John Deere Tractors In the 50s and 60s, the John Deere line went from letters to numbers, from two-cylinder Johnny Poppers to four- and six-cylinder engines, and from number two to number one in tractor sales. The last of the letter series. As the 50s began, John Deere's tractor catalog featured from the lowest horsepower ratings to the highest the B, the M, the A, the G, the venerable D and the new R. The Model D was the granddaddy of the entire line. It had been adapted from the original Waterloo Boy tractor in 1923 and was in continuous production until 1953, selling 160,000 units. The D was the top of the line until the Model R was introduced in 1949 powered by Deere's first diesel engine. Because the company wasn't sure that the R would sell well, they kept the D in production well into the 50s. To meet the needs of row crop farmers, John Deere had relied on the Models A (with 28 HP) and B (with 17 HP) from the mid 30s into the 50s. The more powerful row crop Model G was added in 1937. The Model M was added in 1947 with a hydraulic mechanism. The first numbered series. By 1952, the last vestiges of wartime restrictions were gone and the tractor market had become a highly competitive battle between powerful companies. John Deere decided to abandon their confusing letter system for a numbered system of increasingly more powerful machines. The Model 40 was at the bottom of the line with 23 HP on the drawbar. The 50 had 28 HP, the 60 had 37 HP, the 70 had 45 HP, and in 1955 the 80 was introduced with 62 HP making it Deere's first five-plow tractor. The '20s. In 1957, John Deere introduced the 20 Series tractors, again with more horsepower and more yellow in its paint scheme. The 320 was the bottom on the line for small farmers and its horsepower was never tested. The 420 had 21 HP on the drawbar, the 520 had 26 HP, the 620 had 35 HP, the 720 had 51.
* Email * = Required Field Follow us on. For John Deere Collectibles & Gifts, visit our sister site We Ship Fast!.
Download Now