John Deere Model 840 Tractor


John Deere Model 840   1958 to 1960


The John Deere Model 840 tractors were designed with one thing in
mind....moving earth.

Having a side seat arrangement allowed the 840 to have a fifth wheel
type of hookup which was invaluable when making short turns.

In mid 1958 Deere and Hancock joined forces after a considerable prior
joint effort testing the 80 and 820 tractors with the Hancock Scrapers.


On July 24, 1958 Deere management gave the go ahead to build the
Model 840 tractors using the existing 830 I (industrial) as a pattern,
adding and detracting from it where necessary.

The two cylinder diesel engine was to remain the same on the 840 as
had been on the 830, electric and pony starts would both be used.

The initial run of 62 tractors became known as the Hancock Versions.

They had been shipped to the Hancock plant in Lubbock Texas for
final revamping and the addition of the scraper.


On March 9 1959 Deere decided to build the 840 completely at their
Waterloo plant instead of being shipped to Hancock.

In July of 1959 Deere announced they would remove all Hancock
made conversions and make the 840 so that it had all the Waterloo
revisions, this was to be at a cost of $500 for each machine payable
by the machine's owner.

John Deere Model 440 with Hancock Scraper





The Hancock scraper was capable of picking up a full 7 1/2 yard load
in less than a minute and could dump the entire load in about 5 seconds.

An elevator that was PTO driven did the loading chores, while a hydraulic
cylinder lifted the gate for unloading and a second cylinder pushed the load
out. Material could be spread as thin as 1/2 inch.

The scraper could be uncoupled in about 25 minutes or less and the 840
then used to pull any number of dawn implements, the sheepsfoot
compactor being one of the more often used in the industrial line.

In June of 1960 Deere introduced a new scraper for the 840, the
Chevron Flight 400 Elevating Scraper. It was heavier duty and easier
to service. Tractors matched to the new scraper had a 1000 rpm PTO
for the higher drive speed of the scraper.

63 Hancock Versions were built, 820 New Styles were built

A new 840 with starting engine cost $8100, with electric start
the cost was $7960.



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