Buying Advice How many kept their old tractor when upgrading to something larger?

[Lockport]

I would put it out there at your fair asking price on Craigslist or what have you, and be prepared to relist it continuously. Thus leaving fate to decide if you've two tractors or one. As for the wife, exercise your perception that whether you take a bath on selling it, or end up keeping it, the expenditure is identical. Except in the latter case, you've still spent the other $12k but you've got two tractors. Worst case scenario.

Sent from my LON-L29 using TractorByNet mobile app

 

[N2DFire]

Keep the tractor, trade the wife.

LOL Best answer I've seen so far. :thumbsup:

Or you could try something like this:

Husband: I'm thinking about getting a new tractor
Wife: You don't need a new tractor
Husband: Well I didn't *need* a wife but I got one anyway.


Come back and let us know how that goes for ya.


But seriously - We kept our old tractor but we're in a different boat than the OP, ours wasn't worth trying to sell / trade. For what old 8N's are bringing around here you could barely give it away (plus it has sentimental value).

However we do still see the same benefits of having two tractors so I have slowly (but surely) been putting in the time & TLC to spruce the ole warhorse back up.
Got it running good & hydraulics rebuilt. Now it runs so good I have to rebuild the axle seals & replace the brakes so it will stop. :laughing:

 

[gwstang]

When I purchased the new Kubota two years ago, I kept my '52 Ford 8N. Sure is handy to have the old Ford to leave the 5' Bush hog brand finishing mower attached. It's nice to just hop on it and go to work. I did take time to rebuild the old 8N motor and it sure picked up the horsepower to where it should be when it was new. I did not realize how worn out it was, but it would struggle to pull a 4' brush cutter behind it. I'm glad I did fix it up and it still rewards me over and over. I guess you could say, "When they pry it from my cold dead hands"...lol

 

[chim]

On a smaller scale than the OP is working with, I kept a smaller tractor (Ford 1210) twice when going larger. The Ford would be the second tractor since building here in '89. In 1991 it replaced the first tractor - a 2WD/turfs/5' belly mower I couldn't wait to replace. Not certain of the exact age of it, but suspect mid 1980's I repainted it back in 2002 when I bought the B7500 Kubota to get it ready to sell. At that time I was mowing for my Mom-in-law and decided to keep the Ford at her farm and drive the Kubota there so #3 Son and I could team up on the work. MIL moved off the farm, but there was no need to sell the Ford. Back in the spring of 2012 we added some grass here and moved to the L3200 with a 6' RFM to replace the B7500/5 footer. Started my cab the end of that year and finished it in early 2013.

Now it is handy to keep at the church in winter for snow removal. One of my buds loves to play in the snow with it and the church is close enough to drive the Kubota there. The Ford doesn't see a lot of use, but I hate to think of not having it around. There are times when it is nice to have one implement on it and another on the other tractor. Jumping from one tractor to another is easier than swapping attachments.

The old Caroni RFM allows me to cut grass in the rain without making a mess. I did just that about a month ago when there was no opportunity to mow when the weather was nice. Last week it wasn't raining but the grass was wet. It was pressed into service again. The wider Landpride on the bigger tractor doesn't like wet grass.

 

[cat fever]

I would love to have two tractors. If the money is not that big of deal, I say keep the LS.

 

[fried1765]

In my opinion having 3 tractors is MUCH better than having 2 tractors.
1951 8N with rear blade always hooked up.
1988 Ford 1920 FEL 4x4 with brush hog, or box blade, and 68" ratchet rake on the bucket.
1970 Ford 3400 TLB with 10' backhoe always attached.
3 tractors is an ideal number for me. None are new, but all are in excellent condition.
It is all about convenience (I am 76 years old).

 

[DieselBound]

Here's an anecdotal from me -in pictures- why having a second (perhaps smaller) tractor around is a good idea:





If you've done stupid things in your small tractor then you're going to do something stupid with the big one. In my case I was thinking I could get away with pushing some piles of material out of the way so I could then dump. Dump trailer (3k lbs) was loaded: I'm operating around 11k lbs here, on some fairly loose material. It falls off nearly 3 feet to the sides and the dump trailer started to slide off and I couldn't get an angle to square it up. Going forward was not an option, unless I wanted to run out and rent an excavator to get the big tractor out. Dumped the load. Used the small tractor to move the dumped material out of the way and to partake in the rescue of the trailer. It also works the other way, as a few months back I'd gotten the B7800 stuck in a ditch and used the NX to pull IT out.

 

[Gary Fowler]

I kept my Yanmar 4220 when I got my LS P7010. It is always good to have at least two tractors so you don't have to change implements so much. Later after I got my B26 TLB I sold the Yanmar to my brother in law. I don't need three tractors and don't have shed storage for 3.
If you only have one tractor and are looking for higher HP upgrade, I would always keep my existing tractor. Smaller CUT tractors sometimes work better than large Utility ones.

Unless you cant afford to keep it for monetary reasons then keep your old tractor right beside the new one.

 

[Tractorable]

I plan to keep my '52 8N with 5' Bush Hog Squealer when I get my new tractor in the next few years. It's just not worth much money but it sure is reliable and handy to have around the property. I really like the size of it for my 8 acres plus the previous owner rewired the whole tractor, rebuilt the hydraulics, and engine. Value to me but maybe not so much to others.

My next tractor will be a 35-50hp Yanmar or Kubota. Then I'll have the perfect JD X590, Ford 8N, Diesel CUT tri-fecta!

 

[WVH1977]

I have been wanting an extra tractor for some time now. But the more I look into it I think when I upgrade I am going to get a mini-ex. That is really the only thing I need a lot of times that my tractor cannot do. I will keep my current tractor for tilling, bush hogging, grapple and grading and use the mini-ex for digging stumps and other projects I am going to need for my new property.

Whatever piece of equipment I eventually decide to go with I will not sell my current tractor. I have all the attachments I need for it and have too much money invested to get rid of it. Plus it is all paid for and I only have 470 hours on it.

If you like your current tractor and can afford a new one, go for it. You can never have too many pieces of equipment.