Old Iron in Star Valley

Category: Farm

  • John Deere 630

    My grandpa helping me load the 630
    My grandpa helping us load the 630
    Doing some work on the 630
    Doing some work on the 630

    Nephew on John Deere 630

    John Deere 630 Front

    1959 John Deere 630

    I’ve always enjoyed the look of the 20/30 series two-cylinder John Deere tractors.  Once upon a time (before I was born), we had a 630 on our farm.  I believe they had a loader on it, and used it to load hay with, but I’m not quite certain.  Because of this, the 630 has always had a special interest to me.

    A quick history on the 630.  If you know me, you know I enjoy the John Deere Model A.  The A was replaced by the 60, and the 60 was replaced by the 620, and the 620 was replaced by the 630.  In other words, the 630 is basically a late-fifties Model A.

    I knew I would like to own a 630, I just didn’t think the opportunity would present itself quite as quickly as it did.  My dad has a co-worker that was talking about selling a 630, and knowing that I enjoy the two-cylinders, dad mentioned to me that he was selling one.  It wasn’t running at the time, and had been sitting for quite a few years.

    Of course, I had to jump on the opportunity.  Who wouldn’t, right?  I ended up purchasing the tractor, and was fortunate that my grandfather was also able to go with me to pick up the tractor.  As much as I enjoy spending time with grandpa, it’s even more fun getting an old tractor with him! He also grew up on and spent his entire life on a farm, and as such gives us opportunities to talk about the “good old days” when these tractors were in their prime.

    To spare you the boring details, I had to do quite a bit of work on the tractor throughout the summer and fall.  I don’t mind a good project though–that’s the best way to learn about a machine and become acquainted with it.

    Although the project is not completed, as you can see from the photos and video, the project paid off.  I now have a nice 1959 John Deere 630 to enjoy.

    Till the next big thing…

  • Accidental Field Fire

    A spark from a welding torch started a recently cut grain (barley) field on fire. It was a little breezy and picked up very quickly. The field is next to our barn, which contains the hay stored for the beef cattle for the winter, and our tractors. Needless to say, it was an instant adrenaline rush. I grabbed a tractor and quickly hooked it up to the plow and made a ring around the fire to contain it. I can honestly say I’ve never hooked anything up that fast before. In the end, everything was okay, except for a few unlucky straw bales.

  • Hauling Hay with the 4020, 3020, and 4230

    Over the weekend (July 13 2013) we were hauling some hay (alfalfa) from the dry farm to the barn.  These videos show the John Deere 4020 and 3020 loading the hay, and the John Deere 4230 hauling it.


  • John Deere No. 5 Sickle Mower

    My grandpa gave me a John Deere No. 5 sickle mower that he used to use on his farm.  He spent a lot of hours with it mowing alfalfa with his dad while he was growing up.  Since I’ve got the machinery to pull it, I thought it’d be a lot of fun to take it and get it working with my John Deere A or B.  I have since gotten it working, and it works very well behind the A!  I’ll probably never cut down an entire field with it, but it’s fun to see how it works and see how they used to do it in the “good old days”.  For now, it’s job is going to be trim work around the barn area and trimming down the sides of the roads.

  • The Story of the A

    John Deere Model AI had intentions on writing up a photo-book story of the restoration process of the John Deere Model A.  I’m having a hard time finishing it, so I thought in the meantime, I’d just throw it up here.  If there are any major spelling/grammar mistakes or things you’d like added, please use the comments field below.  I’ll add some photos later.  Click “Continue Reading” below for the full story.

     

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  • John Deere Model A Drilling Photos

    As I mentioned in the previous post, I had the opportunity to go drill (plant) oats with my 1947 John Deere A.  I had a great time doing it, but forgot to take some good photos afterwords!  So, yesterday I was able to go out with the Canon 5D MK II and spend a few minutes with one of my most popular photo subjects.

  • Planting with the John Deere A and LL-A Grain Drill

    This year I took the opportunity to have a little fun with planting oats in one of our smaller fields.  I used the 1947 John Deere Model A that I recently restored, as well as our old grain drill (aka planter, late 1950s).  It may not have been the quickest way to plant the oats, but I, and the dogs, had a lot of fun doing it!

    The three videos here show us getting the drill ready and making sure everything on it works.  The second video shows the John Deere 4230 disking the field.  Last year we used the Model A as well as the John Deere 2010 to plow the field.  Since it was plowed last fall, you disk it before you plant it to break up the larger chunks into a more fine powder, so the drill can do accurately seed the crop.  The final video shows the actual planting process.

  • Feeding Cattle & Spring Update

    Sometimes feeding cattle can be more than just driving out to the cows and dropping off hay.  For instance, watching hawks fly by and Sandhill Cranes walk around the field looking for some leftover food (grains) left over by the cattle.

    This spring has been an interesting one.  Although the snow is gone in the video, as of today we still have a few inches… We received about six inches yesterday, which isn’t very unusual for this area.  Summer will arrive just in time for fall, and then back into winter.  We don’t know if we’ll receive a summer, but we’ve never missed a winter!

  • We Used to Get More Snow

    Winter is starting to wind down with a few signs of spring starting to pop up.  In other words, the road in front of my house that is usually covered with snow for about three months of the year is now bare.  We still have quite a ways to go though before it is all melted.

    Black Mountain SunsetThe point of all of this is that, although we have a lot of snow now, we used to get a great deal more.  My grandparents would tell me of them feeding cattle in late April and May, being able to take the horses and sleigh on the crust over the fences.  I can remember a few times when I was a kid that the top wire on the fences was covered enough that we could snowmobiles over it, but that hasn’t happened in quite a few years.

    Ford 8NHere’s a photo that shows just how much they used to get.  This is a photo of my grandpa on an old Ford 8N tractor with an angled blade.  As you can see, the snow is up to the wheels on the tractor.  There’s also a guy in the background to show perspective. It also shows our impressively large old barn.

    Times have changed.  In more ways than one.

  • Shuffling around the Classic JDs

    I had to get something out from the back of the barn, and that meant pulling out all of the classic tractors…  Since I had them all out on a cold wintery day, I thought that would be a good opportunity to get a quick little video of them running.  What you can see is a 1939 John Deere A, 1947 John Deere A, 1949 John Deere B, 1963 John Deere 2010, and 1972 John Deere 4020.