Zerkishness

[rScotty]

Been getting the old JD530 back into shape. It has sat too long, and surprised me by starting and running like new.
A few things yet to do including a brake shoe job - I've been putting that off for about 30 years now. Every time I do something with the 530 I am amazed at how these really were made to be owner maintained.... I mean what other tractor has an owner's manual with a section on how to replace the clutch?

So today's job was to wash it up, plus greased some bushings and that involved replacing a few old zerks. JD wasn't shy about mixing and matching zerk threads but a search through the old box of JD530 tractor parts in the barn turns some up. Must be left over from last time we did this job. So with old/new zerks and our handy-dandy thread gauge from ZORO (thanks to Smokeydog) we got it done.
So far it looks like there at least 3 different zerk threads on the tractor...maybe more. Nothing Metric or British so far.

rScotty

 

[bmaverick]

Been getting the old JD530 back into shape. It has sat too long, and surprised me by starting and running like new.
A few things yet to do including a brake shoe job - I've been putting that off for about 30 years now. Every time I do something with the 530 I am amazed at how these really were made to be owner maintained.... I mean what other tractor has an owner's manual with a section on how to replace the clutch? View attachment 759205

So today's job was to wash it up, plus greased some bushings and that involved replacing a few old zerks. JD wasn't shy about mixing and matching zerk threads but a search through the old box of JD530 tractor parts in the barn turns some up. Must be left over from last time we did this job. So with old/new zerks and our handy-dandy thread gauge from ZORO (thanks to Smokeydog) we got it done.
So far it looks like there at least 3 different zerk threads on the tractor...maybe more. Nothing Metric or British so far.

rScotty

Is this a trike or a full front axle JD530?

 

[rScotty]

Is this a trike or a full front axle JD530?

Thanks for asking. That is such a fine tractor I really ought to tell its story.

It was originally a farm tractor used mostly for plowing and cultivating cornfields. For that duty it was sold new as a trike - the kind with a single fat tire out front on a cast iron wheel.

I was in college, plus building a house on weekends and knew of that tractor and that it had been retired to be used as a PTO-driven irrigation pump for the last decade. So one afternoon I went to take a look. As an irrigation pump it ran pretty much 24/7 during the growing season but the farmer said it had been dependable. He would hear it run out of gas each evening - you can hear a two cylinder JD for half a mile - so after dinner he would drive out, fill it with fuel, restart it, and not see it again he heard it run out of fuel the next day. He was laughing as he said that sometimes he would add water and some oil, too - all depending on how hot the motor was running.....
He really wanted a bigger irrigation pump and I wanted that old tractor - so after some negotiation I ended up driving it home the next weekend.

At the time I was working at night as a mechanic, going to college during the day, and building our house on weekends. We didn't have a lot of spare cash and we were thrilled to get that old tractor.

To change it from a working farm tractor to something to use in building us a house meant finding a wide front, a loader, plus a back blade. We got lucky by finding everything including an old style JD wide-front axle assembly in a used tractor junk yard.
I'd heard that the JD A & B size 2 cylinders basically used the same interchangeable front ends through several model changes....so we took the gamble, and it turned out to be true. My wife and I swapped that tricycle front for an older adjustable wide front all in one afternoon. Surprisingly, all the bolts fit up and our newer (1958) power steering even bolted up to that much older wide front.

Here's a photo of it as it sits today: That's an original model 46 Quick Detatchable loader which is also somewhat older than the tractor - and all from the same junkyard. I added the bucket hydraulics back about 1988 - it originally had a hand-lever operated gravity dump.... aka "suicide dump". You can just barely see the 6-way blade in the back. It's close to being too much blade for the tractor to pull, but by not taking a full bite it does OK.

rScotty

 

[John0829]

Back in the day most owners manuals had information on tune ups, adjusting valves, replacing clutches and many other things to repair the tractor.

Good for you on bringing yours back to life.

 

[oldnslo]

We had a 1958 520 when I was on the farm and that was one tough dependable tractor. In the winter if the fan blades moved it would start. Nice to see someone restoring that old iron. I think the flywheel on those weighs more that the rear end on some of these newer tractors.

 

[bmaverick]

Thanks for asking. That is such a fine tractor I really ought to tell its story.

It was originally a farm tractor used mostly for plowing and cultivating cornfields. For that duty it was sold new as a trike - the kind with a single fat tire out front on a cast iron wheel.

I was in college, plus building a house on weekends and knew of that tractor and that it had been retired to be used as a PTO-driven irrigation pump for the last decade. So one afternoon I went to take a look. As an irrigation pump it ran pretty much 24/7 during the growing season but the farmer said it had been dependable. He would hear it run out of gas each evening - you can hear a two cylinder JD for half a mile - so after dinner he would drive out, fill it with fuel, restart it, and not see it again he heard it run out of fuel the next day. He was laughing as he said that sometimes he would add water and some oil, too - all depending on how hot the motor was running.....
He really wanted a bigger irrigation pump and I wanted that old tractor - so after some negotiation I ended up driving it home the next weekend.

At the time I was working at night as a mechanic, going to college during the day, and building our house on weekends. We didn't have a lot of spare cash and we were thrilled to get that old tractor.

To change it from a working farm tractor to something to use in building us a house meant finding a wide front, a loader, plus a back blade. We got lucky by finding everything including an old style JD wide-front axle assembly in a used tractor junk yard.
I'd heard that the JD A & B size 2 cylinders basically used the same interchangeable front ends through several model changes....so we took the gamble, and it turned out to be true. My wife and I swapped that tricycle front for an older adjustable wide front all in one afternoon. Surprisingly, all the bolts fit up and our newer (1958) power steering even bolted up to that much older wide front.

Here's a photo of it as it sits today: That's an original model 46 Quick Detatchable loader which is also somewhat older than the tractor - and all from the same junkyard. I added the bucket hydraulics back about 1988 - it originally had a hand-lever operated gravity dump.... aka "suicide dump". You can just barely see the 6-way blade in the back. It's close to being too much blade for the tractor to pull, but by not taking a full bite it does OK.

rScotty

View attachment 759230

Great history story on the machine and the very well deserved upgrades.

 

[big bubba]

so what vintage year was it produced? do you use lube additives to adjust for low sulfur fuel? looks like a dandy. had a TO35 for 28 yrs, but not in the cond as yours

 

[beenthere]

Vintage '58 - '60

TractorData.com John Deere 530 tractor information

www.tractordata.com

 

[rScotty]

so what vintage year was it produced? do you use lube additives to adjust for low sulfur fuel? looks like a dandy. had a TO35 for 28 yrs, but not in the cond as yours

Well I'm not real sure how many years it was made. Probably like most tractors back then the factory did a run of a model and then sold them until they were gone. Ours is one of the first - built & sold a 1958. The last 530 I heard of being sold was in 1960.

But it wasn't really all that different. It was simply the last model of the horizontal two cylinder JD "B" series tractors which had been introduced in 1935. After selling the 520 and 530 for a couple of years, JD went to a 4 cylinder in line engine and have stayed with that configuration. Too bad, there are some big advantages to the horizontal twins.

So the JD 530 really started out as the JD B in 1935 and finally ended with the 530. By the time 25 years had gone by, the old JD "B" was still the same tractor with pretty much the same engine, frame, and transmission - after all, a much older model wide front bolted right up to ours....but the 530 has power steering, lots of remote hydraulics, a really nice 3pt hitch with extendable lower links, QD loader, adjustable wheel width, independent PTO, a full suspension seat - lots of upgrades everywhere. The kind of things that just sort of happen if you take a good design and improve it for a couple of decades.

No, I doesn't get any special additives. It's a gasser. I change the oil every couple of years is about all. And clean the air filter. It has sat outside its entire life - but often under that cotton tarp in the photo. Our dry climate is easy on old machinery - that's probably why it looks good as it does.

rScotty

 

[rScotty]

Well I'm not real sure how many years it was made. Probably like most tractors back then the factory did a run of a model and then sold them until they were gone. Ours is one of the first - built & sold a 1958. The last 530 I heard of being sold was in 1960.

But it wasn't really all that different. It was simply the last model of the horizontal two cylinder JD "B" series tractors which had been introduced in 1935. After selling the 520 and 530 for a couple of years, JD went to a 4 cylinder in line engine and have stayed with that configuration. Too bad, there are some big advantages to the horizontal twins.

So the JD 530 really started out as the JD B in 1935 and finally ended with the 530. By the time 25 years had gone by, the old JD "B" was still the same tractor with pretty much the same engine, frame, and transmission - after all, a much older model wide front bolted right up to ours....but the 530 has power steering, lots of remote hydraulics, a really nice 3pt hitch with extendable lower links, QD loader, adjustable wheel width, independent PTO, a full suspension seat - lots of upgrades everywhere. The kind of things that just sort of happen if you take a good design and improve it for a couple of decades.

No, I doesn't get any special additives. It's a gasser. I change the oil every couple of years is about all. And clean the air filter. It has sat outside its entire life - but often the operator platform hides under that green cotton tarp in the first photo. Our dry climate is easy on old machinery - that's probably why it looks as good as it does.

rScotty