[AT] Was Old tractor question; now collection dynamics.
Cecil Bearden
crbearden at copper.net
Thu Feb 14 06:29:07 PST 2019
Farmer:
Be very careful about that 1155 V-8 diesel. They are a money
pit... Those masseys have a hydraulic system that has three separate
pressure systems. the o-rings can go bad and give you a real
headache. Make sure the multi power works and try the PTO on the mower
to be sure the pto clutch is holding. That V-8 diesel has to operate
at a lot higher rpm than a 6cyl and it uses a LOT of fuel.... We owned
one for several years.
Cecil
On 2/14/2019 3:51 AM, Indiana Robinson wrote:
> Son Scott who some of you know from Portland, has a bit of the tractor
> bug these days. He has a project Case VAI with a nice really heavy
> mid-mount sickle mower on it. Needs tires paint and the engine is
> stuck but generally things appear OK. It is sitting in one of my barns
> with "stuff" in the cylinders.
> He picked up an earlyish Farmall Cub and a couple of months ago he
> acquired a more recent yellow and white Farmall Cub. Both are project
> tractors but not scary projects.
> He acquired a Ford 8N that we had running when he brought it home, has
> a noisy bearing on the transmission input shaft. Shouldn't be much of
> a problem, everything else worked.
> He has a nice looking, good running MF-175D (wide front) that he uses
> to run his 7' bush-hog and his 15' bat-wing mower.
> He is getting to where he has problems from working in dusty
> conditions and this week he is looking at a very clean MF 1155 V-8
> Diesel with a nice cab. It's more HP (140) than he was after but it
> should loaf with that bat-wing and like in many of our cases, he just
> always wanted one. :-) We looked it over carefully with no one around
> last Saturday and it's pretty impressive. If his schedule permits he
> wants me to go with him to test drive it tomorrow.
> Hopefully a pic is attached if I remember it. :-)
> Scott's biggest tractor problem is time to work on them, he works a
> lot of hours. Still, unlike me it doesn't take him 3 days to do a 1
> hour job... :-)
>
>
> .
>
>
> On Thu, Feb 14, 2019 at 12:05 AM Dean Vinson <dean at vinsonfarm.net
> <mailto:dean at vinsonfarm.net>> wrote:
>
> Good thread, Spencer. I’m in the “caught my interest when I was
> younger” crowd. My dad grew up in the 40s/early 50s with his
> dad’s Farmall F-20s, and he and his buddies lusted after the fast
> and sexy Ms. He somehow passed that on to me, I guess through
> his stories and comments and general attitude toward tractors when
> I was a kid. I left the farm in my 20s, but by about 30 I had a
> license plate that said “M FARML.” Now it’s almost 30 years
> later and I’m back out in the country and on my third M-series
> tractor (and my license plate still says that).
>
> I also had some kid/teenager experiences around folks who had
> two-cylinder Deeres, and the sound of one lugging up over a hill
> will surely trigger fond memories for as long as I live. When I
> reached the point of needing a tractor with 3-point and live PTO,
> and a nice 620 crossed my path, I was plenty ready to write the check.
>
> My Ford 3600 is a direct result of my teenage years working for a
> farmer who had a then-brand-new 4600. Great all-around utility
> tractor. I wanted a mowing tractor with a low center of gravity,
> saw an ad for the 3600, and figured it was just as handy and more
> appropriately sized to my needs than a 4600.
>
> Haven’t bought any others in a while, and don’t foresee doing so
> for another while. But a narrow-front diesel 4020 is on the list
> because, well, just because. I also wouldn’t kick an Oliver 77
> or Cockshutt 30 out of the barn.
>
> Dean Vinson
>
> Saint Paris, Ohio
>
> *From:*AT [mailto:at-bounces at lists.antique-tractor.com
> <mailto:at-bounces at lists.antique-tractor.com>] *On Behalf Of
> *Spencer Yost
> *Sent:* Wednesday, February 13, 2019 10:39 PM
> *To:* Antique Tractor Email Discussion Group
> <at at lists.antique-tractor.com <mailto:at at lists.antique-tractor.com>>
> *Subject:* [AT] Was Old tractor question; now collection dynamics.
>
> Why did you own what you have owned? Farmer started it; as he
> usually does....
>
> The preponderance of narrow front tractors a tractor shows is sort
> of a weird variation on self-selection bias. When people collect
> tractors, they tend to collect what caught their interest when
> they were younger and imprinted in their memories. So their
> memories are screaming “let me into the sample!“. Those memories
> are reinforced by nostalgic pictures of Farmall Ms, John Deere
> A’s, etc.
>
> Having lived in Pennsylvania, and seen many horses but very few
> tractors, I don’t really have a bias that I can sense and
> explains the menagerie of tractors I have owned.
>
> I bought my Farmall A because it was close, handy, and i knew of
> a mower i could put on it. I bought my Pacer because i was
> looking for a project, it was close, from a co-worker, it was
> handy, and it was a good price even though it was rusted stuck.
> Every tractor was a weird twist of fate. I’ve inherited one(friend
> who passed), got a call out of the blue, you name it. I have
> probably owned around 30 tractors; they have all come and gone
> after I got them running and made them happy(a few went to scrap
> when I made a mistake in assessment). They are a complete
> smorgasbord of anything and everything you can imagine.
>
> I’ve settled on my Ford 861, MH Pacer and JD 430V. I’ll probably
> die with these. If there is any pattern, it is obvious that I
> prefer tractors from the 50s.
>
> My collection pride and joy was a complete set of the Massey
> Harris “equine” tractors. I had a Pony, Pacer, Colt and a Mustang.
> A guy came along and offered me more money than I could refuse and
> now they are gone. My original Pacer remains.
>
> In addition I rebuilt the engines of 6-8 tractors in this area
> around 1990-2000. I still see a few mowing and brush-hogging from
> time to time. That’s probably my greatest reward.
>
> A friend recently said he is about to give me his family’s Ford
> 8N for engine rebuilding. Hopefully I can post on that from time
> to time(Don’t hold your breath: he said that a year ago too. :-) ).
>
> Spencer Yost
>
>
> On Feb 13, 2019, at 9:14 PM, Indiana Robinson
> <robinson46176 at gmail.com <mailto:robinson46176 at gmail.com>> wrote:
>
> You are right Greg, my 4020 Deere was narrow front. Not my
> first choice but it was a very good buy on a very good
> tractor. It did have the Roll-a-matic and that did help a lot
> on handling and ride. It was also very heavy and thus quite
> stable.
>
> For most things wide front / narrow front doesn't really
> matter to me I have always adapted easily, even to a #%&^ hand
> clutch. :-)
>
> My father's first tractor, a 9N Ford, bought new in early
> 1942, of course, an adjustable wide front. My grandfather
> never owned a tractor nor a car/truck, only horses.
>
> The rebuilt McCormick 10-20, acquired during those tractor
> shortage post war years mentioned was a "standard tread"
> wheat-land style front axle. It was traded for a decent 1939
> Chrysler sedan in 1951.
>
> The Ferguson TO-20, bought new about 1949 was an adjustable
> wide front.
>
> By 1952 - 53 my older sister and I were putting in hours
> running tractors and my father became largely committed to low
> slung wide front tractors for safety reasons. About 1952 a
> John Deere MC crawler came to the farm and I spent a lot of
> time on it and later the Deere 40C crawler, bought new, that
> the MC was traded in on. Is a crawler a "wide front"? :-)
> Very high stability.
>
> In very early 1954 the 9N was traded for the 1953 Ford
> Jubilee, of course also a wide front low slung tractor. That
> one had 2 clutches, one foot and one hand for live PTO.
>
> The Deere 40C was traded for a IHC 300U, also low and wide front.
>
> I don't actually ever recall ever even driving a tricycle
> front tractor until we got the Allis Chalmers C that a close
> family friend had bought new in 1946 and owned for 20 years.
> We used it a lot for stationary PTO use like elevators and
> augers and using the mid-mount sickle mower. I still have that
> tractor and it has been to a number of shows.
>
> We stayed with ear corn longer than most, we had a Kentucky
> connection who would pay a premium for good ear corn for
> cattle feed. My father found a very good used New Idea 2 row
> mounted picker with mountings for a Farmall M. We found a good
> Farmall Super M tricycle (that I still have) to mount that
> picker on. I then found my Farmall Super MTA tricycle which
> was ideal for that picker with independent PTO and TA. (I
> still have that one too) It has been to Portland before.
>
> The Farmall 400 LP bought just because we wanted it is a wide
> front. I still have it but it is not currently running, needs
> an engine rebuild.
>
> The MM-R with a #$%^ hand clutch, is a narrow front. Still
> have it, bought it at an uncle's auction. It has been shown a
> number of times including Portland.
>
> The 1948 John Deere A is a Roll-a-matic narrow front with a
> #$%^ hand clutch.
>
> Ferguson TO-20 (not our old original) wide front. Used almost
> daily.
>
> 1946 Case VAC, narrow front, also in regular use.
>
> 1947 Farmall Cub and a (I forget the year) Massey Harris Pony.
> Both wide front but not very wide. :-)
>
> I almost forgot my MF-165D wide front. I have some of it apart
> but maybe I will get there next fall. Priorities are different
> when you no longer actually farm...
>
> Oh and 2 8N Fords. One nearly done and one not started on and
> not really a priority.
>
> Also a Case VAC that hasn't decided if it is a project or a
> parts tractor. A narrow front.
>
> I guess That's everybody.
>
> I guess that my biggest complaint about narrow fronts is how
> they can turn into virtual bulldozers in extremely soft wet soil.
>
> Speaking of moving tractors around, I see a lot of single
> fronts at shows here these days but I never saw any of them
> growing up...
>
> .
>
> On Wed, Feb 13, 2019 at 6:40 PM Greg Hass <ghass at m3isp.com
> <mailto:ghass at m3isp.com>> wrote:
>
> This is a question I have wondered about for years
> although it is not
> world changing. The question is: why are some areas mostly
> wide front
> and others narrow front tractors? In our area of
> Michigan, as soon as
> wide front became available almost 100% went with wide front.
> Personally, I hate narrow front tractors with a passion. I
> would never
> get a narrow front tractor except maybe an old 2 cylinder
> JD or
> something like a Farmall F-12 where wide front either did
> not exist or
> is extremely rare. I know that in some areas the larger
> tractors had
> narrow front because of mounted corn pickers. From videos
> other areas
> had narrow fronts. If you Google ( tractors from the
> past, plowing in
> 1962) you will find many tractors plowing but I didn't see
> a single wide
> front even on a couple new generation JD's. I don't know
> where the video
> was filmed but I suspect Indiana because of the fields and
> the way they
> raised the plows to go over grassed waterways; something I
> still see
> when we travel there to see our kids. I'm not sure, but I
> think the 4020
> Farmer used to own had a narrow front. Also why does no
> one make narrow
> front anymore? In the video, even the Ford disking has a
> narrow front,
> something I have never seen in our area and in years past
> there were a
> lot of Fords around us. Comments anyone.
> Greg Hass
> _______________________________________________
> AT mailing list
> AT at lists.antique-tractor.com
> <mailto:AT at lists.antique-tractor.com>
> http://lists.antique-tractor.com/listinfo.cgi/at-antique-tractor.com
>
>
>
> --
>
> --
>
> Francis Robinson
> aka "farmer"
> Central Indiana USA
> robinson46176 at gmail.com <mailto:robinson46176 at gmail.com>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> AT mailing list
> AT at lists.antique-tractor.com <mailto:AT at lists.antique-tractor.com>
> http://lists.antique-tractor.com/listinfo.cgi/at-antique-tractor.com
>
> _______________________________________________
> AT mailing list
> AT at lists.antique-tractor.com <mailto:AT at lists.antique-tractor.com>
> http://lists.antique-tractor.com/listinfo.cgi/at-antique-tractor.com
>
>
>
> --
> --
>
> Francis Robinson
> aka "farmer"
> Central Indiana USA
> robinson46176 at gmail.com <mailto:robinson46176 at gmail.com>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> AT mailing list
> AT at lists.antique-tractor.com
> http://lists.antique-tractor.com/listinfo.cgi/at-antique-tractor.com
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.antique-tractor.com/pipermail/at-antique-tractor.com/attachments/20190214/e5c9b76b/attachment.htm>
More information about the AT
mailing list