Kinze Repower 5020

FOCUSING ON 1960­–1985 FARM EQUIPMENT

HOME OF THE MUSCLE TRACTOR

March 2012

KINZE

5020

RE-POWER p. 26

COMBINES OF THE

70'S

p. 38

OLIVER

55 SERIES p. 14

IH 7388 p. 50

020

$5.99

b y Sher r y Schaef er

The phrase “2-Cylinder� is synonymous with the John Deere name. For nearly half a century, this style of engine was successful for the company. However, tractor designs were changing and Deere took its time to evolve into a modern multi-cylinder engine comparable to what the rest of the industry was using.

When Deere finally went from two cylinders to six, they took a giant leap.

The 5010 was a monster of a tractor when compared to the rest of the lineup and the horsepower to pull the 12,000 pound hunk of iron proved to be inadequate. For this reason, many of the 5010/5020 models were re-powered by skilled mechanics or farmers. One of the more popular re-powers was a Kinze Conversion.

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In 1969, a farmer from Reinbeck, Iowa by the name of David Bystriki, approached Jon to inquire about re-powering his 5020. ...Jon took on the challenge. And so the 5020 Kinze Re-Power was born.

Jon Kinzenbaw was a 25year old innovator operating a welding shop in Ladora, Iowa in 1969. He had developed a good reputation for his ability to fix or build anything.

He had already built his first unloading auger grain wagon, his first payloader and first high-flotation chemical applicator. His fabrication skills knew no limits and Jon would tackle any project that came through the door.

The JD 5010 came out in 1963 and was followed by the 5020 in 1965. The two shared the same basic engine but the 5020 had been cranked up through the pump to give it an additional fifteen horses. Even at 141 PTO horsepower, the 531 CID Deere engine needed more.

For many power hungry farmers, they turned to M&W Gear to add a turbo. However, the 531 wasn’t designed to be a turbo-ed engine and they didn’t

last. The most obvious choice was to re-power it.

In 1969, a farmer from Reinbeck, Iowa by the name of David Bystriki, approached Jon to inquire about re-powering his 5020. Still operating out of his first welding shop, Jon took on the challenge. And so the 5020 Kinze Re-Power was born.

As you probably know by looking at the pictures, the Kinze re-powered 5020 was accomplished using an 8V-71

Detroit. One of the most frequently asked questions is “why did he use a screaming Detroit?”

There are several reasons. In the 1960’s the 71 series Detroits were very popular and reliable.

They were widely used in the trucking industry making them plentiful in large quantities.

The exhaust temperature on the 531 was 1200-1300 degrees while the Detroit was less than 700 degrees, which resulted in a greater life expectancy. And probably the most logical reason it was used was because it fit inside the engine cavity of the tractor and overall dimensions after installation were identical to the original engine. It provided compact horsepower with minimal modification.

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In order to keep labor to a minimum, an engine needed to fit in the same compartment as the original engine. An oversized engine would have meant stretching the hood and frame, which of course would have meant bodywork and other modifications. Plus, changing the length of the tractor would have affected the wheelbase, steering components, turning radius and dimensions, which would have also affected weight distribution. Using the 8V-71 kept all the dimensions the same.

The frame on the stock 5020 consisted of 2”x 6” channel iron. This didn’t allow enough room for the 8V-71 engine because the frame hit the oil cooler and starter.

However, Jon changed the frame to 1”x6” flat bar, which gained him a full two inches in the engine compartment. With this two-inch allowance, the 8V-71 would fit inside the rails with barely any clearance.

One of the most critical fabrication components involved mounting the hydraulic pump on the front. It had to be perfectly mated to prevent any misalignment. All of this was done before Jon even owned any machine tools.

When it came to mating the engine to the transmission, a special adapter plate had to be built.

The 5020 bellhousing was part of the transmission and there was no changing that. On the 8V-71 engine, the bellhousing was part of the rear engine cover. This cover enclosed the cam gears along with other components and reached from the top of the block to the bottom of the bellhousing as one complete piece. There was no altering that. So a one-inch adapter plate was made that 28 MARCH /APRIL 2012 ISSUE 020

A special adapter plate had to be built to connect the engine to the transmission

...Jon changed the frame to 1”x6” flat bar, which gained him a full two inches in the engine compartment. With this two-inch allowance, the 8V-71 would fit inside the rails with barely any clearance.

was used was the pressed steel cover. Jon saw this as a good way to weld a spool collar on the plate, which was needed in order to have a way to provide power to the transmission, PTO and original clutch release mechanism.

Additionally, by keeping the clutch and flywheel mounted would allow the Deere bellhous- configuration. Those consisted to the back of the engine, ing and the Detroit bellhousof an 8V-71 coupled to a 14” the weight of the clutch and ing to be joined together. This Lipe Rollaway clutch. The flywheel was kept close to the put an ample amount of space rear engine housing was a #2 engine. This eliminated balance between the transmission and bellhousing that was cast iron. and vibration issues that might the engine. However, the 8V-71 (The aluminum housing had have occurred if the clutch were with the rear adapter plate and been used by others who tried moved more rearward. the front engine mount support to re-power the 5020 but it had The stock radiator was able was the exact same length as the the tendency to crush where cast to be used with minor modificaDeere engine. iron wouldn’t.) tions. The return on the bottom Just down the road from Deere had used a two-disc tank was on the left on the JD the Kinze welding shop was a 12” spring-loaded clutch. But engine. However, the return man by the name of Johnny when Kinze used the Ruan was on the right on the DeRuan. At that time, he was setup, it was equipped with the troit. Also, there were different well established in the trucking larger clutch, which was needed thermostat housings used on the industry and specced out most for the additional horsepower.

Detroit. If the thermostat was of his trucks using the same Another reason the Lipe clutch located on the left side of the

housing, it would tuck neatly under the hood of the 5020 with no modifications. However, if the thermostat was located on the right side of the housing, a bubble had to be welded into the hood to accommodate this.

That was a time consuming job when you were trying to quickly re-power a tractor. (The tractor photographed for this story does not have the bubble on the right side of the hood.)

When the first re-power was done at the Kinze fabrication shop, the large, canister-type air cleaner was a mounted in front of the radiator. Since the tractor had a cab, this was about the only place it could be mounted without obstructing the view or prohibiting entrance to the cab. On the next re-powers, the air cleaner was mounted off to the side. This wasn’t the best solution because the most dirt being stirred up was right in front of the tires.

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Photos by

PE SU R rm Po we

r

Fa

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JOHN DEERE 5020 KINZE RE-POWER owned by: George Weikum Naperville, IL MARCH /APRIL 2012 ISSUE 020

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All of the earlier Kinze repowers used the big canisters.

However, the later models used an air cleaner that we don’t often see. It was a Farr air filtration system that was designed for industrial or ag use in dusty conditions. Farr was located in California and was widely used on the west coast. While this system eliminated the need for mounting a filter in front of the tire, it did create more work since it was incorporated into the hood.

Locating the air cleaner in this location created another situation. While the filter was no longer in the path of the dust, it was now sucking hot air off of the exhaust manifold right below it. Jon said that if he had continued with the re-powers much longer, we would have built a deflector or scoop that would have drawn the air in from the top instead of right off of the manifold.

Another item that had to be built was the exhaust manifold. Starting at the head, a flat mounting plate was fabricated that bolted directly onto the head. Then a short piece of pipe was cut for each exhaust port.

The pipes where then flattened down by squeezing them in a vise, then welding them onto the new exhaust manifold plate.

The other end of the ports were then welded to a pipe that became the exhaust manifold.

At the end of there were fittings welded together. The bend consisted of a 22 ½ degree fitting and a 90. The 22 ½ was actually made by cutting a 90 into four pieces. Jon said by doing this, they had four fittings and that would do two tractors. Once the 22 ½ was welded on to sweep it away from the tractor, the 90 was also welded on. This turned upward to support the muffler. This exhaust manifold 32 MARCH /APRIL 2012 ISSUE 020

Big Air Filter Canister

FARR Aircleaner

is one of the trademark pieces that identify a 5020 re-power as a Kinze conversion.

On the factory 5020, the frame acted as a mounting plate for the steering arms on the front end. Since the Kinze conversion used a different frame, those mounting options were gone. Not wanting to fabricate another piece, Jon used the old steering brackets, cut them in half, turned them inward, then welded them onto the bottom of the new frame.

Jon said they never heard of one every breaking.

The stock 5020 was rated at 141 hp. Jon said that at the time they were doing these conversions, dynos weren’t readily available at every shop. Keep in mind, that these were being done in a welding shop and not specifically an engine shop.

Jon figures that the 8V-71 was probably pushing out 300 PTO horsepower, double that of the stock tractor.

So how did the drive train handle all of this extra horsepower? I asked Jon if any modifications were done to the trans-

Mounting Bracket for the Steering Arms

Kinze built Exhaust Manifold

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According to shop records, there were exactly 200 conversions or kits produced from 1969 through 1976.

Some of these were 4020s, 4520, a few 5010s and even a couple 6030s. mission and rear end. He said there was a minor modification in the transmission and that was all. Since the re-powered tractor had so much more power, 6th gear had a lot of pressure on it.

As part of a fixed cluster with three other gears, one gear was held in place by a snap-ring .

The pressure would often cause the snap-ring to fail, allowing 6th gear to relocate to places where it shouldn’t be. The answer was to put four little welds in place of the snap-ring so this couldn’t happen. This eliminated the entire problem.

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The 5020 rear end was actually built too strong by Deere.

Prior to the New Generation tractors, the banging of the puttputt engines put a lot of strain on the rear end so engineers had always designed the drive train to handle the inconsistent motion or slapping of the crankshaft. When they geared up for the 5020, they beefed the drive train up according to what was behind the putt-putt engine. However, the 6-cylinder engine was a smoother engine and didn’t put that additional stress on the rear end. Therefore,

from 1969 through 1976. Some of these were 4020s, 4520, a few it was more than stout enough 5010s and even a couple 6030s. the handle the extra power of the conversion. The 6-cylinder There is not a clear breakdown of exactly how many of them Deere engine had three power pulses per turn of the crankshaft. were 5020s.

In addition to doing the The Detroit had eight power pulses per revolution, making it conversions “in house”, Kinze also even smoother, putting even less offered a kit. This kit consisted of the engine and accessories mountstress on the beefy rear end. ed in a frame. The “do-it-yourAfter Jon completed the self” farmer could simply split his first half dozen 5020 convertractor, bolt the power unit to the sion in his small welding shop, transmission, put his front axle he moved into a new 50x100 shop next door. All of the 5020 under it and he would have a new tractor. Prices varied according conversions, as well as the rest to the setup the farmer requested. of the 2WD conversions, were But an average price for a Kinze done in this new shop in Laconversion was around $3200 dora, Iowa. According to shop in the 1970s. This covered the records, there were exactly 200 labor and components needed for conversions or kits produced

the conversion but did not cover the cost of the engine. Estimated time for a conversion was 50-60 hours and they could usually do one in a week.

Kinze quit offering the conversions in 1976 because the 6030 had solved most of the problems that occurred with the 5020. Four-wheel drive tractors were coming on the scene by then and the 7520 was satisfying the needs of the big farmers. Plus, by that time, Kinze was focusing on the planter and grain cart business. After Kinze Manufacturing moved to their current location in Williamsburg, they again began re-powering tractors but only 4-wheel drives, such as the 8630s and 8640s. But that’s an entirely different story for later.

So how much of a difference did the Kinze conversion make in the field? The stock 5020 pulled a 7-bottom plow in third gear.

The re-powered 5020 still pulled a 7-bottom plow, but now you could pull it in fifth gear. Yes, it probably used more fuel but you got a lot more work done in a lot less time and time is money.

Kinze conversions are always a popular attraction at shows and especially going through the field. You don’t even have to look to know what is headed your way. Even though the 8V71 in a 5020 can bark with the best, I don’t think I’d say its bark is worse than its bite. Because the Kinze motto has always been “When in doubt, build it stout” and the Kinze re-power is a fine example of that belief.

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