Massey Ferg 240 for John Deere 850?

[HD Labs]

1986 Massey Ferguson 240 with unknown hours, needs new rear tires, Power steering not working....runs good and strong though
Trade in offered is $3500 on a

1987 John deere 850 with 500 hours. price 7000 or so.

Will the 850 be able to do most of what the 240 can, just in compact size? I need slightly smaller tractor for ease of hauling to hunt club to do food plots.
Pull a 5 ft bush hog and a 24 lenbach set of discs medium duty......would consider eventually buying a pto tiller for smaller tractor though....also plant about 2-3 acres of corn and garden.

Any and all advice appreciated regarding this trade.
Thanks.

[MIKE R]

Sounds Fair. You should be able to get a little more on the Massey. The 850 will be lighter then the Massey but should do all the same tasks fairly well.

[D7E]

I'd sell the deere and buy the MF

[HD Labs]

Would a JD 950 be that much better than 850. I'm in no huge hurry just want to make sure I can find what I'm looking for when I sell the massey?
What is fair asking price on private sell for Massey? Like I said, hours unknown, needs boot in rear tires or newer tires, power steering doesn't work.....other than that it runs good......its just too big to haul on trailer with implements to hunt club so smaller tractor makes more sense to me......just don't want to have to get all new implements either.
help.......please and thank you.

[Rock knocker]

deere 850's and 950's are good tractor, but some parts are getting a little difficult to find. The 850 may be a tad small for a 5' cutter.

I don't know anything about the MF, but I would imagine it's parts situation is not entiely different than JD's.

[teampryor]

you should be more concerned with replacement parts availability with the deere, i would reccomend finding a newer model for that reason alone. 10 more hp would make a more capable tractor, if you are going for a lighter model.

[HD Labs]

What about JD 970? 1996 model for 8000 dollars. low hours?

[crashz]

My 770 pulls a 5 ft bush hog just fine, even on demanding terrain. An 850, 870 or 970 will be fine with the cutter. Not sure on the disks though.

I assume all the JD's will be 4x4.

[PandDLong]

I ran an 850 for 10 years. Used a 5' bush hog without any issues but if the grass was very tall (eg. 30"+) and heavy I'd need to slow down or take a smaller cut - never used it on actual bushes or saplings just tall grass. I ran a 55" tiller without any problems. For ground engagement, the challenge was traction, I had wheel weights and ballast but pulling discs aggressively was not an option - I have a 60" set of disks (I believe there is only 16 discs in the two gangs on mine) and it works fine if you manage the angle, speed properly for the soil/turf.

Parts were never a problem and I got a few over the years - typically they were not in stock at my dealer but in a couple of days they would arrive. I believe that parts availability for old models is a JD strength.

[HD Labs]

What would be fair asking price private sell for the MF 240?

What about Trade - in value?