What is your favorite tractor and why?

[Jstpssng]

Crop dusters are a special breed; it takes cat-like reflexes and nerves of steel. I remember watching the spray plane at the orchard where I worked; he would come in low, shut off the booms at the edge of the trees while putting the flaps up, and raise the tail to clear the apple storage building. Supposedly he miscalculated while spraying potato fields and lifted several telephone poles when he caught the wires with his tail wheel.

 

[deserteagle71]

Ran several tractors in my youth, growing up on a Pennsylvania dairy farm. Oliver 70, Farmall H, David Brown 1200...but my all-time favorite had to be the Ford 861 my dad bought in 1960. Seems like I spent most of my teenage years on that Ford, right up until I got drafted by Uncle Sam. Handiest tool on that farm - seems like it was used for something every day. All winter long it kept the roads plowed free of snow so the school bus could make its rounds. Trouble free tractor - sold when my dad finally retired and left the farm.

My dad with his grandson, tedding hay:

Here's the original invoice...not bad for a tractor and snowplow. That's about what you'd pay for a snowplow these days.

 

[TheMan419]

Whichever one I am on at the time is my fave.

 

[K5lwq]

Crop dusters are a special breed; it takes cat-like reflexes and nerves of steel. I remember watching the spray plane at the orchard where I worked; he would come in low, shut off the booms at the edge of the trees while putting the flaps up, and raise the tail to clear the apple storage building. Supposedly he miscalculated while spraying potato fields and lifted several telephone poles when he caught the wires with his tail wheel.

Power lines are no joke. A lot of crop dusters ended their career on a power line. You are correct about the nerves of still. Dad taught himself how to fly and crop dusted several years before he took lessons and got his ticket. When he was 14 his dad bought a J3 cub with the intention of getting his pilots licenses. They had a friend that came down one day and took my dad and grandfather up in the cub. He showed dad how to start the plane and taxi. Everyday dad would go out and taxi the plane up and down the dirt strip my grandfather put in on the farm. As dad got braver, he would pick up speed and let the tail wheel clear the ground then cut power and let it settle back down. Well one day he was doing just that when a gust of wind caused him to balloon up and he had no room left to set it back down, so he maxed power. He flew around for a little bit getting the feel for the plane and trying to figure out how he was going to get back on the ground. In the meantime my grandfather heard his plane flying and headed down to see who was in his plane. Dad sees my grandfather coming down the dirt road and really got scared. So he decided he had better try to land before his Dad killed him. It took three attempts to get it on the runway and then he ground looped it out into the cotton. Dad knew he was done for as my grandfather pulled up to the plane. He figured he was going to take a beating for flying the plane and a worse one for tearing up some cotton. He did not want to get out of that plane. Pops, as I called my grandfather, opened the door up on the plane and said you flew it didn't you boy! Dad said "yes sir". Pops said "Can you do it again?" Dad said "yes sir." So pops said let's get this thing back on the runway and they did. Then pops climbed into the plane and told my dad let's go. By the end of the day dad had taken everyone in the family for a ride. Things sure were different back then.
I was scared to death my first solo flight and I had lessons and a instructor sign off on it.

 

[Turbys_1700]

Our workhorse tractors were WD 45's and later D17 Allis Chalmers. My personal favorite was the 180 diesel rebuilt to 185 specs. IMHO the perfect size.

 

[MossRoad]

Here's a nice crop duster with a radial engine.
Airplane "Crop Duster" - YouTube

And here's a really good ride-along with a crop duster. He shows you what he's thinking, why he's doing it, how the GPS is mapping his passes and lining him up, how he makes a grid, and fills it in.

Trivia... when you watch crop dusters, did you ever notice they almost always turn to their left. Ever wonder why? The guy answers the question.

Crop Duster Full Field Ride-Along - YouTube

 

[BrokeFarmerJohn]

Nice videos Moss.

I think I would prefer to stay on the ground lol.

I wonder if crop dusting is cheaper than ground sprayers, I would think they wouldn’t drop enough product, tanks on the ground sprayers look huge.

 

[goeduck]

Yep, I grounded myself.

 

[check]

Well, if we are considering price, maneuverability in small places, and power for it's size as well as TLB utility, in my opinion you can't beat the Kubota BX 25.





Here is mine, all set up for winter snow blowing last fall. (Waiting for snow!)

Headed for nine years now, and did consider upgrading to the B2650 with backhoe attachment, but it just was not worth all the extra money for the additional power and what not.

 

[Jstpssng]

Nice videos Moss.

I think I would prefer to stay on the ground lol.

I wonder if crop dusting is cheaper than ground sprayers, I would think they wouldn’t drop enough product, tanks on the ground sprayers look huge.

I can't speak for the majority of a CD's clients, but the farmer I mentioned earlier hired the plane in springtime when it was too wet to get the tractors into the orchard.