We have a fairly rare John Deere 4020 on our farm. I suppose it’s rare because it gets the most hits out of all of my videos on Youtube! Okay, after doing some research online and reading some books, it really is. It has four wheel drive (FWA, or Front Wheel Assist to be exact), which I guess makes it pretty rare. It’s a nice tractor with the eight speed power-shift. Since so many people seem to like it, I thought I’d highlight it with this post. Enjoy.
I was recently looking through the videos I had on my phone, and noticed this video that I shot earlier in the summer. Since it’s so cold outside right now, I thought a little touch of a beautiful summer evening would be nice. Loading hay with the John Deere 3020 and pulling it with the John Deere B.
After doing some research and finding out the the first tractor we had on our farm was a 1949 John Deere Model A, I decided to keep an eye online and see if I could find one. At first I wanted to see if I could track down the original machine, but after realizing that was not going to be possible I decided to look for someone selling one of the same year. I found this tractor, which is a pretty machine so I’m happy with it. I know it’s not our original, but it gives me a sense of what my grandfather would have seen. I can only imagine how it would have felt going from farming with horses to using this tractor!
I love old tractors, and I especially love old John Deere tractors that we used on our farm. I was looking at some old photos that my great-aunt Nola took, which contain a John Deere Model A. I would love to find out about what year this tractor is. I think it’d be fun to find one and restore one, especially where my grandfather spent so much time on it. Ideally the exact tractor would be nice, but that’s not going to happen. So I thought I’d post the photo, and if anyone can figure out what year it is I’d sure appreciate it! My guess is between a 1939-1941. Click on the image for a larger version.
Burning off the extra straw. It rained so we weren’t able to bale it.
Farming seasons are always such a busy time of year for us. I understand that most of you have never been on a tractor nor had the opportunity to smell the freshly turned dirt. Because it is such a huge part of our life here, I enjoy sharing part of it with you.