Search results

I’ve always heard, that it is is best to build bigger than you think you need from the start, rather than add on later. I would have loved to have ran the side porch of my new pole barn, the full 50 ft length. That would have given me plenty of covered storage space for firewood, and wouldnt...

You can never have too much covered storage area, that’s for sure. I recently replaced (2) old post and beam barns that my great great grandfather built in the late 1800’s with a pole barn. I’d have liked to have saved those old barns, but the roofs and foundations were failing and it would...

I don’t care for atv’s. Other machines can do most of the jobs they do, sometimes much better. I traded my old truck camper for a Dodge Durango, that wouldn’t pass state inspection. The enclosed and heated cab is very nice when it’s cold or rainy. The ac dont work on it, but the power windows...

With diesel costing over $ 2 per gallon more than gas right now, it makes sense to use gas tractors. I think we will see that difference tighten way up by the spring. The reason for the big difference right now, is that we are at the point of maximum demand for heating oil. That is...

My neighbor wheeled this Homelite 3100 psi model with 5 hp Honda out to the trash about 10 years ago. It was missing an air filter and cover and the nozzle was shot. I wheeled it over to my house and bought a new air cleaner and cover for it. My brother gave me an extra nozzle that he had...

My field tractors (John Deere, Ford, and IH) are all gear. They do ground engaging work and occasional heavy pto work. For lawn mowing (I only cut 1 acre) I have (2) riders that are each about 15 hp gas powered. One is gear and the other is hydro. The vast majority of the time, I use the...

When it comes time to decide between a hydro and gear transmission, think of the letter “L” for the hydro. They are better for lawn mowing, loader work, and landscaping. For most other usage, especially ground engaging work and work that requires lots of pto power, the gear is better.

I have been plugging away at the rubble pile all summer. I got all of the asphalt shingles (there were 4 layers on top of 2 layers of cedar) off and onto a big pile, and most oh the un-rotted wood recovered. I still need to pull out a few more hand hewn beams and sawed white oak rafters...

My whole shop is 2300 sqft, but I just insulated that small woodshop (2nd picture)under the loft. I also have an adjoining 10 x 12 x 7.5 ft high metal shop (1st picture) under that loft, that is not heated and open to the inside. I can’t wait to see how that little electric heater works...

I used a kerosene heater in my old shop and I didn’t like it much. I thought about wood with the new one but went with propane (one of those little burners that hooks to a bottle and has low, medium, and high settings) . That works ok on low, when it is real cold outside, but it quickly gets...

I need to winterize my boat and shove if it the back of the barn, so I can move my field car (Dodge Durango) in front of it. I need to put the snowplow on the back of my tractor and move that out under the barn side porch, where I plug the block heater into an outlet that is switched from in...

I will ask my wife to get me some of those for Christmas. There is some junk in the back corner of the barn, that I’d like to sort thru this winter, and that extra light would be good for that. I also plan on enclosing the back porch, where I installed another ceramic fixture. The second...

I wired my 36 x 50 x 12 pole barn this spring. I certainly didn’t overdo it with the lighting, but what I installed works very well. The main space has (3) overhead ceramic fixtures, in which I installed 60 watt eq LED bulbs (Walmart had those on sale for $ 3 for a 4-pack). The main space also...

Amazon had them. One nice thing about the Ford n’s, is that they were produced in larger numbers than any other make/model tractor. For that reason, they have the best parts availability.

We have not had a lot of rain over most of the summer, here near the Canadian border, in upstate NY. I only got in a couple acres of RR corn this spring, but it looks ok. It got the rain when it needed it. The deer are hitting it pretty hard now. A couple of inches of rain, over the last two...

Dad repainted the JD M, but my old Ford is still in its “work clothes”. It earned its pay today, getting in the last of my food plots for the year (wheat / clover) Still has all the original 1952 Goodyear tires also. They don’t make them like that anymore.

Good advice and I would add that it’s not all about money, and the best things in life are free. I am 57 years old and have been operating tractors, on our family farms, since about the time that I could walk. The first tractor I operated was the 1950 John Deere model M, which was the first...

The local dealer has about 20 new tractors in stock, in the 20-50 hp range, and only one has a loader on it. My father in law had to wait about 6 months for one for his new Kubota, about a year ago. Is this a complete failure of the “just in time”, lean manufacturing system ?

I am surprised how tightly the Durango corners. I have one trail section, where a bridge over a creek and a culvert over a deep ditch, are quite close. I couldn’t come close to making that turn, with my old standard cab, 8 ft bed Silverado pickup let alone my newer one with an extended cab...

My old “sweetcorn fetcher”, the little JD LT-150, has just about had it. I hope to get about 10 years out of the Durango for that purpose. It runs like it has a lot of life left in it. With 4 wheel drive, it is much better at traversing rough terrain.

My Durango came with 1/4 tank of 2-year old gas in tank. It is starting and running good on that, but I will probably pour in 5 gallons of fresh stuff after the price drops off a little more next week. It has the V-6 engine and 148k likes showing on the odometer.

Mine has the V-6. Everything works good on it except for the AC and the back hatch. The latch is rusted out on the hatch and I use a bungi-cord, to the hitch reciever, to keep it closed. It also has a slow electrical draw, so I need to disconnect the positive terminal on the battery to...

That’s what my father in law did with my old 3/4 to Chevy, standers cab 4x4. It is still registered and now passes inspection with no issue. I still used it for hunting in the fall up at his place and he uses it year round. The air conditioner just quit on it this spring. It still worked...

I almost had a 4wd pickup truck for a field car during the 5 year gap. The frame got rusted out on my 2000 Silverado, to the point that it wouldn’t pass state inspection. I was all set to pull the tags and move it to the field, but my father in law wanted it as a snowplow truck up at his...

I would see if I could get my wife to agree with giving 25 % of what was left, after Uncle Sam gets his piece, to our church. Then I would pay off all our debt and the kids college costs. I would quit my day job, and spend more time hunting and fishing. We would travel a bit, maybe even to...

I have always liked having field cars around, and I had one for most of the 22 years that I have owned the family farm. That probably goes back to when my grandad rode me around in his Ford model A “jalopi” , before I learned to walk. He had chains on the back tires for traction, an open cab...

Our Avalon Mission wood stove does a great job heating our 2000 sq ft L-shaped ranch house, up north near the Canadian border. The colder it gets outside, the better that wood heat feels, inside the house. It makes living here thru the winter very comfortable. I like the glass doors on...

Sorry to hear about your engine trouble. Reading this reminded me to service the fuel filter on my 17 year old diesel tractor. I bought it new and have only drained the water from the filter one time, maybe (5) years ago. It still has the original fuel filter on it. The tractor is a John...

That is what I do when I need to pull something real heavy with my largest tractor (JD 4120 with loaded R1 tires). One snatch block, a big tree, and some 1/2” wire rope can work wonders. I resently pulled down a big old timber framed barn, that my great great grandad built in 1883, like...

I just pulled down an old 36’ wide x 46’ long x 16’ wall barn, that my great great grandad had built in 1883, using the cross drawbar hitch on my JD 4120. I used a 1/2” wire rope thru a snatch block, attached to a big tree on the other end to double my pull. It dropped very easy, with the...

They really are a great tractor if you use them for what they are best at. I nearly sold mine a few years ago when it was running rough, due to the worn out distributer, and I first noticed the rusted area on the one rear rim. I am very thankful now that I didn’t, now that I can get gas for...

Good luck with your 8n. One of those was the first tractor that I ever bought (from the original owner). He put 1200 hours on it, it’s first 36 years, and I put 800 on it the last 34 years. It has always been stored inside, and it still has the original paint and rubber, and most of the...

Definitely sounds like your slip clutch was locked up. I bought a new 5 ft medium duty Bushhog for my 43 pto hp tractor last year, and the slip clutch was locked up on it. Fortunately, it has a 60 hp gearbox on it, and all I did was stall the engine on my tractor, when I hit a big stump. I...

Horsepower is irrelevant, you could likely push a boulder that weighs about 3/4 of what your tractor does, using your loader bucket, if your tractor is 4wd.

The only thing that I would have changed on my new metal building, were it not for the proximity of my great great grandfathers last old wood barn, is the size of the porch on the left. The old wood barn was in horrible shape. It was well beyond saving without investing a small fortune. It...

I put up a 36’ wide x 50’ long x 12’ tall metal sided and roofed building with (2) 10’ wide x 25’ long covered porches in 2018. Prior to that, I had kept all my “stuff” in (2) old 36’ wide x 46’ long x 16’ wall post and beam barns that my great great grandad had built in 1883. Knowing how...

Slug passed well forward of guts. A tree was blocking his front end so I put that slug a bit further back than I would have preferred but it still passed forward of the diaphragm and put him down after a 50 yards sprint. One advantage of a far back double lung shot like that is that very little...

My wife and I have been married 20 years, raised 2 kids, and have never bought ground beef. We all prefer ground venison, which I can usually get for under $ 1 per pound, after subtracting all input costs (hunting license, ammo, food plot fertilizer, and fuel). Not only is that “free range”...

No

With diesel so much more expensive than gas this year, I am thankful to still have an old gas tractor. Most years, the higher efficiency of a diesel gives it the edge. Depending on the operation, I have got more acres per fuel dollar out of my gas tractor this spring. I certainly wouldn’t...

I don’t heat the pole barn where I store it and we are way up north, where it gets below zero quite often over the winter. I have some big square iron weights and my plan now is to drill a couple of them to fit a wheel adapter I have and add to that side with some threaded rod and nuts/washers...

I finished up my spring plowing today, with just one loaded rim (the left - sod side). It worked almost as good on the 2 bottom plow as it always did with two loaded rear rims. The soil moisture content was just about perfect today, which probably helped out a bit.

I put my bush hog to use yesterday, for the first time since freeing up the slip clutch this spring, and it seems like it is now working just as it should. I chopped up about 3 acres of standing corn stalks with it and mowed a few lanes. A few times, when I bottomed out the blades, I could...

I don’t think we will have to put up with this regen bs too much longer. Once they figure out that it costs more fuel to do it, and that puts more CO2 in the atmosphere, they will come up with a better solution. Hopefully, I can get my pre Tier 4 tractors to last until that happens. There...

I can often get that for under $ 1 per pound after subtracting all input costs in upstate NY.

I may get the same one for my 2005 4120, because I really ain’t happy with how fast the NAPA legend, that I put in it last fall, is cranking it. It could also be the starter I suppose. I replaced the OEM Bosh starter with an aftermarket “Powerstrike”, back around 2010, because the original had...

The maintenance guy at my last job plumbed the whole shop air with grey schedule 80 pvc. After the 3rd or 4th blowout, the boss made him pull it all out and replace with iron. It was a big shop with multiple buildings so there was a lot of it. Rather than throwing it in the dumpster, I told...

I used an old 1980 100 amp CH box that had originally been installed in our house, out in our new pole barn. We had added an addition to the house many years ago, and upgraded to a 200 amp service and panel at that time. That old box had the neutral and ground bus bars linked and grounded to...

I put a NAPA legend battery in my 2005, JD 4120 last winter. I had to add a 5/8” thick plywood spacer below, to get the height right, but it has been working ok. I kept my old battery, which was about 5 years old and I purchased it from TSC. It had been cranking slow in the cold. Now...

I did a similar wiring job in my new pole barn. I ran 10-3 ufb cable from an unused 30 amp circuit in the house, thru a 2” pvc conduit I had burried during the build, to a 100 amp sub panel in the barn. I put in (2) 20 amp circuits for outlets, (2) 15 amp circuits for lighting, and (1) 30 amp...

The two that I took down were each 36 ft wide x 46 ft long with 16 ft high walls. Both had 12 ft wide lofts on one end with a granery and livestock stables below. There was big double swinging doors on both sides of the center 12 ft wide sections, so we could pull hay wagons right through and...

This is the loft and workshops in the new barn. Note that I spaced the loft floor beams at half the distance that they were in the old barns. I learned my lesson there and am not going to have hay bales (or lumber) crush this one.

It was kind of sad pulling down the last of the old barns yesterday. I still have lots of cleanup to do, but the skyline of our farm is different this morning. I am going to save as much of the 9” square and 6” square hand-hewn posts and beams as I can, cutting them into 10 ft lengths and...

I bought a new Bush Hog, Medium-duty, 5 ft near the end of the season last year. I did not service the clutch at all last year (probably only put about 20 hours on it) but it seemed to be too tight. One time, I backed into a big stump that I did not see and it stalled my 43 hp tractor. This...

Years ago I had an old 1939 Ford 9n. They had an electric starter but you could also insert a hand crank in the front to start it in a pinch. Cutting wood one fall in the woodlot the battery was weak and I was cranking it until I had a chance to replace it. Actually cranking was not a big deal...

I smoked some whitefish that I caught ice fishing with apple wood one time. That was the best fish I ever had.

Thanks, it is a fun tractor to work with. It is mostly all original including paint and tires. It just turned 2000 hours, but has always been stored inside, so the rubber is in decent shape and the rears still have over half their tread remaining. I bought it from the widow of the original...

I’d say the paint. If it’s not green, then I would shop somewhere else.

1951 Ford, splitting cherry, my favorite wood to burn.

Our family raised cattle on the same ground for 7 generations, starting well before the Civil war. My dad and his brother sold the last of them, after my grandpa passed away in 1981. He died of a heart attack, while grinding feed, out behind the barn. I have some fond memories of those days...

Thanks Thanks, thats good to know. I’ll wheel the table over to the other side of the porch, and let the chips fly out onto the grass, or at least as far as my welder cables reach. It will also be harder to ignite that little strip of pressure treated lumber under the steel siding and above...

I plan on the same, weather permitting. I made my table small and portable enough to move inside if necessary, but most of the time it will be under the this covered porch:

Reading this thread got me worried about burning my new pole barn down, so I made up a steel welding table. I used some junk from my scrap pile, and it took me about an hour. The top is a piece of heavy steel c-channel about 12” wide x 30” long. The front legs are angle iron. The back legs...

I rebuilt an old, 8 ft single row cultipacker about 15 years ago. Both bearings were shot, one cast iron side frame was busted beyond repair, and two of the iron wheels were broke. The price was right (1 case of cheap beer). I cut the worn ends off the shaft and replaced both cast iron side...

I have been doing the same thing with my pole barn. The shell (36’ x 50’ x 12’ with (2) 25’ x 10’ porches) went up in 2018. There were (2) 36’ x 46’ x 16’ post and beam barns on the site, that my great great grandfather put up in 1883. They had considerable foundation damage and the roofs...

There are two old Ford tractors on my road, that have not ran in almost a year. One looks like a 9n. It has a faded “for sale” sign on it. Last spring, one of the original rear rims rusted out on my 51 8n. I called the guy about it, about a week after he pushed it out by the road. It had a...

Thanks for the reminder. I need to finish up my cultipacker cut-down / refurbishment project. I have tried other methods (dragging a log, atv tires, etc) over at my parents place (about 15 miles away) but they don’t work nearly as good as the cultipacker that I use at home. I would love to...

I am cold blooded I guess, and I don’t think I could survive south of around Gettysburg PA. One of the keys to surviving the winter up here, near the Canadian border, is a woodstove. Even though it’s close to zero outside right now, it is comfortable and about 80 inside.

JI got to fire up the tractor (after a couple hours of running the block heater) and plow later this morning. See what I mean about doors on the sides and snow:

One option, is to put the doors on the ends of the main building, and porches off each side. That will bring your gutters down to a more reasonable height, to keep clean as you get older, plus give you a lot more handy storage space. When I finish dismantling the last old timber frame...

0- $78,000 depending on model and condition.

I have always owned pickups. My first was a 2wd, next 3 were 4wd, and my current one is a 2wd. I only miss the 4wd a day or two a year, when we have enough snow to make the drive to work tough. We just don’t get enough snow anymore, here in western NY, to justify driving a 4wd year round...

I ordered a new rear rim for my 8n Ford tractor from there, and it was priced comparable or just slightly more than other on-line sources, and it arrived within a couple days of my placing the order. I also ordered a package deal that included two new inner tubes, in case I punctured one in the...

I keep my snow plowing tractor under a porch on a pole-barn next to our house. I have a 20 amp, duplex outlet in the basement, which is controlled by a switch at the end of our “boat-bar”. A 12 volt a-c adapter is plugged into one of those outlets, and that powers the bow light on the boat. A...

My wife did the same with me, about 20 years ago. I always split by hand before that, but I do love the hydraulic splitter. I am in better shape now than I was 20 years ago, because that hand splitting was tough on the joints, and it was asymmetric (I always split right handed). I still...

My father in law gave me an old “made in USA” Buck 110, that he found at a flea market, about 10 years ago. When I hunt at his retirement home, up in the Adirondacks, I always carry that knife. I used it on a deer up there this past October. It works ok for that, but I prefer my old Schrade...

This little Imperial is my every day carry. I have had it about 10 years now, which is a record for that service with me, by a long shot. I lost if several times, but it has always found its way home. The longest absence was about 3 months when I lost it while ice fishing up at my in-laws...

Loaded rear tires and a block heater are the only options that I added the last time I bought a new tractor (in 2005). I have not regretted either of those, nor have I regretted not adding any other option.

Interesting read, and I wish you the best with your red tractor. I was in a similar position (looking for a new tractor) about 15 years ago. Mahindra was one that I considered back then, mostly because my dad had a couple friends who had recently acquired dealerships nearby (in upstate NY)...

I bought a new 4120 in 2005 and it had been great. I am very thankful to have bought it when you could still get an American made , pre tier 4, JD power tech engine . JD has long had the best part support of any tractor manufacturer. I am more confident in continued availability of parts for...

I have owned and/or operated several of each of those. The first tractor that I ever operated was the 1950 2 cylinder John Deere M that my grandpa bought to replace his last team horses. That one is still going strong and my retired father uses it in his garden on occasion. My other...

9n’s were mostly made from 1939 to 1941, 2n’s were mostly made from 1942 to 1947, and 8n’s were mostly made from 1948 to 1952. The model number comes from the last didget of the year the first one was made. There could be some overlap on the first and last year of each model. There are also...

Maybe, after I retire from my day job in about 10 years, I will develop a little more appreciation for cabbed tractors. Right now, you couldn’t pay me to own one. 45 hours week in a heated and air conditioned office is way more than enough for me. I live for the after work and weekend “outside...

2005 JD 4120 (43 hp). Compared with Kubota GL 4330 (I think) and NH td 40 ? . Price was same as Kubota but hydraulic flow and lift height were more. NH was just a smidge cheaper but had significantly less lift height, hydraulic flow, and 3 less hp. The made in America power plant on the JD...

I bought, what I expect will be the last new tractor I will need, back in 2005. That was just the second new tractor purchased on this farm, since my great great great grandad homesteaded it before the Civil war. My grandad replaced his last team of horses with the first one, back in 1950...

My neighbor was regretting it during hay season this summer when the AC was giving him trouble on his relatively new cab tractor. I saw it parked, on the hottest days, and his father in law’s 1960 something, open station JD 3020 pressed into service on the baler. That old JD has a nice big...

I don’t always have that option on my mucky bottomland farm. Some years, if waited for all the wet spots to dry completely, I wouldn’t have time for crops to mature before the frost. A little mud pretty much brings my old Ford to a stop on the plow, but my 4wd JD will pull it right thru...

Unless mud is an issue, I prefer to use my 1951 Ford 8n over my 2005 JD for plowing because it has draft control but the JD does not. The front wheel assist on the JD trumps the position control on the 2wd Ford when mud is an issue.

My 1951 Ford 8n (I am the 2nd owner) has 2000 hours on it. It has always been stored indoors and still has all 4 original Goodyear tires. Both rears were loaded with calcium chloride until this summer. Last spring, I first noted a corroded bulging area and exposed rubber tube around the stem...

I put up a 36x50x12 with (2) 10x25 porches a couple years ago. Most of the floor is packed 1" crusher run stone, except for one of the porches and a 12x30 ft interior area under a loft that includes an enclosed and heated 12x20 ft woodshop and an open 12x10 ft metal shop, which are concrete. I...

I dont think prices are going to come down much. They printed up a bunch of money and raised minimum wage, so high prices are here to stay. If you need it, and can afford it, build it.

Raise the price $200, to cover your cost of removal, or offer it to him at no extra charge. The removed loader would be worth scrap value, which is currently quite low.

That's a good idea. I think I will do it on the old $ 40 8-footer that I was planning on rebuilding this winter. I will cut it down to 6 ft, which should provide me with with several spare wheels, not counting the broken ones that I was going to discard. The 6 ft width will provide better...

I have a couple that I would like out in my yard, from blue spruce trees, that were about 12 inch diameter. I am going to try the truck rim trick, where you stand it up against the stump and loop a chain over the top. Wrap one end of the chain around the base of the stump and attach the other...

In that case, I would definitely cut it down in width. The narrower cultipacker (I like 7 ft width best because it is perfect behind a 6 ft drag) will be easier to transport and do a better job of compaction on small plots. I had a 4 footer that was very nice behind an atv, for doing remote...

I took a tractor safety and trading class offered by our county 4-H club when I was about 12. They taught the basics, maintenence, etc and really stress safety. No riders other than the operator was a rule that stuck with me.

I would discard the broken wheels, and make up a couple of spacers from steel pipe to take up the missing length. You only have a few busted wheels and a slightly narrower unit will do a better job of compaction. I did a similar thing with an old 8 footer. Now it has a 7 ft width and works...

I have had 3 different rotary mowers, a 5 ft Bush hog squealer, a Rhino SE 6, both light duty, and a new, medium duty 5 ft Bush hog. I used the first one on my Ford 8n (which I still have) an a Ford 2000. It always made a neat cut. When I upgraded to a John Deere 4120 (identical to your 4520...

I made this one with a wood frame and a canvas from an old tent camper. It took me about an hour to build from stuff I had laying around my shop. It weighs about 40 pounds and is easy to put on and take off. I also drilled (2) 3/8" holes thru the top of the rops, but I don't ever plan on...

One slight advantage of the bolt on forks that I use under my bucket is : When cleaning sticks from my yard, after a storm or in the spring every year, the smaller sticks can go in the bucket, while the larger ones are out on the forks. That saves me a trip back to the burning pile, compared...

I have a heavy duty bucket on my JD 4120, and I just bolt a couple pieces of heavy angle iron to the bottom when I need forks. I use 1/2" bolts thru the "tooth bar" holes in front, and drilled smaller holes for 3/8" bolts on back. The bolted on forks work great for moving logs or brush. I...

Chaigit, you sound like a very troubled individual. I will add you to my prayer list. May the Good Lord have mercy on you and I hope your troubles end shortly.

Maybe they could utilize and combine issues with wind turbines and hydrogen production and storage. Hydrogen production takes lots of energy which could be provided by the wind turbine. The storage tank could be incorporated into the turbine support tower. This would eliminate a problem of...

For gardens of 1/4:acre or less, I would consider a cub. For anything more, there are nearly an infinite number of better choices. I hated the offset "cultivision" for cultivating, but it wasn't bad for some other uses. I used mine for plowing light snowfalls. Snowplowing is a job I find...

I had a cub for about 15 years and was not at all impressed with it. My grandad's old John Deere M was much better for cultivating corn one row at a time. Just sight down the hood ridge, hold your head up, and go at high speed. With the "cultivision" cub, the speed was way slower (only 10 hp...

I would certainly go with the John Deere B, but my luck with red tractors has been poor. It has considerably less hp than the red one, but you should be able to find one cheaper and it is less complicated.

5000

The plastic hood on my 2005 JD 4120 CUT has shed a few rocks and branches over the last 16 years and has held up extremly well. I got to look real hard to find a scratch on it. It is also not faded at all but the tractor has always been stored inside when not in use. I also have a couple...

I kind of like it the way it is also. It seems like the ones that still have factory original paint often sell higher than the restored ones at auctions lately. I did have to replace one of the original rear rims this year after calcium finally rusted thru around the stem. Surprisingly, that...

My 1951 Ford 8n still wears it's original paint. Maybe after I retire from my day job in about 10 years, I will paint it up like this pretty one that i saw up at the county fair on Friday:

Here is a task that the loader equipped JD does a little better (cultivating and spraying corn). Those loader arms are handy for the sprayer boom and 12 volts is better for the pump.

I currently have a 2005 JD 4120 In addition to the 1951 Ford 8n. That has a loader, 4wd, power steering, diesel engine, etc.. I put about the same hours on each tractor each year. There are many tasks which I much prefer the antique Ford for. For example, each dinner time starting last...

Do you use a second tractor to haul wood to and from the splinter or do you do all that work by hand ?

Those 4720"s tend to get hammered pretty good. That's a little too much power on too small off a machine. I am glad I went for the 4120 back in 2005 when a guy could still get an American made engine in a 43 hp tractor. I have a bit over 1000 hrs on it now and it is as tight as it was when...

One thing to consider when shopping for a used tractor, is that the older ones (pre 1970 or so) tended to be grossly overbuilt. As such, they were well equipped to literally last a very long time. With the advent of computer aided design, etc., "safety factors" on all components were able to...

Here is a picture of the removable canopy. It takes about 2 minutes to put on or take off and weighs about 30 pounds. The canvas was salvaged from an old tent camper that my brother on law scrapped.

My wench in the house most of the time and handles the cooking, cleaning, and child rearing. I prefer a canopy over a cab because I use my tractor a lot in the woods and for mowing along hedgerows where cab windows would be destroyed. Also, I am up north where AC is seldom needed. A block...

I think your problem is battery post corrosion. Take those apart and clean with wire brush or file. Apply wd-40 or dielectric grease and reassemble. That ought to cure your ailment. Could also be corrossion on the hot post of the starter. I had that issue with the OEM Bosch starter on my...

Back in the day, the Ford n 's were known for the best power to weight ratio you could get in a tractor. The "unique at the time", 3-point hitch made that possible, transfering the draft force of the plow to the rear axle and allowing the light weight tractor to do a better job on a plow than...

The old 2wd 8n with loaded rear r1 tires will plow considerably better than your lighter 4wd with r4 for multiple reasons. First, that tractor was literally designed around that plow. The 3-pount plow transfers most of the traction force to the rear axle, mostly negating any benefit from your...

For the occasional trenching job or for moving trees and digging stumps out, I simply bolt a 30" long piece of 12" x 4" x 3/8" steel c-channel to the bottom center of the heavy-duty front loader bucket on my John Deere 4120. It takes me less than 2 minutes to put it on or off and I found the...

Sounds to me like the slip clutch needs adjustment on your Bush hog. The tractor may be ok.

Are you certain it is really getting hot ? The reason I ask, is that I had a Ford 2000 of that era. I thought it was getting hot, based on the dash gauge readout. I flushed the radiator, changed the thermostat, etc , to no avail. The parts counter guy, at our local Ford tractor dealer, was...

I remove the decks from my mowers after the last cut and remove the blades, which are then sharpened. While they are off, I power wash the underside of the deck to remove all caked on grass. When it dries, I use an old paint brush to liberally coat with used motor oil. Finally, I grease the...

The "best of both worlds" is having a relatively modern, pre tier-4 tractor for most of the work, and an old, easily serviced, good parts availability one for backup. That's what I do with my 2005, John Deere 4120, and 1951 Ford 8n. For the last 16 years, there has never been a job I couldn't...

It has a 9n or 2n rear end because there are only 6 lugs (8n's had 8), so it is either a 9n or a 2n with a Funk or other 6 cylinder conversion.

I didnt want to put the calcium back in because I want to use this tractor for dragging logs out of my woods and I will get less rutting without it. I am sure it wont work as well for plowing but I have another tractor I can use for that. Also, the old 8n will be worth about $ 1000 more with...

I cant believe I was able to get thru my spring plowing with that tractor the last two years. I first noticed the approximately 6" diameter section of rusted out rim and exposed tube around the stem last year. I lowered the pressure to 10 psi and plowed about 5 acres with it this spring. The...

I just replaced a 70 year old calcium-rusted rim on my 8n. I was able to save the original 11.2 x 28 tire (only 2000 hours on tractor and always stored inside so the 1951 rubber was still in decent shape. I used a small floor jack, 10 ft 3/8" chain, a 2x10, and a couple wood blocks to gently...

I would stick with the 2040 if I was in your shoes, mainly because I am not into foreign manufactured machines unless I have no other options. The hours on both seems ridiculously low. I remember looking at a 5303 back in 2005 when ended up going with an American made JD 4120 instead. I was...

2005 JD 4120 with American-made JD Powertec engine, not a Japanese Yanmar. That was a big deal for me at the time because I still had a couple of living close relatives who had done difficult combat tours in the Pacific theater of WW2 and still held a bit of a grudge. I am more of a "forgive...

4120, with American-made JD Powertec engine not Japanese Yanmar.

I am very thankful to have purchased what will likely be the last new tractor I will ever need, back in 2005. I was able to get a 43 hp, made in America tractor with an American diesel power plant back then to boot, and cheaper than some of the Asian powered models that the competition offered:

Look at the size of the hole in the old rim. I cant believe that I made it thru my spring plowing this year with it like that. They must have used some strong natural rubber on the inner tubes back in the early 50's. A side benefit is that now my kids have a new, larger camp fire pit that...

Spot on. Problem is, most of these folks have liberal arts degrees and no real knowledge of math and science. They are really lacking in thermodynamics and the understanding that energy can neither be created or destroyed.

Here are some photos of the custom wood block that I trimmed (I will save that for when I need to do the other side), and of the finished job. The other one is the last time I had it on my corn planter.

This 8n now has just over 2000 hours on it. It was my first tractor purchase. I bought it from the widow of the original owner, when it had 1200 hours on it. It has always been stored inside and still wears it's original paint. I believe that the rear tires and rims were original. Its first...

What food plots are you doing ? I usually start a new plot by mowing the weeds as short as possible with a Bush hog. Sometime in mid August, I plow the area. It sounds like you skipped that step. You can only get away with that if you use gly to kill off the weeds, which again, it sounds like...

If I was in the market for a new CUT of more than 27 hp, I would look for and consider paying more for a late model , pre Tier 4, if one could be found with low hours and in good condition. Tier 4 compliant CUT's use more fuel to produce less power. If enough efficiency improvement could be...

It looks like everything is Cutler-Hammer. We didn't skimp when we had that 200 amp service installed to the L-shaped ranch house. My grandparents only had a 60 amp service on the original 1980 house. When the wife and I got married in 2002, we tacked our three room shack onto the back, and...

My suggestion would be to skip the backhoe and just get yourself a CUT with a loader. Those are basically just toys if you have access to a real excavator. If you can find a pre tier-4, low-hour, 45ish hp model with low hours, I would take that over a new one any day. Set it up with loaded...

That is my power tool cabinet. Gas chain saws on top, electric drills top shelf inside, curve-cut electric saws on the middle shelf, straight cut electric saws bottom shelf. Electric sanders in the lower side cabinets, sandpaper, drill bits, etc in the drawers. I like the glass doors, so...

Here are the ends of the "future needs" 2" conduit:

Here are some photos of the current situation, which I hope to rectify somewhat this winter. Note that the direct bury wire to the corner outlet to the barn from the house is 12 gauge, as is the extension cord that feeds the main outlet inside the barn. The power strip is plugged into that and...

I buried the 2" conduit in 2019, when I was doing the site work. It was cheap back then. At this point, it is there for "future needs". When and if I retire from my day job, I might have time for some bigger projects / equipment out there, that will require more power than the single, direct...

I hope to get my pole barn wired this winter. I ran 2" PVC conduit to it during construction, in anticipation of future needs. I have been getting by ok with a single direct-bury, 15 amp wire that my grandad ran to the previous barn, that was on the same site. With modern LED lighting, that...

I could never live in such a place, that's for sure. Good for you for sticking it out and I see why you like your cab. We are heading up to the in-laws in the Adirondacks this afternoon, for the holiday weekend. When we were up there over Memorial day, I took my father in law a spare 3 point...

That's cool, and sometimes it causes me to tremble. Reminds me of an old Johnny Cash / Carter family song from the "Ring of Fire" album..."Were you there when they rolled away the stone".

I am very thankful to have been born way north of the mason dixon line, where temps like that are seldom an issue. If I were ever to live south of Gettysburg PA, you can bet your bottom dollar I would have me a cabbed tractor. The only way I would consider living that far south in the summer...

Most likely, the current situation with an abundance of cab tractors that you are seeing, is due to the recent Covid pandemic. There is far less demand for cabbed CUT's, so they tend to sit longer on dealer lots. I have a little bit of second hand experience with this. My father in law has...

Good luck with that. The one on my neighbors big 5 year old Case IH took a crap right before hay season. The local dealer needed $200 just for the farm call, not including parts and labor. I dont know if he ever got it fixed. His mechanic friend tried recharging it, but that only worked an...

One of my problems with a cab on a tractor is that my full time job is inside an air conditioned factory. At the end of my workday, I really look forward to getting outside on my tractors. You couldn't pay me to own one with an air conditioned cab. I may as well just stay at the office for...

Same here. A cab ain't the right choice for many, which is why most CUT's dont have them. If you have one and your AC takes a crap in mid-summer, you would probably think twice before buying another. A canopy, by contrast, will always keep the sun off of you.

For my dozen or so "occasional use" gas motors, I use ethanol free gas, treated with Stabil. The car, truck, SUV, van, lawnmowers, and 1951 Ford 8n tractor get untreated 87 octane unleaded gas. My 2005 JD 4120 tractor gets diesel purchased 5 or 10 gallons at a time and treated with Stadyne...

Start at $27k

I had similar issues with an old Allis Chalmers C. It turned out to be rust and crud build up in the bottom of the gas tank. I ended up removing the tank, added some nails, nuts, bolts, and kerosene. Then I shook it up, dumped everything out, put it back on, and the problem was solved.

I am guessing the screen on the grill in front of your radiator is plugged with chaff, seeds, etc.. Try blowing it off with compressed air.

It is a seller's market right now, and those pre-tier 4 models in that size range are in very high demand. I bet she could get $ 24k or more. Does it have a hydro or power reverser transmission ? I have a 2005, 4120 power reverser, that has 1000 hours on it now. It has been extremely...

The closest I have been to Chicago, was a few days at Notre dame University in the early fall. The weather was real nice then. My in-laws place is on the NW corner of the 6.5 million acre Adirondack park. That puts them slightly above the Lake Ontario snow belt, which dumps mountains of snow...

You got power steering, live hydraulics, and a strong front end, all of which would make it a ton better than an 8n on a front loader. I would be thankfull to have found one that never had a front loader on it, because those that do, tend to have the crap pounded out of them. I was helping a...

Is your 3500 gas or diesel ? I have ran both in that series, and I have no complaints from either. The gas ones start better in the winter, but the diesels are more efficient and a bit less maintenance worries. The diesels take a bigger battery to crank, and are harder on starters. The rear...

I had a close call with my old Allis Chalmers model C (narrow front), a few years ago. I had 3 other tractors at the time, so I didn't use it much. I liked it for dragging firewood logs out of the interior of my 4 acre woodlot in the summer. The narrow front provided great visibility, and...

The closest that I have been to Texas, is Pascagula MS. That was hot and humid in the summer. It was ok for a few days to visit, but there is no way that I could live there. You must be in West Texas, if the humidity isn't bad. The cold up here in western NY don't bother me much at all. My...

As long as there is no standing water, It always pulled that plow very well with calcium loaded rear tires. I am not sure how it will do after I replace the rims and mount unloaded ones. That might be the last 2 acres it plows. I will likely use my other tractor, that has larger, loaded rear...

I garbage picked my Honda powered/ 3100 psi Homelite power washer, about 5 years ago. The nieghbor actoss the road wheeled it out to the road. It didn't have a nozzle on it, but my brother gave me an extra one that he had. It was also missing an air cleaner and cover. It matched the one on my...

There is things you can and can not do with a power washer. Stay away from v-belts and seat cushions. Don't ask me how I know. Everything else on a tractor cleans up just fine with a 3100 psi model anyhow. I use mine on my Deeres all the time.

There is something called "Pats", that is a quick hitch type of deal that lengthens the lower links about 6 inches. My father in law had one on his little Kubota and it seems to work pretty good. That might work for you and I don't think it is very expensive.

If all goes well, I will have me a non running 9n by the end of this weekend. That is dependent upon the guy accepting my $ 900 offer. I am mostly after its loaded rear right tire, to get my 1951 8n thru the rest of this season, cultivating and spraying corn. My right rear, calcium-loaded rim...

I am planning on buying a non-running 9n myself. A nieghbor pushed it out to the road a couple weeks ago. He said it "ran when parked", 2 years ago. While it was running, he replaced the clutch and changed all the fluids. 3 of the 4 tires & rims are good. One of the rears is loaded and has...

My JD 4120 has a heavy duty bucket and I always take that off when I am bush hogging large areas. That definitely makes for a quieter, smoother ride. It takes me under a minute to drop the bucket, and the ride is nearly as good as when I remove the whole loader (20 minute job).

Where are you located ? I am in western NY, and my neighbor just recently pushed a non-running Ford 9n out to the road. He says he wants $1200 for it. It has decent tires on it and he claims the clutch and all the fluids were changed and that it ran good when he parked it 2 years ago. I...

I made this one for my JD 4120 in 2005. It is canvas over a wood frame. It weighs about 40 pounds and can be installed or removed in about 2 minutes. It attaches with two 3/8" bolts drilled thru the top of the rops and two metal diagonal supports at the rops hinge. I made it from stuff I had...

In 2018, I put up a new pole barn on the site of a 1881 post and beam barn that my great great grandad had built. In 1980, my grandad ran a direct bury line to that old barn, from a 15 amp breaker in the basement of the house, 200 ft away. That line went only to a single 120 volt outlet on the...

I can't say that I blame you a bit for preferring a cab in those conditions. I am very thankful to have been born up north, where the weather is much more hospitable thru the summer.

One thing I noticed about working outside in the summer time late afternoons, on my canopy-equipped open-station tractor: The fresh air outside sure feels good after being cooped up in an air conditioned factory or house for most of the day.

I talked with my nieghbor this morning at church, about his air conditioner trouble. He made an appointment for the dealer to come out and look at it on Monday. The minimum charge for a service call is $ 200. I will keep following and see what the total cost of the repair turns out to be...

He has some new hired hands, and said that one of them left the key in the on position overnight, which killed the battery on his other big tractor. I am not sure what caused the flat tire on his other, medium sized, loader- equipped 4wd. That one would have struggled to pull the bigger one...

The only reason I had a chase vehicle, when I drove the old Allis Chalmers 7 miles on the road to the dealer last year, was that I wasn't sure that I could get it there under it's own power. My wife followed with the pickup and a chain just in case. Plus, she gave me a ride home. Road tractor...

I drove my old 1942 Allis Chalmers C to a dealer location, about 7 miles away, last summer. I had purchased a new bush hog from his main location (about 50 miles away) and he took the tractor in trade. The old C quit running twice on the ride and I had to get off and crank start it. It had...

He said that he had the AC recharged last week when it first gave him trouble. It only worked for about an hour after that so there must be a leak somewhere. The difference between "needing" AC on a car or on a tractor is the ground speed at which they operate. Most tractor operation is at...

Cabs have their issues for sure. I just left a neighbor's place and we discussed one of them over a few beers. He always had open station tractors, but the last one he bought (approx 110 hp, 2015 Case-IH) has a cab. He had a tough day yesterday. We are in the midst of a late spring heat...

It sort of depends on how much you like being outside. If you live in an inhospitable environment like the deep south in the summer or the far north in the winter, the cabs make a little more sense. For those of us in the middle, who relish their time outside, a canopy just might be the better...

I used an open station tractor for 2 years in upstate NY, for bush hogging 25 acres in mid summer. The following year, I got a different tractor with a big, rectangular fiberglass canopy. That made a huge difference out there under the hot sun. I would never again do that job without a...

That's what I have. It is actually a good compromise between a cab and an open station, but far superior to both in my humble opinion. I really get a kick out of the cab guys, who refuse to recognize that such middle ground even exists. I also get a kick put of the bees, which are brought up...

Honestly, I say good riddance to those old barns. I really appreciated the new barn this spring, when I got my boat out from winter storage. It always had about 1/4" of dust in it when I kept it in those old barns. With the new one, it came out of winter storage almost as clean as it was...

My suggestion would be to skip the cab but get a canopy. The motion of the tractor gives you a nice breeze while mowing open areas and the canopy keeps you in the shade. I made one for my bush-hog tractor and the cost was nill. Most of all, I would never own a cabbed tractor as long as I am...

I can relate to your frustration, being somewhat in the same boat in upstate NY. Our kids are the 7th generation of our family to reside on our 40 acre homestead. My great great great grandfather bought the place prior to the Civil war, after emigrating from Europe, along with his brother who...

I garbage picked this one which I use for my portable power tools. It even has a light inside that works if I plug it in. "Free" is always good. I like the glass front, so I can see what I need and if it is there. Gas chainsaws go on top, drills on the top shelf inside, curve cut electric...

The lofts in my great great grandfather's 1883 barns were not designed for the increased density and load of baled hay, 14 ft long, 5" square cross beams on 37" centers were supported by a 5" square front beam that was supported by 4" square posts. That front beam is broke, as is one of the...

The last team of horses left our farm in 1950 when grandpa bought a brand new John Deere model M. My dad still uses that now and then in his garden. I found this horse shoe (hanging from my concrete clydsdale's collar horn), while I was planting corn with my 8n. It had to have been lost over...

I was able to knock off 3/5 of my spring plowing with the old girl this morning. I have a couple more acres yet to do but that spot is still too wet. Maybe I can get another year out of the original rear right side, calcium filled rim. I nearly lost the left rear tire on an antler today, but...

P Good luck on your renovations. I am almost done with mine. I still need to finish dismantling the last 1883 barn. I am going to use some of the sawed rafters from that for framing material, and some of the siding for enclosing the back porch of my new pole barn. It sure will be nice to...

If you have enough room, it is very nice to have an old 8n, addition to a modern 4wd tractor with a loader. Most jobs I need a tractor for do not require a loader. Of those, my old 8n works better than my modern CUT, for more than half. For me, that adds up to about an even split, as far as...

The shell went up in 2018. I salvaged the "18" siding board from one of the old 1883 barns, and I used a jig saw to match the text for the "20" board.

We had a Stockade 36 x 50 x 12, with (2) 25 x 10 porches, put up a couple years ago. I added a loft, woodshop, and metal shop inside using hand hewn posts & beams and siding that I reclaimed from a couple of my great great grandad's old 1883 barns. It turned out pretty good. I liked the 10 ft...

This old girl cost me $ 1200, 30 years ago when she had 1200 hours. I have put about another $ 500 in parts over the 1200 hours I put on her since then. She is still going strong, but this will probably be the last year for the original right side rear rim. Not quite ready to be a lawn...

I repurposed many of the hand hewn posts and beams from my great great grandad old barns, to frame a loft, woodshop, and metal shop inside my new pole barn. I roofed and sided those with his old, weathered American chestnut barn siding and granary wood.

I still remember the clouds of dust when that fork dumped a load up in the loft. I also remember one time when something broke on the trip mechanism, and my grandfather got up on an extension ladder to fix it. My dad wanted to do it, but I remember grandpa telling him, "I'll do it because you...

Who remembers bringing it in loose ? We brought it in that way, until my grandad bought a square baler, when I reached my teens. We used an old sheet metal loader, that attached to a wagon. Grandpa would be on the tractor and my dad and uncle would be leveling it out on the wagon. I fondly...