Anyone else favor older tractors to newer ones?

[EddieWalker]

From my first riding lawnmower, a 42 inch Craftsman from the 80's until my newest piece of equipment, a 2010 zero turn, I've found that they all have stuff that is better off bypassed to keep them running that you never miss, and wish had never been installed. I blame the government for forcing them to put junk on there that nobody wants, or really needs. For a diesel engine to run, all you need is wiring for the starter, wiring to warm up the injectors, and wiring for the alternator to keep the battery charged. Everything else is just a potential project that sooner or later will have to be fixed or replaced.

 

[Industrial Toys]

Funny how there is a thousand feet of wire on a Diesel powered machine that will cause you all manner of grief, but the machine will and can run (historically) without any electrical system at all. Park it on a hill, if you don't want a battery and starter.

 

[Tx Jim]

Funny how there is a thousand feet of wire on a Diesel powered machine that will cause you all manner of grief, but the machine will and can run (historically) without any electrical system at all. Park it on a hill, if you don't want a battery and starter.

If tractor has a hyd operated trans,hyd operated clutch or hyd reverser parking on a hill as starting aid will only mean one will end up ""'at bottom of hill""" with a non-running engine because engine crankshaft won't turn over as tractor proceeds down the hill

 

[Shaneard]

If tractor has a hyd operated trans,hyd operated clutch or hyd reverser parking on a hill as starting aid will only mean one will end up ""'at bottom of hill""" with a non-running engine because engine crankshaft won't turn over as tractor proceeds down the hill

If that's the case you should probably check the wiring :laughing:

 

[Industrial Toys]

Duh! Of course that's when you have to use the crank sticking out the front.

Gets me to wondering. Could you even hand crank start a 40pto hp 3 cyl diesel?

 

[Oaktree]

There were some VERY good tractors built into the 90's that don't have ANY of the liberal nightmare pollution and wiring spagetti crap put on them lately...

My LK3054 is probably the last of those...it's about as basic as it gets, no pollution stuff, nothing electrical except for starter & lights but it does have power steering. I think mine was built in the early 00s. Doesn't have a cab or heater, but I really don't care.

The newer wiring may have better quality insulation with components that have better construction and quality control.

( look at house wiring using 1950ç—´ material and todayç—´ material )

Maybe, maybe not. Some modern autos (mostly Japanese makes from what I've read) use soy-based insulation which turns out to be very attractive to rodents. Imagine what that would be like in a tractor that's stored outside.

As far as house wiring goes, before I modernized it, my house had the original 30s-vintage wiring and it was still in good shape. Inadequate by today's standards, but aside from no grounding at outlets, etc. perfectly safe.

 

[Industrial Toys]

That's OK. The rodents eat SOY and won't reproduce!

 

[bdog]

It really depends what you consider old. In the past I owned a Minneapolis moline M5 and Dad had a Farmall M. While they are neat old tractors and quite reliable they were not fun to operate and had zero creature comforts. My tractor now is a 1980 4440 Deere. It has a cab, AC, stereo, suspension seat, pretty much anything you could want. I traded a 2006 case for the 4440 about five years ago and have no regrets. My 39 year old tractor has virtually every feature I want and is super simple and reliable. So for me something of this vintage or newer is fine. I wouldn稚 want something older.

 

[spitter]

I love old tractors but my property is the rollercoaster ride from h$ll ! I'm always changing direction or going up a slope or dogging trees so a hydro is ideal. Late 90,s early2000,s seam the best for non pollution no computer hydros. We have a manual all terrain fork lift at work and that thing will make you drink. When lm at home I don,t want to go through all that. I can't beleave there was no hydro cut's in the 80's or 70's.:drink:

 

[rScotty]

I have been around electrical stuff and electronics pretty much my whole life. Troubleshooting stuff you didn't design is a very tedious process. Heck, I can't figure out stuff I designed some years down the road even with written explanations and schematics.

Every time I look at OEM schematics, I'm thinking, why does the wire go there? It's "supposed" to go to blah, blah!

Between bad grounds, schematics that are difficult to read, connectors that are difficult to make contact with, I think it's a nightmare. Cars are different, they are scrapped in fairly short order. HISTORICALLY tractors are not, but I think this has changed.

I don't see bad homebrew wiring nearly as often as I used to. A lot of old trucks and tractors with generators. early alternators, and voltage regulators were all basically wired the same - so the same tests apply across the board. Today what I find in older machines tractors is mostly just bad components, and the old fashioned way of designing using discrete electrical components coupled together with real wires makes testing and replacement of components easy.
rScotty