Looking for a "30/30" diesel tractor

[SteveM]

Re: Looking for a \"30/30\" diesel tractor

The deeres you mention are compacts, made by Yanmar .. and although they are way lighter than the Massey 135/150, they are tough as nails. I guess I gotta admit that if you already have the kubota, the deeres of that range will not be terribly different - so it might make sense to stay with heavier iron. It is bigger money and HP, but the 2000 series deere utility tractors from the 80s are my favorite general farm tractor...we have a 26XX on the farm next door that is a great all-use machine, numbers are worn off and I cant remember the model /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif

 

[Farmwithjunk]

Re: Looking for a \"30/30\" diesel tractor

I'll second that thought. I have a 2440 Deere, and it's quite a tractor. (60 HP) BUT. You won't be finding any of them for 3 grand. More like 8 to 10 grand.

 

[flusher]

Re: Looking for a \"30/30\" diesel tractor

Here're the approx. shipping wts (lb) from the Tractor Blue Book:

MF 135 (diesel)--3540
MF 135 (gas) -- 3370
MF 150 (diesel)--4325
MF 150 (gas) -- 3940
JD 830 (diesel) -- 4060
JD 950 (diesel) -- 3195
JD 1050 (diesel) -- 3592

You're correct. These JD's are made by Yanmar.

I'll admit that I wasn't paying close attention to weight when I made my wish list. Just looking for 1970s vintage tractors with PTO HP in the 30-40HP range. Thanks for pointing out the weight factor. I'll be sure to keep this in mind as I add to my list.

 

[flusher]

Re: Looking for a \"30/30\" diesel tractor

So far all I've turned up from the folks who posted to this thread and from the Tractor Blue Book are the following:

Mfg-Model/PTO HP

Case 470/33
Ford 3600/40
JD 830/35
JD 1050/33
MF 135/37
MF 150/37
White 2-35/33

I extended that "30/30" search into the 1960s to include 40-year-old tractors in the 30-40 HP range:

Mfg-Model/PTO HP

Allis-Chalmers D10/29
Case 430/34
Ford 601/34
Ford 2000/31
IH 444/38
JD 1010/36
JD 1020/39
MF 35/37
Oliver 1250/35

Looks like a total of 16 candidates from those two decades. Looking at the size of the Tractor Blue Book, I guess I was expecting to find a larger selection of 30-40HP tractors from these years when I started this thread. Oh well, I have a starting point now in my quest for a new (to me) tractor so the effort wasn't for nought.

 

[Bowhunter]

Re: Looking for a \"30/30\" diesel tractor

Thanks for this post flusher. It has been informative and helpful for me. I may be able to use the info to purchase a small tractor in a few years for brush hog and tiller work.

 

[Farmwithjunk]

Re: Looking for a \"30/30\" diesel tractor

As if you don't already have enough on that list, consider that there's a good many tractors from the same era that are closer to 50 HP, and aren't all that much bigger physically. From time to time, you'll see them priced at or even below the price of some smaller tractors.

Case in point, the Massey Ferguson 165 (or earlier 65), OR Ford 4000 (3 cylinder model is best).

Remeber that you can take a bigger tractor, keep the ballast to a minimum, and have more HP. for about the same $$$$$.

 

[flusher]

Re: Looking for a \"30/30\" diesel tractor

I agree. I'll probably be facing "HP creep" as my search continues, mostly because what seems to be available on the market, usually, are pre-owned ag tractors from the 60s and 70s that tend to be in the 40+ HP range. But it's informative to know what's available at the lower HPs.

 

[dieselsmoke1]

Re: Looking for a \"30/30\" diesel tractor

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( The first tractor I ran on this farm was a JD M 2-banger that replaced the horses back around 1950. That sucker would get plenty loud when the muffler wore out, but a new one would always quiet it down.)</font>

Muffler ??... Geez, you folks were crapping in high cotton. As a kid all I ever got was a 18" of 1 1/2" pump pipe. However, that did match well with the 10" x 3/8" galvanized pipe that took the place of the broken throttle and the flattened out 3" x 1/2" piece of copper pipe that replaced the broken lift lever.

 

[flusher]

Re: Looking for a \"30/30\" diesel tractor

Now that I've gotten about a year's worth of experience under my belt with my B7510HST (21HP engine), I'm getting the itch for a larger tractor.

Any suggestions on preowned diesel tractors in the 30-35HP range, 30 years old, give or take? I realize that engine hours are more relevant than calendar years, but I like vintage tractors.

Live PTO would be nice, but not essential.

Well, it took a while, but I finally got my 30/30 tractor. Actually its more like a 40/40 tractor. Paid $3600 for a MF-135 diesel Deluxe model tractor with the Multipower option. That gives 12 forward/4 reverse gears. Has a live PTO. Now I have a 43-hp tractor to go along with the 21-hp Kubota B7510HST/LA302 FEL. Fun being a two-tractor family.

The S/N tag is missing, so I'll have to do a little research to pin down the model year. However, the tractor came with a generator and then was retrofitted with an alternator. MF-135s were made from 1964-75 and the alternator was introduced in 1968, if I'm not mistaken.

Needs sheet metal work (my rainy weather project), new water, fuel gages, a swinging draw bar replacement, new seat and probably a new steering wheel. There's no fluid leakage as you can see from the clean ground under the tractor. No blue smoke. Starts right up and runs strong.

The tach and engine hour meter work. There's 4657 hours on the engine which was rebuilt 10-11 years ago at about 3500 hours. It was an orchard tractor, as you can tell by the squat, high flotation rear tires and was used only for mowing and light disking.

Since I'll be using it for field work, the exhaust system has to be rotated 90 degrees upwards to get the hot parts out of the weeds.

This baby doesn't have power steering, but since I don't plan to add an FEL that's no problem. It steers easy enough as is.

I'm having a ball tooling around the place with that little beastie.

 

[HomeBrew2]

Re: Looking for a "30/30" diesel tractor

Very cool! Congrats! I notice they don't give anything away up there as they don't down here and, seems like you got a good deal on a good old machine! I sure like that low profile. Enjoy!