Too many hours?

Dugger6 · Jun 13, 2007

Help! I'm new to this farming stuff and am trying to purchase a used tractor. My question: How many hours can a tractor have on it before te repairs start piling up. I know that the most important consideration would be care and maintenance, but assuming average, when do transmissions, hydraulic pumps, engines, etc start costing alot in repairs?
I am shopping for a 65-70 hp tractor to work 33 acres of vineyard. All input will be appreciated.

Soundguy · Jun 13, 2007

Big tractors? Big old tractors? It's pretty common to see big old tractors with 5-6k hours on them and not much but 'wear' items needing work. Not unheard of to see 8k to 10k on a really well cared for machine.. but that's on the stretch side.

1k hours is just getting broke in...

go by condition more than hours.. A 3khr machine with a good mechanic and operator can be in better shape than one with 200 hrs on it and a bad operator..

Soundguy

JerryG · Jun 13, 2007

Everything Chris said is right. When they get 4-5000 hours on them it is usually easier to tell how they have been taken care of. They can have a lot of hours on them and be in fine shape if they were taken care of. Tractors are a lot different than automobiles.

Farmwithjunk · Jun 13, 2007

Soundguy said:
Big tractors? Big old tractors? It's pretty common to see big old tractors with 5-6k hours on them and not much but 'wear' items needing work. Not unheard of to see 8k to 10k on a really well cared for machine.. but that's on the stretch side.

1k hours is just getting broke in...

go by condition more than hours.. A 3khr machine with a good mechanic and operator can be in better shape than one with 200 hrs on it and a bad operator..

Soundguy

YUP!

My father-in-law had a 1650 Oliver with 16,000 hours. It was worn but still ticking. I looked at a Deere 5400 last week with 1200 hours and I wouldn't have hauled it home it it was free. A GOOD diesel, with proper care can see 10,000 before needing an overhaul. I've got 3200 on my 36 year-old Massey and 3800 on my 28 year-old Deere and I'll line 'em up against most any new tractor for reliability.

Some people are gentle on equipment. Some folks need to stay away from ANYTHING mechanical.

ToadHill · Jun 13, 2007

I did a valve job on my old Massey 85 at just over 10,000 hours. After 13,000 I got rid of the tractor. It still had plenty of power but the hydro pumps were worn out.

Dugger6 · Jun 13, 2007

Thanks for the input! I have found a couple of 4000 hour NH TN80F's that seem to be in pretty good shape and if I can get the right price I would be willing to "self insure" against breaks. This is the size tractor I need and I can't afford new. I'm still looking!!

I've been reading lots of posts here and tey are very informative. Again, thanks for the help.

john_bud · Jun 14, 2007

I like to look up the grease zerk locations on used tractors and figure out where the hardest to reach ones are. Then look at them to see if they have been greased. A conscientious person that does good preventative maintenance will grease the tough ones up under the front axle just as often as the ones out in the open.

At 3-4000 hours the clutch may start to go out. Test by putting the tractor in high gear and at about 1000 rpms, dump the clutch. The engine should die. Do it again at pto rpms, but don't pop it, just let it out medium fast. You don't want to sense any slippage. Splitting bigger tractors is a bigger chore.

jb

Soundguy · Jun 14, 2007

Ditto on the grease fittings. I pretty much blow a whole tube of grease between the tractor and the batwing when i come in from mowing. Cheaper than repalcing pins and bushings and bearings though!! I like to top the fuel tank off at the same time too. that way when i need the tractor again i know it is fueled up and All i need to do is kick tires and pull oil dipsticks and then go. I think the fuel topoff thing goes along way to prevent condensatioon water contamination in the tank / filter / traps.. etc

Soundguy

LoneCowboy · Jun 15, 2007

I do that too
grease everything, fix anything and fuel it up, before putting it all away for the night. That way it's ready to go in the morning and you haven't forgotten anything. (and you push out any water/crud/whatever when greasing.

makes for a long day, but a much more productive next day.

nothing worse than getting to a job site, unloading, ready to roll and look down and realize it's out of fuel and you have to go rumble around to fill it. And then all the nice cool morning is gone.
drives me crazy.

Soundguy · Jun 17, 2007

Yep.. and if you do find soemthing broke.. you can then get to fixing it.. instead of killing a days work trying to get it fixed asap, and then get the job done.. and rush it.. and break something else..

Soundguy

MarkV · Jun 17, 2007

Hey Dugger6, I am kind of curious about the tasks you plan for the tractor? Just kind of wondering because I think of vineyard use being kind of tight space work and your looking at some physically large tractors. Of course I don’t grow the stuff, just drink it so I may be wrong.

MarkV

Dugger6 · Jun 18, 2007

Mark,
The vineyard we just bought (33 Ac.) has row spacings of 8-9 ft so the NH TN80-90F tractors are perfect. 60" width, low CG, Supersteer, 60-70 pto hp. The 4wd will handle the modest hills while the pto hp will handle the sprayer while going up the hills! I will need to mow between rows so a 6ft mower is on the list as is a loader. The loader will have QA bucket so I can replace it with forks to load/unload fruit bins. Eventually I will add a scraper to maintain the access roads and ...
Too much fun!

I really appreciate all the info I have gotten from TBN. Keep up the chatter!

Doug

john_bud · Jun 18, 2007

Dugger6 said:
I really appreciate all the info I have gotten from TBN. Keep up the chatter!

Doug

So..... should we pop by for a sample of your best vintage and a bit of tractor talk?

jb

MarkV · Jun 18, 2007

Dugger6 said:
Mark,
The vineyard we just bought (33 Ac.) has row spacings of 8-9 ft so the NH TN80-90F tractors are perfect. 60" width, low CG, Supersteer, 60-70 pto hp. The 4wd will handle the modest hills while the pto hp will handle the sprayer while going up the hills! I will need to mow between rows so a 6ft mower is on the list as is a loader. The loader will have QA bucket so I can replace it with forks to load/unload fruit bins. Eventually I will add a scraper to maintain the access roads and ...
Too much fun!

I really appreciate all the info I have gotten from TBN. Keep up the chatter!

Doug

Opps, didn’t understand that the TN##F’s were a narrow profile tractor. Good luck on the tractor hunt. Sounds like fun to have your own vineyard.

MarkV

Dugger6 · Jun 19, 2007

John,
Love to show you around the place, love to share tractor talk and wine If you are traveling through Milton Freewater, OR drop me an email.
Doug

john_bud · Jun 23, 2007

Dugger6 said:
John,
Love to show you around the place, love to share tractor talk and wine If you are traveling through Milton Freewater, OR drop me an email.
Doug

That would be nice. It's always fun to "talk tractors" !

My MIL is in the Tacoma area and my sister is in Portland. But, I'm in Wisconsin. Mybe some day the stars will align...

jb

flusher · Jun 24, 2007

Dugger6 said:
Help! I'm new to this farming stuff and am trying to purchase a used tractor. My question: How many hours can a tractor have on it before te repairs start piling up. I know that the most important consideration would be care and maintenance, but assuming average, when do transmissions, hydraulic pumps, engines, etc start costing alot in repairs?
I am shopping for a 65-70 hp tractor to work 33 acres of vineyard. All input will be appreciated.

The 1966 MF-135 diesel I bought last July showed 4600 hours on the tractormeter (which was working). The PO said he and his father rebuilt the engine at 3100 hours about 15 years ago. This sounds a little quick for a Perkins engine that I understand should go quite a bit longer before rebuild. Apparently it was a matter of preventive maintenance. The tractor operated OK at 3100 hours, but the PO was making sure that it kept working (he has olive orchards). And Perkins diesels are relatively inexpensive to rebuild and the rebuild is relatively easy to do. He didn't have to split the tractor.

I'm also looking for a pre-owned 70hp tractor. Got my eye on the JD-3020 (mid-1960s vintage). Hope to find one soon. A nice, cheap fixer upper would be ideal.

Since you need a tractor to work your vineyard, maybe you should try to find a tractor that, like my 135, has already had a relatively recent engine rebuild. I would start watching the listings on eBay and on tractorhouse.com.