Historical Articles—John Deere Tractor Works pp. 6–41
…Waterloo Courier, March 23, 1918 pp. 6–9
…L.W. Witry, September 15, 1920 pp. 10–13
…L.W. Witry, May 5, 1930 pp. 14–25
…Jack Cade, 1960 pp. 26–41
General-Purpose Wide-Tread Series “P” pp. 42–63
General-Purpose Orchard Tractor pp. 64–71
Model “D” Hawkeye Motor Patrol pp. 72–77
Model “60” pp. 78–101
Model “R” pp. 102–111

HISTORICAL ARTICLES: The Two-Cylinder Collector’s Series—Volume I features a look back at the early days of the John Deere Tractor Works at Waterloo, Iowa; as well as the tractors presented in the official Club publication in 1985.

GENERAL-PURPOSE WIDE-TREAD SERIES “P”: The John Deere General Purpose Tractor, generally referred to as the “GP”, has been around in standard tread form since 1928 — experimental versions since 1926. In 1927 and 1928 Deere began experimental work with a tricycle version of the tractor. From August 1928 to April 1929 a total of 72 would-be standard-tread “GPs” were built as tricycles. These served as forerunners of the “GP” Wide-Tread.

The historical articles which appear on pages 6-41 are unedited from original copies and manuscripts. The reader may discover a few discrepancies in the reporting of dates, items of tractor design and other information. The articles are meant to provide a general historical background of the John Deere Tractor Works at Waterloo, Iowa, and early product development. They are not meant to serve as a technical resource for specific facts related to either company or products.

GENERAL-PURPOSE ORCHARD TRACTOR: The initial design work to provide an orchard tractor in the “GP” line can be credited to Lindeman Power Equipment Company of Yakima, Washington. To John Deere Tractor collectors the Lindeman name is best known through the “Lindeman Crawlers” that the Yakima firm built from Model “BO” Tractors.

MODEL “D” HAWKEYE MOTOR PATROL: The Hawkeye Motor Patrol is a road grader/maintainer that was manufactured by the Hawkeye Maintainer Company of Waterloo, Iowa. The history of the company is vague, but it is a matter of record that the factory was in nearby Janesville, Iowa. The Hawkeye may have been built by the Royer Manufacturing Company of Janesville. It is not known whether or not Royer was involved at the beginning, or if there was simply a change later on in the name of the manufacturing company in Janesville. The history of the Hawkeye Motor Patrol/John Deere Model “D” combination can be traced back to November of 1928.

MODEL “60” TRACTOR: After nearly 20 years of production, in 1952 the Model “A” was succeeded by the Model “60”. The “A” had been through what is regarded as three distinct levels of design— unstyled, styled, and late styled. Each new generation was considered to be “improved” over its predecessor, a term often disputed by collectors favoring the older and less complicated tractors. The “60” followed the same general pattern in that significant improvements viable in contemporary farming were introduced with the tractor. Some of these improvements were seen on previous models, but the “60” and other models of the First Numbered Series (including “50” and “70”) provided all of the features. The Model “60”, along with the “50”, was introduced to branch house personnel on June 11, 1952.

MODEL “R” TRACTOR: Work to develop a John Deere two-cylinder diesel tractor began in 1935. By the time the Model “R” went into production in 1949, the project was regarded as the largest single job the Engineering Department had ever undertaken.

The Model “R” was introduced in 1949 with the newly styled “AR” and “AO”. It stayed in the line until fall of 1954, and was replaced by the Model “80” a year later. The “R” was the first diesel produced by John Deere, and was intended to be a replacement for the Model “D” as the largest standard- tread tractor in the line.