Posted by JD Seller on April 05, 2015 at 14:40:04 from (208.126.198.123):
I called on an ad for some equipment that was part of an estate. This was over two years ago. The main item I was interested in was a 1968 JD 4020 diesel. The administrator of the estate setup a time for me to meet him to look at the tractor and some other equipment. We met and the tractor was buried under stacks of stuff in garage in a subdivision of Iowa City. Just a small lot in this subdivision. He told me that the engine was locked and that the tractor was being sold as salvage. It did have smaller DUNHAM LEHR loader on it with bale forks and no bucket. I tried to turn the motor over but it did seem to be locked up tight.
He would not put a price on it but wanted me to shot him a bid on the tractor. So I told him $2950 as-is picked up right there. He said he would be in contact with me. I never heard anything more and I assumed that they got a higher bid. Friday morning I got a call from this lawyer in Iowa City. He told me to come and pickup my tractor as they had accepted my bid?????? I could not figure out what the heck he was talking about at first. LOL I finally remembered that JD 4020. I asked him if that was it and he confirmed that.
The family wanted it picked up this weekend as they where there clearing out the house. I arranged to pick it up this afternoon. I got there around 1 PM. They had the stuff out of the garage but had not moved the tractor at all. I had to winch it out of the garage and up on the trailer.
The story on the tractor is kind of interesting. The estate took so long to settle as the owner had no close heirs. He had never married and was an only child. He only had some first cousins and their kids. HE was a professor at Iowa City. He had bought this tractor 3-4 years ago at a sale. He had been raised on a farm and was talking about buying a farm an retiring there. He had a sudden illness and died. It took this long to settle his estate as he had investments all over the world. It sounds like this fellow was pretty wealthy but just did not flash it around. His heirs though it was strange that he bought this tractor before he had place to use it.
When I got the tractor home I had my son help me unload it. I just parked on a grade in the drive way so we could just roll the tractor off the trailer. My son told me he would drive/roll it of the trailer. He put it in HI reverse as let it roll off the trailer. He got going pretty fast down the tail of the trailer so he let the clutch out to slow the tractor down. The DARN THING STARTED!!!!!!!! I bet that it did not turn over 3-4 turns and it was running. Not very well but running.
All I can figure is that the starter drive was caught in the flywheel making it hard to turn. I had two good batteries that I put in it and it starts an charges them. It has been changed over to 12 volt with JD parts.
So I got pretty lucky on this one. It will need a clutch as there is not more adjustment and very little free travel. The hydraulic pump is noisy but still has good pressure. The DUNHAM LEHR loader is in good shape but is really too little for this tractor. If the rest of the tractor checks out I am thinking about keeping the tractor and selling the loader.
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