4020 reverse

[Wilton]

I have a 4020 snychro with a third reverse. Was that unusual?
 

[4020_1966]

Mechanically it has always been there but it is supposed to be blocked out in the shifter
guides.
 

[tim s]

You can cut the shifter to allow it to go into a third reverse, it don"t hurt anything when you do it,,I did this with a few of them, it"s nice when your moving round bales, you can move around in 7th and pull back into 3rd reverse to stab a bale.
 

[B Dean]

If the shifter gets wore enough.It will shift to the 3rd reverse with out cutting.I dont know if a 10 series shifter parts will change with a 20 series ??















i
 

[MattOney]

I have heard where if you cut a notch in the black dashboard below the shifter, you can access the 4th reverse in the same range as 6-8. It"s essentially road gear in reverse.

For those special occasions when you want to back up at 20 mph! lol
 

[Wilton]

I wonder if jd had a recall back in the day. It's a 1967 tractor.
 

[tim s]

No, I'm sure they didn't..you can cut the notch out or buy a 4010 shifter to get 3rd reverse, it all happens in the dash.
 

[wisbaker]

Sounds like and idea- a few months ago on this site I saw an older row crop tractor that had been reversed and had what looked like a front end loader on the back. I thought that might be a cheaper alternative for moving big bales as all the weight is on the back axle which is obviously bigger/heavier than the front and doesn't have to steer, might also eliminate the rear end getting light and tires spinning. When I worked out in Western Oklahoma we loaded big square bales on flat beds with a 4020 propane tractor with a front end loader, more than once we lost a spindle and look a quick tumble with the tractor/loader/bale. It would seem to me a handy farmer running a lean operation might acquire himself a new generation tractor reverse it and have a heck of a good bale mover/loader for a fraction of the price that a new Mongo Big tractor & FEL would cost.
 

[thurlow]

Somewhat unrelated, but there were lots of 3010s/4010s (with the 7th reverse) sold in my part of the world with one-row JD cotton pickers (model 22 or 122) mounted on 'em. There were kits made to mount them on 2010s, but I never saw one. The tractors were operated in reverse and with the faster reverse, one could tool on down the road........in reverse. On pickers that were mounted on the older 2 cylinder tractors, when one had to change fields, one had to either drive SLOWLY in the single speed reverse or unhook the steering shaft from the (tractor) steering wheel, climb down into the tractor seat, hunch over to see under the basket and drive the tractor normally. My dad bought a new 3010D w/122 picker in 1963 and I drove it until he swapped it in on a 699 picker in 1969. A GOOD (human) cotton picker could pick about 300# of seed cotton in a day; with the JD cotton picker, I could pick 8-10 (1500#) bales in a day. We thought we were shi**ing in high cotton.
 

[oakley21550]

My 67 4020 has the third reverse. It is not marked and doesn't appear to have the notch cut out. It is real handy with the bale spear.