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I used it for the first time last night. It’s a real game changer. It’s so much nicer to turn off my pre tier-4 diesel tractor and not breath fumes or listen to the racket as I’m loading the bucket with wood at night. It also puts the light right where I need it as I’m filling the bucket...

I tried the new lamp for the first time tonight and it greatly exceeded my expectations. Not only did it save me from breathing any diesel fumes (I turned the tractor off while loading), but it also provided far more effective lighting for the job. The problem with using the tractor...

Yea, he might need a bigger truck.

I can’t stand trailers. My 2000 3/4 ton Silverado with 8 ft box fits my tractor like a glove:

I’m just thankful that the rest of us have California to suck up most of the dirty air coming from China (worlds largest coal burner and adding capacity at a record clip every day) upwind of us to the west. Thats like a big air filter for the rest of us. Who wants a dirty air filter ? I am...

I made a couple of 3 ft long forks, from 3” x 1/4” x 3’ long angle iron, which I bolt to the bottom of my tractor’s heavy duty bucket. Each attaches with (2) grade 5 bolts, a 1/2” thru existing 9/16” holes in the cutting edge aligned with the loader arms, and a second 3/8” bolt thru 7/16” holes...

I had cultivators for my first cub, but I was not a big fan of the offset “cultivation”. I can see where it would be nice for smaller plants and gardens though. I can see how you would be breathing some fumes from that exhaust stack in the middle of the hood. Maybe gasoline exhaust...

Did the Super A have a smoke stack up on the hood ? My Farmal Cub has a low, rearward facing muffler as does my Ford 8n and I have never noticed the smell of the exhaust fumes on either of those. I do get a hot foot on the muffler side while running the Ford though. My pre tier-4 Deere has...

I was getting sick of breathing the exhaust fumes from my pre-tier 4 43 hp diesel tractor, when I left it running at night to charge the battery with the headlights on as I filled the bucket with firewood from my woodshed, this winter. The thought of getting a new $ 35 k tier 4 replacement...

A face cord is 4 ft x 8 ft x 17” (+/- 1”), so you are just about right on the money.

It’s not often that my pond is ice free in early February but it was today. I should have brought out my casting rod because I could see some fish wakes when I walked by this evening. I noticed some big bluegills in there when I was mowing the banks last fall. A few years ago, we could ice...

No snow here in upstate wNY, but at least it’s staying cold enough to keep burning firewood in the house. I’ll maybe hit my average of 6 face cords this winter. I’ve gone thru 3-1/2 so far. I’ve been hauling up about 1/2 face cord a week lately, from the woodshed to the house porch. My...

Since there’s nothing out there, how about we make our own, using real numbers from site members ? The last used one that I bought (In September of 2022) cost me $ 783.17 initially. This 10 hp 1957 Farmall Cub came with a snowplow, had always been stored indoors, but hadn’t run in 17 years...

I really do miss the snow. There’s just something I love about getting outside and plowing on an open station tractor. I don’t see any if it in our long range forecast. I hope we get some more before spring. I plowed (5) times so far this winter, (2) of which were over a foot, and I used...

Nothing scares me more than cutting dead trees. I recently heard of a friend of a friend (and very experienced woodcutter) who was killed felling a dead ash with a chainsaw. If I can’t get them when they are still alive, I’ll wait till they fall on their own, or push them over with an...

Yes, it sounds like a good idea to go with front and back. Lining up one side with the existing holes, then welding an un-drilled tab on the other side, then drilling like you did sounds like it worked well. I’ve got a pretty good pile of scrap steel behind the barn and should be able to...

^ That sounds good. I’ll just make one and I’ll only put the tabs on one side. The Cubs are quite a bit lighter duty than the A’s. I got to beef up the plow frame, to handle the tongue weight of my boat, when I put the trailer hitch on it. That means I need to minimize the weight of the...

I’m a little NE of Buffalo NY about half way between Lake Erie one Ontario. We do have (2) natural gas furnaces also, each covers half the house. The one that covers the half that the wood stove is on is only used for heat when the sunrise temperature is above 35 F (it gets too hot on that...

Maybe so but what about the high carbon steel cutting edge that is also showing wear ? That makes me think I’ll be lucky to get (3) years out of a 1/8” wall thickness low carbon steel pipe.

I’m not so sure of that after seeing how fast the schedule 80 pvc wore down after just two uses. Limestone is pretty tough on plastic and soft steel. The plow edge piece is hard, high carbon steel about 3/8” thick and that is showing some wear. I’m thinking I’ll be lucky to get (3) years out...

When I slit the pvc pipes on my table saw, I marked them with a chalk line on top, to help keep the cuts on the bottom straight, and I set up a rip fence. It was super fast and easy. I’d probably use the chalk line to mark the steel pipe before cutting the slit with the angle grinder. I need...

I never tried it ether, however with those smaller pieces, there’s not enough of a percentage of “heartwood” to burn. The outer layers just under the bark is where the moisture is held. Your results would be different with bigger stuff. Most of the wood that my brother in laws father burnt all...

I won’t miss the ash trees, but I do miss the days when I could work on firewood in the winter. It was nice in the old days, to drag the logs out on frozen ground, with no mud or rutting. Our ground didn’t freeze at all last winter and it don’t look good for this one either. This was the view...

Ash is the only wood I know, that has so little moisture in it during the winter, that it could be burnt unseasoned. That could be handy if you ever ran low on wood in the late winter. Of course that don’t matter now around here because all of them are dead anyhow. I always stayed several...

I’ve got a welder, plenty of steel pipe in various sizes and scrap steel. Maybe I’ll just slit a steel pipe with a 4-1/2” cutoff wheel. It’s only 53” long so it won’t take that long.

I can’t stand blowers, for that reason and because they only work good on light fluffy snow. There’s lots of folks that don’t know no better though. I’d sell that to one of them, while it’s all Nice and pretty painted and there still half a winter yet so you could still get top buck. Get...

Mostly because it makes so much ash, which has to be cleaned out of my little stove so often. Cherry, maple, oak, and walnut are just so much better, when it comes to that. The ash does season fast, and splits easy, but I’m just getting tired of cleaning ashes so often. I’m thinking another...

I can usually hit 16 +/- 1” pretty easily without measuring but I’ve been cutting firewood for almost 50 years. Our own wood stove has a shorter firebox than my parents had while I was growing up (I made all their firewood by the time I was 15 and some of it starting when I was in grade...

I would forget about the front mount blower and get a front mount plow instead. My father in law does about 5 miles of mountain roads with an open station Kubota about that size with a big V-plow on the front loader. He liked that a lot better than the pickup truck with plow that he used...

I cut and slit a couple more pvc pipes for the bottom of the blade, but no luck trying to drill holes thru the cutting edge to hold it on with bolts. It was way too hard to drill. Oh well, even if I have to replace the pipes (3) times each winter, they will still save me lots of time raking...

It’s been a pretty warm winter and I’ve only gone thru 3-1/4 face cords so far. My woodshed has a capacity of 24 face cords and we use an average of 6 to heat our 2000 sq ft house thru the winter. Stacked floor to roof, each row of my woodshed holds 1-1/2 face cords. I’ve been burning mostly...

Same here. I find it comical when folks get fussy about keeping them all exactly the same length. We have lots of bonfires, but I do try to err on the short side, so that they all fit in the wood stove.

Fuel usage for snowplowing seems to be a bit less than 1 gallon per hour. I put about another hour on it a couple days ago, plowing the deep snow to open up the driveway to the woodshed in the back of my pole barn, and clearing about 3” of wet snow from our two front driveways tonight. We...

Some spots got pretty drifted in from the high winds and we got a couple more inches of snow so I plowed again tonight with the Cub. It was a little colder today and it didn’t start as good as it did yesterday. The lights worked good. I used the headlights on high beam most of the time and...

The Cub got a good workout today. I’d guess we got close to a foot of lake effect snow from the current storm. There is lots of blowing and drifting so it was bare in spots and over 2 ft in others. I struggled a bit on our two driveways, unable to get much traction on any uphill grade. It...

Yup, there’s no doubt there will always be folks around who just flat out don’t like it outside and are afraid of getting stung by a bee. A cab is surely the best way to go for them.

Sounds like my father in law. I gave him my old pickup truck, which is heated and has remote start, to use to snowplow up at his retirement home up in the mountains. He put a nice new Western snowplow on it and it works great. After spending his whole career working indoors, he preferred...

I think the whole cab thing comes down to whether or not you like the outdoors. Some folks are just more naturally suited for being inside. I don’t have a problem with that.

I’m looking forward to trying the Cub on some slightly heavier snows this weekend. We are supposed to get a foot or so of “lake effect” from the coming storm. I put a 6 volt tickle charger / maintainer on the battery because it cranked a little slow last time. I thought about Making the...

It will be interesting seeing how long the piece of 1” schedule 80 pvc that I cut for mine on my table saw will last. There’s nothing really holding it on there other then the press fit from the difference between the 1/4” plow thickness and the 1/8” saw blade thickness. I thought about...

It definitely is. I’ve done snow removal with quite a variety of light and heavy equipment, from little walk behind blowers to big heavy wheel loaders. The Cub is more fun than any of them. The clutch and hydraulics are very smooth on it and 2nd gear and reverse give just the right speed...

We got our first measurable snow of the season today. Just over 2” on the driveways when I looked out this morning. It is supposed to get up into the upper 40’s in a couple days so I’m sure it would have all melted on its own had I just waited. I was wanting to see how the new blade and rear...

Great points Great points, and my feelings exactly. In addition to all that, there is just something about wood heat that can not be replicated by any other energy source. I could never winter up here where we do, way up north on the Canadian border, if we did not heat with “free” firewood...

That makes the old flat head four engine on that old 1951 Ford 8n run real smooth at all throttle settings. I replaced the original carburetor with an aftermarket one from TSC about 25 years ago. I noticed that it ran smoother if I pulled the choke out just a little. The jaw width on those...

Misery loves company.

Having worked in factories all of my life, you couldn’t pay me to own a cabbed tractor, after I retire. I love my outside time, on my open station tractors. The home-made canopy on the JD is a very nice feature for open field work in the summer or in the rain though: You can see that I...

One horsepower per acre is a good general rule of thumb for tractor size on ground like yours and uses you describe. I’d go with an open-station, lightly used pre-tier 4 tractor with R1 tires. Most of the engineering effort on new tractors these days is going into things like electric...

This is the second one I’ve owned. They were most well known as a special purpose cultivating tractor. Their claim to fame was the offset engine “cultivation”. I bought my first, very well used and nearly completely worn out one, specifically for that purpose. I had lost the tractor that I...

I looked at moving in the rear tires today and it looks like a bigger job than I want to take on right now. Besides the tires being loaded, there are heavy iron weights that would have to be removed from the hubs, then put back on. It would definitely be easier to weld some extensions to the...

I hope so. Cleaning them stones out of the grass, so that I don’t knick up my lawn mower blades, is a job that I dread every spring. I’m just dying for some snow now, so that I can use the Cub. Last winter, we got over 12 feet of it in two blizzards, while the Cub was at the mechanics...

I feel your pain. My first tractor (1951 Ford 8n that I still have) was open station. I never realized the damage that the hot old summer sun was causing me, until I got my third one. My second was a Ford model 2110 and it was equipped with a big fiberglass ROP’s canopy. My third tractor...

Merry Christmas to you also S2 and to all those you are trying to reach in Turkey. Staying in the Christmas spirit with a “tractor survey” , here’s a red and green one that were the first and the last on our little farm, here in upstate NY. My grandad’s great grandad sailed from a...

Clean coal.

I’m surprised that someone in such a hot arid climate would put up with an open-station tractor in these days of accelerating global warming . I suppose that running an A/C unit would draw too much power and not leave enough to get much field work done between charges.

I did a little more work on the Cub today to get it ready for snow plowing. First, I cut a piece of 1” schedule 80 pvc pipe to the width of the plow and slotted it on my table saw. That only took me about 10 minutes. It went on pretty easily. If it breaks, I’ve got about enough pipe on a pile...

Yes the rear tires are filled, as were those on the Cub I had previously. It definitely has plenty of ballast on back now, with the loaded rears and the thick metal plate I just bolted to the drawbar. When and if the ground freezes, I’ll add the tire chains. All I need now is some snow.

I like the pipe idea DJ. I have quite a bit of 1” scd 80 grey PVC. I’ll cut one to the width of the snow plow blade and slot it on my table saw. I’d likely only use it when it’s warm and that heavy grey pvc is pretty tough, so I doubt it would shatter. If it does, I’ve got a pretty good...

I got the Cub ready for plowing today. Ive had the plow on it for a while, but the lights were not working when I tried them a few weeks ago. I had them working in the spring. The dash mounted 25 amp fuse was blown. I found another in my shop but that blew immediately when I replaced it...

Your block heater will last longer, and you will save money on electricity, if you only use it when needed. I find that 1/2 hour of “on-time”, is enough on all but the coldest days. On days when the temperature gets down around zero F or below, one hour is plenty. I am way up north, near...

I can’t stand trailers and I don’t like running tractors on the road for more than a mile or two. This is what I do if I need to go further than that:

I built a loft in my new pole barn, with a wood shop and metal shop under it, from lumber (mostly American chestnut) salvaged from my great great grandfathers old timber framed barns. I also added a lean-to woodshed on the back of the back porch, using that lumber. I love the color and feel...

Four wheel drive is not necessary with a 3-point plow, which was originally designed to exert extra down force on the tractors rear axle. If plowing is your primary concern, you can save big bucks by going with a 2wd tractor. The problem comes in, when your done plowing and need to disk...

If you want to get an old tractor for plowing, I would recommend a Ford 8n. I use a use a 1951 on a 2x12 plow and it does a wonderful job with that. I am the second owner and it has just under 2000 hours on it now (it had 1200 on it when I bought it). It still has the original tires and...

Yea, I’m afraid to heat with wood in my shop for that reason. The propane and electric combination, plus som decent insulation, work pretty well out there.

Thanks, I like it. I have a 12x20 woodshop under a loft inside that barn that I heat with a small propane heater (when it’s real cold out) and/or an infrared electric heater. We have a wood stove similar to yours in the house. I love the feel of that wood fire on real cold days. That is...

I am really excited for snow this winter. I enjoy getting outside on an open-station tractor and plowing snow so much, that I bought the smallest tractor money can buy, just to “stretch” the job out a little further on light snowfalls: For heavier snowfalls, I use my larger 4wd turbo charged...

Well that’s exactly the opposite of my own experiences. I can’t stand blowers. They have only worked ok for me on fluffy cold snows. They get plugged up with wet heavy snow, blow it in my face, shear pins and require a lot of maintenance. Maybe they work ok on little city driveways with...

A cultipacker would be best. Ive got (2) 7 footers, one at our place and another over at my parents, about 20 miles away. Each of them were originally 8 footers, owned by neighbors of mine, but had some busted wheels. I rebuilt the first one about 20 years ago. It was rusting away, back in...

I have similar sized pole barn (36 x 50). A friend put the shell up for me in 2018. I used reclaimed materials, from a couple of my great great grandfathers old post and beam barns, to add a loft and shops inside the new pole barn. The 10 ft truss spacing of my pole barn worked out very...

I have a total of (5): 43 hp JD 4120 with loader, 28 hp Ford 8n, 10 hp Farmall Cub, 15 hp JD LT-155 lawn/garden tractor, and 15 hp Poulan lawn tractor. I could probably get by with just the two JD’s, but it’s very nice having the “extras”. The Farmall Cub was my latest addition. I had one...

I straightened out the plow frame with my 22 ton hydraulic press (log splitter) today. After that, I mounted it on the Cub and used it for pushing up leaves. It works good for that. I still need to fix the lights (must be a short somewhere), and mount the rear chains, and then it will be...

Yes, even worse actually. Your way better off with an older tractor that didn’t need it. That’s the main thing that is keeping the prices way up on low-hour pre-emissions tractor’s.

With JD’s it’s gotta be before the moved away from the 2- cylinder engines, back around 1960. My grandpas “vintage” model M replaced a team of horses as the first tractor on our farm back around 1950:

I bought an old Farmall Cub at a silent auction at work last fall. It had sat unused for 17 years. The 6 volt battery in it was shot. They gave me a second, 18 year old 6 volt battery, along with it. The second battery had been purchased new, but never installed. I had a very difficult...

I often bolt a piece of heavy steel 12” C-channel (12” x 30”) to the bottom center of the heavy duty 400x loader bucket on my JD 4120. It works great for things like ditching and especially good for transplanting trees. Even more frequently, I bolt two pieces of heavy 3” x36” angle iron under...

Just a little bit North East of Buffalo NY.

The woodshed is just about full and I can’t wait for a little of this:

I also love winter and plowing snow. So much so in fact, that I got a smaller tractor last year. That should let me stretch the job out a bit, such that I can have even more fun. My bigger tractor (2005 JD 4120 43 hp turbocharged 4wd diesel with back blade and 400X loader, nocks out the...

How many hours on the tractor ? It could be a bad starter. I’m on the 3rd one on my 2005 JD 4120. The original Bosch starter in it must have had an issue with bad materials, which corroded badly. I use the tractor for plowing snow in the winter and road salt is used heavily in our area...

Enough with this silly tractor attachment talk. You should be able to get one of those little jack devices, that are made for that job, for under $40 from Northern tool or someplace like that. They are much faster and easier than using a tractor for that job. It’s almost easier to lift a...

That’s why I recommended that half his budget go to the pole barn. Too many folks buy tractors, leave them outside, and hope for the best. I have (2) tractors from the 1950’s that have always been stored indoors and both still have their original tires and are still in useable condition...

I’d be inclined to take half of your budgeted money and use it to put up a pole barn. Use the other half for a tractor and Bush hog. A used 75ish hp, 2wd, cabless, loaderless tractor will likely give you the most bang for the buck. Sunlight is very destructive on tractors, especially on the...

I hp per acre is a pretty good rule of thumb. I’d be looking in the 60-80 hp range. I’d also be looking at pre-tier 4 used models. Unless you are south of the Mason Dixon line, I’d skip the cab. Open field mowing under a big canopy, is very comfortable for me, even under the hot summer...

I used mine on a 5 ft Bush-hog Squealer for a few years. It did ok on that, after I added a $ 75 overrunning coupler/shaft adapter on the pto shaft. Certainly very far from the best tractor to use on pto tools though. I screwed the steel dust cover over the pto shaft about 30 years ago and...

Got-r-done with no hydraulic lift issues tonight. I worked that 2 acre field the short way across tonight, so there were lots of lifts. I’ll work it the long way tomorrow, prior to planting. Too bad they don’t make tractors like this anymore. In my opinion, every supposed “improvement”...

You had me a little worried about the 30 some year old hydraulic/rear end oil in my 51 8n EdG, with those nightmare tales of milky sludge and acetone. I pulled the dipstick and the oil color still looks good. The old girl lifted that drag without any funny noises. I think I’ll just let my...

Sounds fun, but I’m just going to drain out the old oil, fill it with new, and hope for the best. The little bit of knocking noise at heavy load never bothered me much, nor do the occasional lockup’s when overloaded.

Considering that my hydraulic oil has only been changed once in 72 years , I’d be inclined to agree with this. I’ll get on that this winter. I think tractor supply still has that “universal tractor fluid” by the 5 gallon bucket, which I think is what I used when I changed it last, back in...

I got worried, when mine locked up last week. I probably shouldn’t have, because it did that a few other times on real heavy loads of firewood. That was the first tractor that I ever bought. I had a long history with it. My dad would always borrow it, from our neighbor, to disk our garden...

I also have a 1951 8n and I’ve noiticed the same noise, but only when I have a lot of weight on the three point (likely well above its design capacity). I bought this tractor in 1989, from the widow of the original owner, when it only had 1200 hours on it. I changed the hydraulic oil then, but...

I’ll keep praying for you Torvy. It sounds like you know a bit about the Bible, but it also sounds like you have some issues, as is evidenced by your continuing personal attacks upon me (and calling me a racist in a prior post). I had to look up what “xenophobic” meant. As I mentioned in my...

Depends which one you are talking about. Dad’s old John Deere model M, that my grandad bought new in 1950, has a 2-cylinder “made in USA” engine. His 770 JD CUT has a “made in Japan” Yanmar and I’m thinking the whole machine was made “over there” by that company based on the cramped...

There were at least (3) other bids, one for $ 200, one for $ 500, and I’m not sure of the other. I bid, to the penny, as much as I was willing to spend on it. I think it’s a 1957. It was also lacking a drawbar. The cheapest used one that I could find on e-bay cost me $ 200 with shipping...

The offset does provide a lot more useable space on the operators platform. That is my second Cub. I bought the first one mostly for cultivating corn. Previously, I had used our old John Deere M that, but dad took it with him, when he moved off to a larger farm that had been in my mother’s...

My problem with the 770 has nothing to do with a lack of power, but has everything to do with a lack of space. Clearly, that machine was designed overseas and for people of “smaller than average American” size. The operation I used it for (7 ft cultipacker on dry level ground) required very...

This sounds a lot like you are delivering a personal attack against me here. I love all people and will add you to my prayer list. Clearly you are troubled and bitter.

If they have sat outside for more than 20 years, then the tires, belts, hoses, and rubber hydraulic lines are all shot. If they are not running, then they are worth, on average, around $ 500 ea. Definitely some good projects there for enthusiasts though. Cleaning them up, getting them...

What you have there, was actually made by a foreign manufacturer, almost in its entirety. They make very good engines (JD still uses them on their smaller machines), but struggled a bit on the rest of the parts. Personally, I’m thankful to not own any of those, but my dad does have similar...

I don’t think it has anything to do with luck. The first tractor we had on this farm (a John Deere model M that my grandad bought new to replace a team of horses in 1950) has not needed much “dealer support” either:

Maybe with the “lesser” brands. Other than stopping by the nearest dealer (4 miles away) for filters, when it’s time for an oil change, My 2004 John Deere 4120 (purchased new) hasn’t required any dealer support.

We don’t have many rocks on our farm in north western NY either. We are about 10 miles north and below a geographical feature called the “Onondaga escarpment”. A rototiller works very well here. I don’t use them because I don’t often work very small spots and the plow and disk are a lot more...

One common denominator of the good deals I have found on used stuff, is that I know the history of the item. The last one is a good example. There was a 1950’s Farmall Cub parked in the back of the factory where I have worked the last 20 years. It had a snowplow on it. I saw it used one...

I’ve got a Deere dealer 3 miles away and a Kubota dealer 4 miles away. I bought a Bush-hog at the Kubota dealer last year and I’ve been going to the Deere dealer every 100 tractor hours for the last (19) years for oil filters. That’s all I’ve needed from the dealer thru my first 1200 hours...

I was waiting for a rainy day to split some wood in my woodshed. That sun canopy on the tractor works good for rain also. The woodshed has a capacity of 24 face cords. We use an average of 6 face cords, to heat our well-insulated 2000 sq ft house thru the winter. I’ve got about a face cord...

I had a small complication this morning. One of the idiots on the job last night (me), didn’t get all (3) wires properly connected to the stud on the solenoid. I blame that on the poor lighting, in a dark corner of my pole barn, where it was parked. There was also a wrench clearance issue...

The original battery in that tractor lasted quite a few years also, around (10) I think. The second one may have had some life left in it, when I turned it in for the core charge. I still have the 3rd one on a shelf. I will use it on the next machine that needs one. The 4th is currently in...

Here is another fun fact Willy: There have been lots of different tractors that were purchased used on this farm, but only two that were purchased new. Grandpa bought that John Deere model M (3) years after he took over the farm, and I bought my John Deere 4120 (4wd with loader) (3) years...

Willy, That’s my dad’s little JD 770 CUT. I’m not sure of the year, but my best guess would be around 1988. It is a 2wd with turf tires. The operators platform is a bit cramped for me. Clearly, it was designed for smaller people. I’m not all that big (5 ft 11” and 210 pounds) but I fit...

That was definitely the case, when the problem first started, back in 2008, shortly after the tractor’s 3 year warranty had expired. It began as a winter “no crank” whatsoever. The first part that I swapped out was the ignition switch. One of the reasons that I bought a John Deere back then...

It has just under 2000 hours on it now.

I bought this tractor new in 2004. I replaced the original (Bosch) starter around 2008, with an aftermarket starter (Power-Strike) that cost less than half of what an OEM replacement would have. It lasted a lot longer than the original. I probably should have replaced the Power-Strike in...

My dad has an old JD 770 compact, with a Yanmar engine. I dropped a 7 ft cultipacker off over at his place and used it on that to plant turnips last Sunday. It worked pretty good on that. Not quite as good as the “all American” Farmall Cub that I use for that at home though.

Just the wee ones.

I have no experience with the foreign brands, but I do own the American “big three”, green (JD), red (IH), and blue/grey (Ford). I like them all but the green is my favorite. I’m thankful that they are still in buiseness and I can sympathize with op.

I did a little more “real work” with the Cub last weekend. I used it on a 7 ft cultipacker planting turnips. It worked great for that:

Maybe he’s got rocks. Rototillers are no good on rocks.

If you want the absolute best tool for that job, Look for a 1951 or 1952 Ford model 8n, a 12” 2-bottom 3-point plow, and a 6 ft 3-point disk. No other tractor, made before or after, has better parts availability. There’s also many of them around. You should be able to find one in excellent...

If those 6.0 liter Chevy V8’s really are good for over 300,000 miles, then both of those trucks ought to last considerably longer than I will. I’ll be 98 in 40 years. Both of those 00’s have about 80k miles on them now. Neither one has ever used more than a quart of oil between 6000 mile...

That’s why I got a Cub instead of a Super A. I hate trailers and my parents farm is 20 miles away from our’s. The Cub only goes about 11 mph at wide open throttle in 3rd gear. It would take me most of a day to drive it over there and back, but I can get it over there in just over 20 minutes...

The other side of the 4x4 in front don’t look as good. 20 years of upstate NY winters, where they use tons of road salt, took its toll on that one. When the frame rusted to the point, where it wouldn’t safely haul my truck camper (or pass state inspection) I was going to pull the tags and use...

That’s good to know. I haven’t bought a new truck yet this millennium, but the one I bought new on the last year of the last one, and another “Florida truck” made that same year that I got used, are both still going strong: Neither has turned 100k yet, so I should be good to go another 40 years.

My dads little JD 770 just wouldn’t quite lift a full carryall, like my old 8n will, without doing a wheely. I did manage to haul in enough big chunked up rounds last Sunday, to top off the “storage” half of my woodshed at its 12 face cord capacity. That will last us (2) years for heating the...

Thanks, it was quite a project, and is still a work in progress. The outer structure is a Stockade building (from Ohio), 36 x 50 x 12 ft, with (2) 25 x 10 ft porches. I had originally planned on using the back porch for firewood storage, but it seems you can never have too much inside...

Wow, 7/16 OSB was $5.98 last time I bought it there (2019). I bought a bunch to cover the loft floor on my new pole barn. I thought it was reasonably priced then. I’m thankful that I put that barn up when I did. Prices on everything building related went nuts within 6 months after...

Certainly most of them are. I used to have a big flatbed trailer, that would fit my tractor and the three point disk, back when I had some land in between my place and my parents. The 3-point disk was ok then. Now that I have got rid of that in between land and that trailer, having a separate...

They sure do sell a lot of them 3-point disks, but I bet 90% of the folks who buy them have never used a pull type, so they have no clue what they are missing. I couldn’t believe how easily my little 10 hp Farmall Cub handled my dad’s 6 ft Bissel pull-type, set at the most aggressive angle...

How do you like the disk ? I bought my 1951 Ford 8n, from the widow of the original owner, in 1988. They lived directly across the street, from the house where I grew up. I can remember my dad borrowing the 8n and the “Ferguson system” 6-1/2 ft 3-point disk that came with it, to use on our...

I was getting some attention from across the road while I was unloading at my parent’s place. There is a busy chainsaw/lawnmower sales and service shop over there. A little bit of research development went into the wood ramp design. First, I cut the 142 year old 2” x 12” white oak planks 12...

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Drive on, drive off. I even did it a few times with my 4 x 4 truck, which sits about 4” higher. No sweat at all with this 2wd backed up to a high spot. Easier than driving on and off a trailer on level ground. Nice 9n. Some day, after I retire and gain a little extra time to care for them...

For ramps, I cut a couple of 12” x 2” tongue and groove white oak barn floor planks to 8 ft long. I trimmed 4” x 3” sawed white oak rafter sections, and nailed them to the underside of the planks for added strength. I recovered that wood from a couple old 36’ x 46’ x 16’ post and beam barns...

I did my first “real” work with the Cub today. It handled my dad’s old 6 ft Bissel disk, at the most aggressive setting, with ease. It also had no trouble with his 8 ft wide 2-section drag, set as deep as it would go. Best of all, the 8ft box on my old 3/4 ton Silverado fit it like a...

I don’t know how you folks, down on the gulf coast, do it thru the summer. There’s no way in hell that I could ever survive a summer down there. I just barely got thru working a couple of days, down in Pascagoula MS in September, a few years ago. The older I get, extreme cold bothers me much...

It’s easier to hold a constant depth with that one, because it has draft control on the hydraulics. Soil conditions and moisture content were just about perfect here this spring. Some years, when it’s been a little on the wet side, I have used my 4wd JD 4120 on that little 2 x 12” plow. That...

Bush-hogging my fields, under the hottest of summer suns is one of my favorite jobs, way up here near the Canadian border. This is the time of year when I do most of that. Open-field running, in 6th gear at pto-rpm, puts a nice steady breeze across my face. I have a big home-made, canvas...

I mowed our acre of grass at around sunset last night and it wasn’t too bad. Today, I bushogged (3) small hayfields, sitting under the canopy of my tractor, and it also wasn’t bad, at a clip of about 10 mph, in 6th gear, at pto rpm.

I recently added a timber framed woodshed lean to on the back of my metal pole barn back porch. That back porch was to be my woodshed, but I acquired some more “stuff”, and it seems that you can never have too much inside or covered storage areas. Covering firewood with tarps outside just...

They look to be a bit a on the small side, to be very effective, when the sun is at much of an angle.

I have the heavy duty bucket on the 400X loader on my 4120. That, and the block heater, are the only “options” it has on it. For forks, I just use a couple lengths of heavy 3” angle iron. They worked very well for many years, but I must have ran into something while I was Bush-hogging and I...

My first experience with a canopy, was with my 1970 something Ford 2110, that had a huge fiberglass rops canopy on it. That was very nice on hot summer days, when out on the open fields. It was also nice in the rain. The front corners did sustain a little damage from trees, when operating in...

That is a very big part of the reason, why there is no modern tractor that I would rather have on my 2-row corn planter, than my 1951 Ford 8n. That old planter is a little temperamental, and prone to throwing a chain now and then. I can easily hear that happen, over the quiet purr of the...

It will probably be a month or so before I load it up but I’ll be sure to post a picture. You are the second person to ask for that. I had my first Cub in my prior pickup (2000, 3/4 ton 4wd Silverado with 8 ft box and regular cab) multiple times. It broke down a lot. The bed on that truck...

That’s the second Farmall Cub I have had. I swore I’d never buy another red tractor after all of the trouble I had with the first one. The main problem with the first one, was that it was well beyond completely worn out, when I got it. The first one came with cultivators. I always thought...

I’m with you there for sure. Also, now that gasoline is so much cheaper than diesel, the economy advantage once had by that fuel, is largely eliminated. I’m doing and planning to do a lot more work with my (2) antiques this year for that reason. My favorite thing about that Cub, is that at...

I had a little trouble with a valve on my 8n when I first bought it, back around 1989. I bought it from the widow of the original owner. It only had 1200 hours on it, but it didn’t have any compression on one cylinder, due to that broken valve. After replacing just that one, it was ok for a...

I consider the 1951 Ford 8n to be one of the finest tractors ever built for multiple reasons. Admittedly , there is undoubtably some bias because that was the first tractor that I ever bought. It is just so easy to attach and remove implements from, compared to any other tractor I have...

There is no tractor that was ever made, that I would rather have on my 2-row corn planter, than my 1951 Ford 8n:

This is what I would do. All of the OEM’s are pouring most of their engineering talent into electric power these days. Far better to buy something from the days when diesel power was their primary focus.

If I were shopping for an 8n, I’d be looking for one that was still 6 volts and started good cold. That way, you know you have an engine with good compression. Back in the day, many 12 volt conversions were done, as a “quick fix”, so that a worn-down engine could still be started. The...

A little rainy day work in the woodshed today, splitting big rounds vertical. I had to apply a little Flexseal tape, to a rip on the canopy canvas, in order to keep the tractor seat dry. We are getting 1/2” of rain today. I tore the canvas on a willow branch, as I was disking along the...

For many jobs, you just can’t beat an old 8n Ford. Planting sweetcorn, is one of them. I love the quiet gasoline engine. Henry really had that little 4-cylinder flathead optimized by 1951, and this thing gets great fuel economy. With gas now almost $ 2.00 a gallon cheaper than diesel...

I just completed my spring plowing with it on Saturday. When I had to drain the calcium ballast out of a rusted out original rear rim a couple years ago, I was worried how that would affect its plowing ability. Oddly enough, it made it much better, and saved me a considerable amount of gas...

Another “save” for the Cub this afternoon, delivering gas to my John Deere lawnmower when it ran out on the far side of the lawn: The new tool box rack, that I made for it, works great for a 6 gallon gas can.

I really have not had much “real” work to do with the Cub yet, but I needed it again today to jump start my Ford 8n. The sound of that “6 on 6” volt jump start is much more pleasing to the ears (and undoubtably easier on the tractor’s electrical components), than the screetchy “12 on 6” volt...

I would skip the paint job, especially if it is still wearing the oem factory paint. The latest trend in classic tractors seems to be to leave them in their “work clothes”. Those ones even seem to fetch the higher prices at auctions. After you paint over the factory finish, you can't ever get...

This is my second Cub. I didn’t have very good luck with my first one, but it was pretty well worn out when I got it. This one is in much better shape, and likely has less than 500 hours on it. What I missed most about my old Cub, was snow plowing. This one came with a snowplow that looks...

I reworked the new toolbox frame a little, welding it and painting it. I also made a wood outer liner for it, so that the Rubbermaid box can be removed and replaced as needed. Now the Cub is ready for some light firewood making duty.

That’s interesting. I may need a new 6 volt battery myself. I took the good one out of my 1951 8n and put it in a Farmall Cub that I bought last fall. The Cub hadn’t been run in 17 years and the 6 volt battery on it was shot. It came with another 17 year old 6 volt battery that had never...

I live in one of the most heavily salted areas of the country and I have yet to buy a new truck during the current century. When my first 00 3/4 ton Chevy 4x4 standard cab long box rusted to the point that it would not pass state inspection, I gave it to my father in law. He uses it for snow...

The 17 year old battery cranked the old Ford tractor over for a while, but not long enough or fast enough to start it. I drove the Cub over to it and did my first ever 6 volt on 6 volt jump start. In the past, I’ve always jump started my 6 volt tractors with a 12 volt battery, while the...

Maybe that’s how they work. I ordered some black flex-seal tape, to cover up the big holes, that I had to cut in the back of the fixtures to fit the $ 7 six volt bulbs. That is supposed to get here tomorrow. I’ve got a 17 year old, but never used, 6 volt battery on a charger now. I topped it...

I would recommend something about 25 hp, 4wd with front loader, R-4 tires, and a hydro transmission. If you go any larger, you will need to deal with emissions, paying more money for less efficiency, but cleaner exhaust. I think a Kubota from the close dealer would be a smart move. You might...

I also use a JD 246 with fertilizer hoppers, that I paid $ 200 for about 25 years ago. The shoes were about worn out on it when I got it. My father in law gave me his old JD 290 a few years later and the shoes on that were like new. I swapped them out with the worn out ones on my 246, and...

I’ll look for an 8 volt one and compare cost to a 6, if they have both. I’ll probably go with whichever one costs less. I imagine I’m going to get sick of sharing one battery between two tractors pretty soon.

Do the 8 volt batteries keep their charge ok with the tractor’s 6 volt generators ? This Cub has good compression and it starts very easily on 6 volts, as does my 1951 Ford 8n. That tractor only has 1200 hours on it. The Cub don’t have an hour meter on it, but judging by the wear (or lack...

I can relate to that, and also what a little car can do. We got hit with two Blizzards last winter, up here in western NY, not far from the Canadian border. The second, and biggest one hit just before Christmas. We had picked up our daughter, who was away across the state for college, the...

Happy Easter everybody. My old barn is down, but He Is Risen !!!

I would have liked to save both of those 36’ x 46’ timber framed barns. The problem was that the foundations were failing at the same time as the roofs. Fixing them would have cost several times more than building the new metal building. I had to take the first one down fast, because it was...

This is my second one. I bought the first one, mostly for cultivating corn, but I didn’t care for it for that task. I much prefer the two-row 3-point cultivator, that I use now, on my other tractors. I really missed my old Cub for light snow plowing though. The offset engine was especially...

I drove the Cub around a bit after sunset last night, to see how the new headlights worked. They worked very well. The “dim” setting provided just enough light to see ok, and the “bright” setting provides plenty of light for snow-plowing with the front blade. I’m not sure how the factory...

In order to minimize the fire hazard, because of all the wood around and stored up on the loft above, I do most of my welding and grinding outside, under the 10 ft x 25 ft side porch :

That’s a beauty Big Barn. I see where the name comes from. I like the portable welding curtain. My metal shop is only 10 ft x 12 ft. I made it, in the corner of my 36 ft x 50 ft metal-sided pole barn, adjacent to a 20 ft x 12 ft wood shop. You can see my arc welder on its cart and my oxygen...

I made this one from junk that I had laying around. The top is a piece of heavy gauge 12” c-channel. I don’t like small castor wheels on carts. One of my old barns fell down on a big-wheeled dolly, making pretzels out of the handles, so I cut them off and used the remains for the back legs of...

With the completion of the lights, the Cub is finally ready for snow plowing, just in time for spring. Actually, it’s not now, because I have a little bit of welding and and straightening to do on the plow frame, before I put the plow back on it this fall. I moved my boat with the front hitch...

The new $ 7 ea 6 volt 25 watt sealed beam lights that I bought on e-bay arrived and I installed them today. Unfortunately, I had to modify (cut part of the back out), the oem fixtures to make them fit. I imagine that others, that cost more than $ 40 ea., Would not have needed the fixture mods...

I did some work over at my parents place today. The first pictures is the (6) ft pull-type disk and the (2) section drag that I plan on using over there with the Cub. The last picture is a big ash tree (about 30” diameter at the base) that fell down across one of the woods trails. It split...

That plastic box is temporary. Hopefully, I can locate an old wooden box, that I always used on my previous Cub and Allis Chalmers model C. It worked great for holding a chain saw, a few log chains, and some felling wedges. I sold both of those old tractors, when I had to thin the herd, as I...

The temperature was above 50 early this morning, so I put a second coat of Farmall red on the drawbar and step. After (8) hours, they were dry enough to mount. Now this tractor is ready for some field work. While I was waiting for the paint to dry, I put a 6 volt work light on back. I...

If you go with a Deere, the mechanic/dealer relationship might not be so important. A Deere dealer is the closest to my place. I’ve only been there about every 100 operating hours, over the 17 years since I bought my JD 4120 brand new, to pick up oil filters. I didn’t even buy it from them...

The temp was almost up to 50 F, out in my pole barn, so I put a couple coats of rusty metal primer on the “new” step and drawbar this afternoon. Next time the temperature gets up there, and I have some time, I’ll get a couple coats of Farmall red on them.

Just kidding, I don’t think she’d take the tongue weight of that 350 ft Lursenn. It should be able to handle my 1989 17 ft Sylvan Pro-Fisherman with a Johnson 70 on back though.

I can’t imagine such a thing as that spike harrow doing a very good job of “organic” weed control. A spring tooth type, like this 6 foot 2-section 3-point model, would probably do a much better job: I bought this old Pittsburgh Forge one used for $ 125 from a neighbor about 35 years ago:

The weather outside was horrific today, so it was a good day for working in the pole barn. I made a step from 3” angle iron, to make it easier to get on and off of the cub. I also modified the plow frame (drilled (2) 9/16” holes) to accept a front mount trailer hitch. That should make it...

Not sure where those trailer wheels came from. It belongs to a friend who I met thru his father. His dad was the head mechanic at the local IH dealer, for many years. He and his father always serviced my old cub. He let me borrow his trailer to pick this one up, drop it off at his place, and...

This is my second cub. I think the first one I had was a 56. It was more or less completely wore out when I got it and I swore I’d never have another red tractor after all the trouble I had with that one. They say life’s about second chances, so here goes nothing I suppose. I got this one at...

If say more like “young and dumb”. The first thing I did, when I got out of college and got a good high-paying job, was went out and bought a fancy new 4x4 pickup truck. I had my old 2wd pickup off the road plenty of times before that and never got it stuck. With the new 4x4, I just kept...

I’ve never got stuck with my 4wd field vehicles (Chevy tracker, 3/4 ton regular cab Chevy pickup, or Dodge Durango. The main reason for that, is that I try to stay out of the mud with them. I did have a very close call with the Durango last fall, but putting the pedal to the metal powered me...

My prior UTV was a Chevy tracker. That was ok, but I’m liking my current Dodge Durango a lot better. The tracker was a little narrower, allowing it to fit into more spots, but the suspension was not as good. The shift cable also broke on it, so I had to use a vise-grip on the end to get it in...

I try to stay out of the mud, but I almost buried that old Durango last Thanksgiving, shortly after that photo was taken. It was fine on the hayfield and the lanes, but I took a shortcut across a turnip plot, that had been worked up and planted last August. I felt the wheels start to slip...

My vote is for the 4x4. When my old pickup rusted to the point that it wouldn’t pass state inspection, I took it up to my father in law’s place up in the mountains. He uses it to to keep the driveways and logging roads up there open in the winter with a snowplow, and I use it for hunting in...

I was out working on my pole barn yesterday, when I could hear big sheets of ice and snow sliding down off the tin roof. It was a scary sound. I can’t imagine trying to go in and out of doors on the sides while that’s happening. That’s why both of my man doors are under porches and (3) of...

On my 36 x 50 x 12 ft pole barn, I put (2) overhead doors on the front end (1) on the back end, plus a larger overhead door on the back side. We get lots of snow, up here near the Canadian border, so I don’t use that big side door much, in the winter. It’s the only door that I can get that...

One other thing to factor in is fuel cost. Diesel is now almost $ 2 more per gallon than gasoline, which largely negates the efficiency difference. The flat head four cylinder engine in the 1951 & 1952 Ford 8n just might be the most fuel-efficient gasoline powered tractor that Ford, and maybe...

I have an old GE “deer” fridge of the same era. I only use it when it’s too warm outside to age carcasses in our insulated garage. it worked perfectly last September, when I plugged it in and pressed it into service, on an early season doe. I like my venison aged a week or so, before...

I’ve used a few different tractors for wood. This 1951 8n works best for hauling it away from the splitter with a 3-point carryall. It also does ok at skidding logs, with a set of tongues on a 3-point boom pole. These days, I drag the logs with my 4wd JD 4120 with a set of forks on the...

Out with the old In with the new. The old one missed the 25 ft long side porch on my new one, by less than 1/8”, when it fell down. If it wasn’t for that old “1883” barn, that my great great granddad built being so close, I’d have made that side porch 50 ft long.

I bought my 1951 8n from the widow of the original owner in 1989. It had 1200 hours on it then, had always been stored inside a barn, and still had the original tires and paint. The first big job I did with it was digging a 1/4 acre pond with a pond scoop. It needed a valve job after that...

One of the problems with that is matching up the supply with the demand. If those beams are left outside and uncovered thru the winter, up north on the Canadian border where I am, they basically turn into powder in a year. When I took down the first old barn, I saved as much of the wood as I...