i found a John Deere Planter that is a 494A model i think

[Shane-o-mac]

Hey yall i found a old John Deere 494A 4 row planter that is just down the road from me. I would love to get my hands on that piece of equipment and restore it because im more into restoring the past then anything else i love to learn more about the past. anyways does anyone know where the serial number or the stamp tag like the tractors have the model/serial number on the stamped deal and if there is any parts i can find for that old type of machinery.

Thanks Shane.

 

[Bkpigs]

I can't remember where the serial tag is but I had one just like it. Except mine had the seed hopper extensions and the dry fertilizer boxes.

 

[JDTECH]

Dad still has the 494 that he started farming with. It's sitting in the weeds now, but I always thought I would like to restore it as well. He still has the plates hanging up in the shed.

 

[Leroy]

Only the later 494A planters had tags and without going out in the snow and weeds and looking at mine I cannot remember exactally where it is. This would be the planters with the big fertilizer boxes as the earlier had the smaller 350# each boxes like the plain 494 had and the eariler 494A did not have tags as neither did the 494 version. I have 3 of the 494 versions including the 1957 version that was different than all the later ones and not all the parts are listed in the parts catalog up to a 1959 model 494A, a pair of 490 and 4 290 planters setting here and also a very rare 450 planter that was the first 4 row planter Deere ever built in the 1930's. You can prety close date any deere planter using the parts books that are now avabile on line from Deere. When I got my book there was no computors back in 1981.

 

[F-350]

Dad bought a brand new JD 494A planter in 1964.It sure was a big step up from our worn out 490.

 

[rrlund]

Dealers around here used to sell those new by the truckload for $1000 each. Still a few of them in use around here.

 

[Shane-o-mac]

thats cool well if you remember you can tell me. thats cool im not very sure where the dry boxes are tho all i see is the seed box and the two big boxes on the front they will need some work because they've been laying on the ground ever since.

 

[flying belgian]

Uncle bought one brand new but only after 2 years he aquired more land and went to a 6 row. So Pa bought his to replace the 490.

 

[Leroy]

Thode 2 big boxes on the front are the dry fertilizer boxes.

 

[MirageFlatter]

Shane,

I have a 494AN which has been converted from 4 row, to 6 row 30". The serial number tag is on the right end of the planter frame, next to the marker mount. Mine has been shedded when not in use since 1978, and I would love to have it gone from my shed, as it hasn't been used since 1993. If you're really interested in restoring a planter like this, all it would need is new paint and decals. You could grease it, and go to the field with it the way it is. My e-mail link is on, if you're interested, send me an e-mail and we'll talk. :wink:


MirageFlatter

 

[Shane-o-mac]

thats cool where are u from im from nebraska north of grand island and would you have a picture of the planter just to see what it would look like. thanks

 

[MirageFlatter]

I'm in NW Nebraska, 35 miles NE of Alliance. If you have a cell phone, I could send you some pics via text message. It'll be hard to take great pics, as the planter is clear back in the corner of my shop, with other stuff parked tightly around and against it, and I don't have time to dig it out right now, but I'll do the best I can. Let me know if this works for you!! :wink:

Thanks,

Scotty

 

[JMS/.MN]

494 has a round pipe that the fertilizer OPENERS mount on. 494A has a square tube, mounted like a diamond- (cross-section). A is the later model.