John Deere introduced the Generation II or 30 series tractors in 1973 but didn’t change the four-wheel drive lineup until 1975. Then they announced the 8430 and 8630 as replacements for the 7020 and 7520. Both of these new tractors had Sound-Gard bodies which included a modern cab with many more amenities than earlier cabs. Although the basic engines were similar to the ones in the earlier models, power was significantly increased to 175 PTO horsepower for the 8430 and 225 PTO horsepower for the 8630.

Cover of the 1977 John Deere toy catalog showing the 8630 and the big folding disk that was made especially for this tractor

Ertl brought out a completely new toy to represent these new John Deere four-wheel drive models. It was Ertl’s first toy tractor with dual wheels on all corners and it was on most young farmers’ wish lists in 1975. By this time, my oldest son was an avid John Deere toy collector and we visited a nearby dealership to add to his collection. The dealership had both the 7520 and the new 8630 in stock but Doug Jr. had only enough money to buy the 7520. His first choice was the bigger 8630 but I refused to lend him the additional money because I thought it would teach him a lesson about “living within your means”. He bought the 7520 and has now forgiven me since it is worth several times more than the 8630. His grandfather bought the 8630 for him on a later trip to the dealership. Just like most other John Deere toys, there was no model number on the new four-wheel drive but collectors commonly refer to it as the 8630.

Cover of the 1981 John Deere toy catalog showing the 8640 with a strobe stripe.

A model number change to the 40 series in 1978 resulted in a new toy. It was actually the old casting with a strobe stripe decal instead of the solid yellow stripe on the 8630 and collectors referred to it as the 8640. Power was increased slightly for the new 40 series but the main features were improvements and refinements.

The 8640 was replaced by the 8650 in late 1981 and I will cover this new series next month.