Jim May
Two-Cylinder Club
Technical Council Representative
Jim May was born and raised a city boy in northeastern
Ohio, far from farms and tractors. As a teenager, he
learned carpentry and home construction, building houses and
furniture with his contractor future father-in-law in order to
work his way through college.
After completing a doctorate at the University
of North Carolina at
Chapel Hill in 1977, Jim
and wife Donna moved to
Northfield, Minnesota,
where he continued to
build furniture and musical
instruments (harpsichords)
as a serious avocation, while teaching at St. Olaf College
as his full-time profession. It was then that he had his first
encounter with John Deere two-cylinders. His good friend and
neighbor, Ron Nuebel, an avid hobby farmer, does all of his
fieldwork with John Deere Tractors and equipment, dating
from the 1940s and ‘50s. Ron convinced Jim that he too should
have at least one two-cylinder for work on his small acreage,
and with that in mind they found a 1942 “B” whose transmission
was entirely shot — purchase price: $75. After a quick trip
to a nearby tractor boneyard, where he pulled a good transmission
from another “B” for all of $20, Jim completely restored
the “B” with Ron’s help. A 1939 “A” followed, then another
“B”; but, after subscribing to Two-Cylinder magazine and making
trips to a few Two-Cylinder Club Expos, Jim found himself
strangely attracted to Deere’s smallest two-cylinder offering, the
Model “L”. He soon began searching for an “LI”, then an
“LA”, then an “L”, and another and another, driving as far as
Kansas, Texas, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York to acquire yet
another tractor or, more important, to find another integral
piece of equipment for the “L” line.
Jim has spent the last 25 years or so concentrating on Model
“Ls”, buying and selling parts and tractors, accumulating as
much literature as possible about the “L”, restoring several “Ls”,
and acquiring a nice collection of implements for the “L”
Series (which is actually much more challenging than finding
the tractors!). Jim’s 1940 Hercules-engine “LI” equipped with
hydraulic 7B Mower, as well as his 1937 Unstyled “L” equipped
with integral middlebreaker and planter, have been displayed at
several Two-Cylinder Club Expos. In addition, he has offered
seminars on the Model “L” and its equipment at past Expos.
Jim is currently the longest-serving member on the Two-Cylinder
Technical Council, and in that capacity has talked to hundreds
of “L” owners and answered thousands of questions about
the “L” Series. He is grateful for that interaction, and has
gleaned as much knowledge about “Ls” from those encounters
as he has imparted to others. While he continues to work on his
“Ls” in his spare time, Jim has in recent years acquired an
interest in other antique vehicles from the same era, collecting
and restoring vintage pickups (1937 and 1940 Chevrolets), a
1938 Chevrolet coupe pickup, a 1942 Ford fire truck, and most recently a 1938 Chevrolet panel truck.
doctorate at the University
of North Carolina at
Chapel Hill in 1977, Jim
and wife Donna moved to
Northfield, Minnesota,
where he continued to
build furniture and musical
instruments (harpsichords)
as a serious avocation, while teaching at St. Olaf College
as his full-time profession. It was then that he had his first
encounter with John Deere two-cylinders. His good friend and
neighbor, Ron Nuebel, an avid hobby farmer, does all of his
fieldwork with John Deere Tractors and equipment, dating
from the 1940s and ‘50s. Ron convinced Jim that he too should
have at least one two-cylinder for work on his small acreage,
and with that in mind they found a 1942 “B” whose transmission
was entirely shot — purchase price: $75. After a quick trip
to a nearby tractor boneyard, where he pulled a good transmission
from another “B” for all of $20, Jim completely restored
the “B” with Ron’s help. A 1939 “A” followed, then another
“B”; but, after subscribing to Two-Cylinder magazine and making
trips to a few Two-Cylinder Club Expos, Jim found himself
strangely attracted to Deere’s smallest two-cylinder offering, the
Model “L”. He soon began searching for an “LI”, then an
“LA”, then an “L”, and another and another, driving as far as
Kansas, Texas, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York to acquire yet
another tractor or, more important, to find another integral
piece of equipment for the “L” line.