Buying Advice How bad is no 3 point?

[CobyRupert]

....When considering a tractor purchase bare tractor weight first, tractor horsepower second, rear axle width third, rear wheel/tire ballast fourth.

^ This is good advice.
Weight = traction and ability to handle equipment/loads that don’t throw the tractor around.
Horsepower just determines how fast you can do a job. Lower gears and traction will beat be a high horsepower light weight machine. That’s why a 20hp lawnmower loses. (Torque is another issue, but I digress)

For your application, look for a tractor that not only has a 3pth to pull a plow, but that the 3pth has Draft Control (as noted by a draft control level next to the 3pth control lever and a sensor mechanism at the top link).

 

[LouNY]

The JD 2020 has more then enough power and weight to pull a 3 bottom 16" plow or 4 bottom 14".
We used 2wd farm tractors with loaders for many years, do they work as good as one on a 4wd? No, are they usable yes and much better then a shovel.
50 years ago there were very few 4wd tractors and many without 3 point hitches, pull type implements can do a very good job.
On the farm we have almost no 3 point implements, none of our tillage or forage harvesting are 3 point, are hay bines use the lower arms on a 2 point mount except for the oldest one which is a pull type.
You can get plows both mouldboard and chisel in pull type, harrows in pull type, mowers of assorted styles in pull type.
You can certainly work that ground with a 2wd tractor, if it was worked many years ago it was then.
As far as being top heavy and tippy not really.

 

[BrokenTrack]

I have had tractors without 3 point hitches, and I have had tractors with three point hitches that no longer worked.

In my case, I put a 3 point hitch on the one without, and traded the one who's 3 point hitch was not working, for a new one.

I guess you could say i have a tractor now without a 3 point hitch, and that would be true, and it works well for it's intended purpose, but it is a skidder and made just for getting wood out of the woods. I have not started it since January, so that tells you how much it is used despite having 4 wheel drive, and plenty of power. What good is it without implements it an tow?

For $3000, I would wait until you found a better tractor with a 3 point hitch. You will be glad you did.

 

[mcfarmall]

A tractor with out a 3 point hitch is even more useless than a tractor without a FEL. The only thing they excel at is pulling floats in the Homecoming parade.

I wouldn't even entertain the thought of buying that tractor unless you were simply looking for a collectible to add to your fleet.

 

[Jchonline]

Another vote for a machine with a 3PT and a FEL. Lots of great recommendations here. If you want great used, then BE PATIENT. Learn what to look for in a used machine. It may take you months, so you should be ok with not having it this growing season. Maybe you can borrow or rent something until you find a good one. Check local sources (farm co-op, church, places where folks with land might be). Be weary of online sources (eBay, craigslist, Facebook market, etc) but still use them. The mantra there is many, many are scams. Talk to someone on the phone before you consider moving forward.

Best of luck on the homestead! It is a great time to get back to the land.

 

[wvgca]

A tractor with out a 3 point hitch is even more useless than a tractor without a FEL. The only thing they excel at is pulling floats in the Homecoming parade.

I wouldn't even entertain the thought of buying that tractor unless you were simply looking for a collectible to add to your fleet.

that's funny, lol ... just a wanna be

 

[duramaxsky]

A tractor with out a 3 point hitch is even more useless than a tractor without a FEL. The only thing they excel at is pulling floats in the Homecoming parade.

I wouldn't even entertain the thought of buying that tractor unless you were simply looking for a collectible to add to your fleet.

He may have a few other parades in his area.

 

[Egon]

The JD 2020 has more then enough power and weight to pull a 3 bottom 16" plow or 4 bottom 14".
We used 2wd farm tractors with loaders for many years, do they work as good as one on a 4wd? No, are they usable yes and much better then a shovel.
50 years ago there were very few 4wd tractors and many without 3 point hitches, pull type implements can do a very good job.
On the farm we have almost no 3 point implements, none of our tillage or forage harvesting are 3 point, are hay bines use the lower arms on a 2 point mount except for the oldest one which is a pull type.
You can get plows both mouldboard and chisel in pull type, harrows in pull type, mowers of assorted styles in pull type.
You can certainly work that ground with a 2wd tractor, if it was worked many years ago it was then.
As far as being top heavy and tippy not really.




There was a time when three points were limited to tractors that could pull two bottoms. Ie 8N. The larger tractors usually had pull type equipment that worked better than a three point. Lots of PTO driven pull type of equipment also.

The 2020 at about 45HP will easily pull three bottoms and even four depending on soil. Itç—´ also big enough to pull a smaller heavy sized disk if required.

Hydraulics for a loader can be run off of a PTO pump.

Tractors of this size were often the main tractor on farms of a section or so.

 

[Egon]

A tractor with out a 3 point hitch is even more useless than a tractor without a FEL. The only thing they excel at is pulling floats in the Homecoming parade.

I wouldn't even entertain the thought of buying that tractor unless you were simply looking for a collectible to add to your fleet.

You said!

 

[LouNY]

A tractor with out a 3 point hitch is even more useless than a tractor without a FEL. The only thing they excel at is pulling floats in the Homecoming parade.

I wouldn't even entertain the thought of buying that tractor unless you were simply looking for a collectible to add to your fleet.

Simply amazing;


first one, pull type hydraulically run finish mower, no 3 pt.
2nd, pto generator, no 3 pt.
3rd, forage chopper, no 3 pt.
4th, 2wd with loader worked good.
5th, pull type rake setup, no 3pt.
6th, pull type forage chopper, no 3 pt.
7th, self unloading wagon and blower no 3 pt.
I didn't even start to get into tillage.

I could go on and on, but the point is that many implements are NOT 3 point and numerous tractor do not use 3 point hitches.
These are working tractors, not parade tractors but they can do that also.

 

[John Skull]

One good use for an old tractor: Hook up a PTO generator and you have a mobile power plant.

 

[wvgca]

if you are only going to get one, if you have a choice, then get the FEL and a 3point, the 3point implements can come later .. especially if you only have a acre or two to take care of a little one is enough ..

the FEL is handier [in my opinion] than a 3point, however both have thier place .. I used to run a JD 510 [little 40hp tractor] just for cutting the grass in the yard [about eight acres] but I wouldn't dream of taking it out to do real work, waaaay too small, lol

 

[CobyRupert]

So I recently found a JD 2020 for sale...

Thoughts? I'd like to attach a loader, and pull a plow with it. Maybe a rototiller. Could imagine a backhoe although I don't know if that's even a technical possibility on a 2020 without 3ph.

Are there any drawbar pull behind (mold board) plows or rototillers for a JD2020 that have been made in the last 60 years that aren’t 3 point hitch?

They maybe out there, but can OP find them compared to readily found 3pth attachments?

 

[wvgca]

Are there any drawbar pull behind (mold board) plows or rototillers for a JD2020 that have been made in the last 60 years that aren’t 3 point hitch?

I have two plows, one is an Allis single bottom [36 inch] breaking plow, and the other is a John Deere [on hydraulic], a 4 x 14 or 16 inch... pretty sure both of them were made with your time frame, and neither are 3 point ..
maybe it's only where you are that it's all 3point ??

 

[mred2]

This part of the country, plows, yes. tiller, no. I see a lot of pull type discs, plows, and even planters. But I have never seen a pull behind tiller.

 

[wvgca]

But I have never seen a pull behind tiller.

I -assume- that you are talking about a rotary tiller, like for a garden ?? Not a deep till, which is what I have [not rotary], and a pull behind with eight wheels

 

[mred2]

Yes, I was speaking of rotary tiller. Because of how popular the 3 point has been, I just don't see a lot of smaller pull behind attachments. A JD 2020 is a great little tractor and if I needed on to disc or mow, great for a lot of things. But may limit use for some.

 

[Jstpssng]

Some of you who are farming large tracts with several tracotrs seem to have forgotten that the OP is looking for one tractor to work his 5 acres.

 

[ericm979]

How do you pick up and move a non 3pt implement? Or do you plow into a corner and park the plow there?

 

[Jstpssng]

They're on wheels, you raise it up so that the bottoms aren't touching the ground. It's the same with a harrow... they can't put those multi row disc units on a 3 pt. That's an economy of scale though, not applicable to the backyard user.