John Deere L
Quick info
Serial number: unknown
Year: 1939-1940
Horsepower: 11
Owned since June 2023
My story
I bought my John Deere L from a collector in South English Iowa. It came with a 7D sickle from one of his industrial L's and a cultivator. I didn't really know much about it and i bought it as a non running tractor. I later found out that there were two fuel valves installed and one was shut off. after turning it on the tractor started right up. I have always liked the smaller tractors since I got to drive one of my friend's Farmall Cub at the Old Threshers Reunion one year.
I have been using the L as a small utility and parade tractor. I have also been trying to collect attachments for it. I currently have an L18 cultivator, an LA-2 single bottom plow, a 7C sickle mower (originally I had a 7D industrial mower but it didn't fit my tractor), and an LA-640 vegetable cultivator.
I haven't decided if this counts as my first johnny popper yet. It isn't a horizontal 2 cylinder like almost every other John Deere tractor that used 2 cylinders. This one is a vertical 2 cylinder, and it is actually a Hercules engine. It wasn't until 1941 until John Deere started making their own vertical 2 cylinder engine to use in the L and LA tractors.
This tractor does not have a serial number tag, but based on the features on the tractor i believe it is either a 1939 or 1940. If you know how to identify this tractor better than I do I would appreciate hearing about it. You can email tractors@alberhasky.xyz if you would like to share any information.
 |  |  |
|---|---|---|
 |  |  |
 |
The restoration
As far as I can tell this tractor still has the original paint from the factory. At the moment I don't have any plans to repaint it. I have had to replace some parts that have nicer paint on them though and I may decide to paint it in the future if it starts looking too pieced together. I have had to do some work on the engine because of a knock that was coming from an idler gear bearing. I also had one instance where I almost over heated the engine while mowing hay and it became hard to start when it was cold. It turned out that the valves needed adjusted. Parts were not available so I had to have a new bearing machined out of brass at a local machine shop. Other than that the compression test was very good and the oil pressure is right where it is supposed to be once everything warms up. I will likely go through and replace all of the old seals at some point. I will continue collecting and rebuilding the attachments that I have over time.
 |  |
|---|
Specifications
-
Chassis
-
Weight: 1500lbs
-
Width: 49in
-
Length: 91in
-
-
Engine
-
Belt HP: 10.4
-
Drawbar HP: 9
-
RPM: 1550 modified
-
Displacement: 66.4ci (1.1L)
-
Cylinders: 2
-
-
Transmission
-
Top speed: 6mph
-
Gears: 3 forward, 1 reverse
-
History
The John Deere L was introduced in 1937 as John Deere’s first utility tractor. A few prototypes were made before the L including the John Deere Y and the 62. A little over 13,000 L’s were produced between 1937 and 1946. The original price was $517 in 1946. The L had a wide variety of integrated attachments available for field and utility work. Between 1941 and 1946 the John Deere L was also available as an industrial tractor known as the LI and a larger version of the L called the LA was available. John Deere also introduced a stationary power unit using the same engine as was used in the L known as the LUC power unit. The earlier L tractors used a Hercules NXA engine. It was replaced by an NXB engine fairly quickly then replaced with a John Deere engine in 1941. In 1946 production of the entire L family was stopped as the model M took its place.
 |  |  |
|---|---|---|
 |  |  |
 |  |  |
 |