How many hours is too many ?

[Madman_Mark]

Was looking at a Hestton 80HP with 5000 hrs on it, should I stay away from something with that many hours on it ? I already decided against that one.
I'm looking for one to do some logging with.

 

[BRUSHTAMERS]

Am not too familiar with Hesston equipment, other than balers and such. If this is an 80 hp tractor, I'd say no problem at all. I've run lots of logging equipment that was 20-30 years old, that never missed a beat. I've also run 20-30 year old equipment that had to be haywired together every morning to run till lunch hour. If this isn't a commercial venture, I really would lean toward used, but not so used that it sucks all the profits away toward repairs. a lot depends on what type of ground your'e skidding over(hills, swamp,flat,dry). and weight of logs(cedar,spruce,hardwoods), No oak around here, but I hear it's awful heavy to drag. If I was to do anthing with my tractor, I'd probably build an arch type setup in back of the drawbar to get the butts off of the ground. Also if your'e going to be banging around in the trees pulling logs, figure your'e going to dent something, if not pull it off of the tractor completely, another reason to buy well used

 

[ScottAR]

Hesstons are sold as Fiats in other countries... If I had a parts source around I wouldn't be scared of it. If I was shopping today, I'd probably go for somthing around 50-60hp utilty 4x4 either open station or cab with screens. Preferably with locking differentials for both ends. If I was cutting sawlogs, I'd invest, or at least lust after, a forwarding trailer.

 

[Slamfire]

Smaller tractors are generally more useful in the woods, there is less damage to unharvested trees. Use of an arch, allows cuts to haul suprisingly large loads out of the woods.

 

[Woodbeef]

That question is very hard to answer,way too many variables. Especially in North America where maintenance is often a 2nd thought. I've seen Valmets,Fiats,CIH,and David Browns go over 10,000hours with out being touched except for routine maintenance. Then again I've seen other tractors have trouble seeing 3,000 hours without rebuilds. It all depends on how the previous owner took care of the tractor.

Why not look for a small skidder?

 

[Madman_Mark]

How many hours (on average) can you normally put on an 80 HP tractor without any major problems.
I need something for hauling logs 3 days a week that is dependable.
Most of the tractors I've looked at have no where near this many hours (5000).
Are there many that do.
I'm trying to figure how many hours is possibly too many for this type of use.
I don't want a small skidder because I plan on plowing a fair bit of snow also, once the snow gets too deep to work in the woods.

 

[JerryG]

Madman,
Have you found a dealer that can get parts for it? If I remember right, that tractor was sold through Hesston equipment dealers. I would make sure that I could get part support before I bought it. It may be one of those tractors that is a orphan.

 

[Soundguy]

I almost bought a 105pto hp ford 8000 ( 1969 ) and it had 4xxx hours.. looked and ran great.. Would guess it would have done 8000 easily on that old straight 6.

I would guess condition is a better indication than hours. Look at the oil.. look at reapirs.. look at condition of air filter / air cleaner. Let that determine condition.. not just miles / hours.

Soundguy