Image: Above: A beautifully preserved example of a John Deere 840 elevating scraper on display in the USA. The original extension shaft-driven elevator drive has been replaced with a more modern hydraulic type.
John Deere, a very highly regarded manufacturer of agricultural equipment since the early 1800s, quietly entered the scraper market in 1957 with its model 840 tractor combined with a Hancock model 7E2 elevating scraper. By Richard Campbell.
John Deere was something of a pioneer in respect to elevating scrapers – being the first company to offer this type of machine as a motor scraper on a commercial production basis.
However, this was not the first time that a John Deere tractor had been used to pull a scraper, as various enterprising users had, in the past, utilised the pulling power of their Deere tractors to tow small agricultural “tumblebug” scrapers (usually no more than one to two cubic yards) to aid land development projects on farms.
The Model 840 was a collaboration between John Deere and Hancock Manufacturing to produce a workable utility-sized elevating scraper, and in this regard it succeeded. Appearing for the first time in 1959, the Model 840 was powered by a 76-flywheel horsepower John Deere two-cylinder, naturally aspirated diesel engine, connected via a 9.25-inch dry clutch, to a six-speed manual transmission, which allowed the Model 840 a top speed of around 12mph.
The machine was a three-axle type with 8.25×20 tyres on the steering axle, 11.00×16 tyres on the drive axle and 18.26×10 tyres on the scraper.
The tractor unit was connected to a Hancock 7E2 elevating scraper which held around 7.5 cubic yards of material. Apart from the elevator drive, all scraper functions were hydraulic, including bowl lift and ejection – which followed the usual Hancock practice of a sliding bottom floor combined with a bulldozer ejector.
The elevator mechanism was driven via an extension shaft and couplings from the 840 tractor’s power take-off (PTO). The whole package weighed in at approximately 11.5 tons.
As a ‘first attempt’ the Deere 840 did not set the world alight, but it was a foot in the door for the company who manufactured just over 60 of the machines before moving on to the next model, the 5010. Introduced in late 1962, the Deere model 5010 was a direct development of the model 840, and as such, incorporated many improvements over its predecessor.
Deere retained the three-axle configuration for the model 5010 and powered the machine with one of their own 6-cylinder naturally aspirated diesel engines.
The engine produced 129-flywheel horsepower (a considerable increase over the former model 840), and drove an eight-speed manual transmission with live PTO through a double 11-inch power-assisted clutch, giving the machine a top speed of 26mph in 8th gear, very respectable for the time.
The live-drive power take-off was essential to drive the scraper elevator motor, whose operation was entirely mechanical via a complex series of reduction gearboxes and drive shafts.
Although this may seem rather odd, but one has to remember that hydraulic technology (as applied to elevating scrapers) was still basically in its adolescence and hydraulic motors of sufficient capacity to drive the elevator simply did not exist at the time.
Although similar in appearance to the previous Hancock 7E2 scraper fitted to the Model 840, this time the entire machine was manufactured by Deere. The bowl held eight cubic yards and Deere had made several refinements including changing the profile of the elevator’s flights and modifying the geometry of the cutting edges and side cutters.
Ejection was identical to the previous model 840 with a retracting floor and doze out ejector.
Bolt-on teeth could be fitted to the cutting edge to aid in loading tough materials.
Being a three-axle machine, the 5010 rode well which endeared it to operators.
The New Zealand John Deere construction equipment dealer at the time imported five model 5010 tractor units for the then Ministry of Works and these were used to tow discs and high speed compaction rollers.
The John Deere model 5010 was discontinued in 1965 after a short 2.5-year production run and replaced by the model 760. In 1965, a new John Deere elevating scraper was introduced to replace the 5010, and they called this model the 760.
Powered by a 143-flywheel horsepower six-cylinder John Deere diesel engine, the 760 had 14 more horses available than the previous model, however the major improvement was the replacement of the former 5010’s manual transmission with a power shift transmission featuring eight forward speeds and three reverse.
The machine also featured hydraulically- operated disc brakes, replacing the former 840 and 5010’s shoe-type brakes.
Bowl capacity rose to nine cubic yards and the tractor and scraper units had been redesigned into a more ‘purpose built’ configuration including revised tyre specifications more suited to earthmoving conditions.
The Deere Model 760 was manufactured up until 1970 when it was replaced with what was to become the very last of Deere’s three-axle elevating scrapers, the Model 760-A.
As the designation implies, the Deere 760-A was a modification of the existing Model 760. Manufactured from 1970 through to 1975, improvements consisted of a more refined operators’ station, revised tyre specifications and an increase in cubic capacity of the bowl to 9.5 cubic yards – which was achieved by the addition of small sideboards.
All subsequent John Deere elevating scrapers have been of the two-axle variety.
For the model collector
For collectors interested in obtaining a model of one of John Deere’s three-axle elevating scrapers, the outlook is pretty bleak. To the best of my knowledge, there have been no models of the 5010, 760 or 760-A issued to date in any scale.
However, a model of Deere’s first three-axle elevator, the Model 840, does exist; manufactured by Ruehl Products and produced in 1:25 scale.
As a model it is beautifully executed and very highly detailed with many working features including the steering, bowl lift, ejection, and a moveable elevator mechanism.
The bad news is that the model has been out of production for over 10 years and is quite difficult to find, but well worth tracking down if you can locate one.
It makes an interesting curio in a collection of 1:25 scale earthmoving equipment.