What Tractor

[deepNdirt]

Hello Brett and welcome,
true this is a great site and a lot of very informative Folks here more than willing to help,
You mention that you "Grew up in the Country" but moved to the city, during this time in the country did you ever operate or drive a tractor?
if the answer is yes then the 8 or 9-n ford tractors would be a good size for you and theland you have,........ how ever! if never operated a tractor? the 8-9-n's can be rather intimating by they're size and power, I would consider finding a bit smaller power house tractor with a ROPE system and learn from a smaller tractor a little at a time, you will find that quite a lot of the compact kubota's yanmar's,etc, have lots of power and not quite as bulky to maneuver as the larger fords,
and compacts that are equip with 4wd can take you anywhere on your property you need to go,............. I dont know about your neck of the woods? but around here in nth Ga. do to our economy there seems to be lots of folks selling their tractors and at very reasonable prices, nice 8-n's are selling for under 2500
small compact jap tractor are selling from 2-k to 5-k with implements and some with loaders,
if your up for a trip to the south I'm sure you could find a great deal here just as i did.
keep a check on the CL and Ga. farmers Market Bulletin, both on line....
just to give you an example-----> classifieds - craigslist

http://atlanta.craigslist.org/search/grd?query=ford+8-n&catAbbreviation=grd&minAsk=min&maxAsk=max

good luck on your quest to finding the right tractor...

 

[Aqualize]

One problem with "chinese brands" compared to "western brands" that I've seen is the rear 3 point hitch. The chineses lack good lifting power. Taking that yanmar as an example, what I've found is that it has 875 lbs (I think that's the 24" behind measurement) TractorData.com - Jinma JM-284 tractor data.
Comparing it to western brands' CUTs which weights around 3000 lbs they have at least twice as much lifting power.
A bale spear that weights 200+ lbs and a round bale... I wouldn't be comfortable with that on the Jinma 284.
I have tried to find some information on the 8N but can't. Anyone has information on 3-pt lift capacity?

deepNdirt, good point about experience and ROPS. I forgot that probably no 8N has ROPS. In Sweden it was legislated to be mandatory in 1959, so all close to all tractors that are for sale (and not just for vintage tractor shows) have ROPS (actually mostly FOPS). One grows accustomed to not think of it.

Also it's true that for FEL work one should really consider 4WD with hydrostatic steering. I forgot about that also, I had no choice when I grew up but using a 4400 lbs tractor 2wd vintage tractor with FEL and without power assisted steering (the tractor was already old when I grew up, I'm not so old but know I at least have another tractor with power assisted steering).

 

[deepNdirt]

One problem with "chinese brands" compared to "western brands" that I've seen is the rear 3 point hitch. The chineses lack good lifting power. Taking that yanmar as an example, what I've found is that it has 875 lbs .

Also a good point made, the weight of a tractor would be very important if using it to carry large heavy bales of hay and i suppose if he has already plans on moving large round bales of hay then he has in fact operated a large tractor before,......;
Oh! just for the books... a Yanmar is a Japanese made tractor, it took me a while to tell the apart myself, not the tractors the people,

 

[Diamondpilot]

Also a good point made, the weight of a tractor would be very important if using it to carry large heavy bales of hay and i suppose if he is planing on moving large round bales of hay then he has in fact opperated a tractor before,......;
Oh! just for the books... a Yanmar is a Japanese made tractor,

I know the 875# is what is listed but I can tell you I have lifted a Dodge 3/4 ton van with motor and all in it with both my FEL and 3 point. I also lift a 1200# back hoe. I have never done it buy my co worker has a 254 Jinma and moves 1000# round bales weekly with his. My good friend has a Case DX 29 and a neighbor has a 33HP JD and it will do everything and more than both these machines.

The info on these tractors is way off. For example mine is supposed to be 24 HP on the pto but on the dyno at the dealer it turned 31HP.

Chris

 

[Aqualize]

I know the 875# is what is listed but I can tell you I have lifted a Dodge 3/4 ton van with motor and all in it with both my FEL and 3 point. I also lift a 1200# back hoe. I have never done it buy my co worker has a 254 Jinma and moves 1000# round bales weekly with his. My good friend has a Case DX 29 and a neighbor has a 33HP JD and it will do everything and more than both these machines.

The info on these tractors is way off. For example mine is supposed to be 24 HP on the pto but on the dyno at the dealer it turned 31HP.

Chris

Ok good to know that the specifications can't be trusted. Strange though that the underspec their tractors.

 

[shine]

For 5 acres and 1 or 2 horses.
Another option would be 3x3x8 bales and a large compact tractor with loader.

 

[Steve C]

Ok good to know that the specifications can't be trusted. Strange though that the underspec their tractors.

I have a Farmpro 2425. I have lifted and carried over 1000lbs in my 30 inch king cutter dirt scoop bucket and it didn't even hesitate to pick it up. (the steering got a little light) It is only rated for 875# I have not yet found anything that it won't lift.

 

[joe48]

We have about .75 acre around the house that is treed and will need mowing. After looking at it last night, it looks like with all the trees, I will need a smaller mower, probably a little push mower. I am looking at mowing the back acres which is probably 4+.
This might be a stupid question but can you add a FEL to an older tractor or do you need it to be installed on it from the factory? Are the finishing mowers relatively easy to manevure?

think about these options,assuming you are working with a 15k budget; put a zero turn in mix for mowing, you'll do 5acre in<2 hrs ,opposed to 4+hrs with any tractor and 3pt mower
1. buy used in the < $5000 range as a starter, add a good new zero turn for all that lawn,+-$5K, buy attachments with the rest or put the $ into a garage /shop/ barn, for the toys(you'll be glad you did)
2. buy good used/new zero turn +-$5k, look for a decent JD,NH,IH,Kioti,Kubota, with hydro,loader, and attachments, size loader based on handling 2000# round bales, $10k,
(bigger units in this range used have been $15k +, but are now coming down to 10-15k ranges if you look) the bigger farm dealers will have better prices on this size as they are chore tractors for farmers not a prime tractor for hobbyists. For a 2000# loader you're looking at 35 to55 hp size tractors. Look on line, several other posters mentioned a few sources and there are more.
Good luck. Keep us posted.

 

[greggh]

For 5 acres and 1 or 2 horses.
Another option would be 3x3x8 bales and a large compact tractor with loader.

With just one horse, why deal with such large bales. Why not the small bales 60 to 75 lbs? they can be handled by hand and carried aywhere with a pickup.

I probably should rethink my question. Maybe you don't have storage for the smaller bales. That would answer my question. The big rounds can be left in the field.

 

[GPintheMitten]

I had horses for about 20 years and we managed fine with the smaller bales of hay that weighed about 75 lbs each. You don't need a tractor for them, in fact with just a 3-4 horses you just throw them out by hand. But you can throw a few in the back of a pickup truck and distribute them in the paddock or pasture that way as well. I think sometimes we get carried away with thinking we need to do everything with a front end loader or 3 point hitch.

You can get loaders for the older 9N's and 8N's as well. You can install a hydraulic pump running off the front crank shaft pto and get plenty of hydraulic power. For a short time I had a Freeman loader on an 8n but mostly used a 2N (like a 9N) with no loader.

There are many options available. It all depends on your budget. But a 40's to 50's vintage Ford with 3 point hitch and pto is a pretty good low entry fee tractor. But if you can afford more, a used 80's or 90's cut would be great too.