What is your favorite tractor and why?

[darmstrong2319]

Farmall cub was my favorite because it seemed like a much simpler time. There is no comparison to what we have now tractor wise but back then life was different

 

[Paystar]

My Kubota B2620. It's mine, it's paid for and it has no DPF. LOL.

 

[RaydaKub]

I must admit, after reading the whole thread, I grew up in some kind of paradise.
My dad had a 51 Ford N. He replaced the front wheels with basically car rims so it worked well for the loader he built out of Farmall F20 frame. Rear tires were filled, a steel box about 16" square and 2 feet high filled with concrete on the 3pt and it still lifted the wheels once in a while. Whenever a job needed just a bit more oomph, my dad would just "go get the Ford" and that would be enough to get it done, even if there were a few other bigger tractors already working on it. In addition to the loader, he had a belly mount foot sickle mower; a real pain to mount, but sweet to run.
He also had a 51 JD Model A. I grew up standing between his knees on this one and was driving it on my own by the age of 5 For small stuff. He had incredible trust in me. I couldn't even push the hand clutch in hard enough to lock it.
The "big" tractor was our Case 730 and I spend hundreds of hours on it, radio blasting while I plowed, dished, cultivated or anything else.
When I went to college, the A was on its last legs (needed clutch work) and he sold it. He moved the 730 to the planting tasks the A had done and upgraded to a Case 930. Man, that thing had a lot of snort to it. He plowed 5/16's with it and kept pace with the neighbor's 110hp Deutz on the same plow, even though TractorData says it only was rated about 85hp. My favorite story was that he took it to church to help the guys clean out an old grove that was mostly dead to plant a new one. He had the duals on it and the 18 foot field cultivator on the 3pt. The front end carried a rock box, probably 18 inches square, 2 feet tall, filled with 5 lb weights from all the double hung house windows we took out. One of the guys had a long cable that they wrapped around a cottonwood stump. Cottonwood trees can get to be enormous, often the trunk can be 6 or 8 feet across. The cable had a 6 foot loop on one end. He hooked on to that cable with the stump behind, 2nd gear. The front end lifted about a foot, the duals dug in and the clamp on the cable cinched up and the loop slid closed in a display of sparks that looked like a 4th of July celebration. The guy who owned the cable got behind the stump with his 460 Farmall to push with the bucket. Later he deadpanned "It's never been pulled that hard before." They had to get wrenches out to take off the clamp just to unhook.
I've done JD 3020, 4020(!), 4230, IH 856, 1468, Case 970, 1070, 1175, a couple Deutz, and probably a few I can't remember.

Me, I just own a little BX, but every time I drive it, I'm taken back to the days of my youth and imagine the magnificent horsepower all of those listed above.

 

[K5lwq]

Thanks for all the replies!! It is really interesting how similar these stories are to the experience I had on the farm. Keep them coming!

 

[goeduck]

Farmall cub was my favorite because it seemed like a much simpler time. There is no comparison to what we have now tractor wise but back then life was different

And these days good for driving in the parade. Cute little buggers.

 

[mopardude318]

I'd say it'd have to be my Oliver 550 Industrial. It has been an excellent tractor the little time I've had with it.

 

[cruz54982]

Oh boy this was a great thread remembering the older simpler life ! grandpa's old Massy Harris 44 diesel dad's 70 John Deere , Father-in-laws IH806 and much later my little 550 Oliver each with a heart warming memory !

 

[jaydee325]

History | 119 9th St SW | History | Heartland Museum

Why should be self explanatory!

 

[Texasmark]

My 6530c because of all it's whistles and bells....my first tractor and was what I did for myself when I retired from my day job.......career.

 

[goeduck]

I'd say it'd have to be my Oliver 550 Industrial. It has been an excellent tractor the little time I've had with it.

There is something about a yellow tractor that looks right. Very nice, even with the lid missing.

 

[K5lwq]

History | 119 9th St SW | History | Heartland Museum

Why should be self explanatory!

I would love to see Big Bud in person!! Maybe one day.

 

[Creamer]

IH 1466 - Because I spent a lot of hours on it growing up. The best feature was the torque - I could have a good load on it pulling at 5 mph and idle it down and it would not kill. Rated RPM was 2150 and I would take it all the way down to 850 and it would keep pulling. That 436 was a beast of an engine.

After I got out of high school Dad traded it for a 1586 which was a lot better tractor but I was standing by a 436 engine that was idling a year ago and suddenly felt my eyes tearing. the sound of that engine brought back a lot of memories.

 

[RaydaKub]

I would love to see Big Bud in person!! Maybe one day.

I haven't seen the daddy, but their baby was a 525 hp brute. A local contractor has one parked out in front of his shop with a huge spade on the 3pt to bury farm field drain tile. It gets a bunch of hours on it every year.

 

[K5lwq]

I haven't seen the daddy, but their baby was a 525 hp brute. A local contractor has one parked out in front of his shop with a huge spade on the 3pt to bury farm field drain tile. It gets a bunch of hours on it every year.

I did not realize they made smaller versions of Big Bud. After a little research I see there is some model toys/banks of their builds. On of which is a airplane. Have you seen or know if they built a airplane? I would like to see pictures of that.

 

[Gale Hawkins]

Clearly growing up on a 1962 801 (last of red/gray Fords) colored my buying of the 1966 3000 diesel last year and the 1980 3600 diesel this year. Other than being diesels all three have a lot in common. Thankfully these blue ones came with power steering and hydraulic remotes.

Now at 67 I just like this small size tractors. This weekend I am working to get the 711 Ford one arm loader cleaned and painted one part at at a time so when it goes on the 3000 any day now it will be ready to go paint wise. The shop has figured out the front mounting bracket that came cut into pieces since it had been modified to first a 3000 gasser.

Never thought I would be into reliving the past. Hoping to be in our first tractor show the first weekend in May at the Mayfield KY fairgrounds.

They are not cheap to rebuild to new like condition but still a good value in my view for the 40-50 HP class of tractors. I like the weight on our hills of the old iron.

 

[joeu235]

One that doesn't break down and is payed off.

 

[joeu235]

I worked on a 1500 acre ranch summer of my high school junior year. The old timer's biggest tractor was a Ford 4000. I would shred huge fields for 50 hours a week with that tractor and an 8 food bush hog. Hours and hours in 3 Low with weeds/grass above the wheels. Someday I'm going to get me one just like it.

 

[def38]

My current tractor, M-F 231S, made in Turkey, just the right weight and size, 2 WD, Perkins diesel engine, tough and it is the first and last tractor I'll ever own or need...Oh and the M-F is paid for.

 

[def38]

I haven't seen the daddy, but their baby was a 525 hp brute. A local contractor has one parked out in front of his shop with a huge spade on the 3pt to bury farm field drain tile. It gets a bunch of hours on it every year.

I couldn't afford the fuel bill....

 

[Creamer]

I remember growing up in SD in the late 70s the Big Bud corporation bought a bunch of prairie in NW South Dakota to break up and put into wheat. They were out tilling the ground all winter because ti was so dry it really did not freeze. Get land to farm right? Well of course they were really farming the government farm program and when Reagan administration instituted the PIK (Payment In Kind) program the whole scheme went bust and so did Big Bud. They should have stuck with building tractors.

BTW - While doing this they did not shut the tractors off except to change oil because they knew they would not start again and they were a long ways from electricity. Think of the fuel bill!