Old Iron in Star Valley

Tag: John Deere MT

  • John Deere MT and Farmall B Side By Side

    John Deere MT and Farmall B Side By Side

    In this video I give a brief comparison of the Farmall B and John Deere MT. The B and the MT were both targeted at a similar market, are around the same age, and pretty similar power-wise. This video is not a full in-depth review or a comparison of each tractor, but I thought it would be fun to show them off and have them be parked next to each other.

    Model:John Deere MTFarmall B
    Years Produced:1949 – 19521939 – 1947
    Total Built:30,47275,241
    Original Price:$1,200$770
    Drawbar HP:14.0816.21
    Belt HP:20.7818.39
    Engine Size:1.6L 2-cylinder1.9L 4-cylinder
    Dry Weight:3,183 lbs2,400 lbs
    Transmission:4 forward, 1 reverse4 forward, 1 reverse
    Ref Links:Deere MT TractordataFarmall B Tractordata
    John Deere MT and Farmall B Comparison Chart (According to tractordata.com)

    As you can see from the table above, the two tractors are pretty similar in many ways. In my own opinion and from my own reading, I would guess that the John Deere Model M was designed to compete against the Farmall A. Keep in mind that tractor development takes several years, so the two years between the two doesn’t mean the one wasn’t influenced by the other. Plus, no development is done in a vacuum (completely independent thought from the other). Also, given that the JD M may have been in response to the Farmall M, I would guess that the MT was in response to the B (as the M and A are both wide front “standards”).

    Since the MT was developed later, they were able to make some improvements over the B, such as a better live-hydraulic system and a quick-attach system that was also hydraulically controlled. Unfortunately it doesn’t have a standard three point system (due to patents having yet expired), so the system Deere came up with for the MT was quickly abandoned once Deere was able to implement a standard three point system. However, the hydraulics introduced on the M would remain with Deere throughout the remainder of the two-cylinder tractors era.

    Though the Farmall A continued to live on for several more years as a “Super A”, the B was to be no more. It was replaced by the C, which physically more resembled the layout of the Deere MT than the B that it replaced. The Super A and C would live on for many more years, and the M would see direct replacements until the 430 was eventually discontinued in 1960.

  • John Deere MT Update

    John Deere MT Update

    The John Deere MT that we picked up has been a fun little tractor. However, although it looks nice on the outside, it still has a lot of work to do before it will be a good and reliable tractor. The biggest item with it at the moment is the transmission. When I first picked it up, the transmission housing was rusted and the back axle was seized when placed in gear. Upon draining the housing, it was about half oil and half water. Sadly, it hadn’t been drained out in years and years and condensation eventually overtook oil content.

    Due to this, the bearings in the transmission housing were rusted, and even though we freed it up and replaced the oil, they still needed to be replaced to make it function properly.

    Fortunately, the MT is a pretty easy tractor to work on and split (separate the front from the back). I’ve got all the parts I need, so hopefully I’ll be able to get them swapped out and replaced pretty quickly this weekend. I’m sure I’ll have some more YouTube videos of it running once I do. 🙂

  • 1950 John Deere MT

    1950 John Deere MT

    Over the weekend I acquired a 1950 John Deere MT single-front. I already had two parts MT machines, so I thought this would be a fun one to add to the collection. In this video we load it up with the Ford F-350, haul it home, and run it for the first time.

    The MT was the row-crop version of the John Deere M. The M is unique as it was a two-cylinder vertical engine with a foot clutch. The M also replaced both the models H and LA. The H was the smallest of the horizontal two-cylinder machines.

    John Deere Model M

    As I mentioned earlier, the MT was the row-crop version of the M. The M was considered a “standard”, meaning non-adjustable wheel tread and a lower stance. One of the things that interests me about the M is that we used to have a model M on our farm. The photo above is the model M that was once on our family farm. They were popular utility machines, as they were small and easy to use as they had a standard clutch to operate. In the photo above, you can see it connected to a manure spreader. Back then they had an old dairy barn with the large large rounded-roof loft. The cows would be milked and also were fed in the barn. This created a good deal of manure which needed to be removed daily. The M in the photo shows it hooked up to a manure spreader. This would have been the daily task of the tractor–to drive through the barn and haul out the manure. I recall my grandfather talking about the process, mentioning how they would manually shovel the manure into the spreader each day. There’s plenty of manure to be seen on the tractor as well.

    Shot in 4K HDR Dolby Vision. If you have an iPhone 12 or later (or HDR compatible Android phone), then the color and brightness should really pop.