redlevel
Gold Member
For specialty vegetable/produce farming there has never been a finer tractor than a 135 Massey Ferguson. That would apply as well to the 35, 235, 240, 245 etc. The 3000 Ford would probably be just as good, but I never had much experience with them. These tractors (the Fergies) have draft control, position control, live hydraulics, dual-stage clutch, and you can do any job that needs to be done on a small (large, for that matter) farm. You need a 14" or 16" two-bottom plow. If you are not going to use chemicals for weed control, turning the weed and grass seed under with a bottom plow is better than tilling. You need a two-row Pittsburgh type cultivator for plowing (cultivating) between the rows. A disc harrow and a mower, and of course some kind of planter, would get you ready to put a crop in.
The N tractors, especially the 8N, will handle all the above. However, as someone pointed out, many, if not most, of these tractors are just worn out. The 600 Ford my wife inherited from her father and turned over to me was in pretty good shape, especially the engine. I have spent about $2000 on it just getting it in shape to do some serious gardening and food plot work, and it still needs four tires. If it hadn't had sentimental value, I would have sold it and got another 135.
In my area you can buy a good (hopefully) 8N or 600 for around $3500. I say hopefully, because unless you are pretty knowledgeable mechanically, there can be hidden problems that will cost you money. The tractor won't be worth any more when you spend the money. You can buy a pretty good 135 for $4500 to $6000, depending on hours, power steering, etc. The tractors are 15 to 20 years newer than the 8N's. A late 60's or early 70's 135 that appears to be in pretty good shape, cranks and runs good, and has few obvious warts, is probably really in pretty good condition. The same would apply to Fords of the same size.
My family grew high-value, labor intensive, small-acreage crops for 60 years. I still do a little of it on the side. We didn't grow organic, but many of the crops we grew had no effective herbicides cleared. My last bit of advice would be to get ready to rub some blisters pulling weeds. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
The N tractors, especially the 8N, will handle all the above. However, as someone pointed out, many, if not most, of these tractors are just worn out. The 600 Ford my wife inherited from her father and turned over to me was in pretty good shape, especially the engine. I have spent about $2000 on it just getting it in shape to do some serious gardening and food plot work, and it still needs four tires. If it hadn't had sentimental value, I would have sold it and got another 135.
In my area you can buy a good (hopefully) 8N or 600 for around $3500. I say hopefully, because unless you are pretty knowledgeable mechanically, there can be hidden problems that will cost you money. The tractor won't be worth any more when you spend the money. You can buy a pretty good 135 for $4500 to $6000, depending on hours, power steering, etc. The tractors are 15 to 20 years newer than the 8N's. A late 60's or early 70's 135 that appears to be in pretty good shape, cranks and runs good, and has few obvious warts, is probably really in pretty good condition. The same would apply to Fords of the same size.
My family grew high-value, labor intensive, small-acreage crops for 60 years. I still do a little of it on the side. We didn't grow organic, but many of the crops we grew had no effective herbicides cleared. My last bit of advice would be to get ready to rub some blisters pulling weeds. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
