John
Deere: A History
of the Tractor.
Randy Leffingwell, 2004. Hardbound, 384 pages.
Excellent
hardcover coffee-table book
on the history on John
Deere himself, the beginnings of his company, and a lot of the
engineering and management decisions impacting tractor
designs and production. This book is an updated, expanded
version
of the author's John
Deere Farm Tractors, below, with many details added from
recently-researched diaries of Deere engineer Theo Brown.
John
Deere Farm Tractors.
Randy Leffingwell, 1993. Hardbound, 192 pages.
Thorough text and
outstanding photos,
covering
everything from early experimentals through Generation II.
Before
the author wrote his expanded John
Deere: A History of the Tractor, above, this one
got my
vote as the single best coffee-table book on John Deere
tractors.
First-rate photos, drawings, and
text covering
all the
two-cylinders. Not the biggest book on John Deeres, but one
of
the
best. Published by Deere and Company.
John
Deere Tractors and
Equipment,
Volume I. Don MacMillan, 1988. Hardbound,
390 pages.
Best all-around
encyclopedia for
two-cylinder
John Deeres. Photos not always very high quality, but great
history.
The
Big Book of John Deere
Tractors:
The Complete Model-by-Model Encyclopedia, Plus Classic Toys, Brochures,
and Collectibles. Don MacMillan, Randy Leffingwell,
1999.
Hardbound, 256 pages.
Another one that
I haven't read, but
if you're
looking for a single book about John Deere tractors you couldn't go far
wrong with this one. I don't know if the authors actually
worked
together or if the publisher just edited and combined their work from
other
books, but MacMillan and Leffingwell are among the very best. Released
in paperback in 2003.
John
Deere New
Generation Tractors. Peterson and Beemer,
1998.
Softbound,
128 pages.
Very good color
photographs and
informative
text about the development and first decade or so of John Deere's four-
and six-cylinder tractors, from the 1010 to the 8020.
Includes a
lot of interesting comments from retired Deere executives and
engineers,
and neat historical photos of prototypes and testing work. If
you
like the New Generation tractors--the 4010/4020
still being in my opinion the all-time most beautiful and classic
machine
ever built--this is a good book.
Designing
the New Generation
John
Deere Tractors. Merle Miller, 1999.
Softbound, 136
pages.
An excellent history of the
development and
introduction
of the 3010 and 4010, written by a retired Deere senior
engineer.
Lots of detail about the design objectives and development of the
tractors
and their various components and systems. Very well
illustrated
with
archival photos and service-manual drawings.
Original
John Deere Letter
Series
Tractors. Brian Rukes and Andy Kraushaar,
2001.
Hardbound,
160 pages.
I haven't yet
read this book or
either of the
two below, but they look like an interesting series. The
author
is
a frequent contributor to discussions on the Antique
Tractor Internet Service e-mail lists, and I expect his books
to be
thorough and well-researched.
John
Deere 20 Series,
J.R. Hobbs,
92 pages; John Deere 30 Series, 110 pages; and many
others.
Compilations and revisions of many
of the
author's articles,
published by and available from Green
Magazine. Not glossy coffee-table books, but
wonderful
details
and unimpeachable technical accuracy. Another similar book, John
Deere Tractors: First Numbered Series, has been out of
print for a while but has just been updated and re-released.
Big
Green, John Deere GP
Tractors.
Pripps and Morland, 1994. Softbound, 128 pages.
Good photos,
brief but decent
text. Some
reviewers with extensive John Deere experience have not thought highly
of this book's technical accuracy. Available separately, or
combined
with the authors' Farmall
and Ford
books into Great
American Farm Tractors.
Illustrated
John Deere
Two-Cylinder
Tractor Buyer's Guide. Robert Pripps,
1992. Softbound,
160 pages.
Essentially the
same text that's in
the author's Big
Green book, with some additional stuff on
standard-tread
tractors
and a five-star rating system for ranking the collectibility of various
models. Black and white photos.
Text, black and white photos, and
designer's
sketches of
everything from early Dains to New Generation prototypes.
Some
interesting
details and background on John Deere tractor development.
Classic
John Deere Tractors.
Randy Leffingwell, 1994. Softbound, 96 pages.
Excellent color
photos but brief
text, mostly
on less-common configurations like high-crops, orchards, single-fronts,
etc.
John
Deere Tractors. Randy
Leffingwell, 2003. Softbound, 96 pages.
Haven't seen this one, but given the
size,
format, and
title, I think it's a publisher's re-edit of material from the author's
John
Deere Farm Tractors and/or some of his other books, with
some
previously
unpublished photos. That'd still make it a very good book,
but
not
if you want or already have the other ones. If you've read
this
book
and I'm wrong, please e-mail me at dean.vinson@gmail.com
and
let me know.
