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goodripleydog

Moving up from a riding mower to a tractor

goodripleydog
12 years ago

Moved to Michigan, now have 10 acres (2 grass, 3 pasture, rest forest) and a 400 ft driveway but no tractor or mower. I want a used tractor that can (1) clear snow from driveway (2) mow grass, and (3) till soil. There are a number of tractors for sale in the area, but I have no idea what separates one from another except for cost! Would like some advice, here is a list of what's out there right now:

Case Ingersoll (1987) $2400

Massey Ferguson MF35 (1964, restored 1993) $3900

Kubota G4200 $2000

Farmall 140 with #1000 loader $3200

JD 455 with 60" deck $5300

JD 850 with 72" bush hog deck $7000

Ford 8N (1952) with pull behind deck $3500

Would love to get the expert's opinions on what is a good fit for my needs and a good, reliable tool to own. Want to keep cost to under $5000 for tractor plus mower and blade/blower.

Thanks!

Comments (9)

  • larso1
    12 years ago

    Out of the bunch you list and with that much acreage, the MF 35, Ford 8N, Farmall 140 and the JD 850 are the only ones that can do any real work. The others are just tractor-like mowers that can move some dirt around with an attachment if you give them enough time. So I would recommend the MF 35 or the JD 850 both equipped with turf tires because they have a pretty low center of gravity. And also, because they have a two-stage clutch for the rear PTO (actually, was optional on the MF 35 so you need to check on that) so no worries about a rear-mount mower pushing you forward when you want to stop, as is the case on a transmission driven (standard) PTO. The Farmall and Ford both have standard PTOs, and the Farmall has a high CG so I would stay away from those given your choices. But, that's just MY opinion.

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  • joedirt2005
    12 years ago

    I would be looking a newer hardware and strongly consider 4wd as part of the requirement...
    Plenty of used modern hardware, even some that already have a FEL and rear mower for an affordable price....just need to look outside what you already listed...no reason why you cant find a machine in the 1999 to early 2000 year of mfg date range...

    look at www.machineunderground.com for more compact tractor info

    Here is a link that might be useful: machineunderground

  • gator_rider2
    12 years ago

    You need join casecoltingersoll dot com reason being you moved to Michigan you be blowing some snow this winter more than likely there use equipment list there in classified.

  • kompressor
    12 years ago

    Let's look at this logically.

    You have ten acres.

    Five acres are forest. You don't need a tractor for the forest. But even if you have to drop the odd tree for firewood, a garden tractor will tug the log out for you and not need near as much room as one of the tractors in the photos.

    Three acres are in pasture. A garden tractor can "high mow" those 3 acres once or twice each year with no problem.

    Your main need is for the 2 acres of manicured lawn plus blowing snow from the 400 foot driveway. Once again, a garden tractor will do both tasks because that's what they were made for.

    I have nothing against the tractors shown in larso1's post but ask yourself this. How easy will it be for you to navigate one of those tractors around trees and other obstacles on your lawn as well as trimming alongside garden beds? How about near the house or outbuildings? Tractors like those are pretty unwieldy. Do you want to buy a lawn tractor too so that you can do the areas the big tractor can't do?

    And how large a garden are you planning? One of those tractors in a small veggie garden would be massive overkill whether you put a tiller on the back or you went with a two furrow plow, a set of double discs and a drag harrow.. You would have to invest in all that equipment and would only use them for an hour or so each year. And then where do store all that iron? Outside in the elements or do they take up big space in an outbuilding?

    Now if you said you were planning a one acre garden, then that would be different. But I'm guessing that your garden won't be larger than 2000 square feet..

    The most common snow blowers for those large AG tractors are the three point hitch type and those require you to back the tractor into the new snow all the way down that 400 feet of driveway. Driving a tractor in reverse for long distances is not a fun job in nice weather. Imagine doing it in really cold weather. A 4 foot blower on the front of a GT makes a lot more sense. You can even put a fully enclosed cab on a GT for the winter and take it off for the summer.

    If there are no steep grades involved, then you can get by with 2 wheel drive providing you use chains, wheel weights and even tire loading during the winter months. Snow blowers allow you to drive on cleaned driveway areas almost all of the time once you become proficient in the art of snow clearing.

    gator made a suggestion to you regarding an appropriate site that specializes in Case and Ingersoll tractors. I will tell you right now that $2400.00 for a 1987 Ingersoll is way too much money unless it comes with a quite a few options and attachments.

    If you click on the link below, you will be transported to that site.

    Here is a link that might be useful: CCI

  • jolj
    12 years ago

    I have a Ferguson/ Ford 8n, it has been in my family for at less 50 years.I have 23.5 acres most in woods(14) & 9 acres with 0.5 pond is grass land.
    Does anyone know where the I.d. plate is located at?

  • larso1
    12 years ago

    From MYFORDTRACTORS.COM (not sure about the Ferguson):

    "All N-Series Tractor Serial Numbers were hand-stamped on the engine block, up high, on the left rear side. Look for a flat spot in the casting a few inches back from the oil filter. The serial numbers are often very difficult to read. The only other identifying marks are casting codes which may include the date if you can decipher the code used for each part. The trick to reading those seems to vary from one part to another."

  • zoulas
    12 years ago

    kompressor got it right. My 2 cents, its hard to buy one unit that will do everything , although you CAN, perhaps consider 2 different purchases. Why do I have the feeling you have more than one car, so why not have more than one tractor----for example, a large one and a garden tractor. Makes sense.

  • exmar zone 7, SE Ohio
    12 years ago

    FWIW, I agree with Kompressor. You're getting ready to way "over buy" something that will at best be very difficult and overkill for your application.

    You're mowing two acres of lawn, and pushing or probably blowing the driveway. Toss in hauling around a garden cart and it's tailor made for a Garden Tractor. For the garden, just get a walk behind tiller. front tine, rear tine, whatever. I have three BIG farm tractors and a dozer and for the 5 acres I mow around the house, plowing a 800 foot driveway a Searts GT5000 has worked well for over 10 years. I have a rear tine MTD tiller for the garden which is much more maneuverable and does a good job, also can till between the rows. A big tractor, plow, disc, etc. is ridiculous, you spend more time turning than anything else. I"VE BEEN THERE... Snowblowers and TIllers for a big three point hitch are very expensive and cumbersome.

    If you do go for a big one, and it's of an old vintage which doesn't have "live" power take off you can get an "over run" clutch which prevents a bush hog or rotary mower from pushing you up a tree or in a pond when you press down the clutch. The clutch stops power from the engine, but the PTO being spun by the rotating blades continues to turn the gears in the tranny and you get pushed-unless you're fast enough to disengage the PTO AND it'll disconnect under load. From what I recall about the MF 35's and 65's I ran in the 60's the two stage clutch didn't prevent overrun the first stage or "stop" disengaged the engine from the trans, the second one disengaged the PTO while keeping the engine disengaged. I could be wrong, but don't think it prevented overrun.

    The overrun clutch slips on the tractor PTO shaft and is pinned and left forever more, last one I bought was around $60 but that was over 10 years ago.

    Good luck,

    Ev

  • marineguy
    12 years ago

    No question, out of that bunch, I'd buy the JD 455. It's on the line between garden tractor and sub-compact tractor. It's got a shaft-driven deck, and also powers a shaft-driven snowblower and you can get a rear PTO and 3 point hitch, so you'll also be able to power a post-hole digger, or a small bush hog. But that 60" deck will not only "high-mow" your pasture just fine (as Kompressor said), but it will cut your two acres of grass more than twice as fast as an entry-level 30" riding mower (which you'll need to buy if you go with the 8N, MF35, 850 or 140). It's also small enough to trim around your flowerbeds. You can get a beast of a two-stage snowblower for it. One recently sold on ebay for $2100. There was a 40 loader for sale for $2500, and finding a tiller woujld be fairly easy for this tractor. With the Kubota and Case, I doubt you'd find parts and attachments so easily on the used market, and the other tractors are too large to do the around the house chores. You'll probably be able to do 95% of your tasks with the 445, but if not, a year later you could always pick up a beat up old 50hp workhorse with a Cat 1 three point to get the big tractor jobs done, if it's running. For the snow removal and mowing, you need something you can rely on. You won't need 4wd if you buy bar (ag) tires for the rear, and fill them with washer fluid or attach weights. I have a 2wd GT225 with filled bar tires which can pull to the limits of the transmission without slipping. And the Carlisle Tru-Power tires do not rip up my grass (as long as I'm not speeding in the turns).
    -Chris

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