Antique John Deere tractors are everywhere, but freeing-up a seized JD engine is not easy

Here is a photo of friend's John Deere Model 820, nice eh?

The old-style Antique John Deere tractors are everywhere. Once their engine has seized, freeing up these antique engines can't be considered a small engine repair.

Pistons of more than 6" diameter pump out 75HP from only two cylinders. The antique tractor in the photo is equipped with power steering, but my neighbors wasn't.

His tractor always seemed to be missing a lot of parts and was hard to steer, but really pulled in straight line.

In 1837 John Deere founded the company that bears his name today. In 1912 the company expanded into the tractor industry and purchased the manufacturers of the Waterloo Boy tractors in 1918.

In 1923, JD launched the John Deere D tractor, which would continue in service for another thirty years. The JD R was the pioneer of the early letter series of John Deere, which included the John Deere A in 1934, John Deere B in 1935 and John Deere G in 1937.

The post-war era would see the launch of the John Deere M in 1947 and the John Deere R in 1949, featuring the first diesel engine in the line. The early 1950s would witness the end of the letter series and the launch of a new numerical naming scheme, including the John Deere 40, 50, 60, 70 and 80. 

1959 saw JD abandon its antique John Deere Tractors and its traditional two cylinder antique engines with the launch of the new six cylinder 8010 and 8020 series. The 1010, 2010, 3010 and 4010 would follow the next year, by which time four- and six-cylinder models had replaced the earlier antique tractor types with two-cylinder horizontal engines that had become a trademark of the brand.

The 1020, 2020, 3020, 4020 and 5020 would appear in the mid-1960s. The new models were wildly successful, and by the end of the decade John Deere would secure its place as the largest farm tractor company in the world.

John Deere remains the largest manufacturer of agricultural equipment to this day and one of the largest corporations in the world. Click here for more information on antique John Deere tractors and other machinery.