What is a Tractors Lifespan?

[Phillip w]

I've seen alot of hay fed and or loaded with a 4020. I myself would not be afraid to put a loader on a 4020. Yeah you can get carried away and bust a spindle. I did it on a 930 case. Have not busted one on the allis. The allis did develop a hydraulic issue. After some research i found out it is common problem and about everyone that has run into this problem just scratch their heads on wonder what the engineers were thinking. So, we have figured out how to get around the engineering debacle which the engineers should have done in the first place. And yeah, i got another crappy tractor headed to the junk yard as soon as it craps out completely. Abuse or quality does not matter. I'm waiting to see the neighbors show up with mf, kubota, kioti, mahindra etc. Everyone i know that has tried it ended up with sub standard quality tractor that was a basket case. Do we all abuse our tractors??? I don't think so. Some of these guys are 3rd 4th 5th generation farmers so i'm pretty sure they got this tractor thing figures out and i Don't see them switching brands anytime soon.

 

[ovrszd]

Well obviously the Allis is an excellent tractor. It's a shame it was designed by such stupid Engineers.

 

[Phillip w]

When i worked in ag manufacturing, 3 farm boys basically started and ran the company. One of the brothers was real smart and could figure out how to get anything to work. No college, just good old fashion no how. He helped develop a seed treater, anhydrous applicator and so on. On more than one occasion he pretty much Told couple engineers why something would not work. We had a trumpf laser, the pride of german engineering. One night it tooka major dive. They were were going to have to fly parts in from germany, we were busy and could not afford to be down. The "can fix about anything" brother came in and the three brother were accessing the situation. "mr fix it" went to work on the problem made some parts and had the laser up and running by noon. Trumpf lost the parts order and i kind of thought they were gouging them with their prices. The laser was still running when i left the plant. Just another farm boy stepping up to the plate and getting it done. No engineering degree required. Engineer may have been the problem. He did have to make some "engineering changes" with his fix.

 

[ovrszd]

Yeah, you wonder why such a company as Allis Chalmers would let such stupid engineers work for them. Especially since they were producing such a quality product.

 

[Creamer]

I've seen alot of hay fed and or loaded with a 4020. I myself would not be afraid to put a loader on a 4020. Yeah you can get carried away and bust a spindle. I did it on a 930 case. Have not busted one on the allis. The allis did develop a hydraulic issue. After some research i found out it is common problem and about everyone that has run into this problem just scratch their heads on wonder what the engineers were thinking. So, we have figured out how to get around the engineering debacle which the engineers should have done in the first place. And yeah, i got another crappy tractor headed to the junk yard as soon as it craps out completely. Abuse or quality does not matter. I'm waiting to see the neighbors show up with mf, kubota, kioti, mahindra etc. Everyone i know that has tried it ended up with sub standard quality tractor that was a basket case. Do we all abuse our tractors??? I don't think so. Some of these guys are 3rd 4th 5th generation farmers so i'm pretty sure they got this tractor thing figures out and i Don't see them switching brands anytime soon.

I was not dissing the 4020 in any way - for its time it was a great tractor. We used one for our main field tractor for many years and put well over 10,000 hours on it (hard to say how many because the meter broke just before turning over) and then sold it for twice as much as my Dad paid for it in 67. It was a great tractor but the pipe across the front did not like carrying loads on an FEL across rough ground and tended to crack. like someone said they were designed as an ag tractor and not really as a loader tractor but they did work well with a reinforced front axe.

 

[Phillip w]

That is basically how i busted the spindle on that 930 case. Had a bale of hay on the front and hit a hole and kerplunck. I kind of baby the allis when i got a big pay load on the front. I think all them old tractors had the means to bust a spindle if you didnt be kind of care when you had a big payload on the front.

 

[Phillip w]

Yeah, you wonder why such a company as Allis Chalmers would let such stupid engineers work for them. Especially since they were producing such a quality product.

Probably the same reason jd was producing quality tractors with the 2 lungers. They had a design flaw: there front ends were light and vulnerable to raring up and upset. They compounded the problem by putting narrow front ends on alot of those tractors. What were they thinking??? Who hired those guys anyway??? Oh well, they are collectors tractors now.

 

[goeduck]

I was not dissing the 4020 in any way - for its time it was a great tractor. We used one for our main field tractor for many years and put well over 10,000 hours on it (hard to say how many because the meter broke just before turning over) and then sold it for twice as much as my Dad paid for it in 67. It was a great tractor but the pipe across the front did not like carrying loads on an FEL across rough ground and tended to crack. like someone said they were designed as an ag tractor and not really as a loader tractor but they did work well with a reinforced front axe.

I googled the 4020 for some pictures because I am not familiar with it. I would agree that the front axle looks like it was not built for an FEL. Good field tractor from what I understand however, just not robust in the front for FEL work. ,

 

[finn1]

I don't know how it works in Canada but in the USA the IRS determines the number of years you can amortize a piece of equipment. My JD 110TLB cost around $51,000 new and I could write it off over 6 years using it for business.

Another reason a modern tractor痴 lifetime is limited.

John Deere makes virtually nothing on Parts for a 50 year old tractor compared to what they make selling a brand new , tax write off tractor every five years.

I think selling parts for obsolete tractors is as much a defensive move to keep the aftermarket vendors at bay as it is a Parts profit business.

 

[ovrszd]

Another reason a modern tractorç—´ lifetime is limited.

John Deere makes virtually nothing on Parts for a 50 year old tractor compared to what they make selling a brand new , tax write off tractor every five years.

I think selling parts for obsolete tractors is as much a defensive move to keep the aftermarket vendors at bay as it is a Parts profit business.

I don't know what the logic is. I have two 34 year old Fords. A part that you think should be available isn't. A part that you think shouldn't be available is. Go figure. In the end I don't care. I'll take whatever part I can get and need. I'll improvise the others.