fixerupper
Well-known Member
My son thought it'd be good to warm up our old tractors. I don't have pics but he might, I'll have to ask him tomorrow. The temp was around 50 but the wind was 20-40 MPH but they didn't seem to care. I did care! Done too much of that day after day years ago.
He called a good friend to see if he'd care to bring a couple of tractors and join in on the fun. Word got around and before long he had a couple more guys show up. This was corn stalks combined with a chopping head but it still took three passes with the disk to wear them down enough to go through the old plows. Some of the land was low and black and some was a little higher ground so they had a little taste of about every kind of pulling. Son had a 35 A Deere, 51 A Deere, R Deere, 88 Oliver and a 9N. His friend had a Farmall M, Super M and a Regular that spent a lot of time in my shop last winter being mechanically freshened up. The friend who was the owner ran the Super M and another buddy from town drove the straight M. He had a blast and was smiling from ear-to-ear.
I started setting out lands with the Oliver and a Deere 3-14's but had to park it when a depth lever bracket broke on the plow. Then I hopped on the 51 A with 2-16's that dad pulled with this tractor all through the 50's. Sure felt good to feel that 2 cyl grunt after getting off the Oliver. The Oliver dyno's out 10 HP more than the A so it obviously can pull more but it doesn't hang in there in the tough spots.
After setting out the lands I got on the R with 4-14's. Deere wasn't thinking of my farm when they advertised the R as being a 4-5 plow tractor. In the low black part of the field the R was struggling mightily in second gear and the front end was lifting. Plow was in maybe 7". After driving a light tractor like the A the R feels like a boulevard cruiser. After a few rounds with the R I had to leave to haul corn the rest of the day. Besides, I was good and tired of the howling wind. My eyes are still sore from the wind and dirt.
The M and Super M were having traction trouble pulling 3-14's in the heavy soil. The tires were shot and they weren't ballasted so it wasn't a fair comparison. They both moved up to lighter soil and then they did fine. To me listening to an M under a load is like listening to fine music.
The unballasted 9N spun it's wheels with a 2 bottom Dearborn plow and the cloud of blue smoke from the exhaust about obliterated the view, but he had fun with it for a couple of rounds.
The 35 A didn't work out well. The HI-LO would pop out of low in 2nd Low, the plowing gear. It didn't pop out in 1st low but that was too slow. Besides that it didn't have enough traction so it was parked along side the Oliver with the broken plow.
The star of the show, in my view was the Regular. It handily pulled the plow the 35 A didn't have enough traction to pull. The A's drawbar is a lot lower than the one on the Regular and evidently the Regular has a heavier butt. Both had good deep tread on the tires. Last winter we spent a lot of time and money on the Regular, with a completely overhauled head, replacing one piston and sleeve with a used P&S unit out of a junked F20, refurbished carb (not rebuilt, just cleaned up) a rebuilt mag, and replacement of every gasket and seal from the engine back to the rear wheels. The rear tires are new too. It started on the second pull of the crank every time and didn't miss a beat pulling 2-14's through the heavy shiny black soil in the low part of the field.
Another friend brought a 460 gas with a 3 bottom semi-mounted plow but the tractor need a tune up and couldn't pull as well as it should. After lunch he parked it and spent the rest of the day cruising and smoking along on the R.
Anyway, this was a good social event among friends. No one was bragging or trying to out-do anyone else, they were just having fun and that's the way it should be. When our tractors came back to the stable, my son crowded as many of them as he could into the shop and drained the oil. Now they can hibernate the winter away with fresh oil in the belly. Jim
He called a good friend to see if he'd care to bring a couple of tractors and join in on the fun. Word got around and before long he had a couple more guys show up. This was corn stalks combined with a chopping head but it still took three passes with the disk to wear them down enough to go through the old plows. Some of the land was low and black and some was a little higher ground so they had a little taste of about every kind of pulling. Son had a 35 A Deere, 51 A Deere, R Deere, 88 Oliver and a 9N. His friend had a Farmall M, Super M and a Regular that spent a lot of time in my shop last winter being mechanically freshened up. The friend who was the owner ran the Super M and another buddy from town drove the straight M. He had a blast and was smiling from ear-to-ear.
I started setting out lands with the Oliver and a Deere 3-14's but had to park it when a depth lever bracket broke on the plow. Then I hopped on the 51 A with 2-16's that dad pulled with this tractor all through the 50's. Sure felt good to feel that 2 cyl grunt after getting off the Oliver. The Oliver dyno's out 10 HP more than the A so it obviously can pull more but it doesn't hang in there in the tough spots.
After setting out the lands I got on the R with 4-14's. Deere wasn't thinking of my farm when they advertised the R as being a 4-5 plow tractor. In the low black part of the field the R was struggling mightily in second gear and the front end was lifting. Plow was in maybe 7". After driving a light tractor like the A the R feels like a boulevard cruiser. After a few rounds with the R I had to leave to haul corn the rest of the day. Besides, I was good and tired of the howling wind. My eyes are still sore from the wind and dirt.
The M and Super M were having traction trouble pulling 3-14's in the heavy soil. The tires were shot and they weren't ballasted so it wasn't a fair comparison. They both moved up to lighter soil and then they did fine. To me listening to an M under a load is like listening to fine music.
The unballasted 9N spun it's wheels with a 2 bottom Dearborn plow and the cloud of blue smoke from the exhaust about obliterated the view, but he had fun with it for a couple of rounds.
The 35 A didn't work out well. The HI-LO would pop out of low in 2nd Low, the plowing gear. It didn't pop out in 1st low but that was too slow. Besides that it didn't have enough traction so it was parked along side the Oliver with the broken plow.
The star of the show, in my view was the Regular. It handily pulled the plow the 35 A didn't have enough traction to pull. The A's drawbar is a lot lower than the one on the Regular and evidently the Regular has a heavier butt. Both had good deep tread on the tires. Last winter we spent a lot of time and money on the Regular, with a completely overhauled head, replacing one piston and sleeve with a used P&S unit out of a junked F20, refurbished carb (not rebuilt, just cleaned up) a rebuilt mag, and replacement of every gasket and seal from the engine back to the rear wheels. The rear tires are new too. It started on the second pull of the crank every time and didn't miss a beat pulling 2-14's through the heavy shiny black soil in the low part of the field.
Another friend brought a 460 gas with a 3 bottom semi-mounted plow but the tractor need a tune up and couldn't pull as well as it should. After lunch he parked it and spent the rest of the day cruising and smoking along on the R.
Anyway, this was a good social event among friends. No one was bragging or trying to out-do anyone else, they were just having fun and that's the way it should be. When our tractors came back to the stable, my son crowded as many of them as he could into the shop and drained the oil. Now they can hibernate the winter away with fresh oil in the belly. Jim
