8/9N on bumpy pastures?

[gardenpro]

I'm trying to decide if these tractors are what I am in need of- I have 9 acres that are overall flatland but have lots of bumps. I'm looking for a cheap/very reasonable tractor that can mow this, plus rototill among other things.
How do they compare to other tractors when used on bumpy ground?
One day I do plan to hire a farmer to come and grade the land, there is just no money for that for likely several years.
The land is soft in places (high water table), does the two wheel drive have trouble getting stuck? I wanted a 4wd but...
Thanks!

 

[Bully]

You are not going to be able to till with those tractors unless they have an after market under drive trans. the are great for mowing and do all right on the bumps. how about a plow, and harrow at first.to knock out the humps? Gary

 

[gardenpro]

Hi and thanks for the info. Is an aftermarket under drive trans an expensive addition? Tilling is quite important- definatley the second most important function for me.

 

[Pooh_Bear]

I have concieved a lot of interesting notions to use a tiller with my 8n.
None of those ideas are really feasible.
An N tractor is just not suited to a tiller.
Get a plow and a disk harrow and it will work great.
A disk harrow will take care of a lot of those bumps.
For more stubborn and bigger bumps get a box blade.

Pooh Bear

 

[gardenpro]

Jeez I was really thinking that the 8/9N were the tractors for me. Figured I'd just come across something about tilling for them as I couldn't find anyting as of yet.
Sets me back to square one. I'm in need of a tractor that is really cheap, can handle the mowing of over 8 acres of pasture and can rototill thoroughly. Just small areas, but within 2-3 years I expect to have 2-3 acres tilled and in cultivation. Any ideas? Thanks again for the help. If it wasn't for this forum I'd still be barking up the wrong tree.

 

[Soundguy]

Yep.. N's are geared too high for roto tilling unless you have one of about two post tranny add on units.. one is an everet trencher tranny.. and the other is the howard rotovator tranny. Either will slow the N ground speed considerably.. but not slow the pto speed.

The common underdrive trannies by sherman and Hupp are not suitable for this as they are installed as the input shaft of the tranny.. they slow ground speed AND pto speed.. as the pto is driven on the tranny countershaft.. etc.

Do you really need to roto till before you cultivate? Farmers for decades simply plowed/disced/cultivated.

An N is an awesome 2-bottom pullint machine.. 10-12-14" bottoms.. or a single 16" bottom.

Soundguy

 

[gardenpro]

Soundguy, can the N's cultivate alright then? My main thing is, with such a small 'farm' you really need to have a distinct product or you may as well not farm, in this area. Chemical free organic is what sells in this area at the farmers markets.
My thought was because I'm not using roundup or any other herbicide the pastures would need some serious tilling to irradicate the grass/weeds.
Can the N series take care of this, and if so what would I need? THANKS again.

 

[Egon]

The tractor will do fine for cultivating with the traditional equipment.

As you cultivate the ground will become less bummpy.

Think carefully about the rotatiller. You can prepare small plots without it. If you wish to till between crop rows the tractor tiller may not be the combination you are looking for.

Egon

 

[RickB]

8/9N 's come in two styles; pretty good and money pit. They are between 53 and 66 years old. 9N's are almost totally obsolete as they have a poor steering gear, 3 speed transmission and no position control on the hitch. 8N's have position control, improved steering and 4 speeds but still lack live hydraulics and live PTO. The lack of live PTO can be dealt with to a degree. Spending good money on a tractor without live hydraulics is just foolish. I spend wayyyyyyy too much time working on N's that folks think can be made to run and work in showroom fashion when in fact they are plain worn out. Last one I looked at had a non-functional cob-job 12V conversion, low compression, leaking PTO shaft seal with the obsolete seal style and 1 1/8" output shaft, and leaking axle seals. And was just purchased for $3000. Give me that 3K and a little time, I will find a tractor 10-15 years newer with live hyds and maybe live PTO. Thanks for reading the rant, Rick.

 

[RobertN]

What about a Farmall Super-A, C or H? Made for cultivating, and can easily run a mower. And, they have better gearing than a Ford N series. They are pretty affordable too. An Super-A would be just the trick for a 2-3 acre garden too.