John Deere 320, 4 homes within 4 miles

This little guy had been on my radar for a few years. It wasn’t something that I needed, I just felt sorry for it.  Things happened and I ended up trading some labor for it.  It was seized from water entering through a rusted out muffler, luckily it wasn’t much water. 

After getting it unstuck and disassembled I found that I was the first one to ever touch the inside of the engine. Original bore, original bearings. There was no water damage to anything in the bottom end!  Overbored one size over standard, new pistons, fresh bearings, new valves and springs and the engine was up and running again. (Alright, there was a lot of cleaning in between!)  

New clutch disc, pilot and throw out bearings. Transmission had a tiny amount of water in the bottom, but I could find no damage…at all…no chipped gears, no rough bearings, I was amazed.  You can tell from the pics that the sheet metal was trashed, I found some donor parts that were still far from perfect, but they came out pretty well.

Then on to the rims. Replaced the outer rings on all 4. And of course the tires and tubes. Then finally painted the entire machine. Used John Deere paint with a hardener. Almost all the new parts came from Steiner, save hardware, wiring and such that I picked up locally.

It was sold in 1956 from Whitehouse Farm Supply, Upperco Maryland to Irving Wheeler who lived less than 2 miles from the shop. Upon his passing the neighbor across the street, Hershell Klein bought it at the sale.  Several years later Mr. Klein passed, at his estate sale Loring Sparks bought the tractor and it moved right back next door to the John Deere shop! Loring passed in the early 2000’s and his son got hold of it…he’s hard on machines.

I got it November 2025. Our farm meets up with the back of the Klein farm. The little 320 has been through 4 owners in 70 years and has never traveled more than 4 miles from where it was sold new.

As a finishing touch I repainted the old wagon that’s been around here since the 60’s with the leftover paint. 

Thanks to Steiner Tractor Parts for great service and quick shipping….and having such a great parts listing for the 320!

Greg Mincher
Maryland

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