The old designs are why we purchased the Mahindra 6025 compared to the Ford and JD models, the Ford & JD's are just too complex and don't look like they could run forever without having maint, cleaning and keeping pretty time. The bigger stuff does but the smaller stuff just doesn't past muster.
Complex????Exactly what about them is complex relative to the newer tractors? I've got tractors near 40 years old and tractors not even a year old. The new ones are nice, but complicated and complex far beyond the capabilities of the everyday mechanic. They take specialized technical support, special training, and EXPENSIVE parts when they have issues. The old Fergies and Fords and Deeres and such take a handfull of tools, a manual, and a shade tree mechanic to keep them going well beyone the lifetime of the original owners in most cases.
The tractor pictiured in my avatar is 38 years old this coming MAy. I bought it new in '71. It's been used for 35+ years of farming and now sees action maintaining my 45 acres as well as using it for mowing. I own a mowing business where we cut large acreage and highway right of ways. The Massey Ferguson 150 pictured saw just shy of 400 hours use this past summer WITHOUT A SINGLE MECHANICAL ISSUE related to the tractor itself. 4 oil changes, 2 flat tires, and the home-made water baottle holder fell off. Beyond that, NOT THE FIRST MECHANICAL FAILURE.
A 30+ year old Deere I own saw well over 1000 hours of use mowing. It suffered a mechanical failure.... A tie rod end broke. Took a cresent wrench, a ball peen hammer and 15 minutes to fix.
I own 1 tractor that's 2 years old and 2 more that are less than 1 year old. All totalled, we're talking about $165,000 worth of NEW tractors here. Wanna hear the laundry list of what went wrong with them? In one case, a shifter issue saw one at the dealer for close to 2 weeks while they tried to diagnose the problem. Even with full factory trained technicians, they had problems sorting out the trouble.
There's a time and a place for new, just as there is for old, but the "complex" old tractor theory just doesn't hold water.
