World Record: 1970 4020 John Deere tractor with over 28,566 Hours without a Major Overhaul (2024)

28,566 Hour World Record Update

Nothing runs like a Deere, especially when it is using Conklin Lubes and Oils.

I recently witnessed one of the most amazing things I have seen in years. Buddy Myers who owns a 1970 4020 John Deere tractor in which he has used Conklin lubricants and conditioners since 1973 just set a new world record by going over the 28,566 hour mark without ever needing a major overhaul.

I heard about this tractor the first time when it had around 13,000 hours which, from all the research, was already a world record. So I went over to Buddy’s farm in Ohio and we made a video with Buddy and his mechanic, Galen Honabarger. They were surprised that it had made it that long. Then, a few years later, I heard that it was still running and nothing had been done to I called Buddy and asked I we could make made another video at around 18,000 hours.

Shortly before it turned 20,000 hours Buddy called me and asked if I would be interested in making a video as it turned over 20,000 hours. I jumped at the chance to highlight Conklin lubricants and conditioners so went back again and video taped the tractor as the hour meter turned back to zero for the third time!….20,000 ORIGINAL HOURS. One of the really interesting things about that day was that Galen had brought along his dynamometer and so they decided to test the horsepower and found that at 20,000 original hours it pulled factory new horsepower! Buddy and Galen were joking about the tractor going even further….maybe even to 25,000 hours.

Well, Buddy called me a couple of weeks ago and told me that he thought there might be something going on with the 4020 because as it was being pulled really hard it began to puff out oil which it had never done before and he just didn’t want to take any chances of major damage so he intended to have Galen take a look at it and Buddy asked me if I would be able to come with the video camera. Once again I jumped at the chance so last Friday we videotaped the teardown at Galen’s shop in Coshocton, Ohio.

I asked Buddy how many hours were on the tractor and upon checking the hour meter he replied, “28,566 hours!” The first thing that Galen did was to start it up and check the oil pressure. It sounded great, the oil pressure was really good and then he started the process of tearing into the engine. The first indication that there was something unusual was the antifreeze.

It came out very clean but when Galen took the hose off it was still plyable. Galen squeezed the end of the hose and it was still as plyable as new, after 36 years, thanks to Conklin’s radiator conditioner, Safe®!

As Galen got further into the engine he found that one of the piston rings on the number one cylinder was broken and that was, obviously, causing the problem but as Galen tore further into the engine it became even more impressive.

The factory hone marks on the cylinder walls were still visible and upon checking the wear he found just .004 thousands ( 4/1,000th) of an inch of wear.

Not 40/1,000 – but 4/1,000th! There was no electrolysis or pitting on the liners whatsoever and then Galen took his little tool to remove the rubber O-rings. He said that he would normally expect to see them come out very brittle and in lots of pieces. They were still plyable…after 40 years!

The bottom part of the engine (crankshaft area) was still perfect so IT STILL DOESN’T REQUIRE A MAJOR OVERHAUL! There was virtually no wear but I did have to sort of get after Buddy on one account…he had told me previous to the beginning of the teardown that, according to Galen, all of the bearings were stamped with the date. So Buddy had told me that they would be stamped 1970 when Galen took them out. When we got to the bearings and looked at them they were, indeed, stamped with the date but they did not say, “1970.” They were actually stamped, “10 69.” In other words they were manufactured in October of 1969 so I told them I didn’t know if we could believe them any more or not. (Had to have a little fun with them.)

I really believe that anyone who had witnessed that event last Friday would immediately begin to use Conklin’s lubricants and conditioners. Think of it….nearly 40 years and 28,566 hours on that engine! That is the equivalent of having someone running that tractor 40 hours a week constantly for fourteen years straight! We can only imagine how many thousands and thousands of dollars Buddy has saved over the years on just this single piece of equipment alone. And, as Buddy pointed out, they have several John Deere tractors and lots of other equipment on the farm as well.

Our sincere thanks to Buddy, Joan, Terry (who has been the primary operator of the 4020 these past few years) the rest of the Myers family and to Galen Honabarger for bringing us this incredible story. What more proof do we need that Conklin lubricants and conditioners are truly amazing and the best on the market! No other company has this sort of results….40 years and 28,566 hours! Thanks again, Buddy Myers!

Ben Welch, Lincoln, NE