Ford 800 or 8N

jwalley · Mar 4, 2012

All things considered equal, which would be a better purchase to shred 5 acres, pull a grader, and maybe a single row plow for gardening? There are several 8Ns around the San Antonio area and a couple of 800s to look at. Better options for reliability, usability and price/availability of parts??

rambler · Mar 4, 2012

860 would be the best, live pto. That makes farming fun!

An 840 is certainly much more tractor than an N. Bigger engine, live (usable!) hydraulics, etc.

-->Paul

whodat526 · Mar 4, 2012

if i had a choice between the two i wouldn't even look at the 8n unless the 800 was about 1500 dollars higher

jwalley · Mar 4, 2012

The 800 I saw listed is actually a 4000. Is this tractor better equipped?

Diamondpilot · Mar 4, 2012

That is high for a 800. I have a 861 and its 1.5 times the tractor a 8N is but in this area they sell for $2000 to $2500 depending on condition.

8N's sell for $1500 to $2000

Chris

jwalley · Mar 4, 2012

Sorry, I meant the tractor was clearly a Ford 4000. Supposedly similar to the 800, but I have no idea how they differ. Any comments welcome.

GreenWannabe · Mar 5, 2012

The original Ford 4000 was a couple of generations newer than the 800, built from '62 to '65, and was based on the 801 series, built from '58 to '62. The original 800 series was built from '54 to '57. The three-cylinder 4000 was a new tractor, built from '65 to '75. This information, and much more, is available from TractorData.com.

ruffdog · Mar 5, 2012

Growing up we first had a 8n with a rebuilt engine. After many years, a nice 801 was available and we bought it. Yes, 1.5 times the 8n. Much better.

kf4uda · Mar 5, 2012

These guys are telling you right as far as I am concerned. I own an 861 as well so there would be no decision to make between a 4000 and 8n. I don't mean to bash the 8n as they are certainly good little tractors but they are not the same caliber as a 4000 in my opinion.

rambler · Mar 5, 2012

What tranny does it have? The SoS (sorta automatic) can be a little scary. They worked well, but this old, if they give trouble there are 3x as many parts in one, big bill to fix up.

No comparison, an 800/801/4000 has a lot more features and a size bigger than an N series. Note that there were many options in the 800/4000 series, be best to look over the machine to determine which tranny it has for live pto, number of gears, etc. I'd pay an extra $500 or more for a good live pto, and I'd pay about $1000 less for an SoS tranny because I just don't trust them at this age.

--->Paul