[AT] Oliver 55 - Super 55 vs 8N vs VAO

Indiana Robinson robinson46176 at gmail.com
Fri Aug 29 18:47:15 PDT 2008


On 8/29/08, Ken Knierim <ken.knierim at gmail.com> wrote:
> On Fri, Aug 29, 2008 at 8:51 AM, John B <rustyacres at yahoo.com> wrote:
>> The small tractor that I like best is actually my John Deere 420W that we
>> use occaisionally in the orchard here. Live hydraulics make it much easier
>> to use than the Ford. Next would be the Super 55. The VAO is a good
>> tractor, but the hydraulics are not as advanced as the JD, Ford, or
>> Oliver, except that the hydraulics are  live. I think the Fords are
>> underpowered, too hard to use without the live hydraulics, and overpriced
>> in general. I do see that many Ford 8N's around here are now selling more
>> realistically in the $1000 to $2200 range. A few years ago, it was hard to
>> find one for less than $3000. Maybe some of the ranchette owners are
>> waking up to find that just because their neighbor has an 8N, that does
>> not make it a desirable tractor. All of this is just my opinion and I'm
>> sure I'll catch some flak over it!
>>
>> John Boehm

===============================



No flack for favorites but we are now comparing apples to cherries and
bananas... The basic design for the 8N was developed with the 9N of
1939 and the 8N was last made in 1952. A 420 on the other hand was
made in the mid 1950's IIRC. If you want to compare the 8N to a small
Deere you would need to compare it to a Deere M or at the latest a 40.
I used an MC in the early 1950's and it had more than its share of
short comings. Many of those were cured with the 40C but that was
closer to the time of the Jubilee. I don't recall the exact year it
came to the farm but it was brand new as was the Jubilee. Other than
being a crawler and geared way down it was a toy compared to the
Jubilee which would pull an 8' tandem disk at 5 MPH and loafed in our
loam at the same speed with a 2-14 moldboard plow. It would have
pulled a 3-14 plow if my father had not insisted on plowing 12 inches
deep. Our Jubilee had live hydraulic and live PTO (hydraulic hand
clutch). I never used a 420 or 420C but I would assume it came with
further refinements yet from the 40. Deere was putting a lot of effort
in getting the whole series as up to date as possible. It would be
more in line to compare the 420 with something like the Ford 600
series. That 40C was traded for a new IHC 300U when they came out
about 1955? I really liked that 300U which was at the time a decent
bump up in power and weight from the Jubilee which we kept until about
1961 (traded for a MF 65 D HA).
You will notice I left the VA series out of the discussion. I have a
non runner out by the barn right now but have no experience with them
other than to watch neighbors use them. I have always considered them
to be a cute handy little tractor capable of handling a 1-16" plow at
a reasonable speed much like an Allis C or B. I doubt that one would
handle 2-14" plowing deep at around 5 MPH. In both cases I don't
consider the rather complex (and sometimes difficult) implement
mounting system even close to the usability and interchangeability of
the Ferguson/Ford 3 point hitch. I very often changed implements from
plow to cultivator to mounted disk alone by the age of 10 and in
minutes. In the 1940s no one else even came close until the AC WD and
that was the late 1940s.
N Fords and TO Ferguson's still sell quite high here. They would be
higher yet if it were not for so many now buying the imported new
tractors instead. It is understandable. My neighbor to the west bought
one of the new Deeres of around 25 to 30 HP 4 wheel drive with quick
attach loader... I have drooled over it so much it may start
rusting... :-)
Two of my BILs have each bought a new Mahindra. One loves his, the
other has had a lot of trouble. For what they paid I would have bought
the Deere. It was really VERY competitive in price.
There is another reason for Fords to sell high here. I am only about
20 miles south of N-Complete and they keep many of the old restorable
ones bought up...
Almost related, I watched a friend trying to load some stuff at an
auction using an A or B with a loader. It was almost a comedy watching
him grabbing levers trying to control that hydraulic lever for the
loader and the hand clutch and shifting the tranny in and out of gear
all at the same time. They hung onto that old hand clutch too long. I
always thought that the two cylinder series would have still been
viable longer if they had replaced that hand clutch with a foot clutch
(not something that snaps over center).
Then again the 4020 was a real winner...



-- 
--
"farmer"

I would not mind being absent minded so bad if forgetfulness
could just be a little more selective. Just last week I
was saying so to "whats-her-name..."


Francis Robinson
Central Indiana USA
robinson at svs.net



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