2255 or 2-105 Cool vs Practical

1850power

New User
Have a small hay operation. Use a couple 1850's a 1550 and a S88, all diesel. Fitting new ground this summer in 95 degree heat and bone dry conditions made it pretty clear, I have to get a cab tractor. All my tillage tools I sized for the 1850's, 5 bottom 565, 12' Fronteer disc, 15' cultimulcher. The only thing that needs a little HP on the other end is the 1359 discbine and 4590 baler and honestly even the 1550 does fine slow and that Waukashaw is about spent.

I'm looking at 2 opportunities, a 74 2255 and around a 75-76 (solid grill) 2-105. Both have cabs, both 540/1000, both priced right and in pretty good condition for their age, neither currently has AC so equal sweat boxes.

The 2255 eliminates any need for a little blue pill, lol, but that's going to lead to re-purchasing tillage equipment or potentially tearing up what I have at 160hp. Could make the jump to beans then too though on a somewhat real scale. So that statement just cost me another 100K, sunflower chisel plow, disc, cultivator, x wing packer, 6100 planter with 6900 splitter, plus another building to put it all in, better figure 150.

The 105 has at least some common parts with my 1850's and is sized correctly for my current operation, plus it's a FWA model. For a couple grand, I can put AC in it. Know at least enough to be dangerous about the 354, don't know squat about the 3208.

I run pretty good equipment and enjoy the heck out of working on my Olie's, doing my best to make them right and eliminate any agrarian engineering. Grower not a shower so either will be put to work at some level. Common sense tells me to stick to the 105 but the 2255 just does it for me. This has become a little bit of a disease and I can only store so many tractors before something is forced into yard art.

All comments and opinions welcome!!!!

Thanks,

Sean
[email protected]
 
Same boat here. A 2-85,2-88,2-105 or 2-110 is what I really need. The 2-135 is necessary for tillage and chopping,but too big for haying,but I use it anyway. Had the wild idea of getting rid of the 2-135 and replacing it with a 2150 FWA and getting a nice smaller White for the haying and other light jobs that I do with the 2-135 and 1850.
 
rrlund, there is a 2-105 open station near Copemish Mi last month on Craigslist for $4200.00, still shows up there. I will try and attach the link.

http://nmi.craigslist.org/grd/5233728220.html
 
To be a little more clear here, I've done my homework and looked hard at all the options. I've looked at 2-105,110,120, 125, 140, 145, 6105,
6125, 6145, 6710, 6810, 8310, 8410 and even into the RT's. These are the cut offs for 540 pto and that's everything I have. Left the 6124 and
44 out on purpose. Yes I know the 2-135 can be 540 too but good luck finding one in decide to shape. At the end, it comes down to money at
this point. As soon as you go past the 2- series III, the price jumps to 25K minimum and really it's 45K minimum with any sort of modern
amenities and FWA. Here in North Central Ohio close to the lake, it's clay swamp land, FWA is almost a necessity 2/3s of the year. What
probably makes the most sense is to just do the 105 now and find a 185/195 FWA when I make the jump to beans but a 2255 is just the pinicle
of Meadow Green paint. That's the internal fight here, the smart move vs something a little impractical but would work and pretty damn cool.
The ape hangers and drag pipes on my Harley aren't practical either, but I sure do like it, lol.
 
The problem with a 100hp tractor is, forget a chisel plow, 24' disc, cultivator etc..., never gonna work (at least not well). It's only good for hay
and utility work.
 
I want one with a cab and working air. The 1850 is open,but I use the 2-135 for a lot of jobs that the 1850 is better suited for,but use it just because of the cab. I'd just as soon have a nice 2-85 for that matter. Any of those four I listed would fit the bill.
 
All I can says is,when I jumped to the 2-135 it took me a few years to get used to the size. I had a 4040 Deere for over 20 years,along with the 1850. It was nice to have two tractors the same size so they were interchangeable on the tillage tools. When they unloaded that 2-135 and I looked at it next to the 4040 that I had traded for it,I thought "What the heck have I done?". That thing looked massive. It's still way too much tractor for running a nine foot discbine,4x5 round baler and even the manure spreader.
I've had the 2-135 for 14 years or so now. I had to upgrade to a different diesel storage tank. I went to 1000 gallon with a pump. The 300 gallon overhead sat too low. It would leave 100 gallons in it when I ran out of gravity,not to mention how often I had to have it filled to water that thirsty horse.
I bought some larger tillage tools too. That kinda went wrong two years ago when the clutch went out of the 2-135 the first day of spring tillage. Then last year the Over/Under went bad. The 1850 struggled to fill it's shoes.
As much as I like the idea of the 2150 FWA that I heard about,unless the guy would come off his price by quite a bit,I'd be miles ahead to put that money in to a good 2-85,even if I had to pay the dealer to rebuild the entire AC system. I could park my Series 3 2-135 with the rebuilt O/U and good working AC for about ten months out of the year and still have that nice cab to work out of when I did need a tractor that size.
 
Do hear ya loud and clear on about all of that. The 300 gallon gravity tank is already a problem with what I have now. About to put fender tanks on the 65 1850. Working it hard, it drinks a good 40 gallons a day and it's no 160hp CAT. Just see I'm up against it on HP. To start picking up acrage for anything other than hay, you've gotta be at that 135 level to be able to move to any serious (still small) tillage tool. Can't even think about a chisel plow with an 1850 here, back to the clay. At least not one with a disc in front of it and 7 shank is pushing it, easy to find a 9, You're on target with 3-4 weeks in the spring and 3-4 in the fall factor too. That is the reality of it where the HP is really of use. Guess that was my thought, with no AC, I'd really only be using it then anyway. Guess it's a matter of sucking it up and living with baking all day, going home with dirt eye boogers like a dog and buying something Meadow Green that can pull something or opt for some level of comfort and spend twice the time getting it done. A friend runs around 650 acres with a 7??? 180hp and 4255 FWA and the 4255 struggles with the chisel plow and 1234 24' disc, a lot of wieight there. The 160 horses the 2255 brings to the table let me go find the implements the big guys moving to a 30'+ 300hp tillage setup don't want anymore. Then I know what I have, know what size I can deal with and it makes finding a disc, cultivator and planter a lot easier. Can't really take on more serious acrage unles I can get after it. Or, sit in comfort and stop spending money. It's a vicious circle in my mind!!!!
 
If it were me I would go with the 105, it will pull a 7 shank chisel just fine! The 2255 will burn 2/3 more fuel to get
you done faster, if it is worth that much more fuel! Believe that too, I have a 2705 massey with the 354, and a 2745
with a 540 v8 Perkins, the more horse power is nice on the chopper, disc and field cultivator, but it takes way more
fuel to do it.
 
I don't get all this money for your bean equipment. How many acres of beans are you thinking? Do you sow wheat? Get yourself a good used no till drill like a 750 Deere or newer. I would buy the 2-105 and rent a larger tractor if you need one.
 
Actually I ran my 2255 today to run some wagon loads of corn out of a small field. I don't normally use it in the field anymore, but she sure is
fun to use. That's what I think, it's fun to use, but your other choice may be more practical? My 2 cents. That 2255 was my whole operation at
one time though. AC is a little interesting too. I have a decent 4-210 and I consider that more handy than the 2255.
 
You wanted opinions. After being around a few
3208 caterpillars in HD trucks it'd be way down
on my list for something to farm with. Let the
2255's go to the collectors.
 
If you already have a couple 1850s, then a White 2-105 would make another of practically the same tractor. The FWA would be a huge plus though. If it were me, I would
go for the 2255. Lots more power, and it would allow you to get the bigger equipment that you seem to want in order to grow your operation.

I will agree that the 2-105 is more practical, I just see it as too similar to what you already have.

At the end of the day both are much better options than a JD 4430, etc.
 
There is a HP loss with the FWA too that makes the 105 truly about the same as the 1850's. Both are a little above standard, the 65 is turned up a little. The 66 engine is out of a Massey combine and freshly rebuilt, it runs well!!! The main thing about the 2255 is, it's still the right colors and again, the king of the end of an era and big enough that I'll run out of acrage available before I run out of tractor. Barring hitting the lottery of coarse and having 1.5m to buy real land with.

Thanks for the opinions! Keep em coming, have a bout another week still.
 
It's interesting to see all the opinions, but the solution seems really simple.

The most practical thing to do is just get both of them.

If you have to prioritize get the 2255 first, but might as well plan to get both of them. I don't think there would be a down side.

Good Luck and send pictures once you have made your decision.
 
Well, after a lot of thought, taking all the opinions into consideration, I ended up going a different direction. Went to look at the 2-105 FWA, it
was hammered, leaking everywhere, wiring harness was jacked, dents on every panel and a really bad paint job that made it look great in the
pics. The 2255 is just impractical. Still see one in the cards but at this point, I need something that works. Found a real nice 2-135 series 3 at
Maibach's. Right down the road and more importantly, thru the guys I work with all the time. Should get here in the next 2-3 weeks. Gonna cry
when I get my fuel bill next summer but, it fits the bill for 90% of my operation and expansion. Thanks for all the comments!!!
 

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