Stephen Equipment Company, Box 89, Franktown, Colorado 80116
I am a John Deere dealer and I would like to share some
information and experiences with your readers. I have subscribed to
both your magazines for one year now and consider them to be
repeatedly excellent.
About one year ago, I decided to see if I could get a showpiece
John Deere D to run. It is a 1929 D on full steel and had been
sitting in the same spot for ten years. Well, I got it to run and I
found I was hooked! I started looking around our dealership a
little more closely. I located three stationary engines under a
shelf where they had been for some time. I found two John Deere 1?
HP and one Fairbanks Morse 3 HP. I restored one of the John Deeres
and got the other running. I also located a walk-behind plow and a
walk-behind potato digger. Well, one year later, I have accumulated
a somewhat larger collection!
It includes: 2-1927 and 1-1929 JD D’s on full steel; 1-1936
JD A; 1-1937 JD B; 1-JD L; 1-JD LA; 1-MM Z; 1-IH F-12; 1-Rock
Island F/A; 3-JD 1? HP engines; 1-JD 3 HP engine; 1-FM 3 HP engine;
4-horsedrawn corn planters (3 JD, 1 IH); 1-horsedrawn JD model KC
cultivator; 1-Clipper #1-B seed separator; and a growing literature
and parts books collection.
All tractors except the F-12, Rock Island, and 1 D run. I also
completely restored a 1935 JD for a customer. I did everything from
rebuild the engine to mount the new tires to paint and detail the
tractor. I talked my wife, Cathy, into sewing the radiator curtain.
I have received many compliments on it. (I have enclosed a photo of
it.)
My wife and I and another couple traveled to Bird City, Kansas
to see our first show. We really enjoyed ourselves and I had an
idea. I wore the telephone out tracing people who were interested
in old tractors and engines. All this effort paid off on September
12, 1981 when the first show of this type in our area was held. It
was combined with our local Chamber of Commerce show and the
results were surprising. There was a total of 21 tractors and 33
engines. Entrants ranged from a 1925 spoke-flywheel D to IH F-20s
and F Cubs to a 1952 JD R diesel. Everyone had a great time and I
feel we could double the size of the show next year.
I would like to share some thoughts on John Deere parts
availability with you. Many people seem to be surprised that John
Deere still makes many parts for the tractors and stationary
engines. The non-styled D is getting harder to get parts for; the
GP is nearly impossible; but the nonstyled A and B are still
relatively easy. Gaskets and springs are still available for the
stationary engines. It seems like the ‘hard’ parts go
obsolete first and the gaskets go last. Many of the still available
parts are stored in the obsolete parts depot in Moline. It usually
is a short wait of 2-4 days to get these parts that are stored
here.
A few examples of parts that have gone obsolete in the last
three months are as follows: the spade lugs for D rear steel
wheels; the low-tension magneto for igniter set-up on type E
engines; the 1? HP head; and the brush with holder for the E
engines. Naturally, I delayed and missed ordering them by a week!
John Deere will continue to stock parts for which they receive a
certain amount of orders each year. I urge the readers to check
with their dealers and keep the demand up so the parts will
continue to be stocked.
John Deere also still provides operator’s manuals for
all their tractors. Parts catalogs are still
available for everything except the GP tractor and the stationary
engines. And yet parts are still available for these units. So the
trick is to find a dealer that has a parts catalog so he can know
which numbers to order. Deere furnishes an order form booklet which
lists all available literature and includes prices and order forms.
The best part is that it is free for the asking from John Deere
dealers. Two books which I recommend are: #SM-2124-Carburetors
service manual and #SM-2029-Electrical Systems service manual.
These show all the rebuilding procedures on carburetors and
magnetos as well as schematics and cross-reference lists to show
which tractor had which carburetor, etc. They have proven to be
invaluable.
I have also enclosed a serial number list on the older John
Deere tractors which should be of interest and benefit many people.
The list is taken from the John Deere bicentennial book and they
are John Deere’s official production records.
I hope some of what I have written will help somebody. If
anybody wants they can write me at the above address and send a
stamp and I will mail them a literature order form for free. I
would also try to help anybody with parts if I could. John Deere
dealers that are on the computerized parts ordering system have a
method of running a search of other computerized dealers’
inventories for obsolete parts that Deere no longer furnishes. I
have found many parts sitting on dealer’s shelves that I
needed.
JOHN DEERE SERIAL LIST
WATERLOO BOY ‘L’ & ‘LA’ | |
1914 | 1000 |
WATERLOO BOY ‘N’ | |
1917 | 10000 |
1918 | 10221 |
1919 | 13461 |
1920 | 18924 |
1921 | 27026 |
1922 | 27812 |
1923 | 28119 |
1924 | 29590 |
‘D’ | |
1924 | 30401 |
1925 | 31280 |
1926 | 35309 |
1927 | 43410 |
1928 | 54554 |
1929 | 71561 |
1930 | 95367 |
1931 | 109944 |
1932 | 115477 |
1933 | 115665 |
1934 | 116273 |
1935 | 119100 |
1936 | 125430 |
1937 | 130700 |
1938 | 138413 |
1939 | 143800 |
1940 | 146566 |
1941 | 149500 |
1942 | 152840 |
1943 | 155005 |
1944 | 155426 |
1945 | 159888 |
1946 | 162598 |
1947 | 167250 |
1948 | 174879 |
1949 | 183516 |
1950 | 188420 |
1951 | 189701 |
1952 | 191180 |
1953 | 191439 |
‘GP’ WIDE TREAD | |
1929 | 400000 |
1930 | 400936 |
1931 | 402741 |
1932 | 404770 |
1933 | 405110 |
‘GP’ STANDARD | |
1928 | 200111 |
1929 | 202566 |
1930 | 216139 |
1931 | 224321 |
1932 | 228666 |
1933 | 229051 |
1934 | 229216 |
1935 | 230515 |
‘A’ | |
1934 | 410000 |
1935 | 412866 |
1936 | 424025 |
1937 | 442151 |
1938 | 466787 |
1939 | 477000 |
1940 | 488000 |
1941 | 499000 |
1942 | 514127 |
1943 | 523133 |
1944 | 528778 |
1945 | 548352 |
1946 | 588817 |
1947 | 578516 |
1948 | 594433 |
1949 | 620843 |
1950 | 648000 |
1951 | 667390 |
1952 | 689880 |
‘AC’ & ‘AR’ | |
1936 | 250000 |
1937 | 253521 |
1938 | 255416 |
1939 | 257004 |
1940 | 258045 |
1941 | 260000 |
1942 | 261558 |
1943 | 262243 |
1944 | 263223 |
1945 | 264738 |
1946 | 265870 |
1947 | 267082 |
1948 | 268877 |
1949 | 270646 |
1950 | 272985 |
1951 | 276078 |
1959 | 279770 |
1953 | 282551 |
‘AC’ (STYLED) | |
1937 | AO-1000 |
1938 | AO-1539 |
1939 | AO-1725 |
1940 | AO-1801 |
‘B’ | |
1935 | 1000 |
1936 | 12012 |
1937 | 27389 |
1938 | 46175 |
1939 | 60000 |
1940 | 81600 |
1941 | 96000 |
1942 | 126345 |
1943 | 143420 |
1944 | 152862 |
1945 | 173179 |
1946 | 183673 |
1947 | 199744 |
1948 | 216055 |
1949 | 237346 |
1950 | 258205 |
1951 | 276557 |
1952 | 299175 |
‘BO’ & ‘BR’ | |
1936 | 325000 |
1937 | 326655 |
1938 | 328111 |
1939 | 329000 |
1940 | 330633 |
1941 | 332039 |
1942 | 332427 |
1943 | 332780 |
1944 | 333156 |
1945 | 334219 |
1946 | 335641 |
1947 | 336746 |
‘BO’ (LINDEMAN) CRAWLER | |
1943 | 332901 |
1944 | 333110 |
1945 | 333666 |
1946 | 335361 |
1947 | 336441 |
‘G’ | |
1938 | 1000 |
1939 | 7734 |
1940 | 9321 |
1941 | 10489 |
1942 | 12069 |
1943 | —- |
1944 | 13748 |
1945 | 13905 |
1946 | 16694 |
1947 | 20527 |
1948 | 28127 |
1949 | 34587 |
1950 | 40761 |
1951 | 47194 |
1952 | 56510 |
1953 | 63489 |
‘L’ | |
1937 | 621000 |
1938 | 621079 |
1939 | 626265 |
1940 | 630160 |
1941 | 634191 |
1942 | 640000 |
1943 | 640738 |
1944 | 641038 |
1945 | 641538 |
1946 | 641958 |
‘LA’ | |
1941 | . 1001 |
1942 | . 5361 |
1943 | 6029 |
1944 | . 6159 |
1945 | . 9732 |
1946 | 11529 |
‘H’ | |
1939 | 1000 |
1940 | 10780 |
1941 | 23654 |
1942 | 40995 |
1943 | 44755 |
1944 | 47796 |
1945 | 48392 |
1946 | 55956 |
1947 | 60107 |
‘M’ | |
1947 | 10001 |
1948 | 13734 |
1949 | 25604 |
1950 | 35659 |
1951 | 43525 |
1952 | 50580 |
‘MT’ | |
1949 . | 10001 |
1950 . | 18544 |
1951 . | 26203 |
1952 . | 35845 |
‘MC’ CRAWLER | |
1949 | 10001 |
1950 | 11630 |
1951 | 13630 |
1952 | 16309 |
‘R’ | |
1949 | 1000 |
1950 | 3541 |
1951 | 6505 |
1952 | 10745 |
1953 | 15720 |
1954 | 19485 |