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A few more mph out of a late model John Deere A

M

Midwest farmer

Member
Hi yall, I have a late model John Deere A thats doing 12 mph down the road. In surrounded by a bunch of IH guys that are out running me. What are some ways I could get my tractor to get to 16-18 mph?

Thanks for your help,
Collin
 
Put on bigger tires(42-46inch),0ver
speed engine.Othewise,not much.Or buy a
red tractor.They can run 20 mph.
 
Be glad you don't have a vintage S or D
series Case. They usually run under 11
MPH, unless sprockets in the chain drives
have been changed.
 
F20 with overdrive,25;350,WD9,20;706,Super H,18/19;SuperM,17.....Tire size helps.The bigger,the faster you go.
 
That will help,but I don't think you
will quite get there.A friend has an A
with factory 42 inch rears.Still won't
keep up with my IH.
 
Sounds like you participate in tractor road events where guys are traveling pretty fast. For me, that sort of defeats the purpose of the whole thing, but each to his own I guess. Tell them to slow down and smell he roses ..... do they just leave you behind on the trips?
 
Has anyone increased there fuel by 5-10% or tried messing with the governor a slight bit? I would really like to try to avoid messing with the governor but if it needs a slight bit then maybe I would
 
A no vote for speeding up the engine. The crankshaft in any old tractor is designed for the rated speed as specified in the
operator's manual. Overspeeding does not end well such as a broken crank or thrown rod. Used to be a late JD A up the road that
broke the crankshaft. From the barn to the field was descending a steep hill. The kids at the time thought they were having fun
listening to that engine roar from overspeeding. I don't think they ever tried to figure it out other than being a bad JD tractor.
They never kept anything else running long term and after the last passed on there are a Case and a Ford ready for the salvage
yard.
 
Yes a little bit, and honestly they have only left me behind once but I was pulling a rack uphill but I do agree it does defeat the purpose
 
Someone on here in the past mentioned that the reduction gears on a late (50 and later) can be swapped with those from an earlier A,
inreasing all speeds. Sounds relatively simple....
 
Thats a good point really, I have heard that the mid styled tractors (41-47) are the fastest with some of them doing 16-20 miles an hour. Anyone have one to verify this?
 
Arent the two stick As a little faster than the single sticks? Can a person play around with swapping gears between the two? How about the 4th and 6th gears on the left side. Can those gears be messed with? Probably for a price none of us can afford.
 
I have 44 A with twin stick. It does
seem to be fastet,but I have never
compared it to a single stick.I may
check it with the Speedometer App on my
phone in a few days.Will post results
later.
 
Ive had mine on the speedometer app and it topped out at 12mph but I have heard that looking at possibly getting a 47 A with the twin stick
 
The gap between a Farmall H or M is to much to do with any simple change. Those farmalls totally stock will run a hair index 17 mph in 5th. You are
probably going 12.

I also do not think there is much speed difference between a styled and late styled JD A. I have a styled A and it seems that in 6th it is the sale as later
styled. There is a 2 mph difference between styled and late styled Bs. JD realize that the earlier Bs could not get moving if they were pulling anything
in road gear, so the lowered the gearing on the late styled B. But, the A did not have the same problem.
 
First thought would be oversized
tires. But I think the difference
would be minimal, unless you went to
an oversized wheel (larger diameter
rim).
Other options - -
1. get a red tractor.
2. go to a plow day instead of a
cruise.
 
That's the reason why some of my rides I attend have two or three speed groups, The early JD models where simply not geared the same in top gear as the IH models are.
 
Oh tell me about SLOW John Deeres and the road. This house hold has been involved in Girl scouts for around 35 years and counting . Back when the girls were little the wife became a troupe leader and dear old DAD worked in the back ground . As they got older they wanted to make a float for the parade each year . Ok fine , i barrow a couple nice hay wagons from my friends and i will barrow my Accountant's one 530 John Deere and my S/MTA to pull them . First year we put the floats together at the shop five miles out of town . (first mistake ) The day of the big event everything is ready and we have our assigned spots in line . I know the Deer is SLOW so i drive it in first (god a guy could fall asleep on it ) With only two places to pull off to allow traffic to pass i got a lot of being #1's from people when i could pull off . It was starting to get windy and this was not helping the decorations . BUT the girls could fix it easy. then we went back to get the S/MTA to save the decorations we wrapped the whole wagon with a tarp and set sail . The MTA is turned up to 2000 RPM and is setting on 16.9x38's and on the road she can run at around 28 MPH . Once the peraide was over at the west end of town everybody and everything looked like rat deserting a sinking ship , All the little girls meet there familys at the one small strip plazza and my one friend and it took the wagons to the op-en lot near the house and stripped the stuff off then headed back to the shop . Just five miles I went ahead and got to the shop and WAITED and WAITED and NO John Deere . I though maybe he broke down , so i grabbed a chain and off i go with the MTA to drag him back to the shop . I was a third of the way back to town when i see him coming over top of the one hill with a line of cars behind him probable stretching back to the city limits . I cut off the one dirt side road and went east then south and back west covering about three miles and still beat him back to the shop. . The next year we built the floats in the back yard and i hauled the tractors in to town on the trailer.
 
No, the 4-6 gears from a late A will not work as the 5-6 in an early A. The transmission shaft spacing is different.
 
NO, an early styled is not going to run 16-20MPH, at least not at anything close to stock RPM or 38 tires. I can't find the speed charts at the moment, but I really don't remember there being that much difference between early and late styled 6th gear.
 
Putting early styled reduction gears in a late A will increase all speeds by 8%. If the OP wants to keep his original belt pulley and clutch guts, it's not quite as simple swap as some make it sound. It involves pulling the transmission drive gear off the belt pulley and putting a different one on. Which gets into making a center puck to push against the pulley, a BIG puller and heat.
 
If he runs it 1200-1300 RPM, it's not going to hurt ANYTHING. I wouldn't run it all day on a tractor drive at 1500 RPM. I'll run mine 1500 RPM for 300 feet, but it's got a few different parts inside ;-)
 
Swapping first reduction and clutch gear set for an earlier A will get you 8% (about 1 mph). I have done it the other way around to
slow down an unstyled A. Installing governor weights from a late B will increase high idle a little. That is another 1 mph. Going
larger on tires (if keeping same rim size), might get you another 1 mph. So maybe 3 mph increase with a fair amount of work. Anything
much more than that is probably going to be custom fabrication of some kind.
 
How much time/money/effort are you wanting to spend to accomplish this? If you put a decent set of 16.9x38 or 18.4x38 on ($600 and up depending on what you can find, PLUS the proper wheels), put early A reduction gears in (8% speed increase) and run 1300 RPM (Which isn't going to hurt it at all) you should be knocking on the door of 14MPH.
 
(quoted from post at 17:03:36 11/17/21) I have 44 A with twin stick. It does
seem to be fastet,but I have never
compared it to a single stick.I may
check it with the Speedometer App on my
phone in a few days.Will post results
later.
Click to expand...

I had a 44 A that could just about keep up with a Farmall M. Wish I had kept the tract except now I own an M.

The Late JD A's are slower than the earlier ones. John Deere reduced the road gear speed when they went from 2 sticks to 1.
 
28 MPH on a SMTA? My teeth would be REAL CLOSE together driving that. Wouldn't be any fun on a tractor ride as you need to watch the road, not look around at the scenery. 10-12 MPH on a tractor ride is nice and SAFE.
 
Don't think this will help you much but my Dad had an A and he could just reach the governor arm with the toe of his boot. I can still remember hearing the exact moment
he would jam it a bit while going down the road just beyond our house....noise went from a good fast put put put to more like a machine gun sound! I have no idea how
much speed he gained it is just one of those childhood memories of mine :)
 
Just a bit of my experience, First of all, I am a 2 cyl John Deere enthusiast through and through. My 2 stick A with 13.6/38 tires will run along with most tractor rides today. My G will keep up in fine style. Both are a little loose in the steering gear, so I bought an H Farmall, scared up a M&W 9 speed transmission for it, and put a Schwartz wide front under it, and have the perfect tractor ride unit. Front end is not loose, H is economical on gas, and with 13.6/38 rubber will keep up with the best of them. I had some sarcastic decals made for it just because. My $.02 worth!
cvphoto108341.jpg
 
(quoted from post at 19:19:37 11/17/21) Just a bit of my experience, First of all, I am a 2 cyl John Deere enthusiast through and through. My 2 stick A with 13.6/38 tires will run along with most tractor rides today. My G will keep up in fine style. Both are a little loose in the steering gear, so I bought an H Farmall, scared up a M&W 9 speed transmission for it, and put a Schwartz wide front under it, and have the perfect tractor ride unit. Front end is not loose, H is economical on gas, and with 13.6/38 rubber will keep up with the best of them. I had some sarcastic decals made for it just because. My $.02 worth!
<img src=https://www.yesterdaystractors.com/cvphotos/cvphoto108341.jpg>
Click to expand...
My uncles got an H that him and my grandfather bought its been a hell of a battle getting it running right but she cruised down the road thats what Im trying to keep up with. We do have allis though and they seem to be pretty quick for what they are
 
(quoted from post at 21:12:38 11/17/21) Don't think this will help you much but my Dad had an A and he could just reach the governor arm with the toe of his boot. I can still remember hearing the exact moment
he would jam it a bit while going down the road just beyond our house....noise went from a good fast put put put to more like a machine gun sound! I have no idea how
much speed he gained it is just one of those childhood memories of mine :)
Click to expand...

My Dad did that a couple times with his '46 A. One time he passed his neighbor's Farmall M. The guy couldn't see Dad's foot on the governor and so had no idea how Dad was able to pass him.
 
Well in my part of the country tractor rides don't happen , Plow days don't happen only thing that happens around here is tractor pulling and when you have one that will win then your cheating . but yes my Mta will top out at 28 MPH on a car speedometer . back when i had the ow profile 15.5 x38's she would do 20-21 . when i put the 16.9 x38 Firestones on it was hold on to your hat and off to the races . . Then lest step back to the old 460 gasser i had that one would embed bugs in the back of your throat if you had the stones to pull the throttle ALL the way down and by pass the gov. . then there was the junk Oil All Over that my one buddy and i put a 390 Ford in . that is when i found out that the SMV sign was made for UNDER 25 MPH and the state cop was NOT AMUSED at the fact of not allowing a V W to pass while pulling tow 200 bushel gravity boxes loaded with corn . well them KIDS gave me the finger and ok yea i opened the 4 BBl . But hey both wagons trailed nice at 60 MPH . The 460 was clocked at 68 MPH . Yep i am not right in the head and there has been many times it was hey ya'll hold my beer and watch this . . The old 460 was the Adult Hay ride tractor , ya ever been on a bar hoppen hay ride . We might put on over fifty miles between ALL the bars we would hit .
 
Our Little Group Takes 4 Or Five Drives To Nearby Towns For Lunch Each Summer, We Have One Guy That Has A
52 John Deere B At 12 MPH Wide Open, We Put Him Up Front Behind The Leader, To Keep Him Up With Everyone
Else, I Guess Sometimes We Get A Little Over 10 MPH. If I'm Leading I Am Running My Farmall H About 1/3
Throttle And I
Never Slow Down For Turns If I Can Help It, I Notice He Slows Down On Every Turn, Then He Gets Farther
Behind. I Guess He Likes To Heat That Engine Speed Up. Gene
 
I guess you could get some tires off from a sprayer. they are 46or 50's and now even 54's would let that Deere fly compared to what it is used to. Our H will run with most tractors on the road in drives. Letting people get to far apart on drives where it is a parade or longer drive like at the Mackinac Bridge The crowd gets bored and leaves to go about their activities while there and the parade looses interest to the attendees that way. Not sure how would be best to solve that problem.
 
If you don't have a 10-12 MPH group in your tractor drives, would it be simpler and cheaper to move up to a new generation Deere tractor? Most have an 16 MPH or higher road gear including the 20 series utility tractors. That would also benefit the other drivers that won't have to slow down so you can keep up. Most mid-1960s tractors have faster road gears. Some late 1950s Ford utility tractors can have decent road speeds and are easier to climb onto than most row crop tractors.

Have fun whatever you decide.
 
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