1953 JD Model 40-C Maintenance Questions

[Ron T]

Hello All,

I was very excited to find this message board, and thank you for accepting my registration. I recently purchased a 1953 John Deere Model 40 Crawler, that was previously restored in 1996. The tractor runs excellent and all the mechanicals work, and since I have 6+ acres of land, I do plan to work it. Which leads me to the maintenance, as it is very important to me that I respect and preserve this beautiful piece of machinery.

I have the original Operator's Manual, but most of the specifications no longer apply in todays standards, so I am left to rely on Google and Google AI. Based on my research, I have purchased the following Oils, but before I actually use these products, I would like to get feedback from this group.

Please note that I live in Massachusetts, USA, and plan to use this mostly in the Spring through Fall, so that would be a temperature range of 40-80 degrees Fahrenheit.

John Deere Low-Viscosity Hy-Gard (TY22000)
Plan to use for:
Transmission
Final Drive
Hydraulic Attachment
Belt Pulley Attachment

John Deere GL-5 Synthetic SAE 80W-140 Gear Lubricant(TY26372)
Plan to use for:
Track Rollers
Track Idlers

John Deere Original Equipment Plus-50 II SAE 15W-40 Oil (TY26674 or TY26673) (4-5 Drops)
Plan to use for:
Generator
Electric Starter
Distributor CAM Wick

MAG1 Non-Detergent 30 Lubricating Oil
I was advised that a good oil to use for the crankcase is a non-detergent straight 30 weight, so I purchased this MAG1 product. However, after further research, it appears this may not be the best choice. Now I am thinking I should use the same oil as above, Plus-50 II SAE 15W-40, would you agree?

Any information and advice that this group can give me would be greatly appreciated. I would love to post a picture of my tractor, and will do that as soon as I figure out how.

Also, I took my original Operators Manual and scanned it into a PDF. So if anyone would be interested in that, I will be happy to share it. You deserve it for reading through the end of my long post.

Best Regards,
Ron

[Jim B]

Welcome to the Boards.

Others will be along with their thoughts and practices for you as well.

it is good to see you are looking and planning for maintenance. You can use John Deere products if you like, however there is nothing wrong with the right aftermarket ones. For parts you should always check with Lavoy. He provides this site and his business is the repair of these machines and selling quality parts for them. And if there is a problem, he has hands on experience, he is not just a counter clerk.

I had a 430. I ran 15w/40 diesel grade engine oil year-round in the engine. we run it in all the machines year-round with no issues

In the transmission, differential, and final drives I ran 85W/90. Personal choice, I would keep 80/90 in the finals.

More are using UTHF is such applications, and it is used in newer gear boxes. I would not suggest the low viscosity Hy Gard for your use, if you want to use it go with the J20C rated products. I used aftermarket UTHFs meeting the J20C spec in the JD units we have.

The hydraulics got a UTHF with a J20C rating, generally TSC's premium UTHF. I would not suggest the low viscosity Hy Gard for your use.

I believe lube chart for your 40 calls for a heavy gun grease for the track rolls and idlers. It would be applied with a high-volume low-pressure grease gun, not a regular one, to reduce the risk of damaging the seals.

Things like the distributor (that only needs a drop when the points are installed, I have a tube of distributor cam lube I use when installing points) and generator got a few drops of whatever was in the shop pump oilers, usually a mix of engine oils salvaged from the draining of cans after oil changes.

To post pictures there is information down below on the "Messageboard Q&A and Announcements" Board about the site's dedicated server you can use by setting up an account with Lavoy (you need a username and password, which can be the same as the ones you use here). The other way is to use one of the third-party hosting sites like Imgur or Postimages.

Very gracious of you to offer the Operator's Manual. John Deere made those available as free pdf downloads a few years ago on their Ag and Turf Bookstore. The newer (yellow) crawlers are on the Construction and Forestry bookstore. Below is a link to the Ag & Turf bookstore, in case there is other JD Ag equipment you might like to get an Operator's manual for. Operator Manual downloads are free. You have to purchase hard copies of those. All the other manuals are purchase items in all forms. Click Equipment Publications to go to the search page.

John Deere Ag & Turf Bookstore

Here is a link to the online Parts Catalog for the 40 series tractors, including the C, if you don't have it.

40 parts catalog PC862

[Lavoy]

I would not use a low-vis in anything on your crawler. Regular Hygard (J20C) will work in the hydraulics, you will sacrifice some pressure, and the sytem will howl more running it vs a standard AW32 or AW48 hydraulic oil, and Hygard equivalent is typically more expensive.
Final drives and trans, just common GL5 gear lube is fine.
Engine, any good quality oil is fine.
Assuming by 1953 you mean you have a 3 roller undercarriage, then the heaviest stickiest gun grease you can find, and use it LIBERALLY every 6-8 hours of use on all bottom rollers and front idlers. If you have a 4 or 5 roller crawler, then use Corn Head grease.
Have fun, any questions, feel free to post.
Lavoy

[Canuck 420c]

Welcome to the forum

any pictures of your machine?

[Ron T]

Thank you Jim and Lavoy for you recommendations. This information is very helpful. I am researching that info now and will probably have some follow-up questions. I also want to post some pictures and I have requested access to the picture server, so expect on seeing those soon.
Thanks again,
Ron

[Lavoy]

I just looked at the pic you sent me, and your crawler is a 54 or 55. Only 3 roller crawlers were made in 53.
Your bottom rollers would be corn head grease, and use a low pressure grease gun, grease only until resistance is felt, and quit immediately.
Lavoy

[Ron T]

Hi Lavoy,
So I have a 54 or 55? That is interesting and thank you for letting me know. The seller told me 1953 and that is what wrote on the Bill of Sale. But to be honest, this is all new to me so I would have no way of knowing. The serial number, (as recorded in the operator's manual), is 63079, the purchase date is written down is simply as 5/54. So it must be a 1954

Here are some more pics that I wanted to share with the group. I do know that the seat is not original, but everything else appears to be. I also have a short video, but I guess that is now allowed on the picture server. But she runs great!

[Ron T]

Lavoy,

Thank you for the info regarding using corn head grease with a low pressure grease gun on the bottom rollers, but I do have a question. Is this thing a grease fitting in the picture below)? There doesn't appear to be a hole so I was thinking that this is a cap that I need to unscrew with a socket wrench, and then the fitting would be behind that. Did I mention that this is new to me and I have no clue? So sorry if this is a dumb question, but I really want do do this right so I appreciate all this support.

[Lavoy]

Correct, 1954.
That is a button head grease zerk, requires a special end to grease them. I normally keep them on hand.
Lavoy

[sweeperman]

look up button head grease fitings and contact Lavroy willcox and he has all the info you need

[Ron T]

Hi All,
So I learned on this forum that my track rollers has button head grease fittings, and that I should grease them with corn head grease, preferably using a high-volume, low-pressure grease gun. That is great info and thank you for sharing. But I was hoping someone could provide me with a specific grease gun model. I have been searching the web for "low-pressure" grease guns, but only find the standard, manual guns with 6,000 psi and up. I have searched TSC, Grainger, Amazon and just Google in general, but have come up empty. Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks,
.ron

[Jim B]

As has been suggested, contact Lavoy (use phone (701-361-1006) CST business hours or email (postmaster@jdcrawlers.com). He posted he normally has the button head fittings on hand. I know, in the past, he has said he has the end for a grease hose to fit the button head fittings, and I believe he has said he keeps a low-pressure gun or two on hand. If not, he will be able to tell you the ones he suggests.

[Stan Disbrow]

Hi,

Lavoy stocks the guns and the fittings for the button head zerks. And that style is used as it's tougher to bust the head off than it is with regular zerks.

Alemite 4015-A is the gun I use. Last I looked, they went for around $200. The A is the smaller gun that takes the cardboard grease cartridges. The B model is longer and gets filled via a pump on a drum. You want the A unless you are into buying grease in drums. ;}

Corn head grease is a Number 0 grease. It sits like a grease until things move, then it moves like a thick oil. It comes from a Deere Ag dealer as it is also used in the corn heads of combines - hence the name. And we want those characteristics for this application.

Get several tubes to begin with. You will probably go thru a lot initially. Folks tend to never grease these, and the grease does wander out during use.

The seals are a bellows type, and the idea is to not only lube the bushings inside the rollers, it also seeps out and keeps dirt from trying to enter into the roller. And the rollers are right down there in the dirt.

As already mentioned, pump until the handle stops and then you stop. That's the Why of a low pressure gun. A regular high pressure gun will blow those seals out.

Stan