What Older Reliable Tractor for Small Farm?

[arodrigz]

What do you guys think about this one? It is not the multi-power version but obviously not a beauty queen either. Owner is asking $4500. I've sent a bunch of questions but have not heard back yet.

 

[motownbrowne]

Personally, I'd be more inclined to buy a gasser if I were you. It sounds like you won't be using it particularly often, and those old gas tractors usually fire right up. Also, they start much better in the cold than the old diesels. I'd try to find something with rear tires in good shape, they can cost a pretty penny. If you are stuck on a diesel, that one looks like it'll work hard for years and then still be worth what you pay for it.

 

[GManBart]

There are a lot of candidates, but I'd definitely be looking at old Masseys and Fords. The one obvious thing is to look out for decent machines with bad tires...that'll kill your budget in a heartbeat.

Two that would interest me (just a coincidence they're both Fords):

Ford 841...you can still get pretty much any part for this machine, and it has plenty of power (62hp). You could probably sell the loader to lower your cost. It doesn't have the Select-O-Shift that you want to avoid (expensive repairs).
FORD 841D(diesel) TRACTOR W/LOADER,GRADER BLADE AND BUSH HOG

Newer Ford 4000 (54hp) with new looking tires...might get him to come down a bit to $4K....it's a LOT of tractor for the money.
ford 4000 diesel tractor

 

[jenkinsph]

What do you guys think about this one? It is not the multi-power version but obviously not a beauty queen either. Owner is asking $4500.

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If it runs good and all the drivetrain is good I would give it some consideration. My biggest concern from the picture is the rear wheels look pretty bad and might need replacing due to calcium filled tires. Most of the sheet metal looks good so a good clean up and paint job would help the looks a lot.

 

[Loadstar]

Whatever a good dealer carries around you. At my house and our land a couple hours away I would limit myself to about three brands. The dairy farm I help out has taught me this. They had a few maseys and agco tractors we truly believe were great machines however the support locally is terrible. Those machines are done because of it. Even in older stuff it helps to have a little backup.

 

[flusher]

What do you guys think about this one? It is not the multi-power version but obviously not a beauty queen either. Owner is asking $4500. I've sent a bunch of questions but have not heard back yet.

My 135 looked like that 175 when I bought it--rode hard and put away wet.
Check the bottom of the clutch housing. There should be a weep hole there with a loose fitting cotter pin installed. Clean off the dirt around the hole and check for any fluid leakage. A few drops is normal. A steady flow may be due to seal problems in the engine or transmission.
Check the operation of the 2-stage clutch. Look for leakage at the pto seal on the rear of the engine. Start the engine and observe the color of the smoke (blue=burning out, white=water leak into the cylinders, black=fuel system problem). If the tractor continues to smoke after the engine is warmed up, it may have a considerable problem.

If you really want a $4K tractor with 40-70 hp, be prepared to do the repairs yourself. Hope you have the tools and shop equipment to handle major repairs. If you've never split a tractor before, you might want to rethink spending money on this type of old iron.

Good luck.

 

[Farmerjonathan]

I gave $3,400.00 for my Oliver 1650 gas with wide front end, three point hitch and a bush hog hooked to it. Put a loader on it and man is it a power house and stable.

 

[murphy1244]

Paid 2500.00 for my 67 Massey Ferguson 135 with 2 stage clutch and power steering.

 

[sd455dan]

Paid $3850 for my 1967 ford 3000- but it is a Select-o-Speed (but came with $1800 receipts from local new Holland dealer for trans rebuild) and a factory loader, power steering, and good 14.9 loaded R1s .

Parts are getting hard if not impossible to find for the SOS

the 4 speed with 2 ranges is a good bet also in a 2000 ,4000

The Mfs are great tractors to... Good Luck

 

[super55]

Your in Big Ag land so finding one shouldn't be too bad especially in a month or so when everyone is cleaning out their barns and deciding its time to sell that old tractor in the corner.

Ones that I would look at would be Oliver Super 55 or 550, AC D-15 thru 17, MF 135 or 235, International 404 or 504, Ford 860 and 960. As Dan said as well as other posters the parts for SOS transmissions are getting hard to find. Clutches, Brakes, Seals and bearings are all readily available for all makes through places like Steiner tractor parts, ebay and other online parts stores.

These are all in about the 40 hp range and should run a small triple or definitely a double bottom plow. If you planning on tilling about 2-3 acres it should suffice. If you are looking at going larger you will want to probably step up and go with a tractor with rear remotes running larger implements.

I paid $2500 for my oliver Super 55 and it has been a great tractor. Roughly 35 hp which sounds light on the HP side but it does everything I need it to do. I run a pto manure spreader, 8' grain drill, JD 290 planter, 8' lime/seed drop spreader, 6' bush hog, 6 1/2' double gang disc, and 2-14 double bottom plow and it doesn't struggle in the least with any of them. Bought all this stuff off Craigslist in the last 5 years or so and have less than 4k invested including the tractor.

I put in about 3 acres of food plots and personally for me I don't need anything larger.


Search craigslist in your area when you find something that might work look it up on tractordata.com and go to youtube and search with the model and make. There are tens of thousands of videos of people working their tractors on that site.