Old Iron in Star Valley

Tag: Two-Cylinder

  • Feeding Beef Cattle Dec 1

    Feeding Beef Cattle Dec 1

    Now that the cattle have eaten most of their fall pasture, it’s time to start feeding them again. Feeding the cattle at this time of year is nothing unusual, but having no snow on the ground and being able to wear a baseball cap is!

    In this video I’m using a John Deere 630 with a custom built bale feeder to feed my father’s Hereford and Angus beef cattle.

    Also, my less than two year old German Shepherd was absolutely loving it. He was pretty small still when we were feeding last year, so I didn’t take him out too often and he mostly tried to hide. This year he knew he was in charge, and he was happy to show that off to those cows!

  • Putting Equipment Away for the Winter

    Putting Equipment Away for the Winter

    I had to move the ’39 A out of where I had it currently being stored (it’s a long story), and since it’s not running great and is a hand start I most likely won’t be getting it out this winter, so I put it behind everything else in the side of the barn. I’ve had the carb rebuilt, and it still isn’t running too well. Anyway, since I had it out and had some of the other tractors started and moved out as well, I thought I’d take the opportunity to post a short video.

    We’re fortunate that it’s been this warm with the weather as good as it has been. Typically by this time of year we’re already accumulating some snowfall and the temperatures are rarely above the mid-20s.

    Hopefully next year I’ll be able to get it running better. But the list of machines I have to work on is getting pretty large…

  • John Deere MT and Farmall B Side By Side

    John Deere MT and Farmall B Side By Side

    In this video I give a brief comparison of the Farmall B and John Deere MT. The B and the MT were both targeted at a similar market, are around the same age, and pretty similar power-wise. This video is not a full in-depth review or a comparison of each tractor, but I thought it would be fun to show them off and have them be parked next to each other.

    Model:John Deere MTFarmall B
    Years Produced:1949 – 19521939 – 1947
    Total Built:30,47275,241
    Original Price:$1,200$770
    Drawbar HP:14.0816.21
    Belt HP:20.7818.39
    Engine Size:1.6L 2-cylinder1.9L 4-cylinder
    Dry Weight:3,183 lbs2,400 lbs
    Transmission:4 forward, 1 reverse4 forward, 1 reverse
    Ref Links:Deere MT TractordataFarmall B Tractordata
    John Deere MT and Farmall B Comparison Chart (According to tractordata.com)

    As you can see from the table above, the two tractors are pretty similar in many ways. In my own opinion and from my own reading, I would guess that the John Deere Model M was designed to compete against the Farmall A. Keep in mind that tractor development takes several years, so the two years between the two doesn’t mean the one wasn’t influenced by the other. Plus, no development is done in a vacuum (completely independent thought from the other). Also, given that the JD M may have been in response to the Farmall M, I would guess that the MT was in response to the B (as the M and A are both wide front “standards”).

    Since the MT was developed later, they were able to make some improvements over the B, such as a better live-hydraulic system and a quick-attach system that was also hydraulically controlled. Unfortunately it doesn’t have a standard three point system (due to patents having yet expired), so the system Deere came up with for the MT was quickly abandoned once Deere was able to implement a standard three point system. However, the hydraulics introduced on the M would remain with Deere throughout the remainder of the two-cylinder tractors era.

    Though the Farmall A continued to live on for several more years as a “Super A”, the B was to be no more. It was replaced by the C, which physically more resembled the layout of the Deere MT than the B that it replaced. The Super A and C would live on for many more years, and the M would see direct replacements until the 430 was eventually discontinued in 1960.

  • Blade work with the 2010 and 435

    Blade work with the 2010 and 435

    I never passing up an excuse to drive the tractors on a beautiful fall day, I used the opportunity to do some blade and box scraper work to fill in the pivot tracks. Though not a necessary task, it makes working up the ground in the springtime much smoother and is better on the equipment.

    I used the John Deere 2010 Utility to fill in the tracks with an Allis Chalmers three-point blade, and I then used the John Deere 435 (2-53 Detroit Diesel) to finish it with a box scraper. Looking back, I should have used drag harrows and will do that next time instead. It tended to clump up some, so I’ll know how to do it better next year.

  • Feeding After Dark with the John Deere A

    I was a little later getting to the feeding tonight, but it gave me a good opportunity to use my newly installed LED lights. They are a lot brighter than the originals, yet still fit in the same housings (and look “original”). Also, the snow is getting deeper. It’s been pretty cold lately, so the tractor still goes through it okay. It was around 10 degrees F when I was feeding.

  • Feeding Cattle with the Model A

    Last year, I used the 630 to feed with. However, I thought it would be fun to try the A as well. I think the A is one of my favorite two-cylinder models.

    In this video I’m feeding beef cattle (Herefords and Angus) with the A and a custom-made feeder. The feeder used to be a round bale bagger. I converted it to work with the 3x4x8 large square bales. Bales are loaded with a 3020 PowerShift.

  • Support me on Patreon

    Balancing a day job, running a farm, and restoring/using old tractors and equipment takes a lot of resources! Unfortunately, the process to create the videos of these old classic tractors does take some cold hard cash. If you’d like, feel free to support me on Patreon. I’ll still continue to create them without it–but a little help would be much appreciated!

    Thanks,

    Kyle

    https://www.patreon.com/kylew2001

  • 2017 Farm Year in Review Video

    This video is a summary of the activities on the farm for 2017. It covers cultivating the Alfalfa, disking, sprinkling, cutting hay (swathing), raking hay, baling hay, hauling hay, and feeding the beef cattle.

    Tractors in use are a John Deere 4230, 4640 FWA, 4020 Diesel PowerShift, 3020 Diesel PowerShift, 630 gas, and 730 Diesel. Also shown are models 420 Utility, 435 Diesel, and a Model A.

    Videos are shot with an iPhone and DJI Phantom 4.

    2017 was a very busy year, with a lot of accomplishments, and a few failures. This was also the first full year with the new Reinke center pivot, which greatly increased the farm yield.

    Hopefully, 2018 will be a successful year, filled with many new adventures and prosperity.

  • John Deere Model A Hill Climb and Descend

    I took the A over my grandparents dry farm to get some photos. It’s a pretty steep climb for it–it went up in 4th but down in 2nd. The A has a nice sound under a load though.

  • John Deere 730 in Deep Snow

    If you make a path in the snow once it starts to melt, where the tracks are melts out a lot faster. Also, where possible, the use of the blade also assists in its melting. As you can see, it was very deep!