Take 'em Down a Peg!

Anyone who has ever been around tractor collecting knows that there is always good-natured rivalries among the various collectors. The biggest rivalry always seems to be between IH and John Deere. Now that I think about it, most JD people like to start arguing that their tractors are better than anything and they try to convince anyone within ear-shot. I like all of the different makes and models. In fact, the older and more crude they are, the more I kind of like them. Yes, I even like John Deere and I use to own one once--just once. However, when someone starts into me about their "can-do-no-wrong" JD, I can take only so much before I have to point out troublesome spots that took the manufacturer many years to remedy. I find my patience running thin with this particular brand of tractor. My years of accumulated JD dislikes are presented here in this Top 10 List. I encourage any visitor to this site to contact us if you would like to see an item added to the list. Think of it as a therapy session--a place to vent your "pet peeves," if you will.

1. It is everywhere! I don’t care where I go; I can’t seem to get away from the John Deere bandwagon: Toys, stationary, yard things, plates, signs, clothes, and ornaments! You name it! How can this stuff be considered collectable when the world is flooded with it? You’d think that it was the only brand of tractor ever made! That’s funny; I just mentioned a John Deere collector philosophy in that last statement.

2. The sound. I like the sound of a two-cylinder just as much as the next guy, but a little of it goes a long way! An afternoon of dozens of Johnny-Poppers echoing from the hills starts to give me a headache. One is all right, but get several of them coming up the field pulling plows and they get all out of sync, and it sounds like mush! YUK!

3. The sheet metal. I tried removing the hood off of a ‘41 B and what a nightmare that was! Every thing attaches to it! The fuel tanks, shutter linkage, wiring harness. I thought IH’s Hundred-series sheet metal was bad but it is nothing compared to that B. (I guess the Cub ranks up there with it!)

4. The governor. Have you ever watched a John Deere motor under a load? What is up with the throttle linkage? That thing bounces from shut to open like a child on a pogo stick. Then the owner will say something like, "I think my governor needs adjusted." Gee, I don’t know how you could possibly tell with that thing whipping back and forth like a fish out of water! I know it is a normal condition with those motors, but I still find it annoying to watch.

5. The carburetor. Whoever designed the carburetor should have put some thought into the float bowl assembly. One nut? A float bowl with a big old hole in the bottom and it is all secured with one nut? If you over-tighten that one nut and strip the threads on the float bowl stem, the entire carburetor is shot. Nice!

6. The engine placement. I think it is neat how the entire engine is laying below the carburetor. If you forget to shut the fuel off and the needle valve happens to leak, where do you think that gas goes? Into the cylinders, then into the crankcase, then into the transmission! One owner actually admitted to this and he had a full tank! He said that the next day he had gas dripping from the rear axle seals! Cool! Time for an oil change!

7.Flywheel start. If this is supposed to be the way to start an older John Deere, why didn’t they make the flywheel easier to grab with your hands? Why is it tucked in between the rear wheel and the tractor? This makes for a comfortable place to crank on those things when the left wheel is set in as far as it will go. Have you ever seen a hand-start Johnny with orchard sheet metal on it? That looks like it would be fun! But at least they put those petcocks on the block to make it easier to crank. No wasted fuel there either! I once watched a guy crank on an A and the left petcock was pointed right at his legs. It didn’t seem to want to start for a while but he sure had a nice pair of pants that were soaked with gas after he got finished!

8. The clutch lever. The number-one most important lever and they put it out of reach! "Well, I would like to see what I’m backing up to but I can’t because I have to lean forward to operate the clutch." I do have to admit that it sure is easy to put a new clutch plate in one of those things. A screwdriver, ¾-inch wrench and a pair of needle-nose pliers and you can have a new clutch plate in a matter of minutes. Slick!

9. The brake pedals. Wow! If these aren’t cumbersome I don’t know what is. In order to set the brakes, you have to reach way down to find the pedal latch and flip it over. Then you can’t just tap the pedals to release them. You have to reach back down to flip the latch back over. Very tedious when you are trying to line up to a belt. Did I say belt…?

10. Belt work. There is no way a John Deere owner can say that a two-cylinder Johnny is suited for belt work. This aspect has to be their biggest weak spot. Lining them up and getting the belt tightened is bad enough. You have to try and keep the belt from falling off of the pulley during the line-up procedure because the pulley spins every time the clutch is engaged. Once you do manage to keep the belt on and straightened, you have to mess with the cumbersome brake pedals to keep the tractor in place. Once the belt is tight, you can’t get the transmission in neutral because the belt is putting strain on the clutch, keeping the transmission gears under tension. I’ve noticed the typical procedure here is to shut the tractor off, find neutral, then re-start the tractor. After all of that, you still can’t pull belt-driven equipment very hard. For starters, John Deere’s pulleys run too fast, so you have to throttle down to meet the standard 2500 fpm., thus putting the engine at a disadvantage. Then the trademark two-cylinder induces a nasty impulse on the belt under a load, causing the belt to start jumping up and down. Ah, I can see it now. Two quick fires from the motor, one short chirp from the belt slipping on the pulley, slack side of the belt hitting the ground and the tensioned side flying up. What a vicious cycle that is!

Well, I feel better now, and I hope you do too!  --Mike

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