Where to start

sdfireman · Dec 4, 2008

So I used to surf every day and now I live on a ranch cause I married a girl with horses. The place has been complete for two years now, and the up keep is creeping up. I need a tractor! What do I look for. It will be used in southern California, repairing rain rutted roads, moving the poop pile, maybe clearing brush, raking the arena. Never did like the new Kubota/John Deere kinda thing. Had a spot for the more vintage Ford or alike kinda tractors. What level of machine should I look at???

Soundguy · Dec 5, 2008

Road repair and haulng poo.. sound slike a box blade. angle blade and front end loader.. clearing brush? sounds like the front end loader and a rought cut rotary mower.

raking the areena.. ounds like a rotary hoe.. or disc.. or landscape rake... or drag harrow.

how much land you got depends onte tractor size.

if you like the vintage fords.. then I'd look at an 860/861 preferably with power steering.. or a ford 3000 - 4000 3 cyl models.

good basic desigs. lotsa parts support.. etc. those models cover the hih 30's hp range into the 50's

soundguy

greggh · Dec 5, 2008

Soundguy said:
Road repair and haulng poo.. sound slike a box blade. angle blade and front end loader.. clearing brush? sounds like the front end loader and a rought cut rotary mower.

raking the areena.. ounds like a rotary hoe.. or disc.. or landscape rake... or drag harrow.

how much land you got depends onte tractor size.

if you like the vintage fords.. then I'd look at an 860/861 preferably with power steering.. or a ford 3000 - 4000 3 cyl models.

good basic desigs. lotsa parts support.. etc. those models cover the hih 30's hp range into the 50's

soundguy

Don't forget they have some good 35 to 50 HP MF's out there as well. The older (JD's 2020"s etc.) are real good tractors also.

Egon · Dec 5, 2008

What type of budget is anticipated?

flusher · Dec 5, 2008

Soundguy said:
Road repair and haulng poo.. sound slike a box blade. angle blade and front end loader.. clearing brush? sounds like the front end loader and a rought cut rotary mower.

raking the areena.. ounds like a rotary hoe.. or disc.. or landscape rake... or drag harrow.

how much land you got depends onte tractor size.

if you like the vintage fords.. then I'd look at an 860/861 preferably with power steering.. or a ford 3000 - 4000 3 cyl models.

good basic desigs. lotsa parts support.. etc. those models cover the hih 30's hp range into the 50's

soundguy

Soundguy knows his Fords. Check this website

Identifying Old Ford Tractors

to help decode Ford model numbers.

I have a 1964 Massey Ferguson 135 diesel that I bought in 06 for $3600. 45 hp engine, 37 hp pto, power-assisted steering. No FEL however. The MF-150 is in the same class as the MF-135 and is better suited to handle a FEL. You can find both of these tractors for sale in your area. Parts are readily available.

You don't like new Deeres, but there are JDs dating from the 1960s that would satisfy your needs. Example: JD 2010 (~50 hp engine), JD 2020 (~60 hp engine).

Soundguy · Dec 5, 2008

greggh said:
Don't forget they have some good 35 to 50 HP MF's out there as well. The older (JD's 2020"s etc.) are real good tractors also.

I'm not downing MF'ers.. I'm just not as familiar with them as i am with fords of that era.... The venerable MF 35/135 is just as well known as the old 8n, and has earned a place in tractor history for durability.

I believe an 860 is a tad more tractor than a 135.. which is why I made the recomendation for that size...

soundguy

sdfireman · Dec 7, 2008

Thanks for the starting point. I guess I'm looking for a good all around small ranch tractor. Mostly moving piles of this and that, smoothing out the road after it rains (when it rains???) and maintaining the brush clearance in a fire prone area. It would be nice to do arena work also, although they do make attachments for a quad, to just drag out the sand. I have seen units of a fine vintage in the $3000 to $8000 range on the used tractor sites. I would like to spend under $10000, hopefully well under, and get some attachments if possible. Many people in southern California use the Kabota or John Deere machines which can fetch $14,000 to $20,000 in this region. I just kinda like the older tractors. The Fords are of interest, but can be overwhelming when looking at the many choices of model numbers. Thanks for the tip on Fords, any other Ford models I should be looking at?

Thanks

Soundguy · Dec 7, 2008

The units i mentioned should all come in around 2500$ to 4500$.. add a loader and maybee add 500-1000$.. plus the implements. in other words.. you could get a good 860/3000/4000 with loader, plus mower, rake, and blades for say....under 7grand easy.. if you got lucky.. you might get a 5000$ package deal... I see em like that every now and then..

soundguy

sdfireman · Dec 8, 2008

Very cool! I'm excited to get started. Thanks for the advice Soundguy. It helps that you told me what I wanted to hear. Any tips on where to look online? Also, adding implements as I go, if I didn't get it as a package, are items like a gannon, brush hog, posthole digger fairly universal??? Or do they become specific to the tractor?

Thanks,

Mike

Soundguy · Dec 8, 2008

A gannon, usually referes to a gannon box setup, which is a pretty specific setup that has top and tild hyd functions.

most of us just use a 'box blade'.

The 860 and 4 cyl 4000 and the 3000 are going to be cat 1 tractors. the 3 cyl 4000 can likely be cat 1 or 2.. but for your stuff.. probably stick with cat 1 implements.. just get HD ones if you get the 3 cyl 4000.

Yes.. many places sell online.. but shipping usually eats you up.. best to try to get implements locally.. or at least within reasonable driving distance.

check classifieds in your paper.. and onlne.. ebay.. craigslist for your area.. etc.

this board and others have online sales as well.

soundguy