Just got a 630

[David Wayne]

I grew up with a 50,60 and 720 but that was 50 years ago. Now I have a 1959 630
Same vintage as I am. I bought it on line and had delivery included (250 miles) so was a bit nervous,
As it turns out the tractor has been bored .045 over with new pistons, rings, and rod pins as well as a new water pump nine hours ago
according to the hour meter. Near new tires, and so far runs great. Its a little ruff and I will restore it.
Some questions though, she turns over slow compared to say my ford or Kubota, is that normal? It is 12 volt with one battery.
And one time going to reverse and one time going to 1st nothing happened, take it out of gear and try again and it worked,
is there a simple adjustment or am I in for big repairs?
Thanks David

 

[beenthere]

Sounds like a great project tractor. Hope you will honor us with some photo's of the tractor.
And hope nothing serious with the transmission. Maybe oil related, so I'd be checking that out to be sure it is okay.
As for turning over slow, maybe higher compression? or age of battery?

 

[oldnslo]

It has been a lot of years since worked on an Johnny popper but I do recall some models had problems with the end of shift rod wearing and would occasionally not shift gears properly. From memory is was just a few bolts and the shifter lifts off and you have access to all the internal linkage. Would suggest getting service manual since my memory ain’t what it used to be.

is yours a gas or diesel. Our old 720 diesel had the pony motor so no help on how it should turn over.

 

[beenthere]

Transmission cover showing parts..

From JD parts

https://partscatalog.deere.com/jdrc/sidebyside/equipment/80169/referrer/navigation/pgId/69288

 

[David Wayne]

Its gas, wide front, three point

David

 

[Tinhack]

I think it's supposed to have two 6v batteries. It was common to convert to 12v with a larger battery. My old 420C was converted to 12v before I got it. If I keep good gas in it, it fires right up but I've rebuilt the carburetor twice in the 14 or so years I've had it. I just bought a fuel gauge and sender for it but don't have a place to put the gauge. I may make another dash insert so I'll have space for the gauge. I'm always running out of gas.

Check the points--Clean and gapped is a must. My 420 fires on the first revolution.

 

[David Wayne]

Here is a couple of pics of the 630, I will post more as I fix things up.

 

[rScotty]

May it treat you as well as our old 530 has treated us.

JD really went all out on the 30 series. It has features like remote hydraulics and a quick detach loader that didn't become common in tractors until decades later.
Some other features - like progressive springing and damping for the operator seat - seem unique to the 30 series.

This photo was taken almost 40 years ago. The tractor hasn't changed a bit.

rScotty

 

[David Wayne]

I have repaired the battery box and re-covered the seat bottom. And am working on
fixing rusty fenders, will take a little time but I will get it.

 

[rScotty]

I grew up with a 50,60 and 720 but that was 50 years ago. Now I have a 1959 630
Same vintage as I am. I bought it on line and had delivery included (250 miles) so was a bit nervous,
As it turns out the tractor has been bored .045 over with new pistons, rings, and rod pins as well as a new water pump nine hours ago
according to the hour meter. Near new tires, and so far runs great. Its a little ruff and I will restore it.
Some questions though, she turns over slow compared to say my ford or Kubota, is that normal? It is 12 volt with one battery.
And one time going to reverse and one time going to 1st nothing happened, take it out of gear and try again and it worked,
is there a simple adjustment or am I in for big repairs?
Thanks David

There has been very little that has gone wrong with our 30 530. I think that your 630 is near identical in design, but a little larger throughout and 45 vs 33 HP.

I vaguely remember taking off the top of the transmission cover and adjusting for wear to make ours shift better - so it is probably a common job. It was a minor adjustment of the bushing as I remember...or maybe it needed a new shifter bushing there. Anyway, it was a minor job. These tractors are built to last and last. They rarely need anything, pull like bulldozers, sip fuel, and maintenance points are very accessible.

It always amazes me how much thought went into the design.
Oh, you asked about the starter speed. Yes, it's a long stroke engine & a relatively small 12 volt battery is all that fits in the battery box. Given both constraints, the 530's starter turns so slow you wonder if something is wrong. It goes at less than a quarter of the speed of my Kubota starter.
Wait until cold weather....then it goes even slower!!
But it always starts right up. It likes the choke on to start but then immediately push the choke in or in to half way once it catches and begins to run. Then 15 seconds later I push the choke all the way in.

Remember that it is POSITIVE GROUND! If you forget and hook the battery up with the negative terminal grounded like most everything else ever built you will have to go back and re-polarize the starter and Voltage regulator and maybe the generator....but not always.

The other thing that needs attention sometimes is the automatic fuel shutoff, if yours has that. You can tell because it has a small oil line running up by the glass float bowl.

Good luck, would like to see some photos of the wide front since ours also has a wide front.
rScotty

 

[Tinhack]

I would probably have to buy a mule and wood plow to match my vintage. But my '56 420C has served me well. But I think I'll finally be putting steering clutches in it. And it needs a little under carriage work. It was set up as a pipe layer with a boom. That boom and cable winches have come in handy many times around the place. It pulled my Ford 3910 out of the mud a few times.

 

[David Wayne]

I found a broken gear on the brake shaft today, I can get a used one on line for $160. The seals are leaking is why I tore it apart. A new one from Yesterdays is $187 but I inquired as to where it's made and was told "we dont have a country of origin" so I'm guessing china and I will get the used one.
I'm pretty sure I do have the auto fuel valve, I think I read oil pressure opens it. As to the shifter cover
it looks like it is holding the dash up, but I haven't gotten that far along yet.

David

 

[rScotty]

Your automatic fuel valve is built into the sediment filter setup. You ought to take a look just to make sure it is working right.
The way they work is a rubber diaphram operated by oil pressure allows gasoline to flow. Pretty foolproof becaise that way we didn't have to remember to turn off the gas when shutting down the tractor.

Our original one lasted 40 years until gasoline with alcohol came out. That ruined the rubber diaphram overnight.
A decade or two agoJD changed the diaphram material so that they are now alcohol resistant, but you have to change the old ones out or your sediment filter will leak gas into the carb and sometimes I've heard it can go down the oil line to the sump.

What some of us did was just went back to the old style sediment filter with a petcock built into the side and turned the gasoline on & off manually. Or doubled up the diaphrams.

Easy to fix, and way less money than a brake shaft gear.
rScotty