How many of your friends do NOT have tractors?

[IndyIan]

Most people around here who have some acreage have a tractor, not too many CUT's of my tractor size though, usually its an older utility 2wd tractor as they were pretty cheap as the small family farms faded out here 30-40 years ago. The supply of cheap maintained 40 year old 2wd's is gone though as is cheap land, so I see more new ~20hp SCUT with a backhoe outside the new house on 2 acres. Also lots of families here where Dad or Granddad, did buy lots of land and got big 30-40 years ago, and the kids don't farm, but live on a couple acres severed off and borrow all the tractors, tlb's etc they need from the farm.

 

[WinterDeere]

Somebody in every neighborhood needs a small tractor to save everybody else's back.

There's an older guy next door, who spent about 20 years plowing out half the neighborhood when it would snow. He owned a business and worked from home, so he had the flexibility in his schedule to do it.

I moved in about 12 years ago, and he was ready to hand that torch to me, since I had the equipment and he'd been doing it long enough. But I had a corporate job requiring me to get up and go to work in the mornings, sun or snow.

I made what I feel was a fair deal with the neighbors, some who'd just moved in and were not yet "equipped", and others who'd just come to depend on the old guy. The deal was they needed to equip themselves to deal with the usual half dozen 6" snow storms we get every year, but that I would volunteer to plow them out when we get those rare 12" - 36" blizzards, which honestly hit us less than once per year. This has worked well for us, I've honestly only had to plow out two different neighbors two times each in 10-12 years, the rest have found ways to deal with it on their own.

 

[TractorTYMe]

One of my friends mine and bought exact same tractor as me, good that means it saves me work.

 

[scootr]

I moved where it doesn't snow. Problem solved
It's been 42 yrs since I shoveled snow.

 

[Jstpssng]

There are three year round residences on my road, and one house where the late owner’s son often comes up and stays on the weekends. Plus one camp who’s owner I’ve only seen once, and an old house across the road which is used for storage and also has a Woodmizer LT-40.
For those 6 locations there are 8 tractors, 3 sawmills, and various other implements of construction. There are about 200 people in town, I would wager that half own some type of farm tractor or other equipment.

 

[deserteagle71]

I had FUN playing on my little tractor.

People don't understand that this is fun for me and I love doing the small jobs. Also get to talk to people that I normally would not get a chance to talk to. I'm retired, so why not help somebody else. All it costs is a half gallon of diesel or less. Most know me as the old weirdo with the tractor.

RSKY

^This is me also!

I get to play on one of my tractors (mowing, box blade, pallet forks, etc) at the neighbors. In return I get good camaraderie - and lots of times, good things from their gardens! This summer alone - asparagus, sweet corn, potatoes, tomatoes, radishes, dill pickles - and a huge bag of fresh carrots!

 

[TheMan419]

I do not have any friends with tractors. Neighbor has one, they are friendly but not friends yet. We both help each other out if needed. My NH has a bit more lift capacity than his JD. So sometimes he needs me to come move something he can't quite lift. If my tractor is in the shop he will let me borrow his if needed. It goes both ways.

 

[ning]

guy across the valley (he's recent, we've met, may be neighbors sort of, not exactly friends) has a older Kubota, something about modern B sized. he uses it occasionally though I can't tell what he's doing with it.

guy down the road a bit is in heavy equipment; he built our pond for the previous owner and cleaned the same pond out five years ago for us, has a medium-big dozer, a backhoe I see him drive down the road every couple of weeks (they're an old-time family here and have a few places on the road). I don't know that I've seen other tractors nearby :/

 

[Slowpoke Slim]

Guy behind me has a brand new Kubota scut. Don't know the model. Guy 2 doors down from him has a skid steer. Guy one block over the other way has a Branson scut. No one else in our 20-something house settlement (we're a bit out of town) has anything more than a riding mower or zero turn.

 

[Thomas]

More no than yes.

 

[workinonit]

Everyone I know pretty much, has multiple tractors. Including myself.

 

[mapper]

Most of my local friends and neighbors have tractors, not many big ones mostly CUTS and SCUTS. My friends who live in town don't. Of my three sisters, two do, one is a farmer and has a bunch, my little sister lives on a bit of acreage and has a older small JD 750(?). The other sister lives in Portland on a large city lot that would be a stretch to be able to use a small riding mower on!

 

[WinterDeere]

... my little sister lives on a bit of acreage and has a older small JD 750(?).

If it's the 4wd with a front-end loader, then you have one tough little sister! I drove a JD 750 MFWD with a too-big Johnson FEL mounted on it for one summer, and then spent 2 years waiting for the repetitive stress joint damage to my elbows to heal. Not a huge machine, but way too heavy for manual steering with an FEL and 4wd.

 

[JasperFrank]

ALL my neighbors have 14+ HP tractors. Most of my close friends though, live in town and don't have tractors.

 

[mapper]

If it's the 4wd with a front-end loader, then you have one tough little sister! I drove a JD 750 MFWD with a too-big Johnson FEL mounted on it for one summer, and then spent 2 years waiting for the repetitive stress joint damage to my elbows to heal. Not a huge machine, but way too heavy for manual steering with an FEL and 4wd.

It is FWD, the FEL is from JD and seems to be sized ok for the tractor. I have trouble with the FEL controls though, kind of loose and fine movement is really difficult. Never heard her complain about the steering being too hard. I am not sure of the model number, thought it was a 750, but may be a 650, it's a small frame, about the same as a Kubota B series. 18 hp yanmar.

 

[WinterDeere]

It is FWD, the FEL is from JD and seems to be sized ok for the tractor. I have trouble with the FEL controls though, kind of loose and fine movement is really difficult. Never heard her complain about the steering being too hard. I am not sure of the model number, thought it was a 750, but may be a 650, it's a small frame, about the same as a Kubota B series. 18 hp yanmar.

Probably a 650, as I recall the 750 being a hair over 20 hp. The 750 I used was a very capable machine for it's age (late 1970's) and size, there was a lot I really liked about it, but the steering absolutely killed me doing loader work.

 

[RSKY]

Many of our friends and relatives farm. So they have 100+hp tractors, combines, etc. None except for one sister have anything smaller than a 40-hp utility tractor. Well s-i-l bought a Kioti 40-hp this past summer. I am the only one with a CUT that has a FEL on it. It is handy for doing the smaller jobs that the big farm tractors are just too unwieldy to do.

You can make a lot of new friends with it too.

RSKY

 

[beowulf]

Few friends. None have tractors.

 

[oosik]

There was a young family that tried to make a go of it - just across the county road from my driveway. For whatever reason - they are selling their property. They did not have a tractor.

Most everybody that I know and talk to - within a five mile radius - has some form of tractor. Our zoning out here requires minimum 20 acre parcels. Making a tractor a fairly necessary implement.

My 80 acres is sort of a pimple on the ass of society out here. Most of the land is open range land and the parcels are in the hundreds or thousands of acres.

The only smaller 20 acre parcels will be butting right up to a county road around here.

 

[ovrszd]

80% of my friends own one or more tractors. The 20% that don't are mostly friends in the offroad world.