John Deere R - Pony Motor First Start

[@christopherkinney7357]

My eyes are burning from just watching!! Congratulations on getting both motors running.

[@jonelsonster]

I may have knocked a few years off my life. 😂

[@christopherkinney7357]

@@jonelsonster at least you're enjoying how you did it. I remember Dad having a R when I was in highschool. I loved that old tractor.

[@lewiemcneely9143]

I used to run an old pony start D8H Cat dozer and I'd always run the pony at idle, turning the diesel over with the compression off with no fuel while I drank some coffee. After the coffee was done I'd rev the pony, kick the compression on and lay the fuel to it. It'd pick up a cylinder at a time till all kicked in and then I'd idle the pony down and turn the fuel off and shut it off. I never did run it dry. Never had any problems either. GOOD FOR YOU!

[@jonelsonster]

Very cool! Pony motors seem to be a pretty reliable way to get these old diesels started. Especially if it's cold outside.

[@lewiemcneely9143]

Never failed if they were running even close to right. With the exhaust heating the intake air, their coolant heating the whole engine and the cranking limbering up the oil and getting circulation going it couldn't miss. Might take a while but it had to work. Glow plugs worked fine if you had good batteries but the newer ones...........I just don't know. I drove a haul truck (V-8, 510 horse) that even if you plugged it in (3 or 4 heaters) it still took an unreal amount of spinning for it to fire off. Keep a spare starter I guess.@@jonelsonster

[@keepcalmandfarmon5401]

I am happy for you and Dad! Fun video. The smoke was so thick I thought for a second it was coming thru my screen.

[@jonelsonster]

Yeah, it was quite impressive. Ha ha 🤣

[@peterdriedger3490]

Very nice work my friend. I was not aware that Jon deer made a tractorR with a pony motor on it. My parents had an A-R. and G. and a B. I used them on dad’s fields. Never had the R with a pony motor Sonya’s gate work. I’m looking forward to see more of your videos.

[@jonelsonster]

Yes, the first diesel tractors Deere made were all pony starters. The 730 and 830 were the first time they offered electric start as on option.

[@tommckinley111]

Congrats on both motors starting! I bet you guys would love a vent hood or hose over exhaust so you could run them a little longer for tuning and adjusting things, smoke is a pain but beats working out in cold, we never had a shop on the farm.

[@jonelsonster]

Yes, each time we are working to get a new engine (or a new project with an old engine) started and running smoothly we nearly asphyxiate ourselves.

[@parkersposts]

Glad to see the little one running, can’t wait to see more on the 830 too. I’m almost 16 and have a 70 propane Deere and a model b. Would love to have a diesel Deere, but have to finish building my car first. Priorities I guess

[@jonelsonster]

Life gets busy. And you have to prioritize. But sounds like you've got some cool projects.

[@bombardier3qtrlbpsi]

John Deere should of made the pony motor gas tank a least 3x the size! Thanks for sharing the R's progress 👍

[@jonelsonster]

Yes, 1 qt of fuel doesn't give you many starts. Even the later v4 ponies still just had tiny tanks.

[@olddirtybastardgarage]

@@jonelsonster yeah or a good healthy warm up and damn tank is dry lol

[@AndrewHCann]

Excellent video :) got John Deere tractor R pony motor and Desiel to also smoke show Lol! I remember in 1992 on Home Farm in machinery shed the 1978 International 724 B loader Desiel fuel motor tractor motor needed rebuild total and fuel injection pump plus injectors to it smoke so bad at low idle 750 to 1500 RPM and 1600 to 2250 RPM clean out any cold or hot starts ! Way to much but soon got fix it super 👌 fine!

[@jonelsonster]

Very cool!

[@anthonyhengst2908]

Surprised to see how clean that pony motor is. Great you were able to get it running. From what I heard from other pony motors it really sounds pretty good.

[@jonelsonster]

It doesn't seem to smoke very bad, but we still need to work with it to get it to run as smoothly as the pony motor on our other R.

[@darrellepickering8433]

Back in the '50's, St Francisville, IL had a ferry with either an A or B chassis/motor/drivetrain in it. The axles drove it. I can barely remember it.

[@jonelsonster]

Cool memory! Probably one of the first marine applications for Deere! 😉

[@clydeschwartz]

Excellent video

[@jonelsonster]

Thank you very much!

[@MrNobody2828]

Now that was a cool start up! Back when Deere made a tractor to last. 4020 Diesels were the last of the good ones.

[@jonelsonster]

Yes, Deere was the king (and some might say still is). I've never operated a 4020, but we have a 3020 that we've owned since the early 90s and it's still going strong. And we also have a 4240 that is rock solid. Very dependable.

[@fr.timothyhall3082]

Good work man! God likes the Green!

[@jonelsonster]

Thanks! I need to make another video because we've tuned the carb and it runs a lot smoother now. Diesel engine still smoked like a chimney on startup, but we will throw some injector cleaner in it and see it it helps.

[@oldsoulfarms1200]

Good job!!! I have enjoyed watching the series on the model R. It sounds like the big engine is only running on one cylinder. I would also assume that is the source of the excessive white smoke due to the un-burnt fuel.

[@jonelsonster]

Yes. You can hear it missing and then firing when the engine revs up (11:35 mark in the video). I'm guessing a dirty injector? But we will probably try getting clean fuel and filters and see what that does before we tear into the injectors.

[@garybachelder8306]

@@jonelsonster and @oldsoulfarms1200 All JD 2 cylinder tractors sound like they're skipping because of the crankshaft design. Most 4-cycle 2 cylinder engines have both pistons going up and down at the same time with valve timing that makes one cyl fire while the other is on intake. Making the firing once every 360 degrees. Smooth, even firing. However JD made their cranks to alternate the piston movement. Hence you get #1 to fire... then in one stroke (180 degrees) # 2 fires. Now there is another 360 degrees of rotation before the next firing cycle waiting for # 1 to go thru intake and compression as #2 is going thru exhaust and intake.

[@cole1317]

⁠@@jonelsonster getting all the air bled out is difficult but paramount because there’s no fuel return back to the tank unlike an 830. Air in the fuel can blow out the delivery valve gaskets and cause a miss, sometimes even allowing fuel to leak into the crankcase. A dirty injector could also be the culprit. Low compression too. However any two cylinder diesel should crack off immediately if injection system is fully bled, injection system is in good condition, compression is present, and ambient temp is above 40F. Definitely check out the fuel filters and verify there’s no air intrusion. Also verify that the transfer pump has its check ball and spring, without it zero fuel pressure can be made. Some people temporarily remove the ball and spring in order to better gravity bleed the filters.

[@jonelsonster]

@@cole1317 thanks for all the info!

[@dublloyd9625]

thank you for content my first encounter w/ pony motor was on cat 12 motor patrol exciting when it cranks engine

[@jonelsonster]

Very cool! There is just something cool about using a small engine to start the big one... It just feels right.

[@tcmtech7515]

That's basically how I feel getting out of bed most days. 😋

[@jonelsonster]

Ha ha ha! 😂

[@terriellis5145]

Congratulations!! However, please put exhaust fan in your shop or open a door!! Lol Ms T Ellis from Ne.

[@jonelsonster]

Good idea!!

[@MOTrav]

Progress step by step! Projects do take a lot of time and effort to complete. Enjoy!

[@jonelsonster]

Agree 💯!

[@PaulHigginbothamSr]

Ya'll should have opened the door as soon as ya'll climbed down of the beast. She sounds really good no main bearing noise. Yes a tooling around the neighborhood is now required.

[@jonelsonster]

Yes, I got all the doors open and cleared out about 3 seconds after I shut the camera off. 😂

[@herman7661]

The pony motor seems to be a two-stroke unit, yet you checked the oil in the sump beforehand? What kind of gasoline does the pony motor use. Two-stroke mix or just gas?

[@jonelsonster]

It is a horizontally opposed two cylinder flathead engine. But it's still just a normal 4 stroke. So it just takes regular gas

[@JonesC1066]

What oil do you run in the pony? And in the clutch side? Thanks!

[@jonelsonster]

@@JonesC1066 in the pony motor we just use the same 15w 40 oil that we use for the diesel engine. In the starting engine gear box/transmission we use 30 weight oil.

[@lindanelson8400]

Yeah, I'm glad you got both engines up and running. Now I guess you'll have to download any updates from Deere. Make sure the engine computer's can communicate with the transmission computers. 😅

[@jonelsonster]

Ha ha! Yeah right! 😂

[@timothykoller5210]

Do you store the John Deere’s with the clutch engaged or disengaged?

[@jonelsonster]

I don't think it really matters. But we typically leave the clutch engaged (handle snapped forward).

[@timothykoller5210]

@@jonelsonster ok thank you just curious.

[@Antdroid77]

You better get some fresh air😊

[@jonelsonster]

Luckily I opened the garage doors second before I succumbed to the fumes! 😂 But at least I would have died happy! 🤣

[@corsairsmitty9691]

Need to add some ventilation to the shop. It’s a little foggy in there. Great to see the R and the pony motor work. Is this a second R that you guys have? What about the yellow (Industrial) R ?

[@jonelsonster]

Yes, anything to keep my from getting choked out! And yes, I bought the yellow industrial 830. Next week's video is about the 830-I and some of the issues I've already found. We did haul it home before the snow fell, but I've been busy with family stuff and my regular job and have not had a chance to get it started yet. But hopefully this weekend I can find time to go up to my dad's farm and get it going.

[@weirddeere]

@@jonelsonster can't wait to see that one. But I get a little too invested in yellow stuff haha

[@rickiemckillip8124]

Does the Diesel engine have a injector sticking or is it cold inside the shop

[@jonelsonster]

I'm sure the injectors could have an issue. We have not dug into it that deep yet. For a while it was only fitting on 1 cylinder... So still a bit of work to do. Also, this is still old 20 year old fuel and old filters. We will get that all changed out and see if that changes up the smoking. All in due time.

[@larrydavidson3402]

It needs some tlc but both engines run so that's a big step forward.

[@jonelsonster]

Yes, step 1 was getting them started. Now for the fine tuning.

[@weirddeere]

FYI, according to a service bulletin, you check engine oil level by setting the cap on the threads, not when threaded down

[@jonelsonster]

Thanks! I noticed in the JD manual it specifically says to screw the cap down. And they corrected that statement in a bulletin..i didn't know. Do you happen to know which service bulletin number?

[@keltonwright7]

@@jonelsonster Because of the hill around here I always run my 820 with probably close to a gallon of extra oil in it, if not it'll lose oil pressure going up the steep hills.

[@weirddeere]

@@jonelsonster Service bulletin #279, July 1959. I sent it. It's just one of those stupid useless details I know, it definitely wasn't a knock on you

[@evanrodgers2705]

Do you have that service bulletin? I would love to have a copy!

[@gradientgamer5480]

How did you survive running that thing with no vent

[@jonelsonster]

@@gradientgamer5480 ha ha! I almost didn't.

[@gradientgamer5480]

@jonelsonster atleast open the garage

[@jonelsonster]

@@gradientgamer5480 that was in the winter... It was very cold outside. But you're right... I probably should have cracked the windows and opened the door.

[@gradientgamer5480]

​@jonelsonster you should've connected pipes to the exhaust than go to the outside

[@aaronjarvenpa1743]

Are you two going to buy the 830I ?

[@jonelsonster]

Yes. We bought it and will be working on it shortly. Next week's video is on the 830-I. It's not running yet, but should be soon.

[@tootired76]

This is soo effing cool!! Nothing sounds better than a Johnny Popper! The only better sound is a diesel Johnny popper!!

[@jonelsonster]

Music to my ears!

[@Northernman68]

Did you get that 830 home?

[@jonelsonster]

Yes. We got the 830 home, but not running yet. Next week's video will show some of the issues we've run into. Nothing big, but it does show down progress. Especially when my time to work on it is limited. My full time job gets busy this time of year. But hopefully this weekend I can go up to my dad's farm and get it going.

[@adhdrebel982]

The red is for off-road I'm pretty sure it's a different mix because it's for construction equipment too and don't have the extra smog juice to burn too .Ask your reliable fuel supplier for a sheet on mix profile off-road diesel specs ...

[@jonelsonster]

I'll do that. Thanks!

[@paulohamm3335]

My grandfather had an R, my oldest uncle didn't know how to connect it, he had to ask my father to help it work. Dad had a J D 820

[@jonelsonster]

Yes, this is definitely different than starting a Toyota Corolla.

[@grizzlyridgerunner]

So, is that a gasoline pony engine to start the diesel engine ? Good job smoking up the shop .

[@jonelsonster]

Yes. That's all it does is turn the big engine over and get it started.

[@adhdrebel982]

One other thing diesels are able to burn kerosene/ jet fuel -but it doesn't have the lubricating properties for the fuel pumps and injectors they have to be hardened to last a while . But if you add a quart of two stroke to less than 5 gal of kerosene should run ok if nervous add two quarts oil to 5gal,

[@jonelsonster]

While they will burn it, they don't like to start on it. Once running then they will do ok burning a lot of low quality fuels. I don't think we'll try kerosene just because it is a lot more expensive than diesel.

[@adhdrebel982]

@@jonelsonster don't blame you ,plain old diesel check supplier

[@anthonyboucher6310]

Sounded pretty good to me haha

[@jonelsonster]

We put new filters and fuel for the diesel and tuned the carb on the pony and both engines run a lot better.

[@anthonyboucher6310]

Good news what you did with this tractor. Well done for getting the pony mother running. Top markslll😅

[@johnowen6507]

built to last!

[@jonelsonster]

Nothing runs like a Deere!

[@tcmtech7515]

When you were a kid and Grandpa lit up a stogie in the living room. 😋

[@jonelsonster]

Good comparison!

[@frankdeegan8974]

Now it runs get it out and make it do some work. Cleaning the rings under power it will stop smoking and start right up.

[@jonelsonster]

I like that plan. And your optimism.

[@InmanFarmHeritageDays]

Good video

[@jonelsonster]

Thanks!

[@LyleBrand]

nothing like a first.

[@jonelsonster]

👍🏻

[@paulohamm3335]

Parabéns tanta fumaça deu certo 😂😂 .

[@jonelsonster]

👍🏻

[@79fordblake]

A page called farms girls is using y'all's videos. Seen them on a tractor page and a Facebook reel. Their name is in the lower left corner of the videos.

[@jonelsonster]

Thanks for the tip. Kinda lame people take from others and try to pass it off as their own. I'm not sure how to keep that from happening. But maybe I'll just look at it as a complement... You know the old saying: imitation is the greatest form of flattery.

[@frontagulus]

Run it against compression without fuel for a couple of minutes, then give it fuel and it will start right up. You need to get the heat into it, but adding fuel prematurely cools the charge

[@jonelsonster]

Typically that's what I would do. But in this case I was more concerned about seeing if the pony motor would run not necessarily the big diesel engine. Here is a video I made a few years ago showing the starting procedure per the JD manual: kzbin.info/www/bejne/r4PFXoqlmrl1o7ssi=dT-61D79-kLkAJXf

[@timgreen4137]

Opening the garage door would have been a smart idea.

[@jonelsonster]

I opened it after I was done and it cleared up. But it is about 5 degrees outside, so we try not to leave it open longer than needed. Otherwise it lets the heat out.

[@paulbrooks2024]

Smoking the shop

[@jonelsonster]

It's free pest control.

[@adhdrebel982]

Use the red , the low sulfur eats the old rubber gaskets by drying them out and cracking .

[@jonelsonster]

I thought they were the same, it's just they added dye for agricultural use and you didn't have to pay as much tax on.

[@brianlubeck4184]

You need to get the starter checked out before it gets any more damage done to it.

[@jonelsonster]

It seems to have fixed itself.😉 And I think it is just the clutch disks sticking and vibrating and rattling after sitting unused for 20+ years. It isn't making any noise anymore and engages much easier now, after a few starting cycles.

[@justinblain928]

Looks and sounds like one injector is dribbling instead of misting.

[@jonelsonster]

Probably. I don't think it could sit that long without getting a little clogged up.

[@paulprillwitz9901]

😄😄😄👍👍👍👍

[@jonelsonster]

👍🏻

[@wemedeeres4105]

There’s no better sound than a pony cranking over a diesel engine, I’ve sworn none of my diesel’s will have the ponies removed and replaced with electric conversions!

[@jonelsonster]

With a pony motor, as long as the pony starts and runs, you're pretty much guaranteed to get the big engine started. Even in cold. Not the case with a battery start.

[@wemedeeres4105]

Yep the old timers would fill the gas tank, start the engine and go do other things or maybe just have coffee. By the time the pony ran out of gas it’d run long enough to to warm the big engine and they’d throw a splash of gas in fire it up get the big engine going!

[@jonelsonster]

@@wemedeeres4105 I'll have to try that out this winter.

[@wemedeeres4105]

I’ve thought about doing it myself but mine are all tucked away for the winter and as I type this it’s -6 degrees and the feels like temp is -28 🥶 so if you try it I’ll just take your word for it! 😂

[@keltonwright7]

@wemedeeres4105 Always heard they would start the pony do the morning chores, by that time the pony would be dry then they would fire it up and not shut it down till dark

[@John-Deere]

I don't think I've ever seen a two cylinder pony motor, thought they were all 4 cylinders

[@jonelsonster]

The R pony is a lot like the caterpillar pony motors, which are just 2 cylinders opposed to each other.

[@wbreese9903]

@@jonelsonster True......the story is Cat shared some pony motor details......and Deere shared some information on hydraulic systems........all behind the scenes, of course.

[@melchristian8876]

B👍🙏

[@jonelsonster]

👍🏻

[@anthonyboucher6310]

Well it's runnin lol

[@jonelsonster]

I never said it was running smoothly ha ha 😂

[@toddkallenbach443]

They are NOT MOTORS on the tractor !!!!!! There is no extension cord attached !!!!!

[@jonelsonster]

Is there an extension cord attached to a motorcycle? Or do you call it an enginecycle?

[@toddkallenbach443]

They are ENGINE S NO MATTER WHAT YOU SAY . MOTORCYCLE S HAVE A ENGINE , DAH !

[@jonelsonster]

@@toddkallenbach443 The Oxford English Dictionary defines “motor” as a machine that supplies motive power for a vehicle or other device with moving parts. It defines an "engine" as a machine with moving parts that converts power into motion. Whether you like it or not, they are used interchangeably and both are correct.

[@James-bd9vu]

Wear a head mike so we an hear better

[@jonelsonster]

Sorry, I've tried wireless microphones and I didn't like them. Unless you spend several hundred dollars on a good one the sound quality is bad. And I've lost footage because the mic disconnects. That's is very frustrating. I try my best to get the audio loud enough for people to hear me. A few people have said it's faint. I recommend you use headphones.

[@brucekelsch5080]

Obviously this is your man cave.

[@jonelsonster]

Just don't call it a "she shed"

[@douglasgraves4673]

Please speak louder can hardly hear you

[@jonelsonster]

Sorry about that. I just record with my phone. I don't have fancy microphone and cameras. I've got a new phone now, so hopefully my newer videos are easier to hear.

[@bethmotgomery2662]

GET AN ELECTRIC STARTER WHY DON'T YOU!!!!???? PONY MOTORS ARE RUBBISH!!!!! (Which is a British term for trash)

[@jonelsonster]

@@bethmotgomery2662 did you know that most all commercial and military aircraft still use a pony motor to start the main engines? They use an APU or auxiliary power unit, which is a small turbine engine to get the mains going. Those APUs are essentially pony motors. Cool huh? (Cool is an American term for not rubbish 😉)

[@bethmotgomery2662]

Thanks for the fact. But if I had a model R and any other JD 2 cylinder diesel, I'll still install an electric starter. Electric starters are more efficient than pony motors to start a tractor. Saves fuel, starts easier and more reliable. My apologies for being so harsh. I just really hate pony motors to start tractors.