Better to buy old industrial tractor or Ag tractor?

[RickB]

Good strategy. I’m still liking that Ford 340B.:thumbsup:

 

[kc5dlo]

I bought a Case 570 with loader and box blade to move a lot of dirt for a pond. It has been a great tractor with the only fault being no PTO. A PTO was available as an option but not on mine. Since my dirt work is done for the most part I will probably try to replace with a sub compact.

 

[Sawyer Rob]

Many industrials don't even have a pto...

SR

 

[Larry Caldwell]

If you ever get around to the tillage, it's rare to find an industrial tractor with draft control. Tilling without draft control is a PITA. You are better off to ignore the 3-point and go back to 1950s drawbar implements.

 

[RickB]

Many industrials don't even have a pto...

SR

If you ever get around to the tillage, it's rare to find an industrial tractor with draft control. Tilling without draft control is a PITA. You are better off to ignore the 3-point and go back to 1950s drawbar implements.

The 340B is actually classified as a Utility tractor. It will have an industrial loader with crankshaft driven pump, a fixed arch cast iron front axle with good strength and ground clearance. It would be unusual for a 340B to not have 3 point with draft control and independent PTO.

 

[BrokeFarmerJohn]

If you sell it for $24K and pay off your $13K, that leaves you $11K ahead. So a decent used machine and a few repairs and you'll have a machine and $0K owed. One less debt to worry about. :thumbsup:

I wanted to pay down on other stuff, the tractor isn’t all I owe. If that was it, I would keep it.

One reason I had my eye on the 340B was because it’s just as strong as my 4320, stronger than many other physically larger machines and I can buy one for 6-8k range. I also wanted a tractor that sat lower for stability reasons since I’m not working fields with it.

It doesn’t have to be a 340B, that tractor just fit what I was looking for.

• Power steering.
• Synchronized transmission
• powerful yet fast loader
• heavy for the size which helps the 2wd loader work
• open station, I don’t want another cabbed tractor. My personal opinion, older cabs aren’t that nice anyway.

They also made a 540B, similar size, just more HP. But I can’t find one within 150miles of me lol.

 

[LD1]

There is a 340 on out local c-list but it's in freaking Kansas.

I'm not sure about the tractordata specs on the 340b. They list the tractor-only at 4600#. That I believe.

But add the 745 loader makes it a 9100# tractor???? Sure the loader is heavy-ish. But I don't believe it's that heavy.

Adding the 12' backhoe only adds another 2400# and brings a TLB up to 11.5k.

I am more inclined to believe the loader is 2400# and the hoe is 4500. Meaning the tractor loader combo is probably closer to 7000#. But someone more knowledgeable on the older Ford's or has some old literature can probably she'd more light.

I see quite a few old internationals 40-60hp range with loaders too from time to time. Usually right around your price range for the 340 as well. The 574/584 or 674/684 we're good machines

 

[JamesHW]

With a similar budget I considered a used tractor originally for our farm but decided on a BCS walk behind for a number of reasons;

Was able to purchase new w/ warranty (seasonal home with no barn or workshop, so lack of time or place to tinker with or store an older machine)

Budget allowed a nice sturdy Amish shed large enough for the BCS and other tools etc.

The BCS walk behind size allows me to brush mow in between trees around the house no larger tractor could fit.

Less compaction of soil on our Ag field than with a larger machine.

The Honda engine is easy to work on or replace if it ever comes to that.

Rolling hills where a lot of the trails (total of about 2 miles worth, mostly old pony trails my mom rode as a child) I want to keep clear are located would be dangerous for a standard 4-wheel tractor.

We are very pleased so far. Last fall I cleared our 6 acre Ag field in about 10 hours (over a few days) that had become overgrown with saplings and thick brush and brambles over three years. Still working out what additional implements to add to the brush mower, subsoiler & v-cultivator. Looking at some combo of a power harrow (maybe w/ seeder) flail mower & rotary plow to complete the Ag implements that are where the walk behind tractors shine for a market garden project such as ours.

The OP mentions moving moving round bales, road maintenance and minor dirt work and the 2-wheel falls short obviously. In my case I really do not have a lot of heavy lifting or soil moving other than some minor low spots in my field I may want to fill. For what I spent on my setup I maybe could have afforded a crapped out larger machine, few implements and no place to store it.

Note that a walk-behind such as our BCS 853 definitely is not for everyone (duh), especially brush mowing on uneven ground. At 66 I have considerable upper body strength and size, but someone with a smaller frame could definitely struggle on uneven ground. Mowing or tilling on the flat field is cake and the machine can be controlled with one hand.

 

[BrokeFarmerJohn]

There is a 340 on out local c-list but it's in freaking Kansas.

I'm not sure about the tractordata specs on the 340b. They list the tractor-only at 4600#. That I believe.

But add the 745 loader makes it a 9100# tractor???? Sure the loader is heavy-ish. But I don't believe it's that heavy.

Adding the 12' backhoe only adds another 2400# and brings a TLB up to 11.5k.

I am more inclined to believe the loader is 2400# and the hoe is 4500. Meaning the tractor loader combo is probably closer to 7000#. But someone more knowledgeable on the older Ford's or has some old literature can probably she'd more light.

I see quite a few old internationals 40-60hp range with loaders too from time to time. Usually right around your price range for the 340 as well. The 574/584 or 674/684 we're good machines

There is a 340 for sale on FB or CL for $6,000 right now, they are quite rare and weren’t made very long. But they had many problems, I would be going after the 340B tractors. There is a couple for sale right now within 60 miles to Columbus around 7k

They made that tractor with a cab, the cab TLB would prob weigh a lot but it’s really hard to believe the weights Tractor data posted. I can’t see the loader being more than 1500lbs. The Ford 4400’s loader is 1495lbs and it’s around the same size tractor just older.

They also made a 540, 540A & 540B. Same wights posted for those on tractor data.

 

[BrokeFarmerJohn]

This was the only one that meets the guidelines (no cab), but has more hours then I like. 2955

The only way it fits in my barn is I have to take off the rops. They are 91” tall, my door is only 84in tall.