Amazing Deere 4020 Has 28,018 Hours

Amazing Deere 4020 Has 28,018 Hours TRACTORS Miscellaneous 33-4-13 "My best buy is my 1970 John Deere 4020 diesel tractor. As of June 19 it had 28,018 hours on it without ever overhauling the engine," says Charles "Buddy" Myers, Zanesville, Ohio. While Myers doesn't know for certain that his tractor's hours are a "world record", no one has come forward with more hours since Orion Samuelson interviewed him on national TV when the tractor had just over 20,000 hours. "It's never been babied," Myers says. "It's been driven by many hired men and teenagers learning to drive. Since it was the biggest tractor we owned for several years, it did most of the fieldwork for 500 acres and barnyard work for 400 dairy cows. We're in the hills of southeast Ohio and it has pulled thousands of loads of silage." Over the years, Myers' mechanic, Galen Honabarger, has done general maintenance work on the tractor. He ground the valves at 10,000 hours and was surprised at how the cylinder liners looked new with the original swirl and hone marks still on them. At 19,200 hours, he fixed a minor seal leak and found a pliable seal and a hydraulic pump shaft that still looked brand new. "He æstole' the shaft," Myers says, and replaced it with a new one. Honabarger wanted proof of the tractor's good condition. "Galen and I joke about how this tractor is going to outlast us," he adds. "When Galen replaced the brakes a few years ago, I had him work his way from the clutch to the back so we don't have to go back into it when we are in our 90's. I remember Galen saying, æthe inside of this tractor looks like it just came off the showroom floor.' There was no chipping in the gearing and everything was very shiny and in perfect condition. "We still use it every day around the yard to power a TMR mixer to feed 700 dairy heifers. It's a quality-built tractor," Myers says. "This tractor doesn't get any special treatment other than using Conklin products, which I've used in it almost since the beginning. I was so impressed with how well they work that I became a Conklin dealer in 1974 and I still am today." Myers welcomes Farm Show readers' calls about his legendary tractor with its phenomenal record. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Charles Myers, 2585 Millers Ln., Zanesville, Ohio 43701 (ph 877 674-5132; buddyjoan@road runner.com).

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