1986 John Deere 650 Tractor Miscellaneous Repairs and Clutch Issues

Getting a tractor this old that has a modicum of electrical and electronic paraphernalia, it's bound to have been tampered with in the past. This tractor is the epitome of being tampered with. But I digress. The first order of business was to see if a new tachometer drive cable would get the tach working again. No telling how long it's been stuck at 4,906.3 hours. As you can see in the photo, the tach is now working. Not too sure about the hour meter yet.

1986 John Deere 650 Tractor Transmission Repairs

I got this tractor kind of in pieces. The front and back halves of the tractor were bolted together when I bought it but that was only to help with moving it around. The tractor had to be split apart to put the transmission back together after someone had pulled it apart and abandoned it. This first photo is the tractor shored up in preparation for the split. I figured the front half was rear-heavy but I put the ladder and blocking there just in case I was wrong. Turns out I was correct, it was heavier to the rear of the front axle.

1986 John Deere 650 Tractor 4WD Splined Shaft Repair

Yesterday I decided to try and fix the broken front drive splined shaft on the JD 650. These first two photos show the before and after condition of the shaft.

1986 John Deere Model 650 Diesel Tractor

Yeah, yeah, I just recently brought home the little bitty homemade tractor, but for some odd reason I couldn't pass this one up. It's part of my affliction of browsing the local online sale venues. This tractor is in need of a bit of work (no, really?), just the way I like them. It's a 1986 John Deere 650 tractor with a two-cylinder diesel engine and front end loader. It's got quite an impressive list of things going on: diesel engine, model 67 front loader, 4-wheel-drive, rear differential lock, 4-speed transmission with hi-lo auxiliary transmission (giving 8 forward speeds and two reverse), power steering, 3-point hitch, PTO. As the below photo shows (kinda), it's not currently running, so the previous owner is pulling it onto my trailer with his tired mini excavator.

1940s Homemade Garden Tractor

This little guy followed me home a few weeks ago. It was advertised in the local Craigslist as Yard Art (!). Well, I suppose it is pretty far gone, but that's not going to deter me from trying to get it going. This first photo below shows it in its natural habitat, waiting patiently for someone to come along and give it a little TLC. The lady who owned it said her late husband (Ron) built it on the farm in the Key Peninsula area of Pierce county.