Buying Advice Thoughts on buying an older turbo'd tractor?

[petebert]

Looking for a hay tractor. Was thinking something in the 80-100hp range. In my area in my price range this puts me in the late 60's to early 80's. Doesn't bother me at all to buy a NA tractor from that era but what about one with a turbo? Seems like something else to break and act up.

 

[RickB]

Single turbos with fixed vane rotating assemblies and no waste gates are a mature technology. If you operate them responsibly there is nothing to be afraid of. A turboed engine of that size and vintage is all but certain to be more fuel efficient than a similarly powered NA engine.

 

[YLee Kioti]

If you find one that you're really interested in have a tech install a gauge and have the boost checked and also check for any leaks of the negative and positive side of the intake system.

Unlike our favorite diesel HD trucks the turbo technology is pretty mature.

However user operation and care will be the big factor hence, have it checked out. If its good then you can sleep well with a good machine.

 

[LightningCamaroGuy]

What kind of price range are you looking at? Plenty of excellent tractors from the 60's to 80's. Companies like John Deere, International, Ford, Allis-Chalmers, and Massey Ferguson all built excellent machines. Just make sure they were taken care of and not a tractor that was ran into the ground. Oliver seems like a popular old tractor online, but I don't think I've ever known anyone who owned one.

 

[deserteagle71]

Well, I suppose a turboed engine is a bit more complicated than non-turbo...but having owned turbodiesel pickups for the past 20 years that was the least of my worry. Never had any problems with the turbo part.

 

[petebert]

I was thinking $7000. In my area that's Case, Massey, IH and White. I can't afford anything that's green. I ended up not being able to make it to the auction but there was one today with a White 2-105 which is what got me thinking about it. There's also a Ford 7000 coming up at an auction next month. I'm primarily seeing turbos on the Whites and late 60's Internationals. My familiarity with turbos is on modern cars which are really fun to drive but you're always worried about shaft wear over time. You also ad a lot of extra pieces under the hood. They have their own coolant and oil lines, intercooler and the air hoses. Your basic diesel engine on the other hand is a very simple piece of machinery.

 

[Creamer]

For haying tractors handiness is more important than pure power. I am a diehard red fan but the shifting in the 56, 66, and 86 series is a major detriment to handiness. I am not a White fan but they do not have a lot of fans so you can get a better condition tractor of this brand for less money and they do do handle well. i saw a nice looking 2-105 at auction go for under $5000 a year ago and it only had 4800 hours on it. One step back from White to an Oliver 50 series can be a nicer low cost older tractor. I have never been much of a Massey fan of that era but the Case 70 and 94 series can be quite handy as well. Sometimes you can find a 30 series green one fairly reasonable as they were not the most well-liked tractor. They are a good handy smooth running tractor - just not a puller but for haying they would be fine.

As for turbos - i would not worry at all if the tractor has not been pulled hard and looks like it has been taken care of.

 

[LouNY]

For haying tractors handiness is more important than pure power. I am a diehard red fan but the shifting in the 56, 66, and 86 series is a major detriment to handiness. I am not a White fan but they do not have a lot of fans so you can get a better condition tractor of this brand for less money and they do do handle well. i saw a nice looking 2-105 at auction go for under $5000 a year ago and it only had 4800 hours on it. One step back from White to an Oliver 50 series can be a nicer low cost older tractor. I have never been much of a Massey fan of that era but the Case 70 and 94 series can be quite handy as well. Sometimes you can find a 30 series green one fairly reasonable as they were not the most well-liked tractor. They are a good handy smooth running tractor - just not a puller but for haying they would be fine.

As for turbos - i would not worry at all if the tractor has not been pulled hard and looks like it has been taken care of.

If you think the shifting on an old IH is rough climb onto an Oliver or White what you have is basically a 3 speed with a high low to use the high low you go to the middle of your neutral gate and give it a pull or a good shove to change the range. Also usually you will have a hydro-power (direct/under) or hyda-shift (under/direct/over) the hyda-power is like the IH TA in that in the under mode it will free wheel going down hill. They are easier to rebuild than an IH TA, also if you crawl under it you will see a chain coupler, that chain coupler is the power connection to the main transmission. I would lean toward the IH's you still have dealers and factory parts for some things. I found all the parts I needed for my Oliver when I had it but it did take some searching at times.

 

[Creamer]

If you think the shifting on an old IH is rough climb onto an Oliver or White what you have is basically a 3 speed with a high low to use the high low you go to the middle of your neutral gate and give it a pull or a good shove to change the range. Also usually you will have a hydro-power (direct/under) or hyda-shift (under/direct/over) the hyda-power is like the IH TA in that in the under mode it will free wheel going down hill. They are easier to rebuild than an IH TA, also if you crawl under it you will see a chain coupler, that chain coupler is the power connection to the main transmission. I would lean toward the IH's you still have dealers and factory parts for some things. I found all the parts I needed for my Oliver when I had it but it did take some searching at times.

that under/direct/over system made basically a nice 3 speed power shift system which would give you some ability to change speeds for baling and other haying operations. I found that kind of handy. the IH only had two.

You make a good point about parts - IH parts are much more readily available.

 

[petebert]

I've been seeing a fair amount of Case 30 and 70 series. I actually bid on a 1070, was liking it around 6000, thinking 7 tops, sold for 8000. I'm also leaning towards holding out for something with a cab. My kids like to ride with me, currently on my toolbox and I'd like to not turn them into a haybale.