Russ' Vintage Iron

More on Vintage Manure Spreaders: The John Deere Model N Manure Spreader with Feeding Attachment

Russ Quinn
By  Russ Quinn , DTN Staff Reporter
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In my last column, I wrote about the vintage manure spreaders my family owned over the last 60 or so years and three generations. I mentioned my grandpa buying a John Deere combination manure spreader/feed wagon in the late 1950s, but no one in the family remembered the model name or number. I also could not find information on the internet about this implement.

I asked if any readers knew what this model number/name was to let me know. My grandpa only owned it for a short amount of time, returned it to the local John Deere dealer since it did not work correctly and continued to use the old New Idea manure spreader he already had.

I was really hoped someone would read this plea and respond with some interesting knowledge and lo and behold someone did. Here was the email:

"The John Deere thing was a model N spreader with the feeding attachment. I have some Furrow magazines that show the thing. The pictures seem to show it with a 620 or 630, so it was marketed in the late '50s.

"I have never seen one except in pictures, and your comments about it being returned maybe indicate why. From an animal health standpoint, using one machine for both is a big no-no.

"There was also a beater attachment for the early chuck wagons (silage box). It bolted to the cross conveyor door. My grandfather had one of those. I think it got used about once!"

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John Koepke

Koepke Farms, Inc.

Oconomowoc, Wisconsin

Thanks John for filling in the missing information for me. When I searched the internet, I saw photos of John Deere Model N manure spreaders but did not find anything about the feeding attachment.

I traded emails with John and he said a few imagines came up on the internet if you searched "John Deere N Forage Box." I did this and managed to find some photos of operator's manuals of an N spreader with the forage attachment on it and I even found some John Deere literature touting the advantages of the forage attachment to the N spreader on Ebay.

But these few items were all I found with my internet search. I wonder if anyone has actually restored this combo implement for as rare as it seems to be. Now, a photo of a restored John Deere Model N manure spreader with the feeding attachment -- that would be really cool to find!

What a fascinating contraption to finally see with my own eyes after many years of hearing my uncles and dad talk about it. I am sure Deere was thinking combining two implements into one would be a great idea but as John pointed out, combining a manure spreader and a feeding wagon may not have been such a great idea from the animal health side.

There have to be other projects from farm equipment manufacturers which seemed like a logical idea, only to become not very popular once farmers began to buy them or maybe, more accurately, when farmers did not buy them.

I can't really think of many examples of this situation. The one which may fit into this category might be the Allis-Chambers Roto-Baler small round balers. I have read about these balers in books and the internet but I don't know if I have ever seen one of these balers in person.

If you have any examples of farm machinery manufacturing companies coming up with ideas only to be rejected by farmers, please let me know. I am sure there were many implements like this which I know nothing about.

In recent years I know some innovative folks have worked to create a combine and a grain cart to create a half combine, half grain cart machine that is just enormous. It makes me wonder if this idea does not catch on if future generations will look at this concept the same way as we look at the John Deere Model N manure spreader with the feeding attachment.

I will probably still be writing my column then. This gives me a column idea for the year 2065.

(CZ)

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