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| I have an auction near me next weekend that has a 4020 propane on it, I think a 1965 model, synchro, says has been repainted, although I am not sure how it looks in person. We need a chore / utility / auger tractor on the farm, and are wondering if this would be a good fit. Hood looks bad with the huge LP tank sticking up, but we won't be taking it to a field where visibility would be an issue. We have a family friend whose business is delivering LP , so refills should not be an issue. The propane thing should make it sell cheaper than a diesel or gas one, right? Not sure how to post a clickable link, but www.foxauctioncompany.com Bob Harman estate will get you there. Thoughts?
Thank you |
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Faunsdale, AL | Do you have propane on the farm already? If you could get a liquid valve installed in a storage tank, you could always fill it by bleeding vapor if you get caught short.
Personally I would rather have an LP than gasoline, but I have been dealing with it for many years. Can be a bit of a learning curve. |
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| One of the beauties of running on LP is that the crankcase oil stays clean a very long time, so wear is smaller than a gas tractor.
Be sure to get the owner's manual for that vintage and version, there were three different pre side console operator's manuals because of changes, like air filters and starting switch.
My '68 manual calls for a special operating procedure for the LP 4020. When stopping it shut off the vapor and liquid tank valves and run it until it runs out of fuel. To start open ONLY the vapor valve, and let it idle a while to warm up the coolant so the coolant can vaporlze the liquid. There won't be enough vapor to run it loaded very long. When the coolant is up in temperature, open the liquid valve and close the vapor valve.
There is a connection for a BBQ tank also which the factory used to move the tractor out of the factory and onto the delivery truck. You can also use that to get back to the LP tank at the house for filling with the liquid tap. It will use LP like mine uses gas and that can be at least a tank a day while working it hard plowing.
At old age the diaphragms in the pressure regulators do go bad. So they might need to be replaced.
Gerald J. |
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| Ran one for quite a few years as chore tractor, with a loader. It was a '64 with a PS. Best thing would be to convert to electronic ignition. that is one of the trouble spots. Even though propane makes good power, that tractor always seemed doggy, PS might have contributed to that. They usually are are good starters in cold weather. Gerald J had good advice. The BBQ tank deal will help, but as soon as you take it out of the yard it will run out of fuel. Need a portable tank of some sort. Ours had a good working fuel gauge and we would still run it out. I would say it would bring 50 to 75% of what a comparable diesel would. Impco makes regulators and we had converted some older LP tractors to those instead of trying to fix the leaking diaphrams. 4020 never needed it. |
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East Central Arkansas | I have two we farmed with for years that are just mainly used for garden tractors now. One is like a 66 and has the hydraulic levers on the dash and the other is a newer one with the hydraulic levers on a side console. I much prefer the side console to the ones on the dash. Must have been a long armed fellow that put those on the dash. With plenty of good info from this site on how to keep them running it could make you a good tractor if it's been taken care of. I would agree on installing the electronic ignition. It want take very many sets of points and condensers to pay for it. Need to keep good sparkplugs in it and the gap set right for the LP engine. If it has the single 12 V long battery on it take it off and replace that JD side box with a tray that will hold a regular size truck and tractor battery so you can have a battery with higher cranking amps. If you have to replace any of the propane stuff don't try getting it through JD. There are places on line that have what you would need and some of them can give you good info. It might take a little creative thinking and stuff might look a little different than the original but you can make it work. |
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| The gas grill bottle will run it for almost an hour.. usually plenty to get it back 'home'. I'll just set the bottle on the platform and run the hose to the tank fill port. Having a lot of spare fittings laying around helps on finagling fill hoses up. Make sure to use brass fittings, and not anhydrous fittings for spark prevention. Like CCjersey, I too just fill out of the liquid side of the nurse tank, and vent vapor to atmosphere. You can use just the liquid level screw to let vapor off, but when you are in a hurry, I made a fitting that fits the actual vapor-return-to nurse tank... and it's very handy to have a hose attached to that, to blow out the radiator!! (just don't fill a running tractor) LOL I've carted mindless number of 100# cylinders out to fill in the field too. (which I've filled in my yard) You'll know when you are about to run out of fuel; WOT is gone, but runs fine at lower throttle, and lower and lower, until it just quits! I've limped home 3-4 miles many a time! Yes, the propane tractor should be cheaper to buy than it's diesel brother. Upgrading to electronic ignition is money well spent too. Usually have plenty of vapor to run, especially for a chore tractor, or hayfield tractor... it's only when working pretty hard, or extremely cold weather is when the liquid side needs opened. ( my tank valves are probably 'shot'.. and totally shutting it off makes no difference!) |
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| We have a 1000 gallon in the yard for the house, not sure how to tap off of that, though. Wouldn't I need some kind of pump since the tank is on the ground and the tractor is so much higher? |
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Walla Walla, WA | my father purchased one new in 1965. We filled it off the grain dryer tank by venting the vapor. Was an excellent tractor and we always thought that the fuel usage was very economical. Doing chores and pto work like bailing hay, grinding feed, and pulling a disc, we would run 1 to 1 1/2 days on a fill. We had a crank failure at 300 hours due to our supplier Skelly Oil having the wrong labeling on the pails of oil. After that we ran it over 14000 hours. Yes the fuel tank looks odd but at least it is away from the operators station. If it is over filled and the temperature get hot the relief valve will vent, where the 620 tank set just in front of the steering wheel, and when it vented it would scare the daylights out of me...Paul |
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East Central Arkansas | You have to have a valve and hose on the liquid tap of the tank. The liquid will transfer to the tank you are filling when you bleed vapor from it. I am pretty sure that wouldn't be a approved way to do it anymore. |
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Walla Walla, WA | Also you do not need a pump to fill with. Even in the winter I do not remember having any problem just having a hose from the liquid side of the big tank attached to the tractor and we just vented using the small vapor "vents when full" valve. One needs to always wear gloves and do not allow any liquid to get on your skin. Paul |
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| Never dealt with one till this summer. Guy was runnin it on a 10x61 auger. Said 10k plus hrs untouched |
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| Thanks for all the input! Sounds like I need to see if it has electronic ignition, and make a call to see about getting a hookup to our house tank. Will this 4020 have the same power as any other 4020, gas or diesel? |
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East Central Arkansas | My 4020 operators manual shows 94 hp for Syncro-Range in diesel, gas or propane but in the power shift it shows 91, 88 and 90 respectively. Those are PTO hp. The drawbar is 78, 75 and 79 for the powershift. It doesn't show drawbar for the syncro-range. |
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| Power wise, I gotta admit the dang thing does pretty well! Pull the knob out and let it rip. When I first got mine, the governor was out of whack, and was way slow to react, both going 'up' and coming 'down'. FIL has several 4010's propane, and I can feel the difference between the models power wise. and my 4020. I think the diesel would probably win out in a down and dirty lug fest, but keep the rpm up in a spark ignited engine and should be even-steven. I like using the propane inside the shed to auger grain piled inside.. I know it'll still kill me being in the building too long, but at least I can see out the door! Cost about 120 bucks to convert to electronic ignition.
Edited by rancherman 8/8/2016 10:00
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4020 LP
