In the late nineteen sixties & early seventies, John Deere introduced into the retail market the Model 60 & Model 70 lawn tractors. Both these tractors were intended to be a less "gutsy" small property tractor. The model sixty was equipped with a Tecumseh six horsepower engine & the model seventy sported a Tecumseh seven horse engine. Both of these tractors offered a mid mounted mower deck along with a front mounted snow blade.They were introduced into the market as lawn tractors. Generally a designation that would suggest that beyond taking care of a small lawn & an average short driveway for snow removal, there was not too much more these little machines could do.

At this point the description of what these little machines could or could not do is unclear. I've see them used on full one acre plus properties cutting grass, pulling heavy dump cart loads of soil, stone & other materials. I've had people tell me how they would use a Brinly plow or landscape rake or aerator with them as well. I'm really not sure what Deere's original intention was for these tractors beyond reasonable lawn cutting & some light snow removal. However there is one thing you can always count on. Consumers will generally find ways to stretch the limits of intended use well beyond what the designers & engineers had in mind.

The last Model 70 rolled off the assembly line in nineteen seventy four. I'm no exactly sure when the last Model sixty was produced, so lets just say that by the end of nineteen seventy four the model sixty & seventy era came to an end. Now here we are in the twenty first century, in the year two thousand & nine. We are now some thirty five to forty years in post production of these little giants and we are still talking about them, still struggling to repair them & still admiring them. And indeed it is a struggle, especially in the repair or rebuilding of their engines. In addition to the parts problems with engine rebuilding, the manufacturer no longer has a number of repair parts available. While there are still parts left on the shelves, it is getting harder & more expensive each year to restore one of these classics.

Restoring one of these models can be a real challenge. While the basic machine is just that, the challenge becomes one of research, parts location, time & expense. I quired my nineteen seventy one Model 70 nearly four years ago. The gentleman that had it was a retired diesel engine mechanic who repaired small engines out of his home's workshop. He told me that the owner of the tractor owed him some money for repairs that he made on another machine. The owner of the seventy gave it to him as barter against what he owed. He told me that he serviced this tractor before & the engine was in pretty good shape for something thirty five years old. He asked me to buy it from him because he needed to make room in his shop. So for one hundred dollars I got this model 70 & a mower deck thrown into the deal.

Now almost four years after I acquired that little seventy, it's about ninety five percent complete on a full restoration, except for a rebuild of the engine. Why so long on restoring a tractor that essentially was in fair shape. Well I can only speak for myself as to why it's been so long. First, like almost everyone else, basic life gets in the way. There are always unexpected problems to deal with that take away the time & money you set aside for the restoration project. Secondly, when I do decide that a tractor is worth the time & effort to save it, I absolutely make sure that it does not take over my life. What I mean by that is I keep it a fun thing to do. A way of exercising my mind in solving the problems associated with the restoration as well as a chance to use my hands and tools & to also discover how to do different things. Things like setting up & using paint spraying equipment, or learning about welding or electrical systems.

And as every hobbyists or restorer knows that the deeper you get into a project the more unexpected issues surface. This could either kill your enthusiasm or spark it on. For me, when I can't fully concentrate on the project or I feel I've hit the wall, I simply put it away in a corner of my work shop & let it & myself take a break from it. I never ever allow the project to take over my mind or spirit. Because as soon as you allow temporary circumstances to control your mood & attitude, you will soon have a tractor in pieces that you wish you never took a wrench to. And that's too bad when that happens. And it happens more often than not.

Right now, sitting in my barn is a 1973 Model 110 that appears to have been one of those projects that overtook the previous owner. I got this tractor with four brand new tires on it, a brand new seat & seat springs. The fender pan was removed from the frame & all the fender pan paint had been scraped off & the metal left bare. Also all the decals had been scraped & destroyed as well. Then someone tried to spray Paint red primer all over it. They also trashed the wiring harness & the fuel tank. Finally, and luckily for this tractor, they decided to stop killing it with kindness. It now sits in my barn in a state of suspended animation waiting for a new lease on life, which I slowly but surely will give to it.

The Model 60 & 70 lawn tractors are the smallest tractors Deere put into the consumer market as far as I know. There are still a fair amount of them available for restoration. Unfortunately most of them are sitting abandoned because of the scarcity of parts, especially the problems with obtaining engine parts which are no longer available from the engine manufacturer. If your have one of these machines or are considering rebuilding one, you should seriously consider the entire scope of the project including the cost, time and availability of parts. Pay particular attention to the machine's engine condition. Rebuild or replacement engines for these little tractors are problematic.

To sum all this up, let me just say that sometimes the most basic machines can be the most difficult to work with. But they can also be just as rewarding in the end as long as you remain in control.

Jerry