N80
Super Member
I was down at my cabin this weekend and my sister-in-law and her husband dropped by. They were both complaining that they were going to have to spend the afternoon bushhogging some pastures, which the both dislike, especially her. So I offered take her place and she took me up on it.
It's not like the experience was that interesting but some of you other tractor-geeks might be interested and some of my observations do tie into some 'safety' discussions that have been going on lately.
In any case, the tractor is a Case 830 Case-O-Matic. They were built in the 1960's and featured an 'automatic' transmission. It was my understanding that most farmers were leary of this fancy transmission and that they did not sell well. For some reason my B-I-L has three. Two of them are pretty much permenantly attached to two-spindle John Deere pull type 14' rotary cutters that look like heck. The other one has what looks like a homemade FEL on it with a PTO hydraulic pump to run the FEL. I have not seen it run in some time.
Here is a pic of the one my B-I-L drove, the one I drove is nearly identical:
Some info about the machine: 64 hp at the PTO. It is a 4 cyl diesel. The rear wheel (center) is cast iron and is the wheel weight. It has 8 forward gears, 2 reverse. Has typical hi/lo range lever and a 4 speed gear box plus reverse. But it also has a small lever next to the steering column. When not engaged it operates like an automatic transmission in that when you stop, you don't have to push in the clutch. When engaged it operates just like a manual transmission but when you engage it, the tractor gains a fair amount of RPM (takes off!). I don't know anything more about it but was told to keep it engaged when mowing at higher speeds and to disengage when mowing thicker stuff. To my surprise this tractor had an independant PTO. I don't know how common that is in tractors this age but it was very nice and totally independant of the clutch. However, even with the PTO disengaged it would spin a little even at idle.
Obviously, no ROPS, no seatbelt, no operator presence switch. More about that later.
Front wheels could be configured tricycle type or wide. These were set wide, almost as wide as the rears.
This tractor has a suspension seat, thank goodness, but it has a low back and was uncomfortable.
Our first job was a large hilly pasture right next to my property. I'm guessing it was at least 20 acres, could have been less or a lot more. I'm terrible at estimating. It took us 2 1/2 hours using 2 14' cutters.
We have the misfortune of being plagued with fire ants here. This field was the worst in that regard and is literally covered with dome shaped mounds.
Operating the tractor is simple enough. Much like any other. The clutch had no throw to it, maybe a 1/2 inch. More like an on/off switch. There is no 'letting out' the clutch. I don't know if it was due to wear/repair status or if it is due to the Case-O-Matic transmission. Probably the latter since the clutch is on the floor and shaped like a 'foot'. So you put the tractor in gear (5th which is 1/hi) spin the PTO up and take your foot off the clutch and it lurches forward. B-I-L says this is 'normal'. Once up to speed you engage the auto tranny lever and it lurches forward again. This is how we mowed.
Because of the ant hills the terrain is VERY rough and this machine (due to its height, which is so different from my little L4400) throws you around a lot. The suspension seat is nice but bottoms out a lot. At first the getting thrown around side to side was unnerving. But you get used to it. What I did not get used to was hitting an ant hill with the uphill tires will mowing across a hill side. These are big pastures and you have to mow across the hills. They are not steep but when that uphill front tire hits a tall, solid ant hill it really throws you around and it feels tippy. I hated that.
Once we got done with this pasture we went down the road and started a much flatter pasture with far fewer ant hills. This was quite pleasant. We mowed about an hour when his clutch went out. I continued to mow for another 30 minutes before a storm came up and we quit for the day.
I did not like driving a machine on bumpy hills without a ROPS and seatbelt. I did it, and will likely do it again many times now that my B-I-L is comfortable with me using these old tractors and large mowers. (I had driven these same tractors many years ago but not mowing. I've also driven his other JD tractors as well.) So, I'll just try and be as careful as I can. If it was my farm and my tractor, I'd try to find a way to get a ROPS and seatbelts on it. Have no idea if you can retrofit a tractor this old. Also, compared to my little tractor, the operator seat is behind the rear wheels a bit. You have to climb forward to get down. You are truly surrounded by fenders, steering wheel and levers. Jumping off of one of these would be almost impossible.
It was loud. I did not notice it at first, but when I was done my ears were ringing. My S-I-L and B-I-L wear hearing protection. The exhaust is on the front of the tractor but I think the tranny was as loud as the engine.
Which reminds me of something we were talking about in the safety forum regarding people running into things with their ROPS. I had to mow under and near a lot of trees on the pasture edges and the first thing I noticed was that the exhaust stack, and the air intake, were nearly as high as a ROPS. So for a tractor like this, the ROPS would not limit your clearance significantly more than the stack.
That's about it. We got a good bit done and my S-I-L was very pleased to have gotten out of that chore. Despite my safety misgivings I enjoyed the experience and will certainly be doing a lot more in the future. My B-I-L won't let anyone drive the hay cutter (disk type) or the bailer (and I don't want to) but I'm hoping he'll show me how to rake and ted hay (easy enough). I enjoy playing farmer and when I can do these things it is a big help to him. He helped me build my log cabin in such a way that it would have been impossible for me to do it without him so I have a debt of gratitude to pay. If I can repay him by helping him with the things he finds tedious and boring but that I enjoy, then its a perfect situation. Plus, I find driving his tractors much more fun than feeding, vacinating and worming cows, which I've done more times than I can count!
It's not like the experience was that interesting but some of you other tractor-geeks might be interested and some of my observations do tie into some 'safety' discussions that have been going on lately.
In any case, the tractor is a Case 830 Case-O-Matic. They were built in the 1960's and featured an 'automatic' transmission. It was my understanding that most farmers were leary of this fancy transmission and that they did not sell well. For some reason my B-I-L has three. Two of them are pretty much permenantly attached to two-spindle John Deere pull type 14' rotary cutters that look like heck. The other one has what looks like a homemade FEL on it with a PTO hydraulic pump to run the FEL. I have not seen it run in some time.
Here is a pic of the one my B-I-L drove, the one I drove is nearly identical:
Some info about the machine: 64 hp at the PTO. It is a 4 cyl diesel. The rear wheel (center) is cast iron and is the wheel weight. It has 8 forward gears, 2 reverse. Has typical hi/lo range lever and a 4 speed gear box plus reverse. But it also has a small lever next to the steering column. When not engaged it operates like an automatic transmission in that when you stop, you don't have to push in the clutch. When engaged it operates just like a manual transmission but when you engage it, the tractor gains a fair amount of RPM (takes off!). I don't know anything more about it but was told to keep it engaged when mowing at higher speeds and to disengage when mowing thicker stuff. To my surprise this tractor had an independant PTO. I don't know how common that is in tractors this age but it was very nice and totally independant of the clutch. However, even with the PTO disengaged it would spin a little even at idle.
Obviously, no ROPS, no seatbelt, no operator presence switch. More about that later.
Front wheels could be configured tricycle type or wide. These were set wide, almost as wide as the rears.
This tractor has a suspension seat, thank goodness, but it has a low back and was uncomfortable.
Our first job was a large hilly pasture right next to my property. I'm guessing it was at least 20 acres, could have been less or a lot more. I'm terrible at estimating. It took us 2 1/2 hours using 2 14' cutters.
We have the misfortune of being plagued with fire ants here. This field was the worst in that regard and is literally covered with dome shaped mounds.
Operating the tractor is simple enough. Much like any other. The clutch had no throw to it, maybe a 1/2 inch. More like an on/off switch. There is no 'letting out' the clutch. I don't know if it was due to wear/repair status or if it is due to the Case-O-Matic transmission. Probably the latter since the clutch is on the floor and shaped like a 'foot'. So you put the tractor in gear (5th which is 1/hi) spin the PTO up and take your foot off the clutch and it lurches forward. B-I-L says this is 'normal'. Once up to speed you engage the auto tranny lever and it lurches forward again. This is how we mowed.
Because of the ant hills the terrain is VERY rough and this machine (due to its height, which is so different from my little L4400) throws you around a lot. The suspension seat is nice but bottoms out a lot. At first the getting thrown around side to side was unnerving. But you get used to it. What I did not get used to was hitting an ant hill with the uphill tires will mowing across a hill side. These are big pastures and you have to mow across the hills. They are not steep but when that uphill front tire hits a tall, solid ant hill it really throws you around and it feels tippy. I hated that.
Once we got done with this pasture we went down the road and started a much flatter pasture with far fewer ant hills. This was quite pleasant. We mowed about an hour when his clutch went out. I continued to mow for another 30 minutes before a storm came up and we quit for the day.
I did not like driving a machine on bumpy hills without a ROPS and seatbelt. I did it, and will likely do it again many times now that my B-I-L is comfortable with me using these old tractors and large mowers. (I had driven these same tractors many years ago but not mowing. I've also driven his other JD tractors as well.) So, I'll just try and be as careful as I can. If it was my farm and my tractor, I'd try to find a way to get a ROPS and seatbelts on it. Have no idea if you can retrofit a tractor this old. Also, compared to my little tractor, the operator seat is behind the rear wheels a bit. You have to climb forward to get down. You are truly surrounded by fenders, steering wheel and levers. Jumping off of one of these would be almost impossible.
It was loud. I did not notice it at first, but when I was done my ears were ringing. My S-I-L and B-I-L wear hearing protection. The exhaust is on the front of the tractor but I think the tranny was as loud as the engine.
Which reminds me of something we were talking about in the safety forum regarding people running into things with their ROPS. I had to mow under and near a lot of trees on the pasture edges and the first thing I noticed was that the exhaust stack, and the air intake, were nearly as high as a ROPS. So for a tractor like this, the ROPS would not limit your clearance significantly more than the stack.
That's about it. We got a good bit done and my S-I-L was very pleased to have gotten out of that chore. Despite my safety misgivings I enjoyed the experience and will certainly be doing a lot more in the future. My B-I-L won't let anyone drive the hay cutter (disk type) or the bailer (and I don't want to) but I'm hoping he'll show me how to rake and ted hay (easy enough). I enjoy playing farmer and when I can do these things it is a big help to him. He helped me build my log cabin in such a way that it would have been impossible for me to do it without him so I have a debt of gratitude to pay. If I can repay him by helping him with the things he finds tedious and boring but that I enjoy, then its a perfect situation. Plus, I find driving his tractors much more fun than feeding, vacinating and worming cows, which I've done more times than I can count!
Turning the steering wheel was more like a suggestion.
