Meyers Farms
Active member
I picked up a new toy about a year ago and figured I’d throw it on here finally. This is just a basic farm tractor that may or may not grow into something bigger, faster, and stronger one day. I had a blast with it the past year.
I’ve been in love with tractor pulling since I was 5 years old and my dad took me to my first pull at our local county fair. Every year I couldn’t wait to go because I got to go to one pull a year at the local fair. As soon as I could drive I was going to as many pulls as I could and racing home to beat my curfew. Fast forward a few years and I pulled my John Deere 4010 at our fair. I have pulled it for about 10 years now and have always wanted to pull heavier bc it gives more pulls to compete in.
The timing was right and I came across a 1977 John Deere 4430 in the early winter of 2022. It needed a clutch, 2 speed work, wiring work….etc. she was definitely rough around the edges but ran good. I traded my Case 1370 on it and brought the Deere home around the end of January. I spent the next few months splitting it, replacing the clutch, rebuilding the 2 speed, fixing some wiring, swapping to 38” centers, building weight brackets, and playing with the pump to get her ready to pull in the summer of 2023.
I pulled 6 times and was pretty tickled with my results. First night out was a 1st and 3rd. The second time was my hometown fair where I ended up 4th out of 18 tractors! After that I had a few top 5 placing and another 1st at a neighboring fair out of 14 tractors.
Right now the tractor is still running the factory 404ci engine and I’ve been pretty happy so far. I plan to stick with this engine again this year but plan to swap a 466 in the future. I’m pulling against several 414, 436, 466 and a couple Case tractors with 504ci engines now. I’ll make some more adjustments for this summer of 2024 and hopefully surprise a few more of those tractors that beat me last year. Fortunately there are several places somewhat local to me that are adding our class for next year, so it is shaping up to be a good summer!
Here are some pics of when I brought the tractor home, the Case trade in, etc. Maybe someday after I hit the lottery I’ll move up to a light pro…..but for now I’ll just enjoy my little farm stock.
I’ve been in love with tractor pulling since I was 5 years old and my dad took me to my first pull at our local county fair. Every year I couldn’t wait to go because I got to go to one pull a year at the local fair. As soon as I could drive I was going to as many pulls as I could and racing home to beat my curfew. Fast forward a few years and I pulled my John Deere 4010 at our fair. I have pulled it for about 10 years now and have always wanted to pull heavier bc it gives more pulls to compete in.
The timing was right and I came across a 1977 John Deere 4430 in the early winter of 2022. It needed a clutch, 2 speed work, wiring work….etc. she was definitely rough around the edges but ran good. I traded my Case 1370 on it and brought the Deere home around the end of January. I spent the next few months splitting it, replacing the clutch, rebuilding the 2 speed, fixing some wiring, swapping to 38” centers, building weight brackets, and playing with the pump to get her ready to pull in the summer of 2023.
I pulled 6 times and was pretty tickled with my results. First night out was a 1st and 3rd. The second time was my hometown fair where I ended up 4th out of 18 tractors! After that I had a few top 5 placing and another 1st at a neighboring fair out of 14 tractors.
Right now the tractor is still running the factory 404ci engine and I’ve been pretty happy so far. I plan to stick with this engine again this year but plan to swap a 466 in the future. I’m pulling against several 414, 436, 466 and a couple Case tractors with 504ci engines now. I’ll make some more adjustments for this summer of 2024 and hopefully surprise a few more of those tractors that beat me last year. Fortunately there are several places somewhat local to me that are adding our class for next year, so it is shaping up to be a good summer!
Here are some pics of when I brought the tractor home, the Case trade in, etc. Maybe someday after I hit the lottery I’ll move up to a light pro…..but for now I’ll just enjoy my little farm stock.
