John Deere Two-Cylinder: The Tractor Deere Secretly Replaced in One Day

The John Deere two-cylinder tractor, the Johnny Popper, was built for thirty-seven years, from the Model D of 1923 to the last 30 Series of 1960. Then Deere spent seven years secretly building its replacement in an empty Waterloo supermarket and revealed it to more than 5,000 dealers on one day in Dallas, August 30, 1960. This is the story of the two-cylinder John Deere: where the engine came from (the Waterloo Boy), how it worked and why it went pop-pop, the Model A, B, G and R, why it hit its limit, and how Deere replaced its best-loved tractor with the New Generation 1010, 2010, 3010 and 4010. Chapters: 0:00 Cold open 1:56 Intro 2:09 A plow company that did not want tractors 5:16 Why two was enough 7:53 The Johnny Popper years 10:20 The ceiling 13:39 One day in Dallas 16:07 Where they are now