What was the sexiest tractor ever built?

[JerryK]

I think it is my big 5035 TLB ... these are weird...

 

[TerryR]

Silly cabs?
Seriously?

Absolutely!

 

[JDAOWNER]

MY FIRST TRACTOR WAS AN OLIVER 70. STARTED WITH A CRANK, BUT WASN'T HARD STARTING. IT WOULD OVER HEAT WHEN I USED IT AND COULDN'T FIND OUT WHY. I SOLD IT AND A GUY I WORKED WITH GAVE ME A JD "A". PROBABLY MID 40"S. IT STARTED BY SPINNING THE FLYWHEEL. USED THAT FOR SEVERAL YEARS. SOLD THAT AND BOUGHT A 47 JD "A" WITH ELECTRIC START. THE BATT. IS IN THE COWEL IN FRONT OF THE STEERING WHEEL, NO POWER STEERING,AND IT'S A TRICYCLE. USED IT FOR YEARS AND STILL USE IT FOR MOWING. RECENTLY RECORED THE RADIATOR AND CLEANED UP THE ENGINE. IT HAS HYDRAULICS, BUT NO TPH. BOUGHT THE KIOTI A COUPLE OF YEARS AGO. REALLY LIKE THE POWER STEERING, BUCKET AND THE TPH. I'M ON THE EDGE OF OLD AGE, BUT I DON'T KNOW IF I'M ON THE FRUNT EDGE OR THE BACK EDGE.

 

[LouNY]

I'm kinda surprised this thread has went this far without this tractor being mentioned. The John Deere 4020 brought farming into it's current state. Arguably the most dependable, productive, diesel tractor made in it's day. All of these traits make it a very "sexy" tractor for any farmer type 60 years old or older. What a classic. Still brings top dollar. Very common to find them with 15,000 hours on the original powertrain.



View attachment 656188

And still being argued, IH 1066

 

[RickB]

And still being argued, IH 1066

So Lou, do you like your 66s in the later black stripe or the original scheme?
I prefer the original livery myself.

 

[LouNY]

Original, looks more Farmall to me.

 

[RickB]

Yeah, I just do not get all the fuss over black stripe Binders.

 

[Hay Dude]

Absolutely!

Well, Id have a different opinion of cabs being silly.
Cabs provide safety and cabs even save lives. Cabs give the ability to work longer hours so we can be more profitable. Cabs prevent skin cancer, bee stings (very important to the allergic to stings) and keep lungs from filling with harmful dust, diesel exhaust and allergens. Cabs reduce exposure to chemical spray on fields.
Most farmers couldnt do their jobs without cabs. Less food would be grown. Fewer could farm. Food would be more costly.

So next time you call cabs silly, try making a living with tractors and no cabs. Id doubt youd last a year puttin food on the table without them. Cabs silly is a statement truly borne of ignorance.
And thats just farm tractors. Cabs just as important on consteuction equipment.

 

[DJ54]

I'm not an A-C guy by any means, but always loved the styling of the 190 XT's. I remember the neighbors had a M-M G-1000, that always looked like a beat to me as a kid. My buddy and his son's still farm with Olivers from the 60's & 70's. They have a 1950T that looks real similar to the 1955 pictured. He's had it since they bought it new, when they had a dairy farm. Also has a 1950, with the Detroit. The boys love running that thing with a straight pipe. I told them they'll pay for it someday. Probably the reason my hearing isn't so good anymore, operating Terex TS-14's for a number of years.

My true love is an IH 706, w/tricycle front end. I cultivated many acres of silage corn with a 4-row Lilliston rolling cultivator for another buddy that also had a dairy farm back in the 70's. Probably because thefaster you run, the better they work. Put 'er in 3rd high, and don't look back. Also hauled silage with it, until the blower tractor broke down, and they put it on the blower. Finished the season with an Oliver 88 diesel. She was a comfy old girl.

 

[Jstpssng]

My vote would be for the Ford 9N with the runner-up being the Caterpillar 60 bulldozer. I say this more in terms of being tractors that are highly recognizable, and photographed.

I really think the Ford 9N gets the prize though, only because it was so popular in the 1950's, that they made a second Boomer Version of it 50 years later. While it is not my intent in this post to argue for or against the merits of the latter tractor (it was a different era of tractor making), how many tractor models do you know of, that have been resurrected after 50 years? It does say a lot about nostalgia...

Now do not get me wrong, because I love my Kubota and its capabilities, but in terms of sex appeal, personally...and this is just my opinion...I would rather see a pretty woman, in an abbreviated dress beside the old Ford 9N then I would my Kubota or other modern tractor. And I think the fact that I would love to see that combination, and have seen a few women who did model beside an old 9N, and personally feel the photos looked nice; that I am able to make a strong point regarding the Ford 9N.

I'm splitting hairs a bit but you are confusing the 9N with it's successor the 8N, at least when talking about the Boomer. The 9N was originally manufactured in 1939 and was the first tractor to use Harry Ferguson's 3 PTH system. The 8N was first made in 1947, had a bit more HP and running boards rather than foot pegs. There also was a 2N, first made in 1942.

When NH came out with the "Boomer" 8N there were a lot of people who considered it sacrilege. Somewhere on these TBN pages are my exact thoughts on the subject.
Apparently I wasn't the only one who felt that way, because they only made the interloper for a couple of years. To me it was like Chevrolet resurrecting the "Nova" or Chrysler with their "Challenger."