What is the easist tractor to work on?

I have older two cylinder JDs , like the 730, 720, 620, 60, A, and B and I can replace the brakes in a few hours and most other things with little to no effort. I am in the market for a newer 4 cyl tractor like a Ford 5000, o Massey 175, or a JD 2020 or 2510, but when I read that you have to remove the whole axle and wheel just to replace brake pads on the 5000 or on the 2020, now I am a little scared to get into the newer 4 cyl tractors. Is there a 4 cyl tractor at 50 to 70 HP that is easy to work on like those old JDs?

First of all let me say, I work on tractors every day,5 days a week, mostly Fords, so for me Fords are the easiest. A John Deere man will tell you Deeres are the easiest. Don't let the axle deal stop you from buying a Ford. #1 if you don't have wet brakes, you don't have brakes. Wet brakes,especially on a Ford rarely if ever wear out. I had a 7000 in the shop a couple of weeks ago to replace axle seals and the brakes were still in very good condition. It had 11,000 hours on it. You have to do the same on a Deere. We did a 830 last week. The largest complaint that I ever heard on the older Masseys with dry brakes was that they didn't have any and you still had to pull the axle housings. We did a Zetor a couple of months ago. They have Hydraulic actuated dry brakes inside the axle housing, A nightmare. Buy the Ford, make sure the differental oil is clean,with no water, adjust the brakes and forget about them.

I have worked on just about every brand from Allis to Oliver.

The worst ones are by far the two cylinder Deeres. The easiest are the old Case S and D series. They are not in your horsepower range. When you get up near 70hp they get much bigger with heavier parts. Some models have a lot of tin work to remove.

I would stay away from Masseys,Deere 10,20 series,Ford thousand series.
If I wanted 50-70 hp I would look for an Oliver 50 series.

The easiest would be a 6 cylinder Oliver. You never have to split one to do any job on them. Brakes are a breeze. Take a plate off,pull out a disc,take a nut off the actuator and pull that out,swap out the inside disc and put it back together. A 10 minute job on each side. A clutch job is just a matter of lifting the engine and turning it sideways in the frame then lifting the 2 or 3 speed off with the cherry picker,otherwise sit the engine on the floor and slide it off. If it doesn't have the 2 or 3 speed,you can just pull the bell housing off right in frame without even unbolting the engine.

That sounds like exactly what I want. Which of the olivers are the best and which should I stay away from? I am looking for a tractor with 50 to 70 HP that has reverse speed slow enough to run a 3 point snow blower. Where do you get parts for them? Ithere is an auction coming up near me where there is a 1655, is this a good tractor?

(quoted from post at 10:08:31 12/01/17) That sounds like exactly what I want. Which of the olivers are the best and which should I stay away from? I am looking for a tractor with 50 to 70 HP that has reverse speed slow enough to run a 3 point snow blower. Where do you get parts for them? Ithere is an auction coming up near me where there is a 1655, is this a good tractor?

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Another good thing about the Olivers is that it is not expensive to get more power out of them. They are one of the most popular brands among the tractor pulling crowd. You could get into a whole new realm of old tractor enjoyment,

You forgot to tell him that you have to disassemble the rear pto and pull the shaft out the back before lifting the engine. The shaft runs thru the trans, drive coupler and hydra power to the flywheel.Engine won't come up until the shaft's pulled or you'll bend the shaft.
How easy it is to put brakes on is pretty much irrelevant, the question should be how good are the brakes and how long do they last.
My 67 Ford 5000 still has the original brakes with plenty of adjustment left. The inboard wet disc brake system on the Ford 4000 and larger tractors is a excellent braking system that will last many thousand hours.
Had the axles apart on my 69 4000 back in 2000, brakes looked good so we reused them, adjusted they up when we got the tractor back together and haven't touched them since.

Oliver's are good tractors, my granddad owned them, a uncle and couple of cousins have some but, the Waukesha engines where a bit short life'd. Brother had a 1650 for a short time, below 30 degrees it was near impossible to get started without the block heater plugged in.
Parts availability is another thing to look at, Ford has a strong following in the aftermarket line plus whats still available at NH dealers.

2520 or 2530 Deere is comparable to a 5000 Ford
1650 or 1655 Oliver have 6-10 more hp and are flat deck row crop models.
IH are good tractors with good parts support but I'm not familiar with what models to recommend.

You forgot to tell him that you have to disassemble the rear pto and pull the shaft out the back before lifting the engine. The shaft runs thru the trans, drive coupler and hydra power to the flywheel.Engine won't come up until the shaft's pulled or you'll bend the shaft.
How easy it is to put brakes on is pretty much irrelevant, the question should be how good are the brakes and how long do they last.
My 67 Ford 5000 still has the original brakes with plenty of adjustment left. The inboard wet disc brake system on the Ford 4000 and larger tractors is a excellent braking system that will last many thousand hours.
Had the axles apart on my 69 4000 back in 2000, brakes looked good so we reused them, adjusted they up when we got the tractor back together and haven't touched them since.

Oliver's are good tractors, my granddad owned them, a uncle and couple of cousins have some but, the Waukesha engines where a bit short life'd. Brother had a 1650 for a short time, below 30 degrees it was near impossible to get started without the block heater plugged in.
Parts availability is another thing to look at, Ford has a strong following in the aftermarket line plus whats still available at NH dealers.

2520 or 2530 Deere is comparable to a 5000 Ford
1650 or 1655 Oliver have 6-10 more hp and are flat deck row crop models.
IH are good tractors with good parts support but I'm not familiar with what models to recommend.

The easiest tractor to work on is a new one. It either doesn't need work or will be covered by warranty. The rest are hell.

1650-1655 were regarded as some of the best Olivers ever built. Agco,A&I,auto parts store for parts.

Anything without a cab is easier.

I run a 6 1/2 ft lucknow (made in Canada) snow blower in the snowbelt off Lake Erie. I highly recommend an Allis Chalmers D-17 (63 hp) the hand clutch on an Allis can be slipped all day as it runs in oil, this allows me to just creep into our 3 foot drifts. Once through the drift just shove that big stick into high range till ya get to the next one!