After 32 Years of Blue ...

[Bird]

I had never even heard of a David Brown tractor until 5 years ago, and now I know two people in my area who have them.

Bird

[scruffy]

Congratulations! Into each life, a little orange must fall!

[dullpain]

JYH Congratulations - You'll love it

Let me know how long it takes you to get used to it. I have 15 hrs. on mine and I'm still reaching for reverse between my legs instead of the Shuttle lever on dash. I can't figure out what that bucket looking thing on the front of mine (or yours) is used for???????

[JYH]

It wasn't easy to part with either the Ford or the David Brown. I talked about the 3000 in my first post. Here's the story on the DB.

The DB was about 12 years old when we bought it. Had a lot of hours and wear on it. We found it six years ago and paid $6500. My brother, father (when he was alive), cousin, and I spent many hours tinkering with the engine, the hydraulics, and electrical system to keep it running. But, it was the only tractor that could pull our haybine and the Woods field mower.

When it was running, it was a joy to drive! Power steering and brakes were much more responsive than the Ford, and could it ever pull! But it ran hot, the engine would only brake when going downhill in 3 of the 12 gears, and you had to count on about 30-60 minutes of fiddling with it everytime you went to use it. None of the local dealers could supply parts or service for it. Sort of like the family you marry into -- we learned to live with its idiosyncracies.

But I started seriously thinking about getting rid of it earlier this year when right rear wheel fell off. This was a good sized tire -- fluid-filled (89 gallons) and tall as your shoulder (18.9 x ??).

I was driving along and heard a "clunking" sound. I slowed down to creep speed and tried to hear if the sound was inside the axle or what? With the next turn of the wheel the tire/rim fell off! Luckily the inner wheel disk caught on the rim and kept the tractor upright -- otherwise I could either have been flung out of my seat or (worse) pinned underneath.

I set the brakes and got off very carefully. Turns out the power adjust bead on the rim and the brackets that held the rim to the inner disk had worn down to the point it just slipped out. Thank God I was not on a steeper slope, going full speed, dragging some equipment, etc. etc.

When I finally located replacement parts CASE quoted me $700 just for the brackets. After much internet surfing I found a place in Kentucky (Pleasant Valley Farm in Pleasantville) that had many David Browns put out to pasture. They were great to deal with. Knew exactly what I needed and sent me five used brackets and hardware for $75. For another $300 we got the tire refilled, flipped the tread around so we could use an unworn part of the power adjust bead on the rim, and remounted.

By this time four months had gone by, haying season was long past and the fields were tall and brown. The DB was up and working, but the trust was gone. Even though it was easy to drive and the wheels were now firmly attached, I didn't feel comfortable operating the tractor. With no ROPS and the tricks to keeping it running I didn't want to put my wife and daughters into a position where they would have to put themselves at risk. So it was time to bite the bullet and look into a new tractor that could handle our chores while giving some measure of safety.

Looked at the JD, NH, MF -- quality and price gave the edge to Kubota. So far, with less than 10 hours, I'm real happy with it.

Sorry for the long post. Just wanted you to know it wasn't an easy choice -- my heart said "keep it - there's a lot of life left in that tractor" but my head said "its got to go." Here's another angle that shows the David Brown in line with the M5700 and the Ford 3000.

John

[dullpain]

Maybe JYH means Pleasant Hill Farm Supply, In Pleasureville , KY. If so the attached gives all the info.

I have used these people in the past for used parts. Fast, courteous, honest representation. Not trying to read your mind John or edit your posts. Could you confirm or deny if this is where you got the David Brown parts?.

At any rate if you have the need here is the info.

[JYH]

McCallum's got it right. Sorry for the screw up on the names. Pleasant Hill Farm Supply (Pleasureville, KY) were very good people to deal with and worth getting their name right! They were generous with answering my David Brown questions as well as tracking down the right parts.

John