Posted 9/1/2024 09:15 (#10874490 - in reply to #10874385) Subject: RE: 1927 Furrow
Madison Co. Virginia
John Smith - 9/1/2024 08:57
The 720-730 diesel was the most fuel efficient tractor for decades. The following models probably had too many power robbing features. The hydraulic pump could be disengaged on the 720-730 as a starting aid. I wonder if it was disengaged for the fuel efficiency testing at Nebraska?
Nebraska tests allowed the factory engineers to disable anything that the farmer might easily do so himself to improve performance, such as turning off the air conditioning on a cab tractor.
I'm not talking just about fuel efficiency. If you look at the complicated gear train on the right side of a 720 transmission, you can see the whole thing was a bandaided effort to keep the 720 relevant just long enough to switch to the New Generation. All those additional features on the 720 were being added to a tractor design that was drawn up twenty years earlier; and a lot had changed in those twenty years!
In contrast, the inline design of a 4010 was a breath of fresh air, compared to the 720. The whole tractor was built for the tasks and tech of the 1960's. There was now a bare minimum of gearing between the crankshaft and the pto shaft, and there were fewer gears between the crank and the wheels.
1927 Furrow
