Author Topic: Tractors!  (Read 5791 times)

Syonyk

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Tractors!
« on: June 05, 2019, 10:24:55 AM »
Who else has tractors?  What do you have?  What do you use it for?

I've got an old Ford 9N I use around the property.  It's used for winter plowing, summer fire break cutting, hauling stuff, and, as of recently, post hole digging for (among other things) solar panel mounts.  I've put quite a bit of work into repairing stuff over the past few years, so it's in mechanically solid shape, if a bit beat up physically.






BuddyXL

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Re: Tractors!
« Reply #1 on: June 05, 2019, 12:05:37 PM »
Very cool!  Good looking machine.

I have been looking for one for years to use for the very things you mentioned just never found one at a good price.  Enjoy seeing that one .
What model year is that?

Syonyk

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Re: Tractors!
« Reply #2 on: June 05, 2019, 12:16:43 PM »
Oh, tractor prices are crazy.

This is a model 1939 Ford 9N, I think it was built in late 1940 - need to double check that at some point.

I got it from a family member at a good price, and have been pouring money into it.  At some point here soon I need tires, and that's $2k, near as makes no difference.  I need new wheel hoops as well, since the old ones are pretty badly rusted.  May as well get them filled with RimGuard - it's not cheap, but it's really not much compared to the rest of the job, and I do like my weighted tires for traction.  The only thing it won't pull well on is ice, but I have chains now.

You should be able to get an 8N or 9N for under $4k in good shape.

BuddyXL

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Re: Tractors!
« Reply #3 on: June 05, 2019, 12:50:56 PM »
Thanks...yours is awesome!

Yeah I found a few in the mid 1940s age I believe, but everyone wanted $6k PLUS and they were not running.  I have built engines and such so thats not big deal for labor but I suspect the engine would cost around a grand for parts and such so I'd already have at least $7k in it.

But I am always looking!  :)

cmou

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Re: Tractors!
« Reply #4 on: June 10, 2019, 02:15:32 PM »
I had a nice 1968 IH Cub Cadet hydrostatic 105 garden tractor with a 10hp Kohler K241 motor at my last house. Did a mediocre job mowing almost an acre of grass and had a snow thrower that mostly threw snow into my face. The gearbox went on it and I swapped to a plow blade and was much happier. Then I moved out of central CT to a smaller house in southern CT where I have just enough grass to use a ryobi battery powered lawn mower and I get significantly less snow so I'm even happier!

« Last Edit: June 10, 2019, 02:17:50 PM by cmou »

Fishindude

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Re: Tractors!
« Reply #5 on: June 10, 2019, 02:24:06 PM »
You bet.   I've got a real nice John Deere 5085E (85hp) with implements including; front end loader, 7' rotary tiller, 7' bush hog mower, two row planter, 8' double gang disc, 7' box spreader, mold board plow, ripper, 8' cultipacker, etc.   Also have a Case 580L backhoe loader with; extendahoe, enclosed cab and a 4 in one loader bucket.   Also use a Polaris Ranger UTV quite a bit, have a leveling drag, a broadcast seeder and a boom sprayer for it.

We live on 160 acres and have another 70 acres right down the road.  I do approx. 10 acres of wildlife food plots every year plus a whole lot of general habitat improvement work, drainage projects, clearing, planting, etc.

Thinking pretty seriously about purchasing a 12' batwing mower for the tractor in the next couple weeks, to cut my mowing time down considerably.

Syonyk

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Re: Tractors!
« Reply #6 on: June 10, 2019, 05:39:34 PM »
Very nice. :)  I'm jealous!

BudgetSlasher

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Re: Tractors!
« Reply #7 on: June 10, 2019, 06:32:53 PM »
I have an LS G3033 with a 5ft bushhog. We use it round the property for tree work (dragging), grading, plowing, and mowing (the 30% grade in the back won't allow for much else as a mowing option).

Proud Foot

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Re: Tractors!
« Reply #8 on: June 11, 2019, 11:51:29 AM »
Growing up we had an old John Deere 110 to mow the yard around the house. As I got older I spent the majority of my summers on either a John Deere 8760 or 9200 spraying, fertilizing, and planting 1,000+ acres.

WSUCoug1994

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Re: Tractors!
« Reply #9 on: June 11, 2019, 04:30:29 PM »
I need a tractor (really), I want a tractor (for reals) but I am not willing to spend the money.  Just means more hard labor for me which is likely a good thing for my overall health but it certainly would make my time utilization improve.  I do rent from time to time - which is financially the right decision - but I could get out of control with all of the attachments for maintaining our property.

Syonyk

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Re: Tractors!
« Reply #10 on: June 11, 2019, 04:39:51 PM »
I need a tractor (really), I want a tractor (for reals) but I am not willing to spend the money.  Just means more hard labor for me which is likely a good thing for my overall health but it certainly would make my time utilization improve.  I do rent from time to time - which is financially the right decision - but I could get out of control with all of the attachments for maintaining our property.

How big is your property?  There are some very nice walk behind tractors that support a range of attachments - you have a beefy power unit and can connect a trimmer, tiller, blower, etc to the front.

I can't really mow with mine - I don't have a live PTO and I don't have proper position control.  However, with all the rock, I'd just light the place on fire if I tried to mow large areas with a metal blade.

NV Teacher

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Re: Tractors!
« Reply #11 on: June 12, 2019, 12:20:51 PM »
I grew up on a farm and will retire to the farm.  I think a good small tractor will be very handy.  Really, who couldn't use a tractor from time to time.

Syonyk

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Re: Tractors!
« Reply #12 on: June 12, 2019, 12:27:08 PM »
I could use a bigger tractor some of the time...

I was digging out rocks, found a particularly large one that didn't want to move, so proceeded to beat it up pretty hard with my blade.  Usually this rips the rock right out, but this one was a tall one that was wider at the base than at the top, so took an awful lot of digging as well.

But beating a rock sticking out of the ground back and forth is a great way to loosen them and get them freed up so you can remove them.  It just involved a bit more stalling the 9N than I prefer - that rock was really quite in there!

On the plus side, I was on soft enough dirt that I could actually grip well enough to stall it.  Normally I just break a wheel free and it spins.

Wrenchturner

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Re: Tractors!
« Reply #13 on: June 12, 2019, 03:02:21 PM »
I drive a 40 horse Kubota at work, it's fun :)

Also probably one of the most dangerous items in the shop, next to ladders.  Table saw comes in third.

Syonyk

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Re: Tractors!
« Reply #14 on: June 12, 2019, 03:12:28 PM »
Also probably one of the most dangerous items in the shop, next to ladders.  Table saw comes in third.

My post hole digger is one of those "... this kills people alarmingly often..." attachments.

My daughter doesn't understand why she can't ride on the tractor when I'm using it.  The old 9N is of the era where it basically says, "You're not stupid, are you?  Because if you are, even for a moment, I'm not going to be kind."  It's a faintly terrifying bit of equipment, and the PTO accessories are far worse.

I won't listen to music while I'm working with the tractor, and I flat out won't touch it after even a single beer.  It's just... demanding like that.

Fishindude

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Re: Tractors!
« Reply #15 on: June 12, 2019, 03:29:47 PM »
Safety first is right.   Tractors tip over surprisingly easy too.
There was a horrible accident a few weeks ago next door to my dads place.  His neighbor was putting in his pier in the lake with a small tractor, it tipped over on his wife who was standing right next to it in the work area and killed her instantly.

Cadman

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Re: Tractors!
« Reply #16 on: June 12, 2019, 03:44:27 PM »
Ah yes, I was just complaining about my '49 Farmall C this weekend. Picked it up a few years ago because the price was right, it was close to home, had a 6' belly mower, fresh paint and new rubber. It's served us well mowing several acres of grass weekly during the summer months, but what the PO made up for in paint, he lacked in mechanical aptitude. At this point it burns a quart of oil per run (dusted engine from what I can tell), I have to drain the fuel tank each time or it'll seep (tank seal was good for about a season). The flywheel is missing half its teeth due to a 12v conversion and a 6v starter. The transaxle is probably near empty thanks to a leak somewhere in back, and I'm about 99% positive the headgasket is blown. Yet it starts right up, soldiers along, I let it cool when I start to see steam from the rad cap, and if I can keep the damn belt on the pulleys, it does a nice job of mowing.

Like the 9N, you have to watch what you're doing. No fenders and a tricycle front. 2' plus diameter spinning PTO pulley on the back...if you're generous, you could call what Woods provided a shield, just keep your hands away.

Though if I could find a nice (cheap) finish mower for my late model JD 3038E, the Farmall might get retired.

Wrenchturner

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Re: Tractors!
« Reply #17 on: June 12, 2019, 03:54:23 PM »
Also probably one of the most dangerous items in the shop, next to ladders.  Table saw comes in third.

My post hole digger is one of those "... this kills people alarmingly often..." attachments.

My daughter doesn't understand why she can't ride on the tractor when I'm using it.  The old 9N is of the era where it basically says, "You're not stupid, are you?  Because if you are, even for a moment, I'm not going to be kind."  It's a faintly terrifying bit of equipment, and the PTO accessories are far worse.

I won't listen to music while I'm working with the tractor, and I flat out won't touch it after even a single beer.  It's just... demanding like that.

Grab a cheap piece of meat sometime and make a demonstration!  All that exposed driveline is pretty scary.  Looks like the seat was even an option!

A competing dealership had a fatality involving a tractor a month or so ago.  The driver tried to move a park model rv that was far too heavy for the machine.  Not sure exactly what happened, but apparently it jack knifed, and the trailer dropped, swinging the front end of the tractor up against the fiberglass front cap which crushed the driver into the steering column, inbetween the two.

That big wheel is a concern too.  Wouldn't even notice your legs wrapped around it.

Rural

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Re: Tractors!
« Reply #18 on: June 12, 2019, 08:10:34 PM »
We sold our John Deere 410D backhoe once we finished building house and barn and putting in roads on our property and have finally replaced it with a little "grey market" Yanmar. We have a little loader on the front and two different scrape blades for road maintenance. It's a mid-70s model in decent but not great shape. We paid $7K for it. Our main road in is dirt, 3/4 mile and significant elevation change, so 4WD was not optional for us (nor was a roll bar), and 4WD tractors cost more.


I'm jealous of the Farmall (and a little of the 9N) because both are really good-looking classic tractors, but neither would be any use at all to us.

Syonyk

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Re: Tractors!
« Reply #19 on: June 12, 2019, 09:52:10 PM »
so 4WD was not optional for us (nor was a roll bar), and 4WD tractors cost more.

The 4WD stuff is nice.  One of my neighbors has a Deere with a hydrostatic transmission, and I've used that for stuff I can't deal with (iced up driveway with a ton of snow - he's got a bucket as well).

Quote
I'm jealous of the Farmall (and a little of the 9N) because both are really good-looking classic tractors, but neither would be any use at all to us.

I remain impressed with what mine can do, but it's certainly not a modern 4WD tractor.  It's an iron horse replacement more than a modern tractor.

WSUCoug1994

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Re: Tractors!
« Reply #20 on: June 13, 2019, 09:28:45 AM »
I need a tractor (really), I want a tractor (for reals) but I am not willing to spend the money.  Just means more hard labor for me which is likely a good thing for my overall health but it certainly would make my time utilization improve.  I do rent from time to time - which is financially the right decision - but I could get out of control with all of the attachments for maintaining our property.

How big is your property?  There are some very nice walk behind tractors that support a range of attachments - you have a beefy power unit and can connect a trimmer, tiller, blower, etc to the front.

I can't really mow with mine - I don't have a live PTO and I don't have proper position control.  However, with all the rock, I'd just light the place on fire if I tried to mow large areas with a metal blade.

22 Acres - heavy trees and most of those trees were killed the recent fires.  Normally it would be relatively easy to live without one but we are "rebuilding" so much of it and having to rid ourselves of thousands of dead trees and other side effects of the fires.

Syonyk

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Re: Tractors!
« Reply #21 on: June 13, 2019, 09:33:08 AM »
22 acres sounds like the sort of place where a tractor would be well worth the purchase, at least to me...  yeah, I can do a lot of things by hand (and still do), but quite a bit of it is sped significantly with a movable motor.

Dancin'Dog

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Re: Tractors!
« Reply #22 on: June 13, 2019, 09:53:54 AM »
Tractors are great to have around when you need one.  I inherited a little JD 4wd hobby tractor with a loader, tiller, & scraper blade.  It's not really big enough for real tractor work, but it's still very handy. 


My neighbor in the mountains has 3 different tractors just because changing impliments is such a PITA.  He's a very handy neighbor since we don't have a tractor up there.  He grades our 1/4 mile steep driveway every year or so, and refuses to take more than $40 for it.  He's retired and farms for fun. 

Jon_Snow

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Re: Tractors!
« Reply #23 on: June 13, 2019, 11:07:29 AM »
Somebody say tractor? Clamshell bucket FTW!


Syonyk

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Re: Tractors!
« Reply #24 on: June 13, 2019, 11:10:45 AM »
My neighbor in the mountains has 3 different tractors just because changing impliments is such a PITA.

I've definitely considered that... I've got a stand I built to help get my post hole digger on/off, and might build some large carts so I can put other attachments on with the hoist eventually.

eljefe-speaks

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Re: Tractors!
« Reply #25 on: June 13, 2019, 11:19:59 AM »
I think your tractor's sexy.

Wrenchturner

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Re: Tractors!
« Reply #26 on: June 13, 2019, 11:35:18 AM »
I think your tractor's sexy.

Sparsely clothed.

Rural

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Fishindude

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Re: Tractors!
« Reply #28 on: June 14, 2019, 09:18:56 AM »
Some people get excited about cars, motorcycles, hot rods, etc.   I'm much more impressed by tractors and the various implements.
I think my next addition is going to be a 12' batwing mower.

WranglerBowman

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Re: Tractors!
« Reply #29 on: June 20, 2019, 06:59:54 AM »
Hi my name is Bowman and I'm a young man with an old tractor problem.  I split and sold wood for couple years to save for my first tractor...I don't know how I lived without a tractor looking back.  We bought our house on 3 acres in 2011 and I had the neighbor plow over about 1/6th of an acre so I could get a garden going.  The first 2 years I worked that land entirely by hand, raised beds, lots of blisters.  Finally had enough firewood money to buy a tractor and after a lot of research, torn between an 8n, To-35, or MF35, I settled on a Massey Ferguson MF35 gas.  It's a great all around tractor and I've been very happy with it, the first time I used it to build my garden I couldn't stop laughing because I disced it up, hilled the beds, and planted the entire thing in a weekend, over 250 plants, not including seed sowing.  Typically that would have taken me 2-3 weeks of working weekends and evening to get the garden in. 

I started buying 3 point equipment in bulk with a local ad and whatever I didn't need or thought I could make decent money on, I sold so I could by more 3 pt equipment.  Now I'm buying, fixing, and selling tractors and a fair amount of 3 pt equipment so I can by more tractors and equipment that I need.  Currently own a MF35, MF50 w/loader, Kubota B2710 w/loader, 1946 John Deere A, 1950 Farmall Super A, 1953 Farmall Super A, and McCormick International Cub Lo Boy and probably 20 implements to do anything I want.  I've become obsessed with tractors!  They help me get so much heavy and labor intensive work done with ease.  The old tractors (50's-early 80's) are by far my favorite, super simple, strong, reliable, pretty easy to repair, a lot less to break and go wrong.

Car Jack

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Re: Tractors!
« Reply #30 on: June 20, 2019, 07:17:51 AM »
I've got a Kubota BX1860 3 cyl diesel 4 wheel drive compact tractor with a bucket that I use for firewood work and snow removal along with random clean up and small chores.  I forest manage about 13 acres and the small tractor works well in the trails getting up the hill.  I'll use a sears trailer for transporting wood along with the bucket.

SnipTheDog

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Re: Tractors!
« Reply #31 on: June 24, 2019, 09:54:47 AM »
Hi my name is Bowman and I'm a young man with an old tractor problem.  I split and sold wood for couple years to save for my first tractor...I don't know how I lived without a tractor looking back.  We bought our house on 3 acres in 2011 and I had the neighbor plow over about 1/6th of an acre so I could get a garden going.  The first 2 years I worked that land entirely by hand, raised beds, lots of blisters.  Finally had enough firewood money to buy a tractor and after a lot of research, torn between an 8n, To-35, or MF35, I settled on a Massey Ferguson MF35 gas.  It's a great all around tractor and I've been very happy with it, the first time I used it to build my garden I couldn't stop laughing because I disced it up, hilled the beds, and planted the entire thing in a weekend, over 250 plants, not including seed sowing.  Typically that would have taken me 2-3 weeks of working weekends and evening to get the garden in. 

I started buying 3 point equipment in bulk with a local ad and whatever I didn't need or thought I could make decent money on, I sold so I could by more 3 pt equipment.  Now I'm buying, fixing, and selling tractors and a fair amount of 3 pt equipment so I can by more tractors and equipment that I need.  Currently own a MF35, MF50 w/loader, Kubota B2710 w/loader, 1946 John Deere A, 1950 Farmall Super A, 1953 Farmall Super A, and McCormick International Cub Lo Boy and probably 20 implements to do anything I want.  I've become obsessed with tractors!  They help me get so much heavy and labor intensive work done with ease.  The old tractors (50's-early 80's) are by far my favorite, super simple, strong, reliable, pretty easy to repair, a lot less to break and go wrong.

Ah, the Massey 35.  Great tractor.  I used one when the family had almonds.

Just Joe

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Re: Tractors!
« Reply #32 on: June 26, 2019, 01:46:22 PM »
We have a Cub Cadet 1440. Does that count as a real tractor? Just use it to mow the grass. Takes 3 hours or so. Found one that an old man took very good care of for twenty years or so and bought it for a good price. WAY cheaper than the ZTR mowers my family and friends thought to be more fashionable. ;)

Its a really heavy little lawn tractor. Way heavier than the basic big box lawn tractors I've owned in the past. This appears to promise durability.

I briefly considered a vintage Farmall with a belly mower. Also a friend was selling a MF for a good price but it was far more tractor than I needed.