What made you choose the tractor you have?

jwitty

Member
I got my Farmall M because my grandpa, who is still alive and loves seeing me on that tractor, used to plow field after field with an M when he was my age (18-ish). He also had an H which I'd also like to get so then I have both tractors my grandpa grew up with. Then I'd like to get a John Deere 730 diesel because my great uncle had one. Why did you guys get the tractors you have now? What's your story?
 
2 Ms, one was my Dads, the other was the last "project" Dad I did before he passed away. My F-14 belonged to both of my great
gramps, my I-4 I got because it was different, and rare for my area. My, really my oldest sons, Cub I got him for his 8th
birthday, and my 154, really my youngest sons, gets used cutting the ditches at the house. Theres only 3 tractors left Id like to
have. My Papas C or Super H, and a W450 on propane. Since I cant find the first 2, and cant afford the third Ill likely never own
them.
 
I've got 10 of the old Farmalls, started with an old farmer from where I grew up wanting me to have his H. My Dad used to think Farmalls were the best tractor and I think he based that on a W9 and H he owned so I guess I'm doing it in part out of respect for him. Despite what he thought was best he had to buy what he could afford so not all his tractors were Farmalls. Another reason I stay with Farmalls as that is what I have learned to fix over the years. I am a self taught mechanic on the old guys.The final reason I stay with Farmalls is that I don't have enough money to buy all the Farmall models I want so I can't justify spending money on another color.
 
Since Im still on the "family farm"....I have started collecting the tractors that our family started farming with ; after the "mules and horses"....lol they would be really hard to find! My dads first tractor was a "1937 W-30 IH'...that's what Im working on now. My Grandpa's first was a 1920'ish Avery 25-50...which I may not be able to afford. His second was a McCormick-Deering 22-36....which I will try to find for my next project. Great topic! Thanks.
 
I've got all Farmalls, because I grew up around them. My first tractor was an IH 856, used for bush hogging
and snow blowing. The other ones are an H, two 240s, one row crop and one utility. I also have a 350, which
used to be a diesel, now outfitted with a gas motor. Another one is the 450LP that I bought sight unseen at
an auction. Last but not least, is my 574 row crop that is outfitted with a Farmhand 223 loader.
 
I've got an F-20 as that's what my grandpa had and I used to help my Dad work on it. When I was eye-level with the magneto, that's how big I was at the time :) Got an MD because I thought the gas-start diesel idea was really cool, I've got a 7' Freeman loader on it and that's my snowplow. My first tractor (A) I found in a salvage yard and thought it would be great to plow up the garden with.
 
My first tractor was a Super M Dad had
bought at his friend's auction several
years before. Dad stuck it in the corner
and proceeded to forget about it. When I
got to high school I started tinkering with
it and we did an unofficial restoration as
my high school project.

Bought a McCormick Deering 22-36 because I
always thought they were cool. Put a lot of
money into it and never had any luck
getting it to start. Traded that to a guy
from Utah even up for a 350 diesel.

Got the 350 running and did well for a
couple years. Then it started knocking and
losing oil pressure so she got parked.

Went in on a Ford 8n with my buddy because
it was the tractor our high school owned
and we worked on/with it all the time. Paid
too much but oh well. Got a 450 because it
was a good deal. Went thirds on an Oliver
1600 with Dad and Brother because it was
our great grandfather's. Case SC because
Grandpa has one and the gentleman also had
a front mount cultivator for it.

Ha sorry for rambling. Interesting topic.
Can't wait to see why I buy the next one!
 
Well Grandpa had an H and a D-4 cat for the heavy work plowing disking,dragging. The H just planted and such. It has never been hitched to a plow far as I know. I didn't like our 830 case and I bought an 806D and have been hooked every since. We have since added to the line up MD574/w loader,674,856,1466,4166,2 Stiegers and a 2940 Deere.
Still have the old D-4 and an old No6 traxcavator (977) earlier model of that.
 
the farmall M and oliver 77 were each of my grandfathers. I bought the JD B from the husband of my grandmothers
childhood friend because my father in law and his dad had john deeres . he wanted the kids to hear the putt putt sound.
i bought the CIH 3394 when the dealer my family had been doing business with from 1942 said we would never get a good
deal on a trade in for the old allis again. it is only one of the three working case tractors left that i know of in
the area.the other ones are a planter tractor and a manure pump tractor.
 
Way to many stories but then I have to many tractors. One I have is a 1935 JD-B on steel wheel that I played on as a kid and my grand kids have played on it. It was my grand fathers tractor. As for many of the ones I have I have them because I got them cheap. Or like the newest one to me I got it because a guy who I had worked on the tractor for him after it caught fire he gave it to me knowing if any body could get some good out of it, it would be me. It is a IH584 Diesel.
As for an H I have 4 I would sell. One or all as a package deal all are 1940
 
I had to walk by the IHC dealer to get to the on the job training. Last period of high school.My on the job training was at the Allis Chalmers dealer. Now this is in 1963-64 school year,the 806's just came out I liked the looks of that 806D engine, and my 4-H leader had bought one and said it was good. I wanted one so bad i could taste it,well 3 years later in 1967 i got to buy one, and still have it, runs good yet. My dad had a M gas,M diesel and a H.
 
Speaking Farmall here, I bought a 1086 new in January of 1978. I wanted a 4440 Deere but the IH dealer bid $4000 under the Deere dealer so I ended up with the 1086. $4000 was a lot of money back then especially for a young farmer. I still have the 1086, it now has 17000 hours on the clock. Other tractors occupied the farm back then and still do but those tractors never saw the hours of use the 1086 has seen. It’s not the big dog of the farm anymore, loader work occupies its time now but it still sees about as many ‘retirement’ hours per years with the loader as the big dog spends in the field.
 
I have a Farmall Super A Kerosene tractor because that was the first tractor my Grandfather bought to replace Belgian draft horses. I also have the Holder B10D tractor bought new by my Father and Grandfather in 1956 and on which I learned to drive and spent 100's of hours cultivating (6 rows, 50 cm [approx. 20"] rows) sugarbeet fields.
 
Farmall MD'S and Super MD'S. My
grandfathers first tractor was a 47 MD. I
grew up hearing stories about it. After
trying to find it for a number of years I
gave up then a couple years later i got a
lead and come to find out a friend had it.
I just finalized the deal Sunday and now
own pops MD. It will not leave the family
again as long as I'm alive.
 
I've got two F-12's and two F-14's. My reasoning is one of my F-12's has a hand lift cultivator that is exactly like the one I spent many, many hours using. My Dad and Grandad each had an F-12 that they purchased after the mules refused to get up one morning. One of my F-14's has a 7' sickle bar mower on it that I used to cut hay for many years. The other two I picked up to restore for nostalgic reasons. Interesting topic.
 
I've still got dad's 1949 Brockway 49G. And then I spotted a New Holland t1030 with a FEl, A BH and mower deck. My kidneys decided the tires were too small for field work so I bought a T1530 NH.
Wish I'd gotten them three decades ago.
 
I have both green and red tractors --- but they have nostalgic value to me.

My red is a 1466....and it's one that I used for countless hours on a farm I worked as a kid. The farmer I worked for sold it to me and I had it transported from NJ to NC. She's undergoing a restoration now and when completed, will be used as she was 40+ years ago doing tillage, chopping, etc. Ok ok....and if she is pretty enough, I may enter her into the annual Christmas parade too. :)
 

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