First Time Plowing With His Grandpa's John Deere G

Pulling a newly acquired old John Deere plow for the first time with a 1950 John Deere G. The soil was pretty wet and sticky, the plow's moldboards were rusty and the tractor's rear tires are not loaded, so pulling the plow uphill wasn't possible.

[@jimnowak3960]

Popping John, love that sound.

[@lorimurphy3788]

The sound is unmistakable brings back great memories

[@DoJoRa3]

For a long time, John Deere's advertising slogan was "Nothing runs like a Deere." When this tractor was built, that was an indisputable truth! ☺

[@rand49er]

That plow sure hit a big rock at the 3:47 mark. Cool tractor and fun watching those rear tires grip to keep that plow going.

[@DoJoRa3]

That field's not short of rocks to hit. My Dad and I deliberately used antique equipment to grow soybeans in it for a couple of years in the '70s. I plowed it with what we had available: A 1937 Farmall F-30, a 1936 Oliver Hart-Parr Row Crop 70, and a 1930s Allis Chalmers #2-216 "long landslide" trailer plow on steel with a spring latch to d-ring clevis hitch. ...The spring latch hitch worked exactly as it was supposed to. ...And if I had a bushel of soybeans for every time I hit a rock and the plow was suddenly unhitched from the tractor? ....We'd probably have made enough money that we'd still be at it back there. ;)

[@andrewtaynton3402]

Great video. I am from South Africa. My grandfather had both a John Deere G and B. Plus several teams of oxen to plough with. The oxen were phased out as tractors took over.

[@timgeissler6045]

we had a G when i was growing up my brother would weight it down to some thing like 7500 pounds or 8000 pounds and pull a 4-16 plow our 730 Jd struggled to pull but the 730 was a trailer queen and we woulda got in trouble bolting weights on it ....you have a beautiful G i miss ours even though she only wore her work clothes

[@hawkenman.549]

I’m not a farmer at all. But I love to hear the sound of that Johnny popper. A lot of comments posted on what your doing wrong. I guess like anything in life there is a learning curve. You’ll get it. Thank you for this video I really enjoyed it.

[@DoJoRa3]

By not long afterward, this plow's long-rusting shares & moldboards were well polished by the soil, and the old plow was working great again. ...It's just that at the time, I wasn't well enough to stay to record that.

[@bruceogren1801]

Nice G. I still have my dad's that I inherited after dad passed. We farmed many years with it & it's in mint condition yet. We owned it for almost 60 years fun to run it. Has m& w pistons all the time we owned it. Yours sounds beautiful. Doesn't miss a beat!!!

[@russellparr9053]

I remember an old G in one of the worst snowstorms in Michigan's history. It would hit the drifts. But wouldn't stall it. You could hear it off in the distance

[@russellparr9053]

In 1967 michigan had the worst snowstorm in History. I remember hearing an old G hitting the snow drifts. It would draw it down but wouldn't stop it.

[@ericthatcher3462]

We ran about 80% calcium chloride in our rear tractor tires for weight on our 49A, 47B, 52 AC WD, 55 MM UB and 52 IHC Super M during the 50's and early 60's when we farmed with those tractors. Never had a problem with too much slippage.

[@DoJoRa3]

Agreed, but even slight calcium chloride leaks have always been "hell on wheels." 10-15 years ago I loaded a pair of tubeless garden tractor tires (on flawless, restored rims) with Prestone LowTox antifreeze. Since then only drops of it have wept from the beads, and at that, only in recent years and after months between uses. Each time, what wept looked as clean and green as the day I put it in, so apparently, nothing is rusting so, ..."so far so good." I gather there are other non-corrosive fluids being deliberately marketed as alternatives to calcium chloride (and "experiments" like mine.) If they're kind to metal and rubber, adequately freeze-proof and not especially toxic, I might load our Farmall F-30s tires again someday. (I don't want to risk further corroding those irreplaceable French - Hecht spoked wheels.) ...Last time I talked about this with my uncle (owner of this JD G,) I recall him saying he wants to have its tires loaded, but he didn't commit to what with, and also mentioned perhaps wanting to get larger tires first. ;)

[@rickshafer4241]

Thanks for sharing! I think maybe on the side hills, if you adjusted the "tilt" of the plow a little more to the right (using the lever on the plow), and then if you plowed a little bit deeper, then you wouldn't have the problem of the plowed ground wanting to fall back into the furrow. We typically used to plow a little deeper than you are plowing in the video......I'm thinking about 10 inches deep or so. I'm guessing you are plowing about 7 or 8 inches deep in the video. Of course, that's going to make the Old G bark a little more!!!

[@DoJoRa3]

You're welcome, and thank you Rick. My uncle had just purchased this plow. It was evident that it hadn't been used or sheltered in years and, at first, it wanted to go anywhere but into the ground. My uncle stood shoveling the wet soil off of the rusted moldboards at the start of every pass, but in no time they'd plug up and climb out to mostly just pull up grass again. ;) Over time, as the rust was slowly scrubbed off, the plow did work better and draw down as it should. Unfortunately, yours truly was recovering from possible COVID; very glad to be able to go out with my camera, but keeping my distance and not up to staying until they were getting best results. (...And as others noticed, this G could certainly use some added weight (and bigger tires.)) Hopefully we'll soon be able to better showcase these machines but, if not or until then, I'm glad you enjoyed this video. :)

[@houstonbodie7062]

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[@deanjerome1981]

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[@houstonbodie7062]

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[@houstonbodie7062]

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[@MrEcm51]

Boy she sounds good. We had a 1952 G when I was in high school, and that thing would pull! Dad sold it in 1998 after I graduated. I wish I had it back. 55777 was the serial number.

[@abelvillarreal6488]

I could listen to that sound all day long. Thanks for the video.

[@jonmiller8819]

You're Uncle's G sounds great, it didnt sound like it was working hard at all. A little more adjusting and maybe a little more speed and you'll be all set. Great video 👍👍👍👍👍

[@brianandlindafairchild1237]

Love that sound!

[@olddave4833]

it seems like I put a million hours on one of those in the early 50s.

[@deernutOO]

Sounds great, and plowing pretty good given that it is sod ground.

[@jeffkluesner1895]

Get the molboards shiny and paint them with old latex paint and hang some weights on it will make it easier and more enjoyable next time

[@garrettvillwok3693]

Very nice looking tractor bud, wish I had a G. I do have 3 As.

[@DoJoRa3]

I wouldn't mind owning it myself. ;) It's my uncle's, and he has an A as well. Great old machines! :)

[@wilymcgee]

"i have too many tractors..." said no man ever....

[@jonmiller8819]

@@wilymcgee I couldn't agree more with you Wilford.

[@POBulkhead]

I liked how the Robins would eat the worms.

[@jamesharber7820]

Sweet!

[@ricksadler797]

Nice 👍 ❤

[@TimothyYankie]

We had one when I was growing up in the 60s

[@georgebroeren1617]

Plow NEEDS an acute adjustment, where we live G could barely pull a 2 bottom!

[@larrykrise3609]

need a little forward soeed to get the dirt to roll over

[@thegreenerthemeaner]

412 cubic inches of lug all day. Not even a whimper. Bet a D would pull 4 bottoms here.

[@Wanous-hv7zo]

Very nice

[@DoJoRa3]

Thanks! When I recorded this I was finally recovering from a long illness. I was glad to still be alive, and quietly excited to be outside taking this video to share. My uncle and his grandson were sharing a great day, and the tractor was obviously running great. ...And I could see that the new/old plow was working better and better, and I'm only slightly sorry that I had to get back inside before it was working perfectly. ...I've come to love this video because it refreshes the gratitude and hope I felt on that day, and it's a pleasant bonus for me when for any reason, others say they enjoy it too! Take care!

[@haroldhelms7232]

Why plow just one way.

[@DoJoRa3]

He tried at first to plow both ways, but didn't have enough traction to pull the plow up the hill. The plow was very rusty, the field was wet and full of roots, and the tractor didn't have any weight added -- not even any fluid in the tires.

[@farmingvintage302]

How deep were you plowing?

[@DoJoRa3]

The aim was for about 7 inches, but it wasn't going very well yet. The plow was just purchased, not yet set up quite right and the moldboards were very rusty when this job was begun. The first few passes were little more than scratches on the sod. I wasn't able to stay, but gather that they got it working better and better through the day.

[@georgedavidson7986]

Terrible plot job How do you work that mess down ? You need to how to set the plow up better

[@DoJoRa3]

That was remedied in the field and explained in the thread below. As the wet, sticky soil scrubbed the heavy rust off the long-unused plowshares and moldboards, the plow became more and more responsive to its settings, which did virtually nothing at the outset. Abrasives simply need time and pressure to work, and they dragged that old plow around until it was polished into full functionality again. Around here, we call that a success.

[@alexandersheppard1997]

Evil gas machine

[@DoJoRa3]

A beneficial machine.

[@CharlesWT-TX]

@@DoJoRa3 And the two cylinder John Deere diesel tractors were about 20% more fuel efficient than other diesel tractors at the time.

[@tennesseesawmillguy1590]

A necessary evil

[@thegreenerthemeaner]

@@CharlesWT-TX The 720 diesel set a record in 1957 at the Nebraska tractor tests that stood until 1984. The fuel economy was impressive, to say the least. The bigger gas tractors on the other hand were quite thirsty.

[@DoJoRa3]

@@thegreenerthemeaner : Another uncle of mine farmed with a 720 Diesel in the mid 1960s. Narrow front, pony start -- an awesome machine! He passed on in 1990, but if he were here he'd give this comment a thumbs up. Although I found it hard to believe at the time, he had once told me that his 720 was easier on fuel than anything else in its class. :)

[@dustineiffler7145]

Definitely not plowing deep enough

[@normsweet1710]

Me “boy this plow pulls hard!” my Dad “ quit complaining, they’ll pull easy once ya get the rust scraped off !” Me “OK” 🫨

[@DoJoRa3]

😄 Funny how smart most Dads look when we're looking over our shoulders.