Information About John Deere 4020 Tractors

The main workhorse of many American farms, the John Deere 4020 tractor has been one of John Deere's most popular pieces of machinery since it was first manufactured in 1963. Produced from 1963 to 1972, more than 57,000 of these tractors were built and purchased. The 4020 tractor was updated with modifications that kept it ahead of other tractor brands of its time.

Significance

In the 1960s, family farms found themselves having to compete with larger farming corporations. To keep up, family farms needed to get more done in less time. The John Deere 4020 tractor allowed them to achieve their economic goals. When baling hay and alfalfa, it could pull both a disk and planter at the same time. When the hay was ready for harvest, it could pull a baler, baler ejector and a receiving wagon at the same time. Previously all these tasks were done separately.

Safety

In 1966, John Deere engineers modified the 4020 tractor with a roll-guard safety feature, which was installed in all of their "New Generation" line of tractors from that year on. Soon after, the new patented safety procedure was given to all tractor manufacturers for their use, if they desired. This new safety feature was revolutionary in the area of tractor operator safety.

Features

Revolutionary features that were added to the John Deere 4020 tractor helped the new "agribusiness" farmer work more efficiently. These new machines were constructed with power front-wheel drive, giving the tractor more traction. In addition, a longer rear axle was was installed, allowing for an extra pair of wheels to be attached more easily. In the past, extra wheels had to be bolted to the rear axle mounts. This new "dual wheel" system also allowed for alternate spacing of the wheels for usage in different widths of crop rows.

Types

The John Deere 4020 tractor, with a 6-cylinder engine, was offered in standard or row-crop configurations and in diesel, gasoline or LP-gas engines. LP-gas engines, however, were becoming obsolete and this option was dropped by the end of the 1960s. As time passed, engineers developed the 4020 to blend the row-crop and standard tractor into one piece of farm machinery.

Significance

The 4020 tractor, along with the rest of the 20s series of tractors, had 6-cylinder engines, abandoning the older 2-cylinder tractors. This innovative change, along with all of the others mentioned, helped the John Deere Company to become the world's largest farm tractor company. Today, the John Deere company remains at the top of the agriculture farm machinery manufacturers.