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The John Deere Portable Farm Elevator (Series 2)

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The John Deere Model 300 (Series 2) Portable Farm Elevator

by

Brian Wayne Wells

           This article remains under construction.  Periodically, new blocks of text will appear in the article and/or  current blocks of text will be corrected. 

   Deere and Company of East Moline, Illinois, had been making portable elevators for use on the average family farm since     .  One of the early versions of the John Deere portable farm elevators was the Model 5-C elevator.

The Model 5-C John Deere portable farm elevator.

The Model 5-C was often accompanied with the wagon lift which was designed to make unloading of the wagon of grain or ear corn much easier.

The John Deere Model 5-C farm elevator.

 

The elevator was positioned along side corn crib or the granary where the corn or grain was intended to be stored on the average family farm.  Once in operation the elevator and wagon lift would greatly speed the operation of unloading of wagons and the storing the wagon loads of corn or grain during the busy harvest season.

 

This advertisement of the John Deere Model 5-C elevator positioned up against the corn crib on a family farm. Ear corn is being unloaded from a wagon into the hopper of the galvanized all-metal portable elevator. Because of its strong “trussed frame,” this piece of sales literature brags that the “elevator never sags.”

 

The Model 5-C elevator was made largely from galvanized sheet metal.  Galvanized metal resisted rust far better than exposed unpainted sheet metal–lasting decades longer that exposed sheet metal.  Originally, the elevator was powered by its own stationary hit and miss engine.  Later, after the advent of tractors as a common power source on family farms, the John Deere elevator was fitted with power take-off shaft which allowed modern tractors to power the Model 5-C elevator.

A professional drawing of the power take-off shield on the John Deere Model 5-C galvanized farm elevator. The artist creating this drawing has attempted to recreate the visible effects of “spangling” on the sheet metal PTO shield which are the results of the galvanizing process.

 

However, during the Second World War, wartime restrictions imposed on the manufacturing industry directed that all galvanizing would, for the duration of the war, be used only for the military effort and galvanizing for civilian use would be prohibited.  Accordingly, John Deere elevators began to be made out of regular sheet metal which was painted “John Deere green” for protection from rust.  Following the war, a new John Deere  elevator was introduced in 1946.  This was the new improved “Model 300” portable farm elevator.  The Model 300 rode on just two wheels rather than four wheels.  The wheels were located new the center of balance on the elevator.  Thus, even with the hopper attached to the bottom end of the elevator, the a single person might be able to pick up the bottom end of the Model 300 and attach the elevator to the drawbar of a tractor.

This center section of a 1946 piece of sales literature shows the Model 300 John Deere elevator carefully positioned against the corn crib on a family farm. Because this is a 1946 piece of literature, we know that the elevator advertised here is the older and  narrower “Series 1” John Deere elevator.  As noted below, the Series 1 John Deere elevator was replaced in 1953 by the Series 2 elevator.   With the top end of the elevator directly over the proper hold in the roof, the spout of the Model 300 has already been lowered into hole. Inside, out of sight of the camera, the extension chutes have already been attached the spout have been attached to the spout which will direct the ear corn to the proper area of the corn crib.

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