1960 John Deere 730 Diesel – Think Pink
My father bought this John Deere 730 Diesel new in 1960. It was the only tractor, in all his years of farming, that he ever bought new. I was 6 years old at the time and can remember the dealership delivering it on a cold October day in 1960. I started driving it the following spring plowing and disking. This tractor was used for many many years on our farm. I came home one day in 1992 and asked as to where the 730 was. Dad informed me that he had traded it in. I was heart broken.
In 2004 I decided I was going to try to find the 730. With serial #7323346 in hand I started my quest. After 8 years of following leads and making phone calls I finally located it. I jumped in the car and proceeded to go look and make sure it was the one. The gentleman told me it hadn’t run for 6 years as we walked to an old barn. He opened the door to an area in the bottom of the old bank barn and there she set. What an emotional moment it was. You could see she had not moved for a while. I asked if he would consider selling it. He informed me that he really didn’t want to sell it. But after 2 years of calling and talking about it the gentleman agreed that it meant more to me than him and he would sell it.
I got it home and what a mess it was in. I started doing a total nut and bolt restoration. The day I finally got her to roar back to life was just as great as the day I remember them deliving it to the farm as a child. My father was able to help me some with the restoration before becoming ill. I finished the project just 4 days before his passing. He wasn’t able to see it in person, but was able to see pictures and video of it running. He just smiled and said ” now thats the sound of pure power”. We talked and shared stories about this tractor many times while working on it. He sat down one time, with a calculator, and just smiled and looked at me and said ‘as close as I can calculate we drove this tractor from Indiana to California and back in 4th gear”. This tractor will always be a part of me, my children, and future generations to come.
Thames Goon
Warsaw, Indiana
