leavundst
New member
Hi All,
We live in the NW burbs of Chicago and last fall picked up 20 wooded acres in Pullman Mi. The land was possibly logged 150 or so years ago but has since been left alone except for a dirt trail that runs along the perimeter for the property. Mostly the trees beautiful tall oak. We picked up a camper model trailer and try to spend every other weekend there. The land is totally unimproved with no electrical (they want to clear a path 12' wide if we want electric service and we wont do that so currently on generator and will be putting up solar) and no well. The undergrowth has a lot of thorny bushes and there are downed trees and various dry brush that I want to clear. Currently we do have some Utility ATV's but I managed to convince the family that we really need is a tractor!
After looking around a bit I really fell in love with the Ford 600 series trailers. I liked the philosophy that Ford had at the time, with making these things simple and easy to repair in the field. I like the way form and function are blended on it. I also felt it was just the right size. Heavy and powerful enough to do meaningful work yet small enough to maneuver and move around on a trailer if needed.
I was looking for a model 600 that at minimum turned over and a bonus for a loader, back hoe, or brush guard. it also seemed like the 641 or the 651 was the way to go. Power steering would be a big plus but I'm a pretty big guy and if anything could add it later. I could not find anything that "spoke" to me until I came across this sad looking guy in NJ:
I liked that it came with the Shawnee Loader and Back hoe. The tractor was about 13 hours away and I figured this would be a good opportunity to go with my two boys, 12 & 9, to go on a man trip. We rented a 22' trailer and hit the road on 5-6.
I realize it was a bit of a risk all around. I don't know enough tell what exact 600 series model or if that's even possible and the person selling could not located the serial number. On connecting with the seller I found out out that the tractor was owned by the sellers husband who parked it in the middle of the lawn more or less and passed away. She covered it as best as she could and just decided to sell it as is two years on.
Her husband picked up the tractor in 1967 (she had the original bill of sale) and used it to build pretty much everything on their 5 acres property. According to her he was mechanic and really loved the tractor. He had it perfectly restored at some point but all signs of that are now gone. She also had a few extra parts (front rims, rear tires, tubes, a few cylinders) to throw in.
I examined the tractor as best as I could and it actually looked pretty good up close. Or at least better then in the pictures. The hydraulics will need a lot of new hoses but the cylinders look great with no pitting. Tires need to be replaced. It still had engine oil and does not look to be leaking. The engine cranks but wont start. Me and the boys decided we loved it and the seller was nice to enough to get her brother and his boy to help us load the tractor. A few hours later it more or less looked like this:
Another 16 or so hours later it looked like this on our land in Michigan:
And yet another hour or so later it was more like this:
We live in the NW burbs of Chicago and last fall picked up 20 wooded acres in Pullman Mi. The land was possibly logged 150 or so years ago but has since been left alone except for a dirt trail that runs along the perimeter for the property. Mostly the trees beautiful tall oak. We picked up a camper model trailer and try to spend every other weekend there. The land is totally unimproved with no electrical (they want to clear a path 12' wide if we want electric service and we wont do that so currently on generator and will be putting up solar) and no well. The undergrowth has a lot of thorny bushes and there are downed trees and various dry brush that I want to clear. Currently we do have some Utility ATV's but I managed to convince the family that we really need is a tractor!
After looking around a bit I really fell in love with the Ford 600 series trailers. I liked the philosophy that Ford had at the time, with making these things simple and easy to repair in the field. I like the way form and function are blended on it. I also felt it was just the right size. Heavy and powerful enough to do meaningful work yet small enough to maneuver and move around on a trailer if needed.
I was looking for a model 600 that at minimum turned over and a bonus for a loader, back hoe, or brush guard. it also seemed like the 641 or the 651 was the way to go. Power steering would be a big plus but I'm a pretty big guy and if anything could add it later. I could not find anything that "spoke" to me until I came across this sad looking guy in NJ:
I liked that it came with the Shawnee Loader and Back hoe. The tractor was about 13 hours away and I figured this would be a good opportunity to go with my two boys, 12 & 9, to go on a man trip. We rented a 22' trailer and hit the road on 5-6.
I realize it was a bit of a risk all around. I don't know enough tell what exact 600 series model or if that's even possible and the person selling could not located the serial number. On connecting with the seller I found out out that the tractor was owned by the sellers husband who parked it in the middle of the lawn more or less and passed away. She covered it as best as she could and just decided to sell it as is two years on.
Her husband picked up the tractor in 1967 (she had the original bill of sale) and used it to build pretty much everything on their 5 acres property. According to her he was mechanic and really loved the tractor. He had it perfectly restored at some point but all signs of that are now gone. She also had a few extra parts (front rims, rear tires, tubes, a few cylinders) to throw in.
I examined the tractor as best as I could and it actually looked pretty good up close. Or at least better then in the pictures. The hydraulics will need a lot of new hoses but the cylinders look great with no pitting. Tires need to be replaced. It still had engine oil and does not look to be leaking. The engine cranks but wont start. Me and the boys decided we loved it and the seller was nice to enough to get her brother and his boy to help us load the tractor. A few hours later it more or less looked like this:
Another 16 or so hours later it looked like this on our land in Michigan:
And yet another hour or so later it was more like this:
