Pulling with a 70

steve spence

New User
We have a 1954 John Deere model 70 that we are trying to tractor pull with and not doing very good with it. I think the problem is that it is geared way too high in 1st gear. I've never seen a tractor as fast as this one in 1st gear. I'm told that this is typical of the 70. Guess I chose the wrong tractor for pulling. I was told by one of the guys at a pull that I needed to change the 1st gear in my transmission and put the 1st gear out of a 60 or 720 in it. Is this possible? Or does anyone have any advise. I think I have pretty good engine power but the high gear or ground speed is killing it. I don't know if shorter tires would make enough difference.
 
Reduction gear from a 70 diesel will cut your speed to half gears. Example 2nd becomes 1 1/2. You need to change the gear on the clutch pulley as well and may need to
do some machine work on it to make it work. It works out that way on the G's anyway.
 
Mite need more power. Hard to win with
creaper gears. Just slow it a half a gear.
With the first reduction gears.
 

I remember a young fellow with a Gas JD 70..(Morrow Co Pulls, Ohio..

That 70 had the "All-Fuel" Block in it with plates bolted to the pistons to raise compression and was screaming at about 1,800 RPM....( Made ME Cringe to hear it!)..

The announcer commented that he thought they were using 4th GEAR....!!!

I SAW that 70 OUT PULL an IH 1066 that day....!!!

That flywheel would get wound up and it took a good while to slow it back down..!!!!

Thank you RAY CASTNER (* Extreme) for that enjoyable Day..!!!

Ofcourse 2 other Cousins were pulling it in each Class also..!!
 
Reminds me of a friends fish story - gets bigger every time he tells how big it was. I've pulled against some of Ray's unimpressive stuff, falls far short of your recollections of fact/fiction.
 
My thoughts are while I've never EVER seen speed be a problem when pulling, I have often seen lack of power be a real concern. gm
 
I cant imagine any tractor not having enough power in 1st gear,a 70 should pull in 8000 in 1st gear with a 20 inch hitch and 184s
 
The 70 does have a fast first gear, but I think it's the same as a "G", and they can pull fine. You probably just have a nice, original, old tractor that needs some horsepower upgrades to be competitive. Going in a creeper gear works on some tracks sometimes, but more often than not you'd be better off finding power enough to run that faster gear.

On my old G, I first overhauled the engine and put in high compression pistons. Later I put longer connecting rods in to increase the compression more to about 10-1. Also installed a reground camshaft, LP manifold (don't think that would help a 70 much), and electronic ignition. That all took it from stock 38hp up to 58hp, and really woke it up. A 70 gas should have similar, if not slightly better results, since it has a better carburetor. I bet you'd be in the low 60s. I was competitive like that around here for a few years.

For more than that you need one of the aftermarket powerblocks with bigger bores, and then have the crankshaft stroked. That's what a lot of the guys with G's here have done since, ha ha. And I was outclassed then. I pull a 720 now. I believe my 2nd gear is as fast as your 1st, and then I also have the option go in 1 1/2mph first gear. But like I said above, even now that I have the option I've found that most of the time going in the faster gear gets you farther.
 
Different tracks, track preparation, track crews, sled, chain length, regional differences, etc....all play a part at pulls. In an area that has lower horsepower tractors tracks and sleds are set up for that. Areas where higher power tractors are common: a "stock" tractor can only be competitive if they have been lightened up to pull the lighter classes. I pull at many pulls where a stock tractor at original, stock weight Will power out.
 
Last year this sled powered out my 5200 lb stock 1940 U MM and my 8000 lb stock 1959 GVI MM.... Both were in 1st gear with 20" drawbars....I still got a 3rd with the U out of 11 and a 2nd place with the GVI out of 5 entries...I wasnt the only one to power out..The tractor that beat my GVI MM was a 70 JD diesel with the slow 1st gear...I beat all the other 70 John Deeres.....My GVI MM has a real fast 1st gear..Some people thought that I was in 2nd gear..
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On a transfer sled, there are many factors that contribute to victory but speed is the biggest factor. If its a 3mph limit you want to be at 2.9.
However if you pull stone boat, that's a different story. I've considered on more than one occasion, to put a lower first gear in my Super M because we pull both tsled and stone boat. Getting a heavy stone boat moving with my first gear isn't easy but that tractor excels in transfer sled pulling and regularly comes in the top 5 against 20+ tractors.
But Im not going to put a lower first gear in because I enjoy transfer sled pulling more so that's what the tractor will be more aimed at pulling.
 

I know..you have that to say every time, but NO fish story...

The 1066 was a "Smoker" and he didn't get it properly spooled up enough and all it did was blow a withering cloud of smoke and fell on it's face..

Besides, that 70 could get quite a good run before the sled could slow that big flywheel down..

Believe it or not..and I hear your attitude Loud and Clear...wouldn't matter except that you are saying I am not telling the truth and that Does PI$$ me off..

Woujld be nice to get my hands on your sorry A$$..
 
Tuff guy with an outa' control imagination. Tell us again 'bout that V6 with 7 mains you saw! You have a way with confusing facts with fiction.
 

As previously stated. A modest rebuild and blueprint is all it needs.
45 over LP pistons or better yet custom 9 to 1. Regrind the cam to match the pistons. Three angle valve job. Clean the sharp edges out of the ports and match to the manifolds. Dry element air cleaner. Tweak the timing and mixture on a dyno to find max torque when lugged. run 100LL aviation gas.
Easy 10-15HP over stock. Starts, sounds and runs like stock. Will spinout on any track in 1st gear.
 
I forgot about 100LL AVGAS. I ran that in my
old G too and I'm a believer in it. Cheaper
than race fuel, never seemed to go bad, no
ethanol, and all our old 2 cylinders ran
great on it. I tuned on the dyno with it and
had to lean the needles down a full turn
from where they were with 10% ethanol 91
octane pump gas.

I had easy access though. Our local airport
had no control tower at the time, and a self
service pump out on the tarmac. I just drove
my truck out there, swipped a credit card,
and filled up my jugs. Thought someone would
question me but no one ever did!
 

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