Going to look at a tractor tomorrow, tell me what to look for...

[Farmwithjunk]

How about offering him $3000 and see what he says. He might be willing to get rid of it.

I think it would be a great tractor for you if you could fix it up a bit. You wouldn't have to do everything at once and could still use it while you were working on it.

Just by looking at the pictures, I wouldn't say it was in that bad condition. Some of the ones we use look a lot worse.

I just looked at the pictures for the first time. Knowing what dealers get for a running 135 in the US, I wouldn't bet on getting that one for $3000. I've seen WORSE sell for $4500 and up. Some people don't give a hoot about "looks".

I've got enough "spare parts" laying around in the shop to put that one back together. If I could snag it for $3000, it would be a $5000 tractor with a few weeks worth of spare time. You just don't find 'em for $3000 very often. I spend a fair amount of time looking for 'em.

 

[greg_g]

The negative comments about Chinese tractors are for the most part based upon hearsay rather than personal experience. I've owned 4 of them now, each one better than the previous. It just took a while for the Chinese to get in sync with the American buyer, and modify their domestic rice tractors for the American export market. The issues touched upon in this topic are for the most part history. Oh, and parts availability has improved tremendously in the last two years.

That said, 60 hours isn't even anywhere close to being broke in - nor is it a determining factor in actual age. Could you tell me the dates on the engine label and the tractor label (probably inside one of the fenders)?

Last thing, that six grand you were quoted is not all tractor. Northern pads their tractor prices by about 20% to cover the cost of their "free shipping". By comparison, Rural King is selling the 2wd version of that tractor on turf tires for $3999 new. You might want to rethink that $3500 offer.

And even though I'm a former Yanmar owner, I'd advise steering away from that YM2000 as well. No power steering, single stage clutch, two cylinders hammering in your ears - plus Yanmar refuses parts support for grey market versions. And it weighs in under 1700#, so you're likely to have pretty light steering with a load on the TPH.

//greg//

 

[flusher]

I guess after sitting down and talking with some people for a while I may need to actually reconsider the MF 135.

The dealer was asking $4,200 for it.
It had the following problems:
-All but one of the gauges were broken
-Oil leak down the top right side
-Brakes were shot
-Ball joints were loose
-Hydraulic/PS fluid leak
-Left side power steering hoses needed to be replaced
-Sheetmetal looked pretty bad, missing front guard for radiator, etc., though looks don't really matter to me.
-Lights missing/broken, again, not very important right now.

There was a 5' bush hog, really heavily built in good condition that I wanted to buy too.

Considering the condition it is in, what would be a good offer to make for this tractor and the bush hog?

He said he would clean it up for me so that I could locate the oil leak.

Here is the link on EquipmentTrader:

EquipmentTraderOnline

I replaced all of the gauges on the 1964 MF-135 diesel that I bought in July 06, except for the fuel gauge/sender that was OK. My 135 is the Deluxe model that has the complete set of gauges (temp, oil pressure, ammeter, fuel, tach/tractormeter). The more basic "Special" model has only a temp gauge and oil pressure gauge. I assume the 135 your considering is a Deluxe model.

Which brings up another question: does that 135 have MultiPower? The standard 135 transmission has 6 forward and 2 reverse gears. Add Multipower and this changes to 12F/4R.

The temp gauge, oil pressure gauge and the tach are essential, IMHO, for engine protection (overtemp, low oil pressure). The ammeter is not that essential, but is nice to have. I spent less that $100 on new gauges. They're easy to install.

BTW: my 135 has an oil pressure switch that's wired into the fuel gauge/sender unit that prevents the battery from discharging through that circuit when the engine is off. I replaced that also (around $30, IIRC). That oil switch was located under the dashboard and was attached to a tee right at the rear of the oil pressure gauge. I moved that switch to the engine block since it was easier to install there using the 1/8" copper tubing and compression fittings that you find on modern pressure gauges. Again this change was trivial and easy to accomplish.

Since I was thoroughly cleaning up the tractor, I rewired it. Really simple to do. I have the circuit schematic if you need one.

The grill on my 135 was crumpled when I bought it. I bought a replacement on eBay for about $50.

Here are a few photos of my 135 as delivered. It's an orchard tractor (short front wheel spindles and squat, wide rear tires). It runs OK, but as you can see, it was in need of quite a bit of work to make it look pretty.

 

[D7E]

The negative comments about Chinese tractors are for the most part based upon hearsay rather than personal experience.

//greg//

Depends who you talk to ? ........Most farmers who buy a chinese or even a kubota or anything that might replace a smaller older farm tractor regret it because they are used to "real" tractors and they really are not as good and would take a 135 or a ford 5000 with it's problems over anything unusual ,I don't think we Will be comparing tractors to a "Chinkomoto" in 30 years time like we compare to classics like the 135 ."We don't make em any-more" and they can't afford to .

 

[RoyJackson]

The negative comments about Chinese tractors are for the most part based upon hearsay rather than personal experience. I've owned 4 of them now, each one better than the previous. It just took a while for the Chinese to get in sync with the American buyer, and modify their domestic rice tractors for the American export market. The issues touched upon in this topic are for the most part history. Oh, and parts availability has improved tremendously in the last two years.

//greg//

I haven't seen too many products imported from the chinese that weren't throwaway stuff.
That's fine for a $100 cell phone...not so hot for a $5K plus tractor.

I've not seen any chinese equipment (ag or residential) yet...not around here (southern PA). It's mostly Deere, Kubota and NH...for the farmers, landscape/construction and residential.

Thinking about it...haven't seen any implements from china yet...harbor freight might carry some, but I haven't seen any at the local store. Most implements I've seen have been domestically product (King Kutter, Howse aand the bigger brands) or sold through the big three dealers with their names on them (my dealer sells Befco, Deere and Frontier).

 

[scott_vt]

I haven't seen too many products imported from the chinese that weren't throwaway stuff.

Thinking about it...haven't seen any implements from china yet...harbor freight might carry some, but I haven't seen any at the local store.

Mornin Roy,
There too busy makin toys !

 

[greg_g]

Thinking about it...haven't seen any implements from china yet...harbor freight might carry some, but I haven't seen any at the local store.

Not that I doubt your powers of observation, but country of origin is not prominently displayed on many generic-looking implements. That said, you're more likely to see Italian up there in PA. Although, you may have seen Chinese implements, without recognizing them as such. Jinma has been sending wood chippers and finish mowers over here for several years. I haven't seen one yet, but the Jinma round baler was mentioned here: http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/chinese-tractors/102793-anyone-try-jinma-round-baler.html?highlight=hay+baler

I just bought a light duty Chinese rotary cutter (Futon brand), and for under $470 I was anticipating noise and vibration. I was pleasantly surprised to quickly discover that this 60" rotary cutter was as quiet and smooth running as my 84" First Choice finish mower. In fact, the topic of Chinese implements here is recent too. See http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/attachments/103255-alright-wholl-admit-using-these.html?highlight=chinese+implements

//greg//

 

[greg_g]

Depends who you talk to ? ........Most farmers who buy a chinese or even a kubota or anything that might replace a smaller older farm tractor regret it because they are used to "real" tractors and they really are not as good...

You're exactly correct. The current selection of Chinese imports are not targeted at the full-time farmer. In the first place, the vast vast majority are CUTs. These imports are are targeted at folks like the guy who actually started this topic. So I don't really thing that bending this discussion to conform to your predjucices will help him out much.

On the other hand, I'm attempting to help the guy out by offering actual hands-on experience and qualified observations of alternatives available for part-time agricultural pursuits.

//greg//

 

[RoyJackson]

Just don't lick the paint on the chinese stuff!!

I refrain as much as possible from Chinese stuff due to their unfair trade practices. I wouldn't recommend any costly product (for quality reasons) unless they were backed up by a more reputable company (Mattel, for example).

Tractors bought from Northern Tool are cheap...and, as long as you do your own work (and can get parts), well...just depends...but I'll stick with the better quality stuff.

 

[Spiveyman]

The blue blood in me tells me to suggest a nice 3 cyl ford thousand series with ps, ind pto, and a full hyd loader.. however.. if you could find a massey 135 setup similarly, and in good shape and fully functional.... they are a darn good tractor too!

I can certainly understand the point about the part time/weekend farmer, or someone who just wants to mow a small field being able to settle for a chinese tractor, but reliability and ease of use should be very important to someone that doesn't want to spend all of their time maintaining on of these things. Granted, the newer chinese stuff may be getting better, but it is funny to be comparing a 30 year old MF or Ford to a new chinese one. I'm with Soundguy on this one. My papaw has 1980's a Ford 3910 that runs perfectly and has never had a single thing done to it other than routine maintenance. It just works, every day for the last 25 years. That's the way they ought to be made, rather than disposable.

dieselfuelonly, I would also encourage you to keep looking for a good buy on a good tractor. I did a quick ebay search w/in 200 miles of your area there in NC. There are tons of decent tractors listed. Many Ford 3000, 4000, 5000series, a bunch of MF's, JD's... etc. And most places will deliver if you don't want to drive that far for about $1/mile each way, maybe less if you work with them.

Ford 4000 tractor **Diesel with power steering** - (eBay item 280143239643 end time Aug-21-07 16:45:00 PDT)
Ford 5000 Diesel Tractor with Power Steering - (eBay item 230162700111 end time Aug-23-07 16:39:59 PDT)
ford 4610 with ford loader rear weights daul remotes - (eBay item 140149897670 end time Aug-27-07 06:06:34 PDT)
1974 Ford 4000 Tractor - (eBay item 320149881596 end time Aug-27-07 06:22:49 PDT)
Ford 5000 Diesel Tractor with Power Steering - (eBay item 230162700111 end time Aug-23-07 16:39:59 PDT)
Ford 4000 2wd tractor - (eBay item 300143700936 end time Aug-27-07 18:10:18 PDT)
FORD 3000 NEW ENGINE,TIRES,PAINT,FINDERS,MUST SEE LOOK - (eBay item 160149490582 end time Aug-30-07 17:00:00 PDT)
I'm not saying I've checked all of these out, I'm just giving some examples of what you can find, and these are just the Fords.

Call me an isolationist wacko, but I say buy something American that will last.