm, you can give them your Enron stock. As for this Jarhead, I got what I got the hard way -- daddy didn't leave me any farm.

Seriously Ray, your point is well taken. I sold my Farmall M to get the 4600 because, well, an old tractor was fun but I had real work to do and that M was killing me. Now that the monkey is off my back (gotta love all that hydro stuff after years of wrestling a big Red Tractor...), I want another antique toy to putt with. And I thought I'd try green this time. I really wanted a Cletrac, but She Who Must Be Obeyed said "no." This 420 came along (somewhat fortuitously) and I immediately liked it.

Semper Fi (I'm no dang Yuppie there, YOU!)
John
By the way, that's my trusty Ka-Bar in my hands...

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Dennis

01-02-2003 05:02:08




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 Re: JD 420 -- What horsepower? in reply to John, 01-02-2003 02:37:08  
John, The hp of a 420 is 29.21 at the PTO.



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G Taylor

01-03-2003 08:17:25




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 Re: Re: JD 420 -- What horsepower? in reply to Dennis, 01-02-2003 05:02:08  
Ka-Bar ?????



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rhouston

01-03-2003 08:26:57




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 Re: Re: Re: JD 420 -- What horsepower? in reply to G Taylor, 01-03-2003 08:17:25  
Ka Bar- a high quality knife manufactured in my home town Olean N.Y. That's where the marines get theirs too.



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