Farming with bigger MM's

Joe Pro

Member
Hey guys, I need some opinions and suggestions. As time goes on I am gaining more farm ground, slowly. Right now my G900 is my "big" tractor. It runs good, and can be used but as the farm grows the time to do the work seems to be shrinking. I"ve been considering buying a bigger tractor with a cab, nice cab with heat and AC. Something that I can hang a dozen lights off the front and really have a good machine.

I"ve been thinking of trying to find a G1355 preferably on LP (propane). How is relying on farming with these older tractors doing for you guys?? Am I better to just let a little other color blood flow in me and save and buy a newer tractor or with the 1355 do me well for a long time. I"d like to either find something in super shape, or find something as a project that I can make run and look nice.

What is the input about this?? I can plant with the 670"s and 900, but I"m looking to find a disc chisel and pull a decent disc with a roller behind it.
 
My 1355 is used for everything, Hay tillage you name. She is really good on fuel in the hay field and comfortable. My only complaint was rebuild cost on motor. Kinda pricey but worth every penny. From the bell back your interchangeable with an Ollie or almost completely interchangeable with a 2-150. When you call a boneyard for parts found out its cheaper if you tell them 2-150 than mm. Usually they hear mm and nope no parts or on the odd chance they have a 1355 bend over and spell RUN. If you have any questions e mail open
 
Hi joe, I spent a lot of time on a 1355 in the early 1980s. Now that was when those tractors were fairly new and parts were abundant. I recall some issues with the injector pump, but they were a great tractor. Very very powerful by standards back then.

Now I don't want to cause any offense or receive any death threats..
But if you are considering jumping brands to a more modern tractor; I have found the john deere 30 and 40 series to be very trustworthy in a fair price range. I assume a really nice 1355 moline can bring 10-15000 now a days.... A $15000 dollar budget can buy a nice John deere 4630 or 4440 of similar size and power to the moline 1355. My 4440 has 11000 hours and runs great with a quad range transmission. Easy to work in, parts are abundant, sound guard cab, good heat and a/c units, good turn radius and fairly easy on fuel. I still have some molines I enjoy using every chance I get. Good luck finding a good tractor to accommodate your expanding farm! Congratulations on a growing enterprise, most folks I know are losing acres as the "big farmers" just keep getting bigger.
- Art
 
I would look for a early 90's White with a cummins. We bought a few of the 100 & 125 hp tractors for about $10,000. We have about 10 of the Whites with the cummins. They were our main tractors for years. We still use them for haywork, etc. Our newest tractors are the Cat Challengers. The closest tractor was about $10,000. The 6195 was about $75,000 new in 1993, and the rusty looking White 125 was about $2500 with busted windows in the cab. The 100 Series Whites have the same basic 3 speed shift that was designed by Oliver in the late 60's. The Moline 1355 would have a similar 3 speed.

Michael Moeller
[email protected]
mvphoto5874.jpg
 
I think you'd be better off finding a 2-135 or 2-155 because they seem to bring the same price as a g1355 and they will be a more modern tractor, and be more reliable, I like the g1355 and all but I wouldn't use one as my main tractor. And if you'd get a 2-135 or 2-155 your parts would be pretty easy to get, and you'd have ac and heat as you mentioned you wanted and lighting isn't terrible on my 2-155. And then your not totally switching brands going to a white, there still in the mm/oliver family
 
I've thought about a 2-150, but would stay with the MM if I went that route. I've worked at a JD dealership, and now for CNH. There is a reason they call them JD stealerships, I would never purchase a JD tractor! I would probably go with a 90's white, or IH 5088 or Case MAgnum. But I really want to stay MM or at least MM- Oliver. I just can't get into the looks of the MM 50 series. I'd like to find a nice 1355 LP but like every other 22 year old farmers story I'm on a budget!
 
My Uncle ran a 2-135 as his big tractor in the late 80"s, and
into the 90"s. It was a good tractor for the 600-800 acres he
was farming at the time. He traded his G1000 Vista for it. Talk
about thinking life was good...cab with AC/heat and no dirt!
 



Like others said, you would probably get into a newer white for the money for the 13's. Good tractors and parts availability, if you want the praire gold, you could always paint a white like this one.
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In these parts good JD 30 & 40 series are again bringing $25,000 & into the $40,000 range. there is not an cheap horsepower in the midwest, unless you are lucky & at the right place at the right time. I agree with a previous post, don't overlook the 1990's Whits with the Cummins power, they are good tractors, and very cost effective hp/$ value.
 
Something like this, or all yellow. I'm really thinking I want a 1355 on LP. There are some nice 2-135's in my area, but I just can't get away from the Energy Yellow. We are set up for propane here so that's why I'm so pushy on the propane.




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I wouldn't push you away from propane, clean burning, good power, long life engines. We had a few neighbors that ran propane MM's, from U's up to G1000's. Long lasting, smooth running machines. Up in northern plains where I am from there are next to none 50 or 55 series MM's, and when one does appear it seems to bring big money. If you are in an area where they are available and affordable, no doubt you better grab one.
 
The G1355 is a good tractor, but slow going down the road. They have plenty of power to pull but if your farms are spread out, I"d look into a 50 series MM or a 2-135 or 2-155 white. We have a G1050 LP that pulls great and never runs out of power; yeah, they bring big money though but so does a G1355 LP because you don"t see very many of them. For the price you"d spend on an MM of that size, you could get into a newer white for the same money.
 
We paid $2500 for the White because the auctioneer thought it was salvage, and the cab was missing most of the glass. The solenoid wire was not hooked to the injection pump, so they couldn't get the tractor to start. We also bought a 170 White for $6000 at the same auction. Its now our hay baler tractor (after changing the pto). We could have also bought a 140 White for about $3000 at the same auction. Not many people were familiar with the White brand, so the tractors were pretty good bargains. My grandfather loved his lp Molines. He bought a ZAU, UB special, G1000 row crop, and super M670 all new through the years. He later bought a 2255 Oliver along with White 2-135, 2-155, and 2-150. Our newer tractors are yellow again as we have some Cat Challengers.
 
What brand of cabs are those on the 55 series MM's. I think they may be the same on the 50 series. Hiniker? I know the White cabs, boxy and flat as they look are decent cabs and probably quite the upgrade from the square box slapped on a 50 series.

I know the Whites are cheap horsepower, and you can't beat the cummins engine in them. I guess, to me if I'm going to spend 10k on a tractor I'd rather buy a propane 1355 than a diesel White. That's probably because I bleed MM's and for the same reason the 1355's were painted yellow when they were new, I want a yellow tractor. But.....I work at a dealership and I know what happens when tractors get older, parts and support go away for them. There are many more Whites out there that Moline/Olivers. There are cummins parts available, 585 parts well ah....same story with the LP engine.

How do the hydraulic systems compare between the oliver 1355's and the later Whites. I'm sold on the MM engine the 504 LP or 585 with the external oil pump, can not be beat in any respect.
I need three SCV's because I'm not getting out of my warm cab to switch hoses because I can't fold the disc down because I want to raise the roller up. I have a manual fold disc now, and I'm already over it.
 
I think the 1355 cab is quite similar to the cabs on the 50 series MM's. I think a 2-150 White would have a better cab along with the 2-135, 2-155 etc. The series 3 Whites with the red stripe had another cab improvement, and then the 100 series tractors had an equivalent cab. Good insulation will make any cab better and more quiet. We have a 2-135 and the 100 series tractors are MUCH better (engine, cab, etc)
Our 100 series Whites have plenty of hydraulics, but I would think the G1355 should also.
You might want to consider fuel consumption. My grandfathers G1000 had an extra lp tank, because 1 tank would not last all day when pulling it hard. The lp 504 is a great engine. MM's are great tractors. We have about 30. I have a diesel 900 in the shop that I need to get running so it can earn its keep. Keep us updated on your search
 
I don't think any g1355s were energy yellow, pretty sure they
were industrial yellow to my knowledge, the white side ones
were boss white and the yellow ones with white on front were
clover white
 
Well I hope you can find something that serves you well. I
enjoy my 1355, and for the record you can put 3 SCV's on a
1355 with a cab (you have to cut the cab mount some, but it is
possible). I struggled one year knifing in anhydrous switching
hoses between the shut off valve and the wing fold...no fun.
I put a cab kit in the interior and put LED lights on that helped.
I also put on a turn signal and plan to put on lights over the
duals because I travel on a state highway some. I'm not sure
why someone thinks a 1355 is slow on the road...mine goes as
fast as any other tractor of that age...18-19 mph???
It may not be the most efficient tractor, but you can get a lot of
work done with that gallon of fuel (and can buy a lot of fuel for
the price difference in a more modern tractor) my opinion.
 
I believe the 50 series MM cabs are the same cabs, with the exception of the lower portion, as the Oliver 55 series cabs. They were made by Crenlo as far as I know. Crenlo cabs were used on some G1000 Vistas as well.
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I apologize, ours on goes 15-16. A lot slower than a G950 or G1050 because of the planatary rear end. Yours could go faster, I'm just going off of ours.
 
(quoted from post at 11:09:53 04/10/14) I apologize, ours on goes 15-16. A lot slower than a G950 or G1050 because of the planatary rear end. Yours could go faster, I'm just going off of ours.

I imagine it's like anything else, depends mostly on the tire size. My 670 super with 38's will smoke the 670's with 34's. My 900 has 38's and it'll move, probably at least 19 mph. I know the Oliver rear-end has gear sets, but I would still think it would move pretty quickly with some 38's. But I don't know that.
 
I'm sorry...may have come off a little snippy. I thought, after I posted, that you probably had smaller tires. I can't quite figure why they put those little tires on the big molines.

I'd like to see a picture of your 670 with the 38's. It doesn't seem like 38's would fit on mine??
 
(quoted from post at 13:50:45 04/10/14) I'm sorry...may have come off a little snippy. I thought, after I posted, that you probably had smaller tires. I can't quite figure why they put those little tires on the big molines.

I'd like to see a picture of your 670 with the 38's. It doesn't seem like 38's would fit on mine??

This is the best picture I've got here at work. 18.4-38's on spin out wheels.

 
No big deal. But no, we have 18.4-38 duals. I just know it's a lot slower than our 50 series tractors. I'm thinking it's just because of the planataries.
 
My original brochure says you can put up to 4 scv's but they were dealer installed, they only came with two from factory and then the dealer could add two extra remotes for those who wanted, never seen one with more than two remotes, was gonna put four on mine for looks as I know how the mount and my open station console is made for 4 remotes but I didn't.
 
(quoted from post at 17:18:26 04/10/14) My original brochure says you can put up to 4 scv's but they were dealer installed, they only came with two from factory and then the dealer could add two extra remotes for those who wanted, never seen one with more than two remotes, was gonna put four on mine for looks as I know how the mount and my open station console is made for 4 remotes but I didn't.

I assume you're talking about the G1355, I wonder if it'd have enough hyd capacity to operate 4 scv's. Most planters have a independent pto hyd pump or pump, all I would need it for is at least three, disc wings, disc lift, some rollers are lift and fold in one some are individual. I like the individual fold and lift ones, so that's 4 scv's.
 
Yes the g1355 could have 4 remote circuits as a dealer
installed option, never seen one that's had it, bet its very few,
most people then wouldn't know what to do with 4 and now
days there more of a parade/collector tractor to most people.
Mine won't get used in field much, maybe once a year plowing
and dragging the yard that'll be about it.
 
Joe,
I have some info on the G1355 but not sure exactly how accurate it is. It appears of the 1,542 G1355/2270 built only 30 were propane so it may be difficult to find one and expensive based on recent auction results.

Brian
 
(quoted from post at 22:19:11 04/11/14) Joe,
I have some info on the G1355 but not sure exactly how accurate it is. It appears of the 1,542 G1355/2270 built only 30 were propane so it may be difficult to find one and expensive based on recent auction results.

Brian

The only one I've seen sell was that one at Lowry's a few years ago, and it brought 10k. I'd have gladly give that for it, for as nice as it was. That was a very nice tractor and would be about the same cost as the 2-135.
 
I bet if people knew how rear they were they'd be
bringing twice that. I thought that was cheap for
what it was.
 
HEY joe pro !!! ive got a g-1355 in the shop fixing it for customer and he wants to sell it got 1543 hrs on a working tach you can call 414 379 8485 terry
 
Hey y'all, I do not own this tractor nor know the owner, but it is relatively close to me. By looks of the picture, does it have a Moline engine in it?

http://bn.craigslist.org/grd/4425892393.html
 
The 2-150s did have the MM engine but Im pretty sure they weren't made as late as 1979. Im guessing they had already replaced it with the 2-155 by then.
 
That one looks pretty nice from the pictures, most 2-150s
seem to be pretty rough, yeah it has the 585 MM like said, and
they only made them in 1975 and 1976, factory open station
2-150s are pretty rare I know most all have a cab
 
Hey guys, I'm back from a sunny week in the Sunshine state!!
18 hrs in the car one way gives you some time to think!!

It seems to me as well that most of the 2-150'a that you see are quite beat up for some unknown reason to me, and they don't sell for much less than the 2-135/155's. If I buy a G1355 it will be on propane, otherwise I think I'm going to look for a really nice 2-135. They seem to be easier to find and I've seen several in decent shape. Now to start the next war, I wonder what a 2-135 would look like painted Energy Yellow??!!
 

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