Used Tractors...opinions?

Mike, Compacts are great if they meet your needs. I have a Yanmar 1810 compact and love it, its great for my little place. The ford compacts are nice but its not going to be big enough to run a bailer. You should be able to run the sicklebar mower and a 4 or 5ft bush hog and the 1210 had available a belly mower so I think your cutting is covered. The scrapper work would be fine as would the FEL as long as you didnt overload it. You ned to check the travel of the 3pt to make sure it will meet your post hole needs. With the compacts being lower to the ground some PHDs might be to tall. If you can get a 1210 with truly only 865 for your $4k budget and it meets your need then thats a good deal.

A couple of other options, Check out http://www.equipmenttraderonline.com/
and if you can find it, fasttrac magazine has a lot of ohio/indy dealers of farm gear.

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Gary in Central Ohio

Thanks for the feedback Gary. If I can't dig post holes with what I get I suppose I can live with that for a year or two. This is the great art of comrpomise between available funds and available wishes (Gee, I wonder which is larger).

I'm planning to go look at that 1210 in the next couple of days.

Mike

The Ford Compacts have been made by Shi.... oh dern I can't spell it - anyhow a Japaneese firm for a long time. NH is lowering the support for xx00 & xx10 model lines, so that could be an issue down the road. A 1210 is pretty small, no baling or such. The xx10 series had slower hydraulics than newer models. They are about worthless for anything because they are so light unless it has 4wd.

Not knocking it, just things to look for. I have a NH 1720, which would be a newer bigger brother. Nice machines overall.

--->Paul

You can get a PHD working, just a little more work, hand dig a small hole or raise the rear end with a couple of car ramps. looks funny but works.

Before you go look at the ford, Check out http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/index.php

This is a great source of tractor information. Lots of folks with a wide range of tractors.

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Gary in Central Ohio

Just FYI - I have a '48 8N Ford that will cut with a 5 ft. brush hog all day with no problems. Seems like it's rated at about 27 hp at the PTO. I also have a '56 Ford 850 - someone else said they had one that didn't hold up to brush-hogging. It's rated around 45 hp. and should be able to handle a 6 ft. hog with no problems. I bought mine as a fixer-upper and don't know yet, but I've heard they are a workhorse. The old Fords are good, if they are kept up. They are easy to work on, and easy to find parts for. For the money, they can't be beat IMO. For $4000, you should be able to buy a good 8N and all the implements you need - mowers, PHD, etc. Make sure you get an overrunning clutch for the PTO shaft. I've heard that the little 1210s are good, but a little light in the HP department. Of course the diesel and 4wd will offer more torque and versatility.

Well, I went and did it. Bought a 1950 Ford 8n at the consignment auction. Drive train and tires are in good shape. Needs a little work on the hydraulics (for raising the 3 pt) and a few miscellaneous pieces (top link for the 3 pt, minor things). I also bought a boom but held off getting a sickle bar mower till I speak with my farming "mentors". Trailered it to the farm and took it for a spin. No problem getting through the spots where I couldn't get the pickup to. The tractor rides much smoother than I expected. I was going to bid on some compact tractors but I'm glad I got this one. Lots of people bidding on those and they looked a lot more beat up than the 8n. Paid $1,600 for the 8n and $55 for the boom. I spoke with the guy I was bidding against afterwards and he said I got a good deal. He's a dealer who comes down to buy smaller, older tractors and then resells them in the "posh" counties along lake Erie (read hobby farms or estates). He bought 4 other tractors at the auction and said he figured I was going to run the price up on him anyways so he dropped out.

I was also surprised at how much Farmall Cubs were going for. Lots of 3 pt attachments were going fairly cheap but those were sold before the tractors (go figure). Anyone have suggestions as to what a good size back blade would be for an 8n? I also want to get a brushhog as well.

I was looking for a hay wagon but they went for more than I was willing to spend. There was a fair amount of running gear for sale but after getting the tractor I decided that was enough for one day. A lot of the running gear had tires that were pretty much shot and I wanted to research what it would cost to get them back in shape.

Mike

Mike contracts on the tractor. If you havent already find yourself a good 8n tractor users web home. Yesterdays tractor http://www.ytmag.com/
ssb tractor http://www.ssbtractor.com/ are good 8n sites.

What auction did you go to?

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Gary in Central Ohio

I went to Loziers on 9 just north of Carrollton. Thanks for the links Gary.

A whole new world of spending possibilities... tractor attachments. <G>.

Mike

Mike,
I got in on this discussion late. Anyhow, I think you will be happy with the 8N.
I have a 2N, a1510, and a 3600. The 2N is the least capable of the three but it
is afterall 61 years old. You can find most parts at Ed Long or Vernon Dell in
East Liverpool(Calcutta). I am just south of you between Richmond and Bergholz.
Godd luck with your new tractor.

I have a 5' back blade and a 5' brush hog that my 8N handles just fine. The blade is a little tricky; you'll have to play with it to set the right angle and depth, because as good as the 8N is it will get hung up if you dig too deep with it. No problems so far with the 5' brush hog - I think you will be surprised with what jobs your little tractor will do. Just be sure you have an overrunning coupler for it. And the ytmag site is a good one. Good luck and have fun.

Thanks for the replies Steve and Steve. OhioSteve, I'm going to bring it over to Dale Nihart in Carrollton to check the hydraulics. I've had several tell me he does good work and is reasonable. I'm just not up to doing that sort of work at the moment...too many things on my plate and no good place to work.

Mike

Mike,
You have chosen wisely for a lot of reasons. The first being unless you drive it off of a cliff you couldn't lose money on that tractor. I have a 52 8N that I have had for almost 20yrs. I haven't been kind to it at times and it is very forgiving. Parts and knowledge about this tractor are very easy to come by. It is very versatile and can do most anything you ask if you apply patience. I have a double plow, a bushhog, a post hole auger, a scrape blade, a potato plow, a boom pole and a carry all that i have used with it for years. The most important thing to be sure of is that you have an override or a ratchet clutch on your PTO shaft before you use anything like a bushhog. Due to the design of the tractor the momentum of the spinning blades can keep driving the tractor even if you step on the clutch if you don't have one of these. I have purchsed a larger tractor recently and it is nice for power and the live hydraulics and 2 position clutch, but I still use my 8N a lot. Besides the fact it is a lot of fun to use and it looks like a tractor should. You can install a frt. end loader and other hydraulically driven components on an 8N and other tractors without hydraulics by using a Prince pump. This is a hydraulic pump that is either driven by your PTO shaft or the frt. of your crankshaft.
Your tractor doesn't by chance have a Sherman aux. transmission, does it? This was an aftermarket trans. installed between the clutch and the factory trans. It can either raise or lower your final drive ratio depending on the model. It would have an extra lever on the side of the clutch housing that would allow you to change the gearing. This gives you a high and low range just like a later model tractor.

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"Education is the ability to listen to almost anything without losing your temper or your self confidence"
Robert Frost