A long, long time ago in 1934, the first John Deere A rolled off the production line. It was quite a remarkable tractor for it’s time. The row crop tractor was so popular in fact that it’s production run lasted for almost 20 years until 1952! This is something that you would just never hear about today. While having a 25hp engine to power it may not seem like much (especially when you consider the fact that many lawn mowers have 25hp+ engines), it was still adequate for the time.

However there were many variations of the John Deere Model A. The John Deere AR was produced from 1935 to 1948 which had a regular/standard thread. The John Deere AO was model designed for orchards and also had a standard/regular thread as well as being streamlined and low which enabled it to easily get close to trees. The John Deere AI was designed and built for commercial use. It can easily be distinguished from the others as it is not green and yellow but all yellow. It differed from the others due to the fact that it’s front axle was located back a few inches to allow for greater maneuverability. It had 4 gears going forward and 1 in reverse. There was also a model AN, which had only one single font wheel, located in the middle. This was a great tractor for row crops, but often proved to be a little unsteady on uneven ground.

The original John Deere Model A was a fantastic row crop tractor in it’s day. The Model A actually came with steel wheels off the production line, while getting rubber wheels was optional (as rubber was so expensive back then). Interestingly, many of the earlier versions of the John Deere A needed to be started by hand crank, while later versions had batteries. All in all, the John Deere Model A is a legendary tractor among John Deere enthusiasts. It sold over 330,000 units when you factor in the different variations (AO, AN, AI, AR) and help to solidify John Deere as one of the world’s premier tractor manufacturers.

Return to John Deere Tractors from John Deere A

Return to John Deere from John Deere Model A