3-Point Hitch What implements would you suggest? MF 253

Duwop · Aug 6, 2014

this is my cub tractor it has been used by me since 2009 when I tore it apart to clean, paint and refurbish. I am going to order a new seat as of this morning the canvas I covered the seat with has torn. I also want to sand the tank and reprint as my chickens got on there and scratched it and the paint I used to touch it up was a bad match.

this is the tiller I pull behind my Craftsman Garden tractor before I got my Cub. I used it with a 10" mold board plow. The Cub made gardening easier with all it's attachments. The plow I bought to use with the garden tractor hasn't been used since getting the Cub. I'm thinking about trying to convert this plow to use with the Cub because the Cubs plow needs a new plowshare and point share.

I am glad to be keeping the cub and so is the wife. She bought it for me as a Father's Day gift but I was in negotiations with the brothers to buy it. Never the less I'm gals she paid for it so I had time and cash to take her apart and fix her up.I never wanted to sell it, I was just trying to find an easier way to continue to garden. There are so many steps to using the cub and it's attachments.

boggen · Aug 6, 2014

eewwww... i take cultivator ya have. is a belly mount? i don't care if young or old. taking belly mount stuff off and pulling/dragging is no fun at all!

i see concrete garage floor... any chance of building a 2x4 cart with some caster wheels. to make it easier to slide cultivator in/out from under tractor?

might suggest making a 2x4 cart with caster wheels for the gas engine tiller ya have as well. vs trying to attempt to muscle it around for connection.

your plow, if you can actually get the bolts off from the support going down to it. you might try taking it to some local farm repair shops / dealers and see if they might be able to hunt something down for you. i know for allischalmers CA tractor i have. there is some select folks around the US, that are seriously into these old tractors and might have something for ya.
Object moved goto parts and trying calling/emailing

Duwop · Aug 6, 2014

Yes boggen, it's a belly mount yeah I could build something to roll around the shop to make it a little easier. Yeah definitely a young mans tractor and implements but it's easier than the craftsman garden tractor, shoot it got to where I had to have someone help lift up the plow while I pulled on the lift handlebar. The tiller I hardly ever use, I've noticed when I till the soil here turns very hard, so I stopped using it.
If I could plow with MF253 and just leave the cultivators hooked up to the Cub. I should stop thinking and just keep going the way I was with just the Cub and leave the 253 to bush hogging.

jsftractors · Aug 10, 2014

I definitely would not sell the cub, it is a perfect fit for a garden and will be much more user friendly in your application than the 253. Use the 253 with a disk and spring harrow early in the season, bush hogging and if needed for occasional 2-3 bottom plow work. You will regret selling the cub and not having it for the cultivating and finishing work on the garden, pick up a drag harrow for the cub to create a nice seed bed. The 253 will get the job done but it will be much more of a handful in a garden. The cub is nice for light trailer work and Saturday afternoon rides around the property. Besides, everybody needs at least 2 tractors !!! Heck I have 14 of them and could easily get by with 1 or 2 !!!!

masseyrider · Oct 2, 2014

We had 2 253s on our fruit farm at one time and they will easily pull a 2-3 furrow plow, 10 foot wheel disc, a 8 foot bush hog. Most any category one implements and some cat.2. However for gardening it is not the machine. The belly is too low when the plants start to size up, (assuming 14.9X24 or even 28) rears. You'll also have to spread the rows out further to get in. I would never give up the Farmall. You won't get a million for it and it is easily worth that in the garden.

Duwop · Dec 10, 2014

So I said I would keep all of you posted as to what I decided to do. Kept the Cub, never got the cub plow to work, borrowed my neighbors plow which is for a Farmall A but works with any fast hitch and my Cub. Got the garden in and harvested. Turned the garden and my neighbor brought over his PTO tiller this fall and tilled for a winter garden. A special thanks to my neighbor for all his help this year.

In the mean time I was thinking about everyone's suggestions and the following is what I purchased and/or have done to go forward. Found out how to change setup of rear Massey wheels and set up to 6 ft wide stance. This will work for hogging and the garden. I have picked up a 1 point bottom plow for the Massey which will take care of that task and the guy who sold it to me gave me great deal on a boom pole too, so no more trying to pick up things that are heavy. I picked up a 72"KK Tiller to till the garden and the guy that sold me that had a 6 ft scrap blade he gave me a deal on too. So I can disc and cultivate with the Cub.

So, I started out 13 years ago with a Craftsman garden/mower tractor with 10" mold board plow and a lot of hard work to do a garden. Had it got the equipment I purchased this year just to mow and do a garden I might be in better physical shape than I am today. Now that I have all the right equipment I may just have to open a roadside stand to make some of my cash back. But the plan going forward will be to plow with the Massey and plow in the fall, till with the Massey and King Kutter tiller in the spring and continue to use the Cub for cultivating and the cultivators will stay on the Cub. The Massey will handle the field mowing.
Again thanks for all of you recommendations though I think maybe I'm just a bit crazy all of the above just to avoid the grocery store.

boggen · Dec 11, 2014

everyone has there hobbies and things they like to do. if it keeps a smile on your face. even after the hard days of work, putting it in, pulling the weeds out, etc... it is all worth it. stop feeling guilty about it, and just enjoy it! but hhmmmsss. do not over do it! there is a limit of how big of a garden you can put in, and keep it maintained till harvest time!