which one, JD 1025R or MF GC1720 or MF 1526 with woods backhoe or NH25s

[atsah]

One of the things not mentioned when talking about "the old days" is we don't recognize the harm those old days equipment created. A great deal of farm equipment dumped high levels of air pollutants into the very same air as the operators worked in not only harming their own lungs but the lungs of their wives and children and their friends.

Or what about all the fingers and hands and arms that were twisted and torn off or the spines crushed by old equipment that had few if any safety equipment or equipment that flipped over too easy. My point is. . . that "the good old days" were often something "to be survived",

Equipment whether on a factory floor or in a farmers field was focused on simple, heavy, and often reckless to the operators or their families or to the land and air.

"euphoric recall" of days gone by always seems to forget the costs paid in life and health and safety. I love history and heritage - but we can't allow ourselves to have "euphoric recall" in a vacuum absent of the problems and loss that may have been caused by it also.

Is it really fair to compare in any form, a 71 Cevelle SS 396 to a 2016 Ford Edge or a 64 farm tractor to a 2017 SCUT?

Jmho

All true, but I believe growing up making hay, running old dangerous equipment without many of the safety's of today made people pay attention to what they were doing instead of texting or talking on a cell phone like I see people doing today running equipment..

Many of the stop gaps incorporated into today's equipment save lives no doubt but, they also give people a sense of security they didn't have before to take advantage of equipment. Growing up in the 70's and 80's like I did using equipment everyday, you needed to pay full attention to what you were doing or you could lose you life or take someone elses, simple as that, consequences to your actions had more meaning than it does these days, in my opinion the people growing up in that time period were tougher people, today everyone blames somebody else when they do something foolish, back then they took the blame, suffered the consequences and learned from it and moved on, some of us didn't have the chance to move on, most of us did.

The way I see it is, there are less people farming these days than there was back then and there are more equipment fatalities now then there was then.

 

[Phillip w]

Well is that so??? We operate big diesel tractors, use semi tractors to haul grain to the mill, we clear brush and burn it, we burn pastures and grasslands etc. Funny thing is everyone wants to blame everyone else. The good news is co2 is necessary for plant life. People and animals exhale co2. There seams to be a lot more air quality issues in the big cities. I've had many relatives make it into there 80's and 90's live in rural America. Perhaps if liberals were so concerned about co2 emissions, they could start by closing there mouth.

 

[Phillip w]

One again, I don't know where the 64 farm tractor came into the mix. Slot of safety on the farm always has and probably always will start with common sense. For the most part if you have common sense and respect what a piece of equipment will do, then you can go from there. Everyone who owned a 1950's jd tractor knew they were light on the front end and operated accordingly. Nobody is usually dumb enough to attempt to work on or adjust machinery while it is in motion. Liberals Alway think that we need big government to protect us from ourselves. So the create nightmare rules, regulations, and cost production and efficiency in all levels of society. And the these are the same liberals who don't the "beans from apple butter" about what ever it is they're trying to regulate. Is there more comfort in the ag industry than years ago??? Yes there is.

 

[AxleHub]

Well is that so??? We operate big diesel tractors, use semi tractors to haul grain to the mill, we clear brush and burn it, we burn pastures and grasslands etc. Funny thing is everyone wants to blame everyone else. The good news is co2 is necessary for plant life. People and animals exhale co2. There seams to be a lot more air quality issues in the big cities. I've had many relatives make it into there 80's and 90's live in rural America. Perhaps if liberals were so concerned about co2 emissions, they could start by closing there mouth.

Phillip, you don't seem to grasp the whole concept. It isn't about CO2. Trees are consuming co2 and exhausting o2 just as they did a 1000 years ago. Its about all the "black particles" that farmers and families inhaled that came from diesels and gas engines. Its about the cars we drove that had great power but also great monoxide production and horrible other components (not co2) that created the smogs and contamination that WE LIVE WITH TODAY. We were aware of safety because every week you physically saw the victims of lost fingers from punch presses and lost arms because of tractor/equipment safety issues when you went to church or the fair. This has nothing to do with liberals and conservatives. It has nothing to do with blaming others. WE DID IT - you did it - I did it - we all did it. That 2 quarts of old oil we poured on the driveway or by the marsh. The 2 gallons of anti freeze we dumped behind the garage. No one would ever label me a liberal or a tree-hugger - but anyone who knows me knows I'm a conservationist. The point is - anyone can create more power if you're willing to damage things around you. The trick today for us in the U.S. is to not end up "soiling our own nest" with mindless waste or with mindless inefficiency - because each is just as bad. I have an excellent lawn - yet use no fertilizer on it at all and have not in 9 years. Because fertilizer is harsh just as anhydrous ammonia is to the ground and its inhabitants - like worms. Back in 1985 one of my early clients was a large farm that had stopped all use of anhydrous ammonia and greatly reduced the amount of fertilizer they needed. They had gorgeous crops because the ground was rejuvenated and vibrant again. Their cows they fed differently - their operation changed. No one would call them "liberals" - yet they were certainly progressive in every way imaginable and had been farming all their lives.

As atsah stated - people were better for having worked hard and physically - I agree. but they also didn't have time to go to the gym anyway. they had less "stuff" - but they also threw more "stuff" into the landfills too. My point is - for 100 years we've worked and saved hard by majority - but we've also created some real messes by majority. The older people need to take responsibility for that - WHAT WE DID. I can think of no one that should be more compelled to recycle - than us - the older generations - because we didn't recycle enough before - and even worse - we haven't taught our children to recycle enough. We can't blame a new generation because that generation didn't get taught enough. Us (the older generations) should now know and understand what we could have done better - and we should be aware we need to emphasize that "the good old days" can be "the better new days" if we participate.

Remember when "the flower power generation" and "the pepsi" generation were going to fix things? But we didn't fix them nearly enough did we . . . and worse . . . we focused more on getting to retirement instead of teaching our kids the benefit of working. While I like to reminisce about that 71 Chevelle ss 396 with its cam and solids mods - I now like to see each 2 weeks that our recycle bin is more than 5 times bigger for pickup than is my garbage bin. Instead of an "old smoker" of a tractor - I operate one with very little suet produced and use not only ultra low sulphur diesel - but a premium diesel that gets even better mileage for very little extra cost. And of all our neighbors - the robins come to our yard to feed because we have worms abounding in our lawn areas and I have to cut and water about 1 in every 3 times from what most of the neighbors do because we don't fertilize but we do grow deep root systems.

My point is the older generations need to lead better than they have been doing the last 25 or 30 years - and its because "the good old days" weren't always good for us (U.S.).

jmho

 

[Phillip w]

It is the cities that are a mess. Big towns putting out "poor air quality alerts". You bodies of water are polluted and so on and so forth. I know fresh water streams I can go drink from right now. Many of us have shallow wells, so we have to be very conscious of what were doing. We rotate crops to keep from draining the soil. We spread manure to replenish the soil. We had constructive uses for used oil. Yet, after the cities get trashed, the clueless people want to come out to the farm and tell us we have no idea what were doing and how we need to be doing. All in the name of the environment and save the planet. The are the same people who preach wind power, hydro power etc. It was the farmer, rancher, and saw mill who invented this concept over 100 years ago. It was the farmer/rancher who knew that burning of grasslands was a good thing. However, it was the know nothing environmentalist who complained. K-State done the research and concluded that the farmers and ranchers knew what the were talking about. If you all are so concerned about the environment, what's with all the plastic and styrofoam??? As for everybody getting hurt??? I knew of (1) guy getting hurt and loosing an arm. Was it a safety issue??? No, it was a stupid issue. He was fiddling with hi baler while it was running. News flash, you can't fix stupid. Just remember one thing when you want to worry about the way we country folks do things. It is the cities with air pollution issues, it is the cities that have water quality issues, it is the cities with moral and crime issues. So, before you so called do holders come out to the country and try to tell us how to do things, why don't you clean up the messes you made in town before you come loud mouth out in the country. We really don't want "our back yards looking like yours".

 

[Phillip w]

PS. "I'm not a liberal, I'm a progressive, is nothing more than a liberal talking point.

 

[atsah]

My point is the older generations need to lead better than they have been doing the last 25 or 30 years - and its because "the good old days" weren't always good for us (U.S.).

jmho

I think maybe the parents of the last 20 years, there are no more wasteful people than today’s youth. And the I love the moron rich people that fly all over the world with their massive fuel sucking exhaust turd jets preaching to others concerning the environment, what a joke.

It’s about time we go back to the years when the youth actually had someone to look up to and respect instead of parents that buy everything under the sun to keep them out of their hair. Our society is a mess because we have parents raising children that just want to be there friends and not their parents. All this high tech stuff is great for some things and very bad for others.

 

[Phillip w]

I think maybe the parents of the last 20 years, there are no more wasteful people than today’s youth. And the I love the moron rich people that fly all over the world with their massive fuel sucking exhaust turd jets preaching to others concerning the environment, what a joke.

It’s about time we go back to the years when the youth actually had someone to look up to and respect instead of parents that buy everything under the sun to keep them out of their hair. Our society is a mess because we have parents raising children that just want to be there friends and not their parents. All this high tech stuff is great for some things and very bad for others.

That's a big 10-4 (agree) I've seen a few cases when I had to "scratch my head and wonder if the kids weren't raising the parents". LOL

 

[atsah]

It’s sad to say the least, my cousin and his wife work constantly, at least 14 hours a day, never spend time with their three daughters, they have everything, 500,000 dollar house, five I phones, massive tv’s in all 8 rooms, 200,000 dollars worth of new cars, boat, you name it and the girls swear at the parents constantly, 16, 19 and 20 year olds, two are drunks and the youngest a drug addict. All the money and toys are worth nothing. Disaster and it’s everywhere.

I had respect for my parents and a little fear as well and that wasn’t a bad thing..

 

[bfloyd4445]

We had an old International 350 when I was growing up, that old piece of iron took some abuse, we did things with that tractor I wouldn't even think about doing with a tractor in the 30hp range that's built today.

Once in a while I rent a dozer or excavator and then back fill etc with my little guy. I like the 1526 and it's features, I can honestly say if someone is looking for a three range, auto thottle 25hp range tractor, I would steer them away from the GC because I think if they have the room and are not going to mow there lawn with it, it's the way to go..

You hit the nail, and that is why I can't decide. :thumbsup:.....I'll never use the GC to mow except with a brush hog