Could not afford to use it everyday!!!!

JD Seller · Jan 13, 2019

I got back the Infamous JD 4020 gas last summer. So this winter I parked it over at a farm we rent the cattle yards at. Put a back blade on it to go with the loader. Figured just to clear drive with light snows. Well we have fats going out of there in the morning so I decided to go clear the driveway. Now much snow but enough the pots would mash it into ice in the morning. Had the boys plug it in when they finished feeding there. So it started right up. I filled it up with gas before I started. I pushed/plowed for right at an hour. Really light work. Filled the tank when I finished. The darn thing used eight gallon of gas just cleaning the drive one time. I know the fuel mix is a little rich so it will take throttle in the cold weather. I sure would not want to ever try any field work with the darn thing.

I really wonder if the ethanol blended fuel is part of it??? I know they were fuel hogs in the day but I know my Uncle would make it to lunch when he did filed work. They only hold 34 gallon. I know he complained that you did not want to try and eat supper late or you would be walking home. LOL

Billy NY · Jan 13, 2019

How were you able to get it to run correctly, I remember the posts about this tractor and the issues you were trying to resolve to get it to run reliably enough to use.

fixerupper · Jan 13, 2019

The 105 Deere combine I used had the 348 gas engine, supposedly the same as the 4020 engine. Under full load, which was most of the time it drank a roughly calculated 7 gallons per hour. Then it got worse as the accelerator pump vacuum plunger wore and made it suck gas past the piston so I plugged the vacuum port to the accelerator pump. Had to slowly open the throttle after that but the gph went down to 5 and it purred like a kitten at idle. Disabling the accelerator pump would never work on a tractor but the combine engine ran wide open with no sudden loads so I got away with it.

JOCCO · Jan 13, 2019

laugh laugh I say that about my Deere g and a Minnie I have. Used to deal with some big cube gas truck engines at <2 miles per gallon!!!

kcm.MN · Jan 13, 2019

I had a 4010 gas. Had a JD snow thrower and 3-pt. backhoe. Even using the backhoe at idle, went through a lot of gas. I don't miss it.

For what I put into the tank of my 2001 Dodge plow truck for clearing snow for a whole season, that much MIGHT get me through one day of snow blowing with the 4010. And the truck plow does a much nicer job. Fortunately, we haven't had need of a blower or loader in many years; just the truck plow.

Plus, the 4010 was open station. Got pretty nippy in the windy spots!

M w J · Jan 13, 2019

My dads 3020 runs good and it burns 5 gallons almost all of the time .

JD Seller · Jan 13, 2019

I gave up on it and was going to knock it in the head. A friend talked me into selling it to him. He liked playing around with things as he was a retired engineer. He took the carburetor apart and resized the jets in it. It made it better but still not great. Well he passed away this last year and I bought it back off his widow.

Truthfully I will replace it this next year. It will be with a diesel something. I had thought about switching it to a diesel motor but it just is not worth the effort. It is a 66-67 model. Front axle has been broken/rewelded several times and the syncros need some attention too. Really the only good thing about it is the factory roll guard/steel canopy and nice Allied loader.

Looking for an open station JD 4230 or 4240. I have a JD 4040 open station but rally do not want to put a loader on it. I like raking hay and moving bales with an open station tractor. With the canopy it is usually pretty nice even on hot days.

Geo-TH,In · Jan 13, 2019

JD,
Thanks for making me glad I have tractors, kaw mule, generators with less of an appetite for gas. Mule is EFI and uses about a gallon in 2 hours. 3500 W champion uses very little, depending on load. Runs a long time on a tank of gas. My terramites use about a gallon an hour. I use Jubilee and Farmall C to mow yards. They use about a gallon per acre cutting grass.

When I first got my mom's farmall, the carb was adjusted wrong. It would make the plugs black in minutes and drink a lot of gas. I discovered I have to back the adjustment out to lean it down. It now runs on fumes.

I used the spark plugs as my indicator. I got a small sandblaster plug cleaner from HF to clean the plugs. Once I got the adjustment leaned down, the plugs stay gray/white instead of carboning up.

Bob Bancroft · Jan 13, 2019

I'm sure the ethanol is part of it. My vehicles sure like it!

Elton Fancher · Jan 13, 2019

I keep some old gas tractors around, fuel consumption is meaningful. I looked at a good 4010 gas I kinda wanted last year, but knew I would not want to put the gas in it to do anything. Had a 2020 here a couple years ago. Just left a mowing machine hooked to it so I could run out and clip pasture an hour or so at a time. 5 gallons went nowhere in it.

ss55 · Jan 13, 2019

Yesterday a local gas station had E-10 for $1.949 per gallon and diesel for $2.969 per gallon. So, E-10 is about 2/3 the cost of diesel at the gas pump. If you take out fuel taxes for off-road use the spread between gas and diesel fuel costs is even wider.

Right now, a gas tractor would have to use more than 50 percent more fuel than a diesel to cost more to run than the diesel. It is very unusual, but for this winter, they actually use about the same dollars of fuel per hour.

boberjagel · Jan 13, 2019

Circa 1970. Chopping corn silage 4020 PS diesel plus 2 row cutter. Hauling with 4010 gas and 2520 gas. The guy running 4020 was high strung and lugged the daylights out of the 4020 all the time. We always chuckled though that the 4010 and 2520 with light loads ate more gallons per day than the 4020 being the work horse. And we didn't care much about it because gas was considered cheap. As aside note ,gosh those were fun times.

tomstractorsandtoys · Jan 13, 2019

My 105 had an extra gas tank added on to it and it did not take long to find out why. It took two people to run it. One driving and one hauling gas. Next year it got a complete 404 out of a very early 7700. Tom

John Eatwell · Jan 13, 2019

Had a 4010 gas when I was starting farming. It used 9 gallons an hour whether you were raking hay or plowing. An old JD mechanic said lets try a cast 3020 carb with the jets bored out, lost 1 hp but fuel useage dropped dramaticly and no smoking at an idle.

Could not afford to use it everyday!!!!

JD Seller

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Billy NY

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fixerupper

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JOCCO

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kcm.MN

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M w J

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JD Seller

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