730 john deere lp tractor

[Anonymous-0]

I was wondering about the value of a 730 LP. Tractor is straight with a wide front. Paint is faded. Any input is appreciated.

 

[buickanddeere]

Rowcrop or standard? Any other options? Everything there are working? Tires match? Fenders, pto cover, instruments, front grills, three point hitch?

 

[Anonymous-0]

Front grills are as nice as new, three point is good except center link is gone, tires match but not too good but they hold air, row crop, no fenders, been switched to an alternator, has pto cover, sheet metal is way above average, no front weights, seat is good, a very nice looking and running tractor. I do not own this tractor, but was thinking .about buying it. I have an electric start diesel. Have never been around lp tractors, so I have no knowledge of value.

 

[buickanddeere]

I would not want to pay over $1500.00 and $2000.00 absolute tops.
By the time everything is fixed up but not restored to factor specs. You will spend another $5000-$7500 real easy on just parts & tools.

 

[2cylinderlp]

I thought I would stick up for LP a little here. I have several LP tractors and they are my favorites. They run better than the gasoline counterparts. The engines are cleaner and last longer. Right now with gasoline so expensive they are probably cheaper to run. From a collecter point of view, there were fewer of them, so to me that makes them worth more. I think BandD must know about this tractor and secretly wants it for himself Just the wide front and three point is worth $2000.00. Things to watch out for would be that a lot of the LP tractors are high time, having been mostly sold in the south. The engine may run good, but everything else is worn out. Just a few parts are not available such as oversize high compression pistons. But there is a way around that by having a 730 gas high compression piston modified to the profile of the even higher compression LP piston. And there are places that will make a piston from scratch. I have new oversize modified pistons in mine. You will never wear the bores out on an LP John Deere if you get a good one to start with. Mine were not worn, but pitted from rust after sitting outside too long. So I had to have a bore job. The pistons I took out were still standard bore and looked excellent. Another thing to watch for of course is any leaks in the fuel system. That is what scares some about LP. Just don't store it inside until you know for sure the condition of fuel system. New shut off valves are available if needed. Tank guages are available. The rest of the fuel system is different from gasoline or diesel of course, but I think a lot simpler than a either. The fuel never goes bad in the tank which is nice on these tractors that don't get run much. Tank rust is not an issue. One common source of confustion is the "choke" on an LP tractor. It is really a "lean". The oil bath air cleaner when cold will cause slightly more air restriction making the mixture go richer. So the "choke" knob is provided to give some control over that by actually leaning the mixture. It doesn't need to be used much. It is more critical on an LP tractor that the oil bath air cleaner be filled with the proper weight oil or it will not run properly. The tank has two valves. One for vapor, the other for liquid. For just driving around the vapor valve is all that is needed to be open. For heavy loads the liquid valve may need to be open. So getting back to the value, to me this tractor would be worth as much or more than a diesel in equal condition with equal options. If you want to either post or email me the serial number, I'll look up where it was originally delivered to.

 

[Jared K]

My Dad and I finally got the 730LP we have been working on mostly weekends and such back together and running after 2 years. The engine was locked tight. We wound up having to do a bore job. It was bored out, sleeved and bored to standard since we got the pistons out and he difficulty of getting LP pistons for these things. The head was a tad warped and had a couple cracks that had to be fixed. Needed a radiator. We rebuilt the water pump had the tank pressure tested, new valves on the tank. We put gauges in it. The converter needed a diagram. We converted it to an alternator. Needed a seat and battery box rebuild. We had to repair the oil line that oils he cam shaft. All oils have been changed
To make this long story short; We have somewhere around $4000 in it I think. Im pretty sure that it is not any more than that. My dad has all the receipts totaled up just for curiosity.

 

[Anonymous-0]

2cylinderlp thanks for the help. The tractor has 3900plus hours on the tach. I saw a 3 point for a 630 bring $1100 the other day. I don't know the serial number, but have a couple of other tractors that I would like to know where they were shipped. If you would post how to do this I will not bother you about, if you would rather I will get the numbers and post them. Thanks Bob in Arkansas

 

[2cylinderlp]

Bob, to look up those shipping destinations I use a book produced by the Two-Cylinder Club which is the Production Register for "30" Series Tractors. It lists all of the serial numbers, shipping dates, and shipping destinations for Waterloo built "30" series tractors. (530, 630, 730, 830) I don't know of this information being available on the internet. I don't know if you can still get these books from the Two-Cylinder Club. I understand that the book took quite an effort and there was some disappointment about the number of copies sold. I have seen them on Ebay. There is a picture of a 730LP Standard on the cover and there are about 370 pages. I can't help but wonder how that picture was chosen for this book. There is a one out of 227 chance that it is a picture of one I am working on. So I like to fantasize about that a little. If you want to email me directly any serial numbers for 30 series Waterloo built tractors, I'll look them up for you.