small farm tractors
 

Would you consider a 20 hp 4 whl. drive tractor for $5000.00 or a older M?F that nees the engine rebuilt ??I know about the massy but the tractos from northern equipt look good for the price anybody have one..????

Massey, Ford, Deere and Kubota all make good tractors (and others too). I would recommend four wheel drive and a loader if your budget allows, and you might want to consider more than 20 HP if you are going to be turning new ground or mowing in heavy brush. The tractorbynet.com site offers a wealth of info on all things associated with tractors, including forums on many more models than those listed above. Good luck.

Most times a bigger tractor is cheaper than a small one. I bought a really nice 1988 6610 Ford for 5000. 70 plus horses with cab and ac etc It is almost twice the tractor that I will ever need but I wont have to worry about being underpowered thats for sure LOL

i would buy the tractor from northern, I have used one 25 hp with a bucket, the power steering was a little weak at idle, other then that it was a great machine at a unbeatable price! they are Jimna's. There will be those who poopoo these tractors but, I do not see why a new one, taken care of will not last a very long time, parts outlets are getting more easily assessable, that is the largest hurtle.

You could try here they are "grey "imports by the look of then in Dallas TX

http://www.rcotractor.com/index.html

The one I looked at had horrible castings, looked like it would leak oil all over in about 25 hours from the poor hyd fittings, and the hand controls were crude, weak, & esp the hyd controls would not stand up to normal use do to poor design of these China tractors. Would be worth $1000 is all to me.

imho
--->Paul

Just curious, I have heard people criticize "poor casting" tell me please what does that mean?

Cast parts are made from pouring molten metals into forms. If the forms are not machined correctly the contact surfaces are not truely flat - which would cause a need for real thick gaskets or be faced with major leaks. Propper molds inspire confidence in the machine's ability.

we have a 17 horse kubota 2 wheek drive we are not very hilly and never muddy so it works fine for us its a 1974

Depends what you need , a Yanmar should be a good Tractor they make em for Deere if you got a small Deere, its a Yanmar with a difrent colour coat of paint and a higher price........and under their own name they build generator sets up to 100 kilowatt, boat and ship engines , earth movers , dozers and diggers , some badged Volvo

Yanmar & Kubota are both top-quality manufaturers fro Japan. Good machines. JD has certain driveline specifications that Yanmar branded machines probably do not meet - but are still well made.

The 'bad' machines we are talking about come from China. Very different manufaturing climate there. Old iron is dumped into a vat to be melted, not purified or properly heated so the cast is weak & full of impurities. Hydraulics are not well made, odd banjo fittings & leaky mating parts. Controls are poorly fitted, designed for a smaller human being, and not very robust.

Actually the China engines are fairly good. A high-point of the machines.

So be careful what we are talking about here. Japan generally has very well engineered machines, even from the 70's.

India & Korea are pretty good, not as good as Japaneese, but very acceptable.

China - you can buy a cheap tractor, but you will lose a _lot_ of resale value, as everyone can see what a crudely made machine it is. With the Comunist background & the wilingness of any importer to rebadge these machines, parts & support is a real issue. If you must rely upon a tractor, not just a hobby machine that can sit broken for 3 weeks to 3 months, be real careful what you buy.

At the state fair today, saw the Northern Tool tractor, as well as Jihnma. Crude castings.

Someday they will get it right.

But don't confuse Japaneese tractors in this topic, they have been well made for decades.

--->Paul

There are 2 odd named imported tractors in my immediate neighborhood. One caught fire last year and the other is on blocks after the front cast axle housing broke apart at the differential. The man with the burned one is a slow learner so he is buying another of the same type. The one with the bad housing is trying to determine how to salvage the tractor as he doesn't want to go the expense required to get it going. I suggested he try to get the burned tractor for parts :)

Amen Drizler...can't beat an 'n'. Mine is 60 years old and I use it everyday. I plow under alfalfa sod, use the rear scoop for hauling manure, pull a disk, a cultivator, cut hay, blade the driveway (dirt and snow), skid logs for firewood, run the potato digger...you name it. Cost me under $3000 Cdn. for a perfectly running unit and parts and implements are available everywhere. There are lots and lots of n's that were fitted with loaders. Dearborn (fords' implement company) made loader specifically for the n's. There are front loaders available for sale all over the place all the time. I don't have one as the rear loader ($100) does everything I need it to and hooks up to my 3pt. hitch in about 1 minute and a half. The n's were the tractors that revolutionized the farming industry in the 30's and 40's...every tractor today with a 3pt. hitch has the same design as these early Fords. Incredible technology for its time. They were made to work and they still do.

Nope, no N series tractor has a live pto. You need to get into a 100 series Ford, specificly a x6x series Ford as the first with live pto. In addition to snow blowing, hay baling really is _much_ better with a live pto.

Otherwise you have pretty good advice. I kinda think a person can find a better tractor for the same or less money - N series Fords were marvels when they came out, but that was 60 years ago. Lots of improvements (live hyd, live pto, power steering, less tippy designs, lots of safety features) have come since then. Folks seem to pay a premium for an N series because - well, just because. A little bigger tractor with more features often seems to sell for less money than these nostalgic N's.

But of course, that protects your purchase, as you can always sell it for what you paid for it, and not lose a thing. buy a new China tractor for $8000, and find out when you want to unload it you will be lucky to get $2000 for it - poor resale value. :)

--->Paul

Paul,
Live PTO was an option on Jubilees.

There is a live pto option still available for ALL ford 'n' tractors. Do a web search for "Zane's Live Thang". Not terribly expensive and works well by all who have installed it. That's the thing about n's, there are still parts and accessories being manufactured today. Can't say that about too many other 60 year old pieces of equipment of any kind.

John,
I think Paul meant no N-series tractor had live PTO from the factory. Sure, there's a lot of after-market live PTO, live hydraulics, power steering, 3-pts for tractors other than Fords, etc.

One other comment about lots of improvements on other tractors is that...that just means there is that much more to go wrong.

That's true about the aftermarket stuff for other types of tractors. Obviously I am biased towards the n's as that is the tractor I chose to own. I did a lot of research before buying my tractor because I had a very limited budget moving forward. I just cannot afford expensive break-downs and the n's have more parts and accessories support than other brands....at least up here in Canada anyways. Not only that, they are just plain bullet proof. The old ford flat heads can be rebuilt in the field if necessary by someone with basic hand tools and a limited amount of experience. I have a friend in Iowa who says that IH's are a dime a dozen and dealerships always have parts for 60 year old tractors. That just isn't the case up here. Someone is asking for opinions on tractors and these are my opinions...I can be just as wrong as anyone!LOL

John;
I think you are confusing live hydraulics and live PTO. The 8N did not have either but the zane thing allows you to convert your N to live hydraulics.
I am not sure but I think Sherman or Hupp may have made a live PTO setup but it would be very rare to find one today.
The first Ford that came from the factory with a live PTO option would have been a 660/860 hundred series in 1955.

Is there a website anywhere that lists tractors with and without "LIVE " PTO ???

Zane is a pretty cool guy. :)

His device adds a lot of convienience to the N's 3pt hitch, making it operate like a more modern 'Touch' or 'position' 3pt hitch. I don't believe it does anything for the pto, but I could be wrong?

The easiest way to give an N live hydraulics is to add a front crankshaft pump & re-plumb the hydraulics through that. From the factory, no N had live anything. There are few options to make them live pto, tho live hydraulics is not so difficult.

M&W made some conversions for the pto of the Red tractors, putting a clutch on one axle & routing the pto through the spider gears basically. I'm not aware of such a device for Fords. I'm sure someone somewhere made a few, but they would be extremely rare.

I have been known to be wrong tho at times. :)

--->Paul

Not really. It became popular on some tractor manufaturers in the mid-50s, and was not standard on some models through the 1990's yet. The Ford 100 series of tractors some had it, some didn't - many lines are like that from most manufaturers.....

So, hard to make any blanket statements on that.

Do you have any models in mind, or just looking at tractors and want a look-up sheet? :)

--->Paul

Tractors
 

Don't make the mistake of buying a small tractor.

The biggest mistake you can make is buying a tiny tractor. Unless all you want to do is plow your garden (and even that requires more power than you would think) you will run into things that you just cannot do with a tiny tractor. If you want to use a boom to lift machinery it will tip your tractor back. You cannot carry today's big hay bales with a small tractor. You cannot pull a pasture sprayer of any size with a small tractor. You cannot pull a heavy vehicle out of a mudhole with a little tractor.

In short, up to a point bigger is better. A 45 to 70 horse tractor will be much more useful to the average homesteader. The 8 & 9 N's are old tech and will cost almost as much as a decent, larger, newer tractor. Why they have so many fans is beyond me--I've used several and see no advantage to them.

If you have only a couple of acres and intend only to mow lawns and work a garden the small tractors are Ok. If you need a workhorse, go find one of the mid-size diesels and find some way to pay for it.
Ox

Paul and Ox make good points. There really isn't a single best tractor out there, it's always going to involve tradeoffs. That's why having 20+ tractors is the way to go. ;)

I think if you plan on only having one tractor, the versatility of a 65-70 HP newer diesel is going to make it the smartest expenditure in the long-run. This will be a tractor with the HP and weight to handle a loader, pick up bales safely with a 3-pt. bale mover, handle mowing and baling easily, and be a cheap keeper. Most important, it will have modern hydraulics and beefed up 3-pt. My neighbor has a JD 3020 diesel that seems like an excellent tractor for these purposes.

That said, an 8N is a big step up from the 9Ns and 2Ns. They are still a bit overpriced in my opinion, but have come down somewhat, at least around here. My cousins in Saskatchewan farmed about 14 sections with 8Ns. They are well-made and you can still get parts. Those 8Ns are from being a great loader tractor, though, and you can lose your religion putting on some of those old "jungle-gym" loaders.

Two tractors isn't a bad idea. Hauling manure and haying ain't much fun with only one tractor.

Do any of you have any experience with Branson Tractor brand they are made in South Korea?

Thanks Cornbread

What a coincidence
 

In the Spring of 2004, I looked at several tractors including the Branson (and Kioti, MF, Deere, and Kubota). This tractor does seem well made, and I exchanged some e-mails with an owner of a 45 HP model with a loader and backhoe. He was very satisfied. The tractorbynet.com web site has more info on them.

After a lot of "gut wrenching", I bought the Kubota. It had slightly less horsepower for the money when compared to either the Branson or Kioti, but it's hydraulics are on par with those two machines. Probably the two key factors that drove me to the Kubota were (1) resale value (although I fully expect the tractor will outlast me) and (2) less risk on quality related issues. Kubota has just been out there longer with a proven track record.

Good luck in your search.

We have a bunch of tractors. Ford, MF, Long, Yanmar, Allis Chalmers. For small tractors the Allis Chalmers and Yanmar are pretty darn good. We use them mostly at the deer lease to mow and plow up small food plots. I have a trenching machine that goes with the Allis Chalmers and it is handy as the pocket on a shirt. They will not do the work that the bigger tractors we have do, but work really well for what we use them for. I can tell you that I have dirven the wheels off the Allis Chalmers for close to 20 years and it still runs great.