The story behind Deere’s first diesel tractor
Farmers quickly warmed to the low cost of diesel fuel and envied the high torque of the engines that burned it when John Deere introduced the Model WD-40 diesel tractor in 1935, after 14 years of designing an engine true to its two-cylinder roots.
how to get it started?
In 1949, the Model R set fuel efficiency standards at the Nebraska Tractor Test, weighing 7,400 pounds and producing 6,644 pounds of draft in first gear while producing 45u00be drawbar horsepower.
Other model r firsts
The R was the first Deere tractor with a live independent PTO (which also drove its hydraulic pump) and was produced for only five years, selling over 21,000 units. It was replaced by not one, but two models: the 70 and 80.
first row-crop diesel
The Model 70 Diesel was Deere’s first diesel tractor, introduced in 1953, just before the R’s production ceased. The 70’s set a new fuel-economy record (beating the R’s) while producing 51u00bd horsepower drawbar pull.
Next came the 80
The Deere Model 80 Diesel, capable of pulling a 21-foot disk and delivering a third more power than the Model R, was introduced in 1954 and set a new fuel economy standard when tested in Nebraska (beating its younger brother’s record).
record breaking 730 diesel
The Model 720 Diesel was introduced in 1956, and its successor, the Model 730, quickly became the most popular.
Who created the first diesel tractor?
The Model R was John Deere’s first diesel-powered tractor, introduced in 1949, with a horizontal 2-cylinder (side-by-side) engine producing 49hp at 1,000rpm and a 2-cylinder horizontally-opposed gasoline pony motor for starting.
When was the first diesel tractor built?
Caterpillar began producing its first diesel tractor model, the Caterpillar Diesel Sixty Tractor, in October 1931, realizing that the diesel crawler was only a matter of time before it became popular.
When did tractors become diesel?
When IHC, John Deere’s main competitor, introduced the model WD-40 diesel tractor in 1935, it served as a wake-up call to the company’s management.
What is the oldest tractor in the world?
Graeme Quick discovered the world’s oldest existing tractor, a Hungarian-built 1896 Mechwart’s, in the German museum where it now resides, but little is known about the tractor’s basic configuration and design.
What is the largest tractor in the world?
The Big Bud 16V-747 Tractor is the world’s largest tractor, measuring 28 feet long and 20 feet wide, and is often compared to the size of a mining machine.
What diesel engine does John Deere use?
The engines in John Deere Compact Utility Tractors are manufactured by Yanmar, a company with which John Deere has had a long-standing partnership dating back to the 1970s. Yanmar diesel engines are compact, efficient, and of high quality.
What is the most rare John Deere tractor?
The 1913 Case Model 30-60 represented the highest price ever paid at auction for an antique tractor at the time, selling for $70,750 in March 2013 to a single owner John Deere tractor with only 2,612 engine hours.
Why do tractors use diesel?
The most significant advantage of a diesel tractor is that it consumes less fuel while producing the same amount of power as a gasoline tractor, and diesel fuel is less expensive than gasoline. Diesel engines are also more dependable because they do not have ignition system problems.
Why do tractors have 2 brake pedals?
Even the smallest of them all, an Irus U1200 two-wheel tractor with an 8 hp Hatz diesel, has two brake pedals, one for each wheel, which are locked together when driving over roads or hard surfaces to keep the vehicle from swerving off the road due to a carelessly applied foot.
What was the first diesel John Deere tractor?
When IHC introduced a diesel tractor, the Model WD-40, in 1935, John Deere’s management received a wake-up call. Deere dealers, fearful of losing sales to this more powerful tractor, were clamoring for a response.
Did Lamborghini make tractors?
After having mechanical problems with his Ferrari, Lamborghini decided to start his own rival sports car company, even hiring a former top Ferrari engineer, near Bologna, Italy, where he founded a business making tractors from reconfigured surplus military machines.
How much did the first tractor cost?
Tractors cost as much as $785 in 1920, but only $395 two years later in 1922, bringing the price down by nearly half in just two years, making tractors an affordable piece of agricultural machinery for almost every farmer.