[AT] Time to commence tinkering

[Cecil Bearden]

Dean: We had a G-1000 Moline that would run 35 flat out.
Cecil in OK

On 3/7/2024 1:46 AM, deanvp at att.net wrote:
>
> Dean
>
> Congrats on getting the 3020. I think your intuition  is correct about 
> the 3020 being your “go to” tractor,  As you well know your 620 is one 
> of my favorite JD Two Cylinder tractors  but just in the last couple 
> of years I too have added a New Generation tractor to the herd. But 
> mine  borrowed the frame from a 3020 and used a smaller engine. It is 
> a tweener called a 2520.  It is Diesel with a Synchro transmission. 
> Almost everything about it makes you feel a little safer although it 
> doesn’t have a ROPS which I would like to add someday when I get rich 
> for some currently unknown reason. The ROPS has become more important 
> to me after last August’s tractor accident. One of the biggest 
> differences between the two cylinders and the NG tractors is their top 
> speed.  The 2520 tops out at 20 MPH and let me tell you the first time 
> I got up to that sped I was a bit uncomfortable on a tractor going 
> that fast. And I was on a flat, straight, black top  country road.  I 
> think your M goes quite a bit faster than  your 620 so it may not be 
> as profound for you, 20 MPH on a tractor made me a little 
> uncomfortable at first, I’m getting used to it. 😊 The 3020 has all 
> kinds of bells and whistles to get used to and play with,  What 
> transmission do you have?
>
> One thing I don’t like is lack of an analog oil pressure gauge.  I 
> don’t like idiot lights especially in bright sunshine but we don’t 
> have much of that in Washington state. .  The seat is a huge step 
> forward in comfort, stability and ease of getting on and off. Once I 
> got all the settings right I was floating on air without bottoming 
> out. My 83 year old body did not like the height of the first JD 
> standard step getting on so I added another lower  commercially 
> available one. It was a big help for this old man. I would really like 
> to get the commercially available steps that are curved, huge, grated, 
> wide and appropriately incremental  that fit right between the tractor 
> and the left front fender but again may not happen until the stars all 
> align in the right way,  $450 plus is an expensive add-on. As I get 
> even older it may become a necessity.  I’m currently in the hunt for 
> the two front frame side weights and the first slab, maybe even a few 
> more slabs because I would like to display my 3 bottom JD Model 825 
> Roll-over plow ion it. I think I have found them but will need to pick 
> them up on my trip to NW IA this summer.  The other accessory I would 
> like to add, which would be strictly for show, is a front, dual 
> rockshaft.  I may have found one of those too.  I have added dual 
> rockshafts to my 20 series Two Cylinder tractors so I like the added 
> capability even though I’ll never use it, Fortunately many years ago I 
> captured several mechanical as well as hydraulic stop cylinders for 
> the Two Cylinders and even have a Higher pressure one or two for the 
> New Generation tractors.   The reminds me to caution you to not use 
> the Two Cylinder Cylinders with your 3020. The 3020 Hydraulic 
> pressures are sufficiently higher such that they will damage the two 
> hydraulic cylinders. New Generation Cylinders are immediately 
> noticeable in that they are painted black rather than green.  However, 
> one has to be careful using only that indication as a change of paint 
> color is quite easy.   The Tractor Parts catalogs clearly show the 
> Hydraulic  Cylinders that go with each family of tractors.  It is all 
> a mute issue if no lifting is done with the cylinder.
>
> The 3020 and 4020 Waterloo are considered some of the best tractors JD 
> ever made.  The 20 series fixed most of the birthing problems of the 
> 3010 and 4010.  This Series of tractors put a lot of other tractor 
> brands in a competitive hole that they never recovered from. Even 
> International Harvester finally succumbed in the 80’s but that was 
> more due to poor management than poor tractors.
>
> Enjoy your new toy. I do think it will become your favorite tractor 
> but you will always want to go back to the M Hum sound and the 620 
> distinctive two cylinder sound occasionally for reliving that era. 
>  The 3020 isn’t all that much newer than the M and 620 when realizing 
> it is nearly 60 years old too,
>
> Dean VP
>
> Apache Junction, AZ
>
> *From:*AT <at-bounces at lists.antique-tractor.com> *On Behalf Of *Dean 
> Vinson
> *Sent:* Monday, March 4, 2024 5:31 PM
> *To:* 'Antique Tractor Email Discussion Group' 
> <at at lists.antique-tractor.com>
> *Subject:* [AT] Time to commence tinkering
>
> The 3020 was delivered this afternoon, so as time allows I’ll be 
> tinkering with it… changing fluids, looking into why the rear light 
> works but the front lights don’t (“check the grounds, check the 
> grounds, check the grounds,” Farmer would say), getting rid of the 
> calcium chloride in the rear tires.   I’ve got a bit of earth 
> grading/smoothing to do in a couple of spots back in the woods, so the 
> tractor’s first actual task will likely be with a rear blade 
> attached.   I’m looking forward to all of it. 3227 hours on the 
> tractor, practically new given its age, and so far it feels as solid 
> as can be.
>
> I love the older tractors also, like the Super M shown in this photo 
> and a John Deere 620 parked in another part of the barn.   But I have 
> to admit, as I get older the level of exposure on those tractors 
> starts to weigh on my mind a little… I’m increasingly conscious of 
> sitting up there on the seat with nothing around me, and on the Super 
> M in particular not much below me except for the ground and whatever 
> implement I’m pulling.   The 3020 by comparison feels like I’m nestled 
> into a cockpit.   Will be interesting to see how the various tractors 
> get used as the months go by and the “newness” of the 3020 wears off, 
> but I can imagine it becoming more and more the go-to tractor.    In 
> the meantime, sure is fun to have a new toy.
>
> Dean Vinson
>
> Saint Paris, Ohio
>
>
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