Dad''s D

rusty6 · Oct 21, 2020

I have a few photos of my dad's tractors over the years including this one from I believe 1950. Almost looks like my dad is rolling one of his W.D. and Ho cigarettes while waiting for the D to warm up. He had a piece of corrugated tin nailed to the ceiling over the exhaust so it would not set the roof on fire. No electricity in those days for block heaters. I don't think he even had anti freeze. He talked of using kerosene or diesel fuel as coolant and one cold day it gelled in the radiator. I believe the D started on gas and then switched to distillate for field work.

RedMF40 · Oct 21, 2020

That's pretty nice you have these old photos. Looks so cold, so very cold. What do you think he was fixing to do out in the snow--get hay to the animals or something else? Thanks for the old family pic.

Gerrit

rusty6 · Oct 21, 2020

(quoted from post at 19:01:12 10/21/20) That's pretty nice you have these old photos. Looks so cold, so very cold. What do you think he was fixing to do out in the snow--get hay to the animals or something else? Thanks for the old family pic.

Gerrit

Actually does not look cold to me as he does not have his ears covered. Just guessing that the bucket on the right holds the used oil he drained out of the D engine

Jim in Sask · Oct 21, 2020

Hey Rusty, good picture. Here's one of my dad and his John Deere D in the winter of 1950-51. He was filling the rad with water (no antifreeze back then). He had traded it off on a new WD-9 to a dealer about 25 miles away. They each started out about the same time and would swap tractors when they met. The 9 was a lot faster in road gear than the D which was one of the reasons dad bought it as it was 5 miles between his two pieces of land. I don't know what the temperature was that day.

flying belgian · Oct 21, 2020

What's the deal with that off-set front axle? I had a 36 D but I don't remember it having a front axle like that.

flying belgian · Oct 21, 2020

I'm trying to figure out what that canister is for on the side of the hood.

rusty6 · Oct 21, 2020

(quoted from post at 19:57:00 10/21/20) I'm trying to figure out what that canister is for on the side of the hood.

Air cleaner stack on the left, exhaust on the right is all I see. Offset front axle was to give space for the belt to run various machines like chopper , threshing machine and wood saw.
Jim, great shot of your dad's D. I'd be afraid of the water freezing up there in the winter. You are right, the D had a maximum speed of about five miles per hour so a W series International would seem like a race car after that.

Jim in Sask · Oct 21, 2020

(quoted from post at 20:07:36 10/21/20)

(quoted from post at 19:57:00 10/21/20) I'm trying to figure out what that canister is for on the side of the hood.

Click to expand...

Air cleaner stack on the left, exhaust on the right is all I see. Offset front axle was to give space for the belt to run various machines like chopper , threshing machine and wood saw.
Jim, great shot of your dad's D. I'd be afraid of the water freezing up there in the winter. You are right, the D had a maximum speed of about five miles per hour so a W series International would seem like a race car after that.

It was likely not the dead of winter when my picture was taken. I think that was a real tough winter that they used a Cat to break a trail on the main correction line road where we lived, hence the abundance of snow. Flying Belgian if you're referring to my picture that cannister might have been an aftermarket oil filter although that's just a wild a** guess.

flying belgian · Oct 21, 2020

I was referring to jims picture.

rusty6 · Oct 21, 2020

Flying Belgian if you're referring to my picture that cannister might have been an aftermarket oil filter although that's just a wild a** guess.

Jim you are right. I didn't notice the accessory cannister on your dad's D. That appears to be the Reclaimo oil filter. Same as the one dad put on his D. I've still got the original bill and brochure from when he bought the Reclaimo. It used exhaust heat to "re-refine" the oil and you only had to change filters, not the oil. It shows in this photo. Ok, I can't find the photo but will post it when I find it.

rusty6 · Oct 21, 2020

Here is another picture of the D and it shows the Reclaimo oil filter accessory mounted on the side of the hood near the exhaust. Tractor is hitched to an almost new JD pto binder that dad bought.

Jim in Sask · Oct 21, 2020

(quoted from post at 20:39:43 10/21/20) Here is another picture of the D and it shows the Reclaimo oil filter accessory mounted on the side of the hood near the exhaust. Tractor is hitched to an almost new JD pto binder that dad bought.
<img src="https://www.yesterdaystractors.com/cvphotos/cvphoto60218.jpg">

Thanks for putting a name to that thing. I was pretty sure it was an oil filter but didn't know many details. What year was your dad's D? I think my dad bought his new in 1947, he traded off a 5 year old unstyled AR on it. It was the first tractor he had with a starter and lights.

coonie minnie · Oct 22, 2020

the offset was so the front wheel better cleared a flat belt. Was either optional, or perhaps standard on later D's.

Bill(Wis) · Oct 22, 2020

The model D, as far as I know, had a valve which allowed water from the cooling system to be mixed with the fuel. The fuel used was
gasoline from a 1.5 gal tank for starting and "distillate" fuel from a 23.5 gal tank for working. The radiator had a capacity of 56
quarts in order to have enough for cooling and also to mix with the fuel. In Nebraska tractor test #350 in January of 1940 a Model
D used 4.764 gallons of fuel and 3.238 gallons of water per hour in the maximum power test although some of the water was lost in
the cooling process as at times the cooling medium (water) was 210 degrees F. As for distillate fuel, the fuel used in the test had
an octane rating of 38. Around here, farmers used #2 fuel oil in their John Deere tractors.

unc · Oct 22, 2020

I believe the offset front axle goes back to the twenties. My neighbour has a 29 D. When I first got my 37, he advised me to take the time to shift the axle if I was doing belt work. To paraphrase his comment- "Always shift that axle. I cut the bejeebers out of a brand new tire because I was too lazy to move it to do a 5 minute belt job!" unc

rusty6 · Oct 22, 2020

Thanks for putting a name to that thing. I was pretty sure it was an oil filter but didn't know many details. What year was your dad's D? I think my dad bought his new in 1947, he traded off a 5 year old unstyled AR on it. It was the first tractor he had with a starter and lights.

Dad traded an almost new DC4 on this slightly used D in the late fourties. The Case was a bit light for what he wanted to pull.
I found the Reclaimo advertising. I think on the bill it was something over $40 which was a lot of money at the time.

Dad''s D

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