All things tractors thread

[subdood_ky_z6b]

OK, folks, I came up with the idea of this thread in the Lounge, after diverting a thread that @amadioranch had started regarding the purchase of his tractor. After discussing it with one of the moderators (thanks @MuddyMess_8a), it was suggested that it be moved to a public forum, so that everyone can see and contribute. I have had lengthy discussions with @Olpea (thanks for the insights) about different tractor issues, and thus the genesis for this thread.

The purpose of this thread is to have discussions about folks and their tractors, and any issues, problems, suggestions, and solutions they may have to share with the forum community. If you want, you can introduce yourself, and the tractors and/or equipment you use. Also, if you are so inclined, share any pics of your rigs, and any info about your equipment you wish. I hope this becomes a very informative and useful thread.

I will start the thread off with some pics of my little John Deere 2040, that we bought back in March. It was made in West Germany in 1981, has a 2.7L three cylinder diesel engine and is rated at about 40HP @ the PTO. At the time, it had about 3600 hours on it. It has a ROPS, another name for a roll bar, and a very nice canopy, which has come in handy this summer. Before we bought the tractor, there was already a 5 foot bush hog (mower), a grader blade, and a disc harrow on the farm that my wife’s family had acquired over the years. Since we wanted to do some plowing, we later bought an old Dearborn two-bottom plow.

I had never run a tractor before, and actually, I’d never even driven any vehicle with a clutch! I always drove automatics, just lazy I guess. It took some getting used to, but I feel a little more comfortable with it. I have a very helpful brother in law who has helped me learn the basics of operating it and maintaining it. He actually has a larger version of my tractor, a 80HP 2755 model. To help learn more about the rig, I bought an owner’s manual online, which has been very useful.

At any rate, I learned to how to set up a plow, and after tearing up the south pasture “practicing”, I plowed our six garden plots, and some rows for some of our new apple and peach trees. I then disced them, and then run a tiller over them. Doing plowing is kind of an art, and it will be awhile before I get it down.

All the plowing and discing was done back in March, so since then I had to learn how to set up the bush hog, another name for just a big mower. Ours is about 5 feet wide. I had to learn how to hook up to and engage the PTO, and how to best adjust the toplink and draft control to do a decent job in mowing. We have a large pasture south of the house that had become choked with briars, saplings, and just high weeds over the last few years. So, in April, I ventured out and mowed down that forest of stuff. In some places, it was up to the tractor seat, about 5 feet high.
It took a while, but I got it mowed down. I have since done some maintenance mowing a couple times since then. With all the rain we’ve had, the weeds grow very quickly around here.

OK, enough blathering. Here are some pics of my rig. The shots were taken back in the winter right after we got it. As you can see, I already dirtied it up nicely to “break it in”. I hope you enjoy this thread and that it becomes of some use to you.

[matrix]

good afternoon friend I have a case mxu 110, this is my fourth tractor, my tractor also was manufactured in Germany

I drove a tractor for the first time many years ago when I was just 10 years.
I went on summer vacation one day to the field with my father and the tractor carrying a trailer with lots of heavy materials that sometimes fell and had to go back up to the trailer, as I was very young I had no strength to things up to the trailer, so my father took me to drive and while the trailer behind was taking what was falling, that day I was the happiest person in the world.

this was my first tractor, fiat manufactured in Italy, were very good, almost they never broke down and lasted more than 30 years
.

[matrix]

I am very surprised that your tractor has so few hours working with 30 year old 3600 working hours make the soil in about 3 years

[subdood_ky_z6b]

That Fiat is a very unique tractor, it looks somewhat like a truck and tank hybrid of some sort. I bet that thing would never get stuck in the mud running on those tracks.

Yes, I imagine working with your Dad and his tractor was a dream for a youngster like yourself. I think all boys that age wanted a tractor. I think we “adults” don’t grow up really, we just get bigger “toys”, like a tractor, or a car or truck.

I looked up your present tractor, the MXU110, online. That is a real heavy duty rig! You must have lots of land to tend. Do you have like a big fruit tree farm?

By the way, is that the Alhambra in your background picture?

[subdood_ky_z6b]

Well, when I first saw the 3600 hours on the online ad, I thought that was a lot. But, I talked to my country neighbors who know a lot about tractors, and they said actually that wasn’t too bad. The previous owner really took care of it, and kept it in a barn. It’s got some cosmetic issues, but it runs really well.

I don’t expect to use it a lot each year, most of the work is in the spring- plowing and discing. And mowing the pasture and orchard maybe once every 6 weeks or so. Our brother-in-law did all that for us the first couple of years, but we really needed to get one of our own.

[justjohn]

Here’s my old cluncker.

[subdood_ky_z6b]

Well, it doesn’t look too old to me. You have really taken good care of it. Looks like your tires are new, and the paint looks really fresh. I looked up your model on tractor data.com, and it’s about the same age as mine, and has about the same HP. I also noticed that those were made by Fiat in Italy, just like @matrix 's first tractor!

How long have you had it and what do you use it for? The usual plowing, bush-hogging?

[mrsg47]

Thats a beaut! Looks like the ‘vintage’ car of tractors!

[matrix]

3600 hours of work are very few hours to a tractor, a tractor may have a useful life of 30,000 hours.

I use my tractor in olive cultivation.

which is your favorite tractor for you? or tractor believe is the best on the market?

[subdood_ky_z6b]

Well, here in the US, it seems like John Deere is the most popular and used brand for small and large farms, but there are many other good brands, like Kubota, New Holland, Mahindra, etc.

Which is the best? My experience with tractors is very limited, so I can’t say which is the best. We live in a rural mountain area in Kentucky, and I see all kinds of older tractors in service, like John Deere, Ford, Case, Massey Ferguson, International Harvester, etc. If I had the money, I guess I’d have either a new JD, or Kubota. I’d like to have one with a bit more HP, 4WD, and an enclosed cab, but the one I have will do fine for me.

Like I said earlier, we just use the tractor in the spring for plowing and discing, and some mowing after that. We get some big snowfalls here occasionally, so I’d also use it do some snow plowing. So, we probably will use it maybe a dozen times or so a year. Just as long as it starts every time and doesn’t give me much problems, I’m good.

So, how many acres (or hectares) of olive trees do you have? I think you mentioned in other comments that you have other fruit trees as well? It seems to me that farming is your full time job. What is that equipment in the picture, is that what you use to transport your olives?

[matrix]

Yes, I am dedicated to olive cultivation, I have about 10,000 olive trees on 100 hectares, also I have fruit trees, but only as hobbye for fun and collect different varieties, do not sell fruit, I gave it to my neighbors and friends, example, I have about 120 varieties of fig trees, about 25 varieties are planted in the ground and the rest are in pots, I estimate that total’ll have about 500 or 600 varieties (maybe I’ve had about 1,000 varieties but am slowly eliminating those varieties I do not like) … I have moroccan workers working on my olive trees and made them a house in the countryside so they could live in the olive harvest and my sister gave me a lemon tree to plant in the yard and there … all started gradually buy a tree, then another and another, is very addictive.

if the photo is of the Alhambra in Granada from the time when the Arab world was very civilized and made great constructions of which to be proud (unfortunately all this term)

this trailer show called cigarron, usually charge about 5000 or 7000 kilos and are used to load other larger trailers 15,000 or 20,000 kilos.
The olive harvest is in winter and often it rains and there is mud on the ground, then use smaller trailers to work in the field and avoid getting stuck and once filled the trailer olives are passed to another larger trailer that will be in rough terrain, a road or highway
these 2 videos have been made with the mobile phone by some friends of mine on their land
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YWLHtazf7hw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hjmpYm69uJo

John Deere is very good tractor, in Europe is considered one of the best tractor is a tractor with a mechanical lasting many years, the only problem you have in Europe is that maybe consume too much fuel (here we do not have fuel and is worth more money than in the US).

you know Fendt tractors? Whether this brand is sold in USA?

a video of a tractor case super giant with more than 600 horsepower, this vehicle has been the winner of the plow, I imagine this giant worth much money
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UheKp6Ou2mk&feature=player_embedded

[Stan]

@matrix

Yes, I am dedicated to olive cultivation, I have about 10,000 olive trees on 100 hectares

I’m sorry to hijack the tractor thread but I must to ask.

Matrix, how old are your olive trees? How many varieties do you cultivate? Do you have olive fruit fly? If yes, how do you protect against it?

Thanks!

[subdood_ky_z6b]

Wow, that’s a lot of olives! I guess that big tractor, and those cigarrones of yours comes in handy, then. I wonder where all those olives go. Does one company buy all of yours, and then mix them with olives from other countries? I have bought olive oil in the past, and it usually says “product of Spain, Italy, or Greece”. It seems like they are generally blends from various locations. Very healthy, it makes a good salad dressing by itself. When I have gone to some Italian restaurants, they bring out some bread, and pour some oil in a plate, and sprinkle some pepper on it. You tear off a piece of the bread, and dip it in the oil. They called it “Italian butter”.

Yes, John Deere are very popular, and reliable from what I’ve heard. That’s what I’m hoping for mine, anyway. They make riding lawn mowers, too, but from what I’ve heard about them is that they outsource their manufacturing to other companies, and that the quality and reliability isn’t as good as it used to be. I don’t know about the tractors, though. I’m thinking they may still make them at JD factories.

Most tractors run on diesel, but there are some that run on gasoline. Mine runs on diesel, and the last time I bought any fuel, it was about $2.25 a gallon, which per liter would be about 60 cents. What do you usually pay for a liter of diesel, or do your tractors run on gasoline? Has the weakening Euro (€) meant that you’ve been paying more for fuel now, than maybe last year, or five years ago?

No, I haven’t seen a Fendt tractor, but from what I saw online is that they’re made in Germany, and I think they may sell them here. I don’t know much about them.

Yes, that big Case is a monster tractor. I can’t see the need for something that big. But I guess there are some big business farmers with lots of land who could maybe use one. It just seems way too much. I can’t imagine what one would cost, maybe half a million dollars? I don’t know. I’m just guessing.

[Olpea]

@matrix

which is your favorite tractor for you? or tractor believe is the best on the market?

Matrix,

You would probably get 1/2 a dozen different answers if you talked w/ 1/2 a dozen different people. Sort of like asking people who makes the best hand tools (SnapOn, Matco, Mac, etc.)

I think one thing most people interested in tractors will tell you is that Belarus probably made some of the worst tractors.

Around here most people would say John Deere makes the best tractors (probably no surprise because John Deere has the largest market share in the U.S. I think they probably have made some of the best tractors. Their old 4020 they made in the 60s and 70s was extremely well built. I post a quote from John Deere on my webpage: “I will never put my name on a product which does not have in it, the best that is in me.” I think as a company, they have lived up to that motto with many of their tractors. Their tractors also have the best resale value in the U.S. of any tractors made. Deere also makes good construction equip. Almost as good as Cat in most people’s eyes.

Massey Ferguson would be my second choice, they are heavy built tractors.

Kubota makes a good tractor, imo. The Japanese know how to make good equipment (Komatsu is well made construction equipment too.)

Most people around here generally put New Holland at near the bottom of the pack for quality, even though they are a popular tractor.

Most people around here view Mahindra as a cheaply built tractor. I have a very good friend who had one and traded it in because he didn’t like it. There was a Mahindra dealership in the town I used to farm in, and they didn’t stay in business long.

[subdood_ky_z6b]

New Holland near the bottom? Didn’t Ford tractors morph into NH at one time? Would you say those old Ford tractors are solid? And that the quality/reliability got worse as they became NH? I may have the history all wrong, but I don’t think I’ve seen a “new” Ford tractor anywhere.

I’m just wondering, because I see a lot of old Ford tractors around here, my neighbor actually has a couple of 4610’s or the like. I came close to buying a 1980 model 3600 last year, I had actually sent an enquiry email to the dealer. But, apparently it was sold before I got an answer back. I think it was similar to my JD in HP, and had a ROPS and canopy.

I had another neighbor come by back around May, he was asking my wife for a phone number. I told him I had just bought the JD, and he said that he’d sold his relatively new Mahindra for about $10k. I asked why so cheap, and he said he had another tractor and he needed some quick cash, hence the low price. Maybe he was having problems with it? I don’t know, I didn’t ask him anything else about it, but your comment about them makes me wonder.

The guy that I wrote about in the other thread with the dump truck, he has a Kubota 4wd with a cab and hydrostatic tranny. I drove it around a little, and liked it, but I just couldn’t spend that kind of money on one of my own. But, man, it would be nice not to have to do all that shifting with a clutch.

Wanted to get out and do some bush hogging this week, but it’s rained just about every day. Getting real tired of this rain. Need to rename this area the Western Appalachian Rain Forest. A guy that I bought my heirloom seeds from earlier this year was expecting a wet summer, man did he get that prediction right!

[Olpea]

@subdood_ky_z6b

New Holland near the bottom?

I admit that’s probably a pretty controversial statement I made, but we are talking about opinions.

Ford did indeed morph into New Holland.

Like so many tractor companies, they have continued to merge with each other: IH and Case, Ford and New Holland, Massey Harris and Ferguson. White and Oliver. Now Massey Ferguson has actually been rolled up into AGCO which also absorbed White-Oliver and Allis. They also make Fendt tractors. I guess it’s the same as the auto industry (or most industries). Cadillac, Buick, Chevrolet all used to be different car companies and, along with other car companies, were rolled into General Motors.

Ford made some good tractors, imo. My brother-in-law owns an 8N. A lot of people poo poo these old tractors, but they were dependable tractors for their time period and have stood the test of time. They aren’t very big (only 23 hp) so won’t do a lot of work, but they are a work horse for their size. Their biggest drawback (other than being a gas burner, was their 6 volt electrical system, but nowadays everyone converts them to 12v). I also think the later Ford 5000 and 7000 were good tractors (though not as good as the JD tractors of that era). It’s my impression Ford cheapened it’s tractors sometime before they merged w/ New Holland.

[clarkinks]

I’m happy to say my 1943 farmall m is still running! It’s the original engine and it’s never been rebuilt. Is there a better tractor? Some tractors may fit your needs better but that tractor outlasted the men that made it and the men who bought it! That tractor after 70 + years is still running! John Deere is a good one and maybe better. Ford 9n was another classic for small farms.

[subdood_ky_z6b]

I have a neighbor down the road who planted tobacco this spring. Why he’s growing it nowadays, idk, other folks in this area still do. I thought it wasn’t as profitable to grow it here.

Anyway, he plowed a big plot, I’d say maybe 5 acres with what appeared to an 8N. The land is close to the creek that runs thru here, and probably has lots of rocks in it. But, he managed to get it turned and disced. So, yes, folks still use them.

About the only “blue” equipment I have is a 14" Dearborn two-bottom plow. Hard to say how old it is, but it seems to do the job. One of the coulter wheels seems stuck in one position, but that’s about it. That was the only implement we didn’t have on the farm when we got here. Her family had left a disc harrow, bush hog and grader blade. I found the plow online at a used farm supply lot about 45 miles from here. He wanted 280 for it, but he took 250 cash. I don’t think I overpaid for it, new plows seem to be really expensive. Tractor Supply store was selling a two bottom for $800! No thanks.

[Olpea]

That’s not a bad price for a two bottom Dearborn.

Here’s a story for you. Last year a guy up the road wanted to sell some equipment and sold me the bucket you can see on the back of my tractor for $30, a two bottom Dearborn for $20 and an old horse drawn planter for I think $50.

My wife was disappointed I bought more junk equipment. I wanted to keep the plow, but it was category one, and to repair the coulters and make it category two was too much money, so I sold it. The horse drawn planter I also sold to some guy in Texas. I kept the scoop for the back of my tractor, but it took a lot of time and expense to convert it to cat two and make it sturdy enough so my tractor wouldn’t mangle it.

[blueberrythrill]

Its my understanding that Ferrari makes the best orchard tractors. 90HP but only 5 feet wide! Short turning radius, very low clearance, all kinds of hydraulics and a cab with carbon filtered AC. The carbon filtered cab would be great with an airblast sprayer. Probably over 50K!

In a 30-50 HP compact 4 wheel drive utility tractor its hard to beat Kubota. I priced JD and other brands before I bought my Kubota a few years ago. Kubota saved me a bundle of money. I used my old 25HP Kubota for over 30 years. Never had any major problems and sold it for more money than I paid for it