[AT] Time to commence tinkering

[dfolske at nccray.net]

The MM Comfort Tractor had a cab and seats to take the family to town 

Dan

On 2024-03-07 2:46 pm, asouth42 at embarqmail.com wrote:

> Wasn't there a MM back in the depression days that Had a road gear so the farmer could go to town at 45 MPH? 
> 
> Arthur in Florida 
> 
> From: AT <at-bounces at lists.antique-tractor.com> On Behalf Of Cecil Bearden
> Sent: Thursday, March 7, 2024 11:57 AM
> To: at at lists.antique-tractor.com
> Subject: Re: [AT] Time to commence tinkering 
> 
> 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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