Farmall Cub-Still a Good Small Farm Tractor?

[workinonit]

I have 2 140s and personally I wouldn't run anything off the PTO. I got mine strictly for farming a garden and there's nothing better than one for that. Jeff said they don't have a 3PH but you can absolutely get a 3 PH setup for them. My preference if I were going to get one would be to get the belly cultivator setup for it. Here in the southeast parts can still be bought for them. I'll post some pics tomorrow showing how my 140 is setup. Really good 140s around here go for $7000 to $10,000.

 

[Sawyer Rob]

Well, I have a really nice 140, it has a belly sickle mower, come get it for $5,000... lol

SR

 

[CH4Ohio]

To answer your question directly . . . . . No. It's not a good farm tractor.

I have fond memories of grandpa's Farmall Super A. His had a bench seat just big enough for me to sit with him. First tractor I ever drove. He had cultivators and side-dresser attachments. Crank start when the battery was flat. It had hydraulics, but not sophisticated like today. None of these sleeve-hitch tractors are practical today. I'd love to have one for nostalgia, but they're not good farm tractors for today's implements.

Get something with a 3-point hitch, 4WD, power steering, etc. Get a loader with it, if you want one -- don't try to add it later. Better to have diesel and not gasoline with carburetors, points, etc. I think they were all 6 volt systems so that adds complications.

A really nice Farmall Cub,Farmall A, or Super A, should be used in parades -- not farming. I still see some folks mowing with Farmall Cubs, in fact a new neighbor showed up with one that looked like it just came off the factory floor, but it didn't take him long to trade it for a zero-turn. Sad to say, but their time has passed. If you have one, try to use it to its capacity or shine it up and drive in parades. But I wouldn't be shopping for one to use as a "farm tractor".

 

[RickB]

I don't know why everyone is reminiscing about Super A's and 140's in response to a query about a Cub.
makes about as much sense as bragging up a Kubota MX when somebody is asking about a B2601.

 

[ROUSTABOUT]

To answer your question directly . . . . . No. It's not a good farm tractor.

I have fond memories of grandpa's Farmall Super A. His had a bench seat just big enough for me to sit with him. First tractor I ever drove. He had cultivators and side-dresser attachments. Crank start when the battery was flat. It had hydraulics, but not sophisticated like today. None of these sleeve-hitch tractors are practical today. I'd love to have one for nostalgia, but they're not good farm tractors for today's implements.

Get something with a 3-point hitch, 4WD, power steering, etc. Get a loader with it, if you want one -- don't try to add it later. Better to have diesel and not gasoline with carburetors, points, etc. I think they were all 6 volt systems so that adds complications.

A really nice Farmall Cub,Farmall A, or Super A, should be used in parades -- not farming. I still see some folks mowing with Farmall Cubs, in fact a new neighbor showed up with one that looked like it just came off the factory floor, but it didn't take him long to trade it for a zero-turn. Sad to say, but their time has passed. If you have one, try to use it to its capacity or shine it up and drive in parades. But I wouldn't be shopping for one to use as a "farm tractor".

Cubs are gold for truck patches. Still a lot of them around here. You can plow when it's just coming up. Or, we have a David Bradley. My granddaddy worked a forty truck patching until he was 88.

 

[CH4Ohio]

Guilty.

 

[Gee Ray]

To answer your question directly . . . . . No. It's not a good farm tractor.

I have fond memories of grandpa's Farmall Super A. His had a bench seat just big enough for me to sit with him. First tractor I ever drove. He had cultivators and side-dresser attachments. Crank start when the battery was flat. It had hydraulics, but not sophisticated like today. None of these sleeve-hitch tractors are practical today. I'd love to have one for nostalgia, but they're not good farm tractors for today's implements.

Get something with a 3-point hitch, 4WD, power steering, etc. Get a loader with it, if you want one -- don't try to add it later. Better to have diesel and not gasoline with carburetors, points, etc. I think they were all 6 volt systems so that adds complications.

A really nice Farmall Cub,Farmall A, or Super A, should be used in parades -- not farming. I still see some folks mowing with Farmall Cubs, in fact a new neighbor showed up with one that looked like it just came off the factory floor, but it didn't take him long to trade it for a zero-turn. Sad to say, but their time has passed. If you have one, try to use it to its capacity or shine it up and drive in parades. But I wouldn't be shopping for one to use as a "farm tractor".

Let me get this correct, spend more then $20,000 dollars for a machine that will not pull a single bottom plow to the end of a row and then turn around and plow back? $20,000 plus dollars for a machine that can not pull a leveling disk that is adjustable from the drivers seat. There is no swinging drawbar on the contemporary machines. $20,000 plus for a machine that is not built with the operator's station off set so that you can see to cultivate your crops. A sickle bar mower hanging between the wheels is GREAT at mowing hay. But it is slow with only a 5 foot cutter bar.

New tractors do many things well but there are somethings that the old iron is much better at then the new. So yes a 75 year old Cub is much better at farming crops the a new tractor and at a fraction of the cost.

And how many of the modern tractors will have a working lifespan of 7 decades?

 

[CH4Ohio]

Let me get this correct, spend more then $20,000 dollars for a machine that will not pull a single bottom plow to the end of a row and then turn around and plow back? $20,000 plus dollars for a machine that can not pull a leveling disk that is adjustable from the drivers seat. There is no swinging drawbar on the contemporary machines. $20,000 plus for a machine that is not built with the operator's station off set so that you can see to cultivate your crops. A sickle bar mower hanging between the wheels is GREAT at mowing hay. But it is slow with only a 5 foot cutter bar.

New tractors do many things well but there are somethings that the old iron is much better at then the new. So yes a 75 year old Cub is much better at farming crops the a new tractor and at a fraction of the cost.

And how many of the modern tractors will have a working lifespan of 7 decades?

Well, you guys are all making good points. Maybe we should ask the OP to define what he means by "farm tractor". I think that's where we're disagreeing.

Back to focusing on the Cub: I can see the value of a Cub for cultivating a garden or doing similar chores IF you have the attachments and implements. I was interpreting "farm tractor" to mean something that could do the variety of tasks around a small farm. I was also assuming that anyone asking this question was just getting started or new with tractors and might be surprised to find out that the variety of attachments available today won't work with it.

I guess we should ask for clarification on what a "farm tractor" is.

 

[CH4Ohio]

It's obvious that I'm not reading carefully enough. Upon review of the original post, I regret my previous responses on this subject since it was not a legitimate question but mainly an advertisement for a YouTube video.

As Emily Litella (Gilda Radnor) used to say . . . . "Nevermind . . . . "

 

[Solitary Man]

#Farmall #Cub-Still A Good Tractor For Your Small #Farm?

OMG. I ran one of those for several years as a kid with a one row cultivator under it. I hated that tractor; but it sure beat hand weeding and bending over in the hot sun. I'm thinking 15 hp was about it?