Jul 30

John Deere 820 Tractor.

Rebuilt the carburetor on the pony engine for this old John Deere 820 tractor.
The tractor is a big, twin cylinder diesel. A tiny, V4 gas engine is mounted on top. The pony engine is started with an electric starter and once it is up to speed, a clutch is engaged to turn over the big diesel engine.
I think Rube Goldberg might have been employed at John Deere.

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Jul 30, 2026

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Replies (20)

· Jul 30

They definitely did some unusual things in that time period. Same time they also had the “All Fuel” engines with two fuel systems.

· Jul 30

International had some that started on gasoline and once they warmed up, switched over to diesel. Probably due to fuel rationing.

· Jul 30

Yep, pretty common for them to start on gasoline and then switch over to “whatchagot” fuel. I can imagine they had to be worked a lot harder and generated a lot more heat when running kerosene or distillate fuel, which probably didn’t help longevity.

· Jul 30

Love vintage tractors. My uncle had one of those 2 cylinder ones that "popped" from before WWII. This one was at auction. Don't know sale price.

· Jul 30

They don’t call them Johnny Poppers for nothing.

· Jul 30

Not knowing jack about tractors I had to google that. I don't need another thing to fill up my brain. I'm having enough trouble with cars. That said, cool tractor!

· Jul 30

Here you go AJ.
A Minneapolis Moline ULDX

· Jul 30

😂 Thanks. Now I want one. I'm sure it is some stupid amount of money. I mentioned in another thread the one I want is a Bryan Steam Tractor. This one sold for 220k. Naturally.

· Jul 30

The M-M Comfortactors go for 100-200k, so yes, some stupid amount of money.

· Jul 30

Shawn, I forgot to ask. Is this your farm tractor? If so, what do you use it for?

· Jul 30

A neighbor's farm tractor and the one he learned to drive on.
My tractor is a newer Kubota. It moves hay and does snow removal.
Tractor brands are nearly a religion out here and I had to stop making fun of John Deere long enough to fix it.
I'll have a nice International 966 one day.

· Jul 30

Almost like pickup trucks.

· Jul 30

The red vs green tractor feud is worse than pickup trucks. How many Ford and Chevy guys paint their mailbox to match their truck? Tractor guys do it all the time.

· Jul 31

I'll give JD credit, they've got their marketing figured out like Harley Davidson does.
JD mailbox, JD toilet seat, JD booty shorts...

· Jul 31

It gets to be -40c in the winter here. A modern tractor with a heated cab and a diesel that starts in the cold is nice to have.
I can only imagine trying to get that big lump of iron going in sub-zero temperatures.

· Jul 31

😂 Around here we usually direct the booty short jokes toward the orange tractors. But that’s only because you can’t throw a stone without hitting some cutesy little subcompact that everyone thinks they need to maintain their 1 acre yard.

· Jul 31

We have wondered in to something I know so little about. Now I know how everybody else feels when we are bantering about obscure car topics.

I would buy the John Deere and the toilet seat and think I was living large.

· Jul 30

I don't know a lot about Tractors but the 820 is supposed to be a good one! Isn't it like 8 liters or something like that? Would love to see those pistons.

· Jul 30

Something like that. They must be like coffee cans.