Tractor hp question, what do I need?

Mountaineer, my first question would be how many acres do you have? My second question would be what is the terrain like?

Our 8n was ok when we had 20 acres, it is totally inadaquate for 55 acres.

Mike

New Holland 30 HP is what I have for 14.5 acres. I have done everything you want to do except haying. With only 4-5 acres it would seem more cost effective to purchase it rather thn buying the equipment to do it yourself...

Get the front loader, you can do anything with it! I don't ever buy anything new, but after shopping around, I could not justify purchasing a used tractor where I didn't know what someone had done with it in order to save a couple thousand bucks. You will eat up your savings if there is engine work involved. Around here you can get one new for 12.5K and that is 4X4 and with a new loader. 0% for three years.

As for grading your land you probably should go with a box blade with ripping teeth. I graded mine and leveled mine for a barn. We also have hard clay...

Plowing discing, cultivating etc etc etc is the hardest work you can out a tractor to and one of the cheapest to hire done. I'd pay to get the feild work done by a neighbor with the heavy equip and then look at your day to day needs and pasture maitenance after the land is reclaimed. Veggie, hay, and berries need a small tight turning tractor, forget 4x4 unless you're mucking out barns and barn yards. I'd suggest a 2wd 45-55 hp tractor in a smallish configuration like the Ford 4000 or similar.

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Then in the back look for the ads of tractors for sale. LOOK FOR ADDS OF COMPLETLY RESTORED TRACTORS. Next get into the YT Forums room and ask them for reputable restorers, then find them and see what they have on hand restored and ready to go. Id say stick with a JD, Oliver, Minni, but most of all AC and IHC. If you get one of those restored, youll have a good American made tractor restored back to near new at the same, or lower cost than a foriegn made tractor of comparitable hp. Just my thoughts. I do all my farming corn, oats and hay with a 37hp 1934 CC Case, and a IHC Cub. Thats plowing, discing, harrowing, planting, cultivating, harrowing or rotary hoeing. spraying, mowing raking baling (square baler), combining, hauling and sawing logs whatever, pulling a 4 04 5ft tumblebug

I like my old allis , I grew up on one . never needed fluid filled tired , the tractors traction boost if set correctly will put more than enough weight on the ground.
The trick with an old snap couple AC is to find the snap couple equipment .
Old tractors have the advantage of being rated at draw bar HP and pto HP rather than simply motor hp . A new tractor may carry a 40 hp rating but only have 15 drawbar HP . for power you need drawbar HP .
Ive been to a number of local auctions where an 8n ford or D17 ac went for much more than a 115HP tractor . everyone wants small tractors the Big Iron can often be found for less but its a trade off if your not farming 100 acres a big tractor spends a lot of time sitting . fuel wise it all works out about the same . a small tractor uses less gallon per hour but takes more hours to do the job.
My AC will plow 15 acres of our gumbo ground in about 8-10 hours and burn around 15 gallons of fuel. a neighbor plowed the same field with his 115hp allis in around three hours with roughly the same fuel consumtion.

THANKS! I've been away and need to look up the tractors that were suggested.
I would be using a FEL, and with mucky areas and snow clearing I assumed 4wd would be necessary. If my truck didn't have 4wd I'd always be stuck.
i'm going to ocntinue looking to hire the big stuff out but to date- nobody wants to help, even for all the hay they could pack out.
And the property is 10 acres, and perfectly flat, which is why the water puddles. A very fine soil that water likes to sit on top of.

I need to look up the box blade, I've heard of them but not sure about it- sounds good though.
I'm going to start another thread on subsoiling as I have so many questions on it.

i run 100 acres with a Super H farmall. I put up our own hay, plow, disk, every thing I need. 30 HP when new back in '51. Do the raking and wagon pulling with a Super C. Have a garden aprox. 5 acres...all with a super A. Have the loader on the big tractor, an Oliver 1600 because I can't afford the gas. I don't know how much more/harder work you have over what I do, but most everything except harvesting equipment can be done with a 20 HP tractor. By using this older stuff my maint. bill for last year was for oil, filters, gas, and one set of sparkplugs. The old plugs came in the tractor when I bought it in 1987. That is how I can make a profit farming. Buying new/bigger equip. that I can live without would put me under. Mike

All the horsepower in the world won't do you a bit of good if it can't get traction. My old 8n for example. I never stalled the engine, I just spun the tire(s). Power wasn't the problem, I couldn't get the traction.

You need to be looking at weight, differential locking capabilities, wheel weights, tire pressure, gearing, etc.

I've used Kubota units off and on over the years. They will spoil you rotten.

1. I don't think you need 4WD.

2. I don't think the less than 30hp stuff will please you.

3. My thoughts? Look for a good used 3000 series Ford. Or an equivalent JD.
Most folks don't put enough hours on a diesel to wear them out, if they half-way take care of them...

I enjoy going to the Yesterdays Tractor website. the address is www.ytmag.com
you can see photo ads for tractors in your state, there are forums for discussion, etc.

We have a 1947 Farmall B and a 1942 Farmall A, but we're not using them for farming or anything right now.

Dont get the 4-WD to farm with! Like the old joke about it dosent keep you from gettiing stuck it just gets you stuck in a worse place On a farm tractor what it does is lets you work the field way to wet.If there is a chance of getting stuck you dont need to be in the feild.
Now that said 4-WD is invaluable for chores hat HAVE to be done no mater how sloppy but agin remeber if ya need it then you are ruining what your driving across

TRACTOR PRICES around here there seems to be a $6,000 to $7,500 plateu wer you can buy a lot of good old tractors in from 50 to 150 hp good solid units with a lot of hours in them but too big for the lawn and to small for the big farmers.

A 2WD will easily pull most farm implements, but if you're going to have a FEL you definitely want 4WD. Yes, there a lot of 2WD's with FEL's, and you can get by with them. But a 4WD on a FEL is far superior.

Fel?

FEL = Front end loader

4wd is very nice for a lot of FEL work, but a decent sized tractor with good power steering works well too. My Ford 4000 hasn't had any problems other than in the soupy stuff and 4wd is almost a certain necessity for that kind of work.

I've nearly gotten mine stuck when mucking out the slop behind the barn that the previous owners left. It will all have to be cleaned out when it dries this spring and it then should drain properly.

Front End Loader.
as fantasy pointed out you can get realy stuck with four wheel drive! been there, wore out the tshirt! plus more maintence. we sold our 4x4's and got a skid steer plus fel's on the other tractors. even though you can plough that wet field you will also do damage too the soil structure.

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