Vintage *play* tractor advice

[ovrszd]

Yep, gotta define your expectations first.

 

[Ford850]

or... OR.... get 2 tractors!

 

[Tinhack]

One of the OP ideas was hay rides,
there is a post in the good morning section about someone giving a hay ride with too small of a tractor.
What ever you get make sure it has enough weight and brakes for what ever you may attempt.
Several of the mentioned examples are too light.

It doesn't mean it's the tractor's fault. You don't really need to pull 100 people at a time on a hay ride.

 

[LouNY]

It doesn't mean it's the tractor's fault. You don't really need to pull 100 people at a time on a hay ride.

That would be one heck of a wagon,
going to double deck it,
or do like a sheep hauling and triple deck it.

Some of the smaller tractors, the Farmall A's and C's the Alliis C's and the 2n Fords do not have the mass to stop a wagon easily.
Did they do so when used on the farms?
Yes, and some times they had issues and that was quite often with experienced operators.

 

[ovrszd]

Dad bought a new Ford 641 in 1959 when I was 8 yrs old. Fluid loaded rears. I became a talented operator pulling a square hay baler and wagon over hundreds of acres of hilly hay ground. In the Summer 0f 60 we went on vacation to my Uncle's house. He also had a 641 with no fluid. Dad lectured me pretty hard about the difference and to be very careful with this tractor when pulling wagon loads of hay. I figured out pretty quick that there was a huge difference in the stopping ability of these two tractors......

 

[RickB]

It doesn't mean it's the tractor's fault. You don't really need to pull 100 people at a time on a hay ride.

It's a pretty safe bet the driver didn't set out to have a wreck and get someone killed either. A more suitable choice of tractor may well have prevented tragedy. Most tractors discussed here so far would carry similar risks.

 

[TractorGuy]

In my opinion the Ford 801 Powermaster was one of the sexiest early diesels.

Photo stolen off the intreweb.

 

[lennyzx11]

Though I like them and have had 3 through the years, I’d not vote for the Ford 2n 9n. Too light and too high geared in low for creeping with a hay wagon full of people and too light in the butt to stop a loaded trailer.
The 8n had the 4 speed so a little lower geared but still a light tractor.

A farmall H with a tricycle front end comes to mind.
But headroom going through a 8 ft garage door could come with an unexpected surprise!

 

[KennyG]

The discussion of tractor weight brought back a memory. As a kid I sometimes put up hay for a farmer that pulled the hay wagon with a Ford 8N. We had to go through some hills and, with a fully loaded wagon, he would keep it under control going down the hills by cycling the ignition on and off because the brakes wouldn't do the job. I was on top of the hay wagon and it was seriously scary.

 

[corysorndorff]

Take a look at 460 or 560 IH/Farmall.