[Toyguy]

I go to my 5 star JD dealer & order up a set of new 70 hood decals & feel pretty good about it because the original part numbers are still in use. So I'm thinking I will be getting a set of decals printed on silver which will give me that silver edge that surrounds the yellow field...Not.

The decals show up with the current black edge that surrounds the yellow field. So when I told them it's not the same as the original, they checked it out. They accept my explanation of what the originals look like, but can't go any further because there are no part number changes in the system. They also cross check the part numbers with the decals that are listed in a decal kit for the tractor & nothing different shows up there.

I'm disappointed to say the least, but don't see that I have much of an option here if I want fresh clean decals. The originals on the hood are really beat up & would destroy the looks of a new clean paint job. Have any of you found a source for the original decals on silver. Or is everyone going over to the new JD decal with black border.

 

[Deeremanmike]

Not me. I will go down to the local print shop and have some made. It might cost more but will be close to original as you can get. I can see building a machine to be original and the first person everyone sees is a nice painted tractor with the wrong looking decal. It kind of ruins it for me. I am going through that with my 212 that I use for work. My dad gets made when I tell him Im putting the right ones on it even though it has some already.

 

[Toyguy]

Yeah- It's a bummer to do a repair/restoration knowing that a part that is so visible is not the original. The only way around it is to go to a sign shop & make up the decals in layers. That is they would start with a silver vinyl base. then layer over that the yellow field & then apply the lettering which is not available because it is not a true type font, but rather artwork. So then you end up with a decal that if someone looks closely at it will have individual letters sealed onto a yellow field, which is sealed onto a silver substrate.

Another way is to go to a small independent screen printing shop & ask them if they will do it as a screened print, two color job on a silver substrate. I bet your talking over $50. minimum. And if the shop normally does not screen air dried inks on to mylar or another similar surface they may say no all together or charge something so sky high that a black border decal from Deere will look pretty good.

Now how do I know this you ask. Because I am a screen printer with my own shop & I will not do it for myself. I print T shirts & I have done special air dry jobs & plastics printing & I can tell you if you don't do this every day, it really sucks to setup & get it right.

I wish I knew someone working out of their garage that can do short run or one of a kind items. I get people asking me all the time to just print up one or two shirts. Unless your my customer who buys stuff all year round, forget about it. And if you insist I do it, those one or two shirts or sweats will cost you close to $100. because it will take me just as long to set up to print two, as it would to print 100.
Bummer man, but what's a guy to do. I will put these new fangled decals on & soon it will be forgotten that they are not original originals!
Gerald

 

[Toyguy]

In my other post, i mentioned that I was in the screen printing business. So I made some industry inquiries about making up some 70 hood decals that look like the originals on chrome.

The cost to screen print the decals is steep. Min. order is 25 pcs. & we do have a left & a right side. The main problems are: the cost of the cutting die & the color match for the yellow. These charges alone amount to about $175.00 Then there is the minimum quantity print for each side of the hood. So we would have to print a min. of 25 per side. This comes out to a cost of around $15.00 each per side. So to get two decals custom printed to spec would be about $950.first time around. Then there is a question as to weather or not they would want to print a John Deere item without the proper John Deere approval. I don't think JD would care if you did a single set for personal use. But if you have to print 25 sets to get the one, then you have 24 left over for possible sale which can become a licensing issue.

So, I will keep my emotions in check & bite the bullet & use the new "original" decals. I will tell myself that they are the "New Generation" decals for the "Old Generation" tractor.
Gerald

 

[Craig_w]

I thought the decals on the 70 were yellow and black? They are on the 3 70 hoods that I have. The 60 decals are chrome and yellow. Maybe I'm confused? I'll check mine more closely tomorrow.
Craig

 

[Toyguy]

Craig- The original decals on the 70 are chrome edge. I have a 1971 hood that I am restoring. The originals are still on the hood. They are chrome edge.
Gerald

 

[woodpecker41]

Gerald these are vinyl decals made by a women I know that used to own a print shop and kept her equipment when she started a new job. These are the same as 110 decal but have industrial colors of chrome and black. $10 for the pair. No she doesn't want to go back into business. Roger

 

[turner_m]

Roger,
That is really neat. Did you pick out those colors yourself?
TM

 

[Craig_w]

Gerald,
I don't know if they changed from one year to the next. I have a "73" & a "74" model 70 and they both have black edges. The 2 model 60's I have are a "67" and a "68" and they both have the chrome edge. I'd like to see a picture of your hood, I don't remember ever seeing a chrome 70.
Craig

 

[Deeremanmike]

both of my 1970 model 70s are crome edged along with my 68 model 60

 

[Craig_w]

I guess that means they most have changed in 1972 or 1973. Anybody have a 1972 model 70? If so, what color is the hood stripe?

 

[03rsixer]

I have a '70 70 with the black edges. Hard to say though if the hood's been changed out sometime in it's life.

 

[Toyguy]

Roger- That's one heck of a great buy for $10 bucks.I own a screen print shop & won't set it up for myself. This lady should consider a little side business.

Craig- The hood that I am restoring is off a 1971. I will try to get a picture of it up here but Im really tied up. My bride had two surgeries on her right arm & Im doing triple time to cover everything. A woman's work is never done! But anyway, take my word for it, they are printed on a chrome edge sheet. Now that I see what you guys are saying, somewhere along the line they changed to black. But maybe when the change took place, they were still depleting the inventory of chrome?

My dealer's parts lady has been selling JD parts probably for the past 40 years & really knows the system. She can't recall a chrome edge on the 70 decals & she could not find any info in the JD system about it. The strange thing is that the part number for the 70 decal has never been changed, and according to her, whenever a part is changed for whatever reason, the original part number is obsoleted & a new number assigned. But there appears to be no number change on this decal, but certainly there was a change.
Gerald

 

[woodpecker41]

The color on the 110 was under the repainted JD green. From what I have been able to find out these were used by the state of Michigan. One of the other members remembered seeing the orange ones when he worked for the Michigan Park Service. The tractor was originally delivered to Temperance Michigan. Roger

 

[bobd]

I have a 1972 vintage model 70 with what appears to be the original hood and it has the black border. I know that the earlier model years had the silver foil border and that Deere later went to the black border. I believe the transition model year was around 1972. To the best of my knowledge the JD garden tractor line underwent a similar change around the same period. Additionally, I have seen numerous examples of where JD revised the design of a part without revising the part number. The rotary mower deck decals are yet another example of this.

Overall, the availability of JD decals for the older consumer product equipment seems to be rapidly deteriorating. Lately even many of the popular garden tractor decals are going NLA. And while some restorers are willing to go through the effort (and expense) to have a sign shop replicate, this may not be an option if you do not have an original decal to copy. Hopefully HAPCO will consider expanding their offerings if the situation doesn’t improve and demand is high enough to warrant it.

 

[Toyguy]

Bob- Your point is well taken regarding the availability of some of these older decals & the expense involved in having them made up at a sign or screen printing shop.

I'm just wondering how much of a demand is needed before an item becomes commercially viable to produce. And there is really no way to determine the market place. I think the other problem is that John Deere puts a real tight hold on everything including obsolete items that if someone does want to reproduce an item for general sale, Deere really leans on the vendor.

And then there are companies like Jorde Decals who specialize in this stuff, but appear to only be interested in certain models & machines. I'm in the screen print business. Maybe I should try to contact Deere to see what they will or will not allow a bunch of back alley amateur restores do without violating their policies which would surely bring a lot of grief to deal with.
Gerald

 

[Just2deere]

I'm really interested in the problem you are having with the decals on the side of the hood. I have a 1974 model 70, and I'm in the UK, it has the black edges. I have just ordered replacements from my local John Deere dealer and thought they were very reasonable at £18.25 for the pair.
John Deere didn't start selling lawn tractors here in the UK until the 1980's, until then they were sold through an import agency. This no longer exists, so finding any sort of info' is very poor, but I was pleased that my local John Deere Dealer could get hold of them. John Deere UK said that it was before their time and for info and parts they said contact the weekend freedom machines website and also www.vpartsinc.com. Thought you might be interested.
Rob.

 

[Craig_w]

I found another slight difference with the 60 and 70 decals. I recently had some decals made for the air cleaner of my 60. The decal should be chrome and black. I send the maker an air filter cover off one of my 70s. He did a beautiful job on the decal but I didn't notice that on a 70, the same decal is white and black, and not chrome and black. My fault for not checking better.
He said he can also do them in chrome so I will probably get one and use the others on my 70s.

New and old decal

70 decal on my 60. It looks good to me. (Sorry it is blurry, old cheap camera.)

My 60

Quadrant decal I had made for my 70 (also used on the model 100)

 

[john_deere_200]

Craig,

It looks like you are missing one more line after the 4 from the original to the reproduction on the quadrant decal. Or is it just hiding behind the white backing on it?

Scott

 

[Craig_w]

Scott,
It's there, I just didn't peel back covering all the way so I could recover it with out any problems.
Craig