Serial location guide
Deere riveted a proper serial plate to its two-cylinder tractors — but moved it around between models and, on the B and H, between years. Model by model:
Right side of the tractor, above the belt pulley. One position for the whole run, 1934–1952.
It depends on the era. Unstyled B (serial under 60000): left side of the transmission case, upper front corner, just under the governor. Styled B (60000 and up): right side, on top of the case, under the magneto.
On the main case — and it moved too: behind the flywheel on the earliest tractors, then to the belt pulley area from around serial 27000 (during 1941). The H's tag is the only reliable date reference the model has; if it is gone, features can only bracket the year.
Right side of the main case, in the magneto/distributor area. The M was built at Dubuque; the 50 at Waterloo, but Deere kept the plate in the same neighborhood.
Deere plates were aluminum and crudely riveted; missing tags are common. Without the number there is no exact year — only feature brackets (frame type on the A and B, shifter tower and electrics on the H). This is one reason the Two-Cylinder Club's paid serial research exists for tractors whose identity paperwork survived in Deere's registers. For a purchase, a missing plate is a price factor, and the inspection checklist in the Buyer's Check Kit treats it that way.
The decoder gives you the year. The kit gives you the rest of the check before money changes hands: serial-verification worksheets, the two-numbers check that catches swapped engines, year-split parts traps, and an inspection checklist for each family.
Included in the $39 Buyer's Check Kit