What would be your choice for a good Tractor for total Rebuild?

[Retrofitters]

I'm taking on a project and would like to share my experience as I go thru the process of overhauling a tractor. My overall plan is to re-use an existing tractor (Standard/Wheatland Class initially with 2 wheel drive/small farm capacity). I will eventually be trying with 4-wheel drive versions for use with Front Loaders. I will be purchasing the tractor and replacing its motor. I do not have any opinions on brand loyalty one way or the other. I will be wanting to listen to the more experienced folks in here about what models of tractor you think would make a good candidate. Here are some criteria. If you think of any I might add, let me know:

1. Any Brand you favor and why
2. Parts availability for Brand/Model you like
3. Durability and Parts Availability for: PTO, Brakes, Suspension etc will be very important for future maintenance.
4. Motor and Transmission durability not an issue as I will be replacing these with new.
5. Ease of use for attachments
6. Weight balance and handling qualities of the model you favor

I will post my progress as I go along. The hope is that I can find one or several good designs that are plentiful ( I am in the Southeastern US if that matters). I want to create up to 6 of these tractors as a demonstration project. Any suggestions you have would be welcome. If you favor one brand ( or model within a brand) over another, please share why it matters to you.
Thank you
Retrofitters

 

[murphy1244]

A Massey Ferguson 135 or 150, Cause there's plenty of them around and parts are plentiful.

 

[skylarkguy]

Seems like the 1955 and up ford 600 800 etc would be good candidates. Because there are a lot of them. But i'm kind of confused you want to build 6 as a demonstration. But a demonstration if what?

 

[Retrofitters]

Sorry, I should have explained further. I had read about a lot of small towns with small budgets that had chosen to rebuild their fleet of police cars because it was less costly than replacing with new. This idea got traction back in '08 when the economy and public revenues went south. Given the super high cost of new tractors and equipment, I wanted to see if it could be done with standard spec tractors. (Think "Certified Used" or "Remanufactured" as a reference for what I'm thinking of here). The tractor models we chose to do this with will be important obviously because if a brand/model didn't sell well or has parts availability issues, it would not make a good candidate given we are wanting the tractors to have second lives.

 

[smstonypoint]

4. Motor and Transmission durability not an issue as I will be replacing these with new.

Just curious -- have you priced out new/re-manufactured engines and transmissions for any tractor models?

Steve

 

[Retrofitters]

No, I have not as of yet.

 

[Fawken]

There's already one place doing just that. V&N Tractors (if they're still around). They were rebuilding Mitsubishi tractors with cheap labor in Vietnam and bringing them here for resale. I've heard a few horror stories and when I looked at them I thought they were adding too much to the price and basically just adding Chinese FEL's to machines that originally did not have one.

 

[PILOON]

For good sources of repair parts stick to the MF 135 series or the Ford 8N types as there are many many sources for repair and replacement parts.
Also they enjoy a good following so resale is good.

BUT, if you want a FEL buy whatever with it installed, don't plan on adding later as that can cost you as much or more that the tractor you want to install it on.

 

[bigtiller]

It's much cheaper to buy one that someone else has already restored. But if you have the aptitude, time and money you're in for a great time and may even make some new friends.

The first in my list would be a john deere 4020. 270,000 of them were made. Next would be a farmall H. 390,000 of them were made.

 

[Sberry]

A 4020 is still a fairly usable tractor but this is going to be a hard way to make a buck.
Parts are expensive, engines are reliable but out of date for emmissions, you may fcus on the engine but most need all the lines replaced, new seats, they leak, new paint, front ends are crushed and tires start to add up.
Second, people do this for a hobby, as was mentioned you could buy them up way cheaper than remans, some nicer than when they were new.
3rd, a serious professional would know how involved and difficult this would be from several aspects. Anyone with the real ability besides hobby types probably wouldn't consider tis and wouldn't likely be soliciting this type of advice for it.
As was mentioned there are a couple that do it, they have long histories in the tractor and implement business. Most cores are already working, no one is going to shut it off to have an unknown tinker with it. Most that use this type of thing already have the capacity to deal with it if we wanted but real business doesn't *** around, they buy new with new features, new cabs, new safety, new rubber, the list goes on.
I can fix an old line which is still old after you paint it, so is every bushing and coupling. My neighbor is trying to sell a fair one now with decent paint and everyone thinks it should be near free.