Advice for a complete novice: gas v. diesel

[mureiko]

Ok, would anybody be willing to give some advice to a complete novice? I've got 50 acres in Texas. About 20 acres need to be mowed, and of course there's other stuff that needs to be done. My budget is limited, so I'm looking at older American tractors--MF, Ford, etc. First question: gas vs. diesel. I'm not a mechanic but can at least change oil and do a few other things. Some people have said go with gas because there is less maintenance. Others say go with diesel because they last longer, and diesel is just better.

Anybody want to give me some direction? Thanks so much.

Bill

 

[Soundguy]

I would say deisel is -less- up front maintenance.... no plugs/plug wires. distribuitor cap, rotor, points, etc.

Thats a lot of property. no doubt gas did the work in the past.. that's not an issue. Any larger farmall would be up to the task..

Large ag tractors seem to get real cheap compaired to compacts.. for instance.. I can find ford 8000 deisels from the late 60's in my area for 5 grand.. 105 pto hp.. pretty impressive..

on the other hand.. for about 7gs or so.. you can get a new 30hp chineese tractor.. etc... not a completely bad option either...

If you get gas.. get a big one... don't try to maintain 50 ac with an 8n.. I love em.. but they aren't for that kind of work...

Large jd's, case's, big ac's.. like a wd45.. case DC series, ford 5000 or 6000 .. any big oldie that could bale hay is a good tough machine...

As for pro / con.... maintaining a gas tractor is similar to your car / lawnmower... diesel is well.. less hands on till something breaks.. then it cost, whereas the gas jobs hit you up here and there, not counting the big breaks.. etc.

Buy something with good rubber.. big rubber, for these big tractors is very $pendy...

Good luck.

soundguy

 

[Egon]

If you are buying an older farm tractor knowledge and the ability to determine the condition of the tractor are important factors. Many old farm tractors have been used to their service life and are then sold before costly maintenance issuses and the accompanying downtime become a problem to the farmer.
The more sophisticated the tractor the greater chance for problems. Also consider the availability of parts, very important.

That said; good tractors can be found by being patient and choosing carefully. I'd stay with the gas as diesel repairs such as pumps can be costly.

Egon

 

[PineRidge]

If you look at the freeways you will see diesel trucks delivering the majority of goods delivered today.

There are good reasons for that: Diesels engines will stay together and outlast a gasoline engine by leaps and bounds and there is no comparison as far as fuel consumption, diesels win the match hands down.

If you have a choice, go diesel, you won't be sorry that you did.

 

[grandad]

So far you have some good advice here. I won't dispute anything others have said about older tractors. Finding one that is not totally worn out is probably the most important. Certainly that means more than what brand.

How old you go will somewhat dictate whether it's gas vs. diesel, since all the manufacturers seemed to go away from gas sometime in the 60's or thereabouts.

One other thought... 20 acres is a lot to mow if you do it more than once or twice a year. You will need either lots of time or a big ($$$) mower. Don't know what your other chores will be, but dont' forget to consider the size and cost of the implements you will need along with the tractor.

 

[bgott]

It depends on how much you're going to spend. You can get an old gas tractor with a mower for $2500 and come out OK. If you bought an old 8N most parts are still available reasonably and any semi competent auto mechanic with a manual could fix it. I would be nervous about looking at a $2500 diesel. Anything that cheap would stand a better than average chance of being a POS and parts availability would probably be spotty at best. You also wouldn't want your auto mechanic working on your diesel, not a lot of gas only mechanics seem to be able to cross over and diagnose diesel problems and vice versa. How much are you planning to spend?

 

[Soundguy]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Many old farm tractors have been used to their service life and are then sold before costly maintenance issuses and the accompanying downtime become a problem to the farmer.
)</font>

Good points.. though in the 50 year old tractor range.. I'm sure in many cases the farmer has -already- incured the downtime and expenses.. and wants to cut his loss... and sells /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif

As always.. condition dictates price.

BTW.. who is it? Cub Cadet that is still producing a gas compact?

 

[normde2001]

"My budget is limited, so I'm looking at older American tractors--MF, Ford, etc"

You didn't say how limited your budget is; however if it is very limited, and your main chore is going to be mowing that 20 acres, I would go with a Ford 8n, (50-55 yrs old, gas, approx. $2500), and one of those foreign made sicklebar mowers, (7', about $1150), unless you can find something used.

 

[art]

The best thing to help anyone help you and not waste your time is to know what a limited budget means? Can you afford payments? Diesels are good, but old diesels can be expensive just as well as gas but they don't have to be.

 

[Trev]

I'm not very mechanically inclined, but if you are an old tractor might work well for you. My friend is 53, and he bought an old tractor which was born the same year he was.

He rebuilt it once, and has used it for the last 25 years without any problems.

But he knows what he's doing. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif