Bought my self a 1955 model 60 today on the big iron. It belonged to my wife's family. It's a sad story, her great uncle bought it to restore. Before he passed from a combine accident he was able to get the electrical work done and some minor repairs. I called his son and asked what the story was, it just sounds like he couldn't look at it anymore since dad was gone. Maybe I gave too much,(1,700) but it runs and works. It has a small power steering leak(factory ps) and the cable for the tach is missing. With her family as the previous owners she told me she can't say no so here we go. I am getting into the numbered series.
New toy!
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Don't have any pics of my own yet, but here's the link to big iron if you all wanna see it.
www.bigiron.com
1955 John Deere 60 2WD Tractor
1955 John Deere 60 2WD Tractor, 1206 Hrs Showing, John Deere 2-Cylinder 5.3L Gas Engine, 42 Belt HP, Water Cooled, John Deere Unsyncronized Gear Manual Transmission, 6 Forward Speeds, 1 Reverse Speed, 540 PTO, Single Hydraulics, Belt Pulley, Power Steering, Drawbar Hitch, Narrow Front End, JD...
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That's a sad story. Glad you could get it so you can keep it in the family. I think her great uncle would be proud.
55JD50 57JD420C 57JD420U 55JD40W 66JD110 73JD140H3 2006JDGX335 44JDBO 45JDBR 85JD750
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655 Posts
After looking at the video I really think you own a great tractor at a very reasonable price. Although there are no rocker arms, fenders and it needs a clutch cover, the power steering option certainly makes up for those discrepancies. Great find and I'm very glad it's staying in your family. Thanks for sharing.
So I went and got my 60. Seller did give me a very nice clutch cover and the old cable drive for the tach. Smokes a lot at start up but also clears up very quickly so that has me scratching my head. Also as far as I can tell the pto is engine driven. The clutch needs to be adjusted but pulls itself just fine, and the pto brake may be set a tad tight as it pulls the engine down lifting the lever slow. I did not fully engage the pto as I am new to the live power and don't want to damage anything due to lack of knowledge. It is in a safe place not far from home so time with it will be limited at first but not impossible.
Don't believe they use valve guide seals due to the horizontal engine design. Also to my knowledge only the exhaust valves have oil dripping near their rocker so the intake valve doesn't pull oil in while running. My guess is worn rings. I will have to run a compression test and see where I am at.
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233 Posts
I have never been in one of them. Maybe not traditional interference fit, but it does have guides, a little wear will allow them to leak oil into the chamber. If it runs good under power and starts right up, I would not worry about it too much. A compression test is not a bad idea, never looked up the specs on the old 2 cylinder poppers, curious to see what you find out.
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So my 60 has factory power steering that leaks. I havnt done much with the tractor yet and I know I want to fix the ps. But the question I have... is it going to harm the ps any running it the little bit that I do without fluid. And we're is the best place to get a manual for it. The IT manuals seem to leave a good bit to be desired.
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