Fastest Old Tractor to use on the road?

[4570Man]

Why the heck would you buy a tractor for road use? The fastest tractor is still slow, they don’t have the HP to pull any grade, they have terrible brakes, they don’t have good steering, most of the old ones don’t have a cab. A windshield and a heater is a nice feature.

 

[Industrial Toys]

I was always wondering why 2wd tractors (in this country anyway) never had brakes on the front wheels? I think, many people came to grief on account of that.

 

[Wagtail]

Why the heck would you buy a tractor for road use? The fastest tractor is still slow, they don’t have the HP to pull any grade, they have terrible brakes, they don’t have good steering, most of the old ones don’t have a cab. A windshield and a heater is a nice feature.

It's probably for a Vintage Tractor Rally... a quick Google says that there's at least one in Victoria.

That's one reason why he's specifically requested information on 'old' tractors. It's a hobby or a charity thing, no different than competition tractor pulls I would think.

 

[Gem99ultra]

G'day Just looking for opinions on the fastest older tractors for going long distance on big open road plains outback. Apparently Fordson dextas and chamberlains are the fastest but looking at others aswell (will be towing a 6x4 box trailer)
cheers

I agree with the Fordson Dextra... My old '60 Dexta with the 4 speed trans and 2 speed differential would go a LOT faster than I would ever want to go. And, with the granny 4 speed transmission, it could go much slower than a slow walk. yep - she was a good 'ole gal.

 

[pmsmechanic]

Any tractor can be made to go faster. Especially the older ones. A friend of mine pulled an old trailer with a pickup differential for an axle. The differential was hooked up to the pto and indecent road speeds were well within range. Just use some common sense when doing this though. We are not interested in reading an obituary.

 

[radios1]

years ago, vehicles of any type never had good brakes.. also, on a tractor, if you hit a good bump going fast, you could be thrown out of your seat, which is not a good thing.

 

[CobyRupert]

years ago, vehicles of any type never had good brakes.. also, on a tractor, if you hit a good bump going fast, you could be thrown out of your seat, which is not a good thing.

It always amazed me how often the standard was for old tractors to have no fenders. I'm thinking of the I-H, Farmalls, and John Deere A's & B's of the 40' and 50's.
Nothing to hang onto, especially on a sidehill, except the steering wheel. The Farmall's were the worst (IMHO) as their springy seat would almost launch you. At least Deer's "battery box" seat had a hand grab rail around it.

Only thing to hang on to was steering wheel, yet everything required taking hands off steering wheel (hand throttle, shifting lever, even hand clutch for the Johnny Poppers).

I wonder why the fender-less styling was like this, when earlier 30's era tractors (e.g McCormick Deering W30) probably had more fenders and sheet metal than any tractor since?
They had fenders on both inside and outside of tire, in some 30's art-deco styling, sheet metal that totally surrounded operator except for in back. I don't think operator could even see the wheels from the operator's seat.

 

[dieselscout80]

I for one always wish they would do away with the top get in most tractors and provide another gear in the working speeds.

I would not want to drive a tractor with worn steering parts at even 15 MPH.

I know I drove my FIL Case IH 7250 once down the road and while it was not new it was not like a old tractor and it still was a bit like hearing it done the road when towing a 32' cultivator.

 

[airbiscuit]

Several decades ago, my friend and I bought a pair old Farmall Hs about 40 miles from home. My Dad drove us over to pick them up, and we started on the lengthy drive home. I used the old trick of pushing in the clutch to freewheel down hills to pick up speed. My dad was ahead of us in a truck, and on one particularly nice hill, I was picking up speed nicely. The problem is that it was a verrry long hill and quite steep, with deep ditches on the sides.

I knew I was approaching too fast a speed, so I gently let out the clutch. The engine hit RPMs akin to a NASCAR race car, so the clutch went back in and the speed continued to increase. I knew steering brakes are seldom balanced, so I lightly touched them, and the tractor careened sharply Right, so scratch Plan B. The steering gear was typically worn, so I was steering like crazy just to keep the thing straight.

Just when I thought things couldn't get worse, I realized I was rapidly approaching the back pf my Dad's truck. He was a farmer, so seldom drove over 45mph and seldom checked his rear view mirror. Mercifully, This time he did check the mirror and hit the gas. Halfway up the next hill we all stopped, and he gave my friend and I a lecture (something he rarely did) about how unsafe that was. I think he was unnerved by what could have happened. Near as I can tell, I was doing 45mph on a Farmall H tricycle with worn steering.

I learned my lesson that day.

 

[dannoGT]

I was over in Germany a couple of years ago and many farms utilize large tractors the same way we would use a semi (large truck) large Fendt tractors pulling trailers on the highway. (Not on the autobahn) the trailers are all set up with brakes and lights and they move! 40-45 mph (70kph) I have seen the big JCB Fastrac on the highways in Ireland at 80kph towing trailer with cultivators on back.