Why do CUT owners/buyers have low expectations?

[beppington]

I paid around $25K for my 2010 Kubota L3940.

If somebody offered me $20K cash plus one of these heavy-metal, all-iron, last-forever tractors from the 50's - 80's, even worth a confirmed $5K, I would not take that trade

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[wny770]

Is this too off topic? "Old Iron" employed Americans, 100percent, from nuts and bolts, to rubber, to seat material. Engines were cast here, machined here, assembled here..... Period. What happened? How much would an "American Made" compact cost??? My 77 is 34 horse. It pulls 3-14's. My T1510 is 30 horse. Could it pull it? Not even close. Can my 77 load manure FAST, like my T1510 Hydro with a modern loader? of course not. Maybe we buy what's available to us, to match our needs as close as possible? NO one back then mowed a 2 or 3 acre lawn. Not everyone now with a tractor puts up hay. Times change, and so did the way things are manufactured. You know....global economy...blah, blah blah.... I think both generations of tractors are very different. They served a different time and a very different need. To say one is "better", is wrong in many aspects. You have to look at what works for you. When I mow the lawn, or have loader work, or blow the driveway, I will use the modern compact. BUT.... It's always kinda fun to take the 'Ol Oliver, or Farmall and plow a few.

 

[Ford tractor]

My 23 hp tractor weighs 4000 lbs, 2/3 of that is rearend. I would be surprised if any tractor made today will out last tyractors of old.

Look in any classifieds ads, there are as many ford N's and Farmall Cub A, C, H, M's as there are newer compacts for sale. I bet ford N's still outsell a lot of off brand compacts, where is that statistic when you want it.

Good point on the number of fords. I think that the total number of "n" tractors and 4 cylinder hundred and thousand series is over 1 MILLION. Nothing made today is anywhere near those volumes. Part of that is due to the size of farms in those years. It was 20-1200 acres for a family farm. A small machine could be used to plow,plant, harvest a farm that size. And there were many many many farms that size. Property taxes and city jobs have all but eliminated the small family spread. Today's farms are often in the many thousands of acres and are farmed with machines that have hundreds of hp. Often by specialty firms that run huge tracked machines pulling 25-30' wide implements.

in 72 my dad couldve bought a new JD 4240 cab tractor for $12000.run it for 20yrs an sell it for double what we gave for it.

"could've" ?

In 1972 12,000 dollars is worth about 69,000 in todays dollars. Still, the JD tractors from that time are still desirable, to me more than the current crop of JD's that are re-badged Yanmars or from India.

Is this too off topic? "Old Iron" employed Americans, 100percent, from nuts and bolts, to rubber, to seat material. Engines were cast here, machined here, assembled here..... Period. What happened? How much would an "American Made" compact cost???

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It would probably add $10-15,000 to the sales price of a 20-40 hp machine. Don't see many moving with that price premium.

And the reliability would probably be lower. The US manufacturing is often with outdated equipment as the update dollars have been spent in China, India, Korea, etc etc etc and not here. Plus the low paid workers over there are typically more motivated to do a quality job than the slack jawed zombies we seem to have over here. And it really pains me to say that!

 

[bigbull338]

right couldve but he didnt buy a new tractor till 78.an that was a 7700 ford with a quick tach loader an cab.he looked at the JDs again,an their cab was to noisey.the fords cab was nice an quiet an it had 2 doors.the JD only has 1 door.

 

[crazyal]

You make a excellent point. I would be the first in line to buy that tractor that you describe. My basic tractor would have 8 speeds forward and 2 reverses, ROPS, Power Steering, Live PTO, Standard 3 point lift, Wide front, Diff Lock rear axle, Easy rider seat, oil pressure gauge, Amp gauge, Tachometer, Locking brake pedals, 2 wheel drive and of course a diesel engine. Now my way of thinking, this tractor should cost 50% LESS than we are paying for the maxed out CUT's today. No we don't need 4 wheel drive. We farm 350 acres with 2 wheel drive tractors and feed 150 head of cattle in all weather conditions and 4x4 is really not a necessity. (I just thought of something, I just described a 3000 Ford or 150 Massey or 2020 John Deere or a 484 International). Ken Sweet

How many CUT are being used in the ways you are talking about? Mine will never feed a single head or hay a field. Mine runs a snow blower in the winter and will be used to log with in the summer. Add in some landscape/ driveway work with the loader and boxblade to the mix and it's life will be very different to what you're tractor is needed for. 4wd is not optional, diff lock works fine if going in a straight line but driving around trees where you need to turn rules the diff lock out.

With a FEL you now have added weight on your front axle. If 4wd that means it needs to hold the weight and needs to deliver the power to the front wheels.

My neighbor with the Yanmar also has an old McCormick. The starter is shot so he has to use the hand crank but it still runs well. But it has no PTO and it's only 2wd. It's main roll now is to pull a drag up and down the driveway. He had been using it for light logging (with tire chains on it) but it really wasn't well suited for it so he added the Yanmar.

 

[RoyJackson]

You guys are making me wish I'd kept my Deere 790...or upgraded to a 990 rather then a 4400.

 

[jenkinsph]

You guys are making me wish I'd kept my Deere 790...or upgraded to a 990 rather then a 4400.

On a nice day with a job to do appropriate for its use I like to get out on my 820 canopy (1973 model). It is as good today as it ever was, a dependable simple 30 hp tractor. My next door neighbor has a nice 990 and fel in good shape, I like it too.

 

[Haywire]

On my old JD lawn mower, I put about 250hrs on it in 6 years. Assuming that I double or even triple that with the new 2660 using it for more tasks with the loader and BB, I expect it to last me until I get so old that I need a rack to hold my walker while driving it.

Ian

 

[toddol1971]

some tractor owners have diff uses for their tractors. This definitely has a direct impact on how reliable one will be over another. I read this section in my farm show mag called "best and worst buys". I get so frustrated when someone says "my 2000 such and such with 200 hrs or 3000 miles is my best buy. I think well no **** its your best buy, it hasnt been used enough to be broke in yet. I wish the editor would put an hour/mileage requirement for this. Now if it broke within the small amount of hrs etc I'd like to know that though. What I'm getting at is I see guys on this site all the time telling people how reliable their stuff is. Problem is to me, how can you consider something reliable that never gets used. Heres one "my 1968 mf 135 with 1200 hrs is the most reliable thing I own. it always starts even on the coldest days." What a joke. I dont care what year or what kind it is, if its used alot its gonna break!!!! If you use your tractor to pussyfoot around and take the garbage out then yes it will last along time. There is only so many hrs certain things can be used before wearing out. Such as a cutter blade on the front bucket. My massey 65 is always being used hard, bush hogging, logging, plowing, discing etc. I have things break all the time. Should I consider it my worst buy cause it breaks. I dont. I consider it one heck of a deal. I paid 3500 for it 13 yrs ago. Orig motor, tires, paint and brakes. It needs new paint if you want it to look pretty. It needs new tires and brakes and rear axle seals. It has needed these things for as long as I have owned it. Only thing I wish it had is power steering. The tach quit at 4thousand something and it was broke along time before I got it. I change the oil and transoil once a year. I consider this my best buy.

Now to talk about a newer tractor. I want basically the same tractor as the 65 only with mfwd and shuttle, front loader and new tires. I think the massey 596 is what I want, I just cant afford it right now. I will be buying used not new. Its bigger than a cut but built better in my opinion. I like the mahindra tractors too. they seem to be solid built. Point is why get a cut when you need a bigger tractor. If you are gonna use your tractor to pussyfoot around and take the garbage out then obviously you dont need anything bigger or stout. Believe me they still make very good tractors (not cuts). I just cant afford to buy many of them.
God bless
Todd.

 

[Dr_Zinj]

Take two different users. Take two identical tractors, right down to the atomic level. Have them doing identical jobs in identical settings. One tractor is going to break before the other. I've mowed fields at a slightly slower speed, making sure not to over tax the cutter bar, and took down small saplings with no problems. I've seen guys using basically the same setup go balls to the walls through a similar overgrown field and bust up their cutter.

So many defects of a tractor, as with cars and trucks, start with the differences in the driver/operator.