Farming Under 50

Bill VA

Well-known Member
One of the things I enjoy is reading about tractors and folks farming with them back in the 50's. Lots of a acreage farmed with Farmall H's, M's and similar tractors. My Wife's grand father owned and operated a small dairy using Farmall H and later a Super H.

Around my neck of the woods, we never really saw many of those tractors, mostly Ford 8N's and Ferguson 20/30's and later model tractors like a MF 35 or a Ford Jubilee type tractors. Probably due to small fields and mountainous terrain and a full time day job.

None the less, these folks got it done with a tractor under 50 hp.

I realize that times have changed, farmers have to do more with less, manpower is scarce, bigger equipment is used, disc mowers that require more hp, more plows being pulled than a 3 or 4 bottom.

Question is - who is still farming under 50 hp as we steam towards 2015?

Thanks,
Bill
 
I don't "farm" with an little tractors, but I still use some little ones. There's nothing better than the Farmall A for mowing by the sheds and running augers and the bale elevator. I won't grind feed with anything but my Farmall M. It turns tights and gets the auger just where I want it. I can't image using anything else - it would be overkill and they all have duals. I also think it is easier on something like a grinder if the tractors "gives" under the load a little rather than forcing the grinder through it. She sure barks when I throw a bale of alfalfa in, though! I think it is good for the old girl to grind a few tons of feed a week.
 
You would be surprised at the veggie types are getting bigger every day with farmers markets,local grocery stores, resturants ect there is a demand for fresh stuff even chickens,goats ect. You dont need a lot of acres and big tractors. The new stuff dont even have a cult available for tillage same with small plow ect. I know a lady on 20A does her tillage with 3Cs each set with different row spacings. She is doing well and has demand for her produce. Lettuce,onions,radishes ect do well on 15in or so spacing. Her big dollar item is 3 row planting units on a 60yr old Ford. She can adjust the units on the rear tool bar easy for rwo spacing.
 
Same here. They're still useful in livestock operations.
a177084.jpg
 
Hey! I am still farming under 30 horse!

I have three good, strong working mochines

1949 Farmall C, 23 horse
1954 John Deere 40T, 25 horse
1945 Ford 2N, Not sure, maybe 20?

This next year the neighbor has told me that I can plow under 10 acres of an original hay field from the 1800's! So excited... Going to actually be farming for the first time in my life! :)

Bryce
 
Well I am not a real farmer, but just a piddle patch hobbyist. A farmall M (bone stock pistons), late model John Deere A, or Case DC are my biggest horsepower tractors at 36 to 38 hp or so.

Oh, I forgot my wife (yes my wife) just bought a Ford 850 which is 44 hp or so. Have not used it yet though.

Back in the day, the Farmall h was marketed in all literature for farms up to 160 acres. That farmer could work sun up to sun down on that tractor.

If I was retired, then I am confident that I could farm a few acres even with my old antiquated equipment.

Course now days if you work a full time job off the farm and farm part time on the side then many will use something bigger in order to get it done quikly in the time they have available after work. Bigger works with more modern equipment too.
 
i use the 50's era tractors for my farming. newest is the 1961 660 ih at around 80 h.p. gets the job done and no tractor payments, just have to spend more time sitting in the dust.
here is my w450 seeding.
a177085.jpg
 
Fifty horse is a little under powered sometimes but I agree that a lot more farming is being done with to much power. I have tractors that vary from 10 horses to over 170. Most of my farm work is done with 65 horse tractors because they are handy and have about the right power for most jobs. The bigger tractors are used for tillage and pulling a disc mower which does require a lot of steady power. I am always amazed at the amount of work those old farmers did with those small tractors. My hat is off to them.
 
Jeff has an 1850 and I have a 1955 4WD, which both get used quite a bit, but my JD 420 gets more hours per year on it than all the others combined. They are something like 29 hp. or so.
 
This 450 pulls my drill and swather in summer and feeds cattle in the winter. The WD Allis is retired to hauling wood this winter and D-19 works ground and hardly gets used in winter. All rear tires but one were bought new in the last 5 years and I'll never wear then out at my age.
a177087.jpg
 
Helped out on a farm a few years back.
couple hundred acres.
Mostly a fresh fruit, vegetable operation.
Tractors were fairly small...to get thru orchards.
MF135
Farmall Super A with all cultivators (nice one)
A John Deere and a Kubota about the same size as the MF.
(maybe a little bigger, can't remember the models)
'Big' tractor was a John Deere 25** (unsure) with a loader to load apple totes on trailers, and plow fields. (4 bottoms)

Plowing, discing took me and the other hand...days.
Our sons used to swing by once in a while to take a few hours to give us a rest.

Owner was well off and didn't need the income, hobby.
Good thing, since we spent as much time working on the auction bought tractors and equipment as we did using them.

The ever climbing offers from the big operations for the prime land finally got the owner to sell it all.

I learned 2 things..
One, is I am getting too old to be a full time farm worker!
Two, if the equipment is junk, you are just chasing your tail.
 
While I own and use, not very often a Farmall M, maybe 20 hours a year, I have one. Bout all it does is mow weeds in the pasture. If I could justify replacing it I would with something a little more HP and modern I would. Thing would be on a slow boat to China. I have two 8N's at 23 HP light chores and with a post hole auger setting fence post. I do put in about 5-6 acres of food plots with those too. Rake hay. Mow lawn with one too. My main tillage and work horse tractor is 112 HP. Looking for something a little larger. Bigger tractors, loaders for round bales, that's where it's at. My baler requires 70 HP. I have a PTO driven 6601 combine for small grains. Book says 65 HP for that but it needs a tractor that's heavy too. I don't have to practice being uncomfortable so newer tractors with power steering, good hydraulics and better seats look pretty good to me.

Rick
 
I am still doing it, four tractors all under 50 hp. But I am not a real farmer anymore, part time or hobby farmer is more like it. I do still have my Grandpas Super H that he bought new in 53 , and that was the main tractor on the original 160 acres up until 63, and has been in continuous use all along. I always say if that thing had an hour meter it would be astounding what it would read .
 
(quoted from post at 15:16:08 12/20/14) One of the things I enjoy is reading about tractors and folks farming with them back in the 50's. Lots of a acreage farmed with Farmall H's, M's and similar tractors. My Wife's grand father owned and operated a small dairy using Farmall H and later a Super H.

Around my neck of the woods, we never really saw many of those tractors, mostly Ford 8N's and Ferguson 20/30's and later model tractors like a MF 35 or a Ford Jubilee type tractors. Probably due to small fields and mountainous terrain and a full time day job.

None the less, these folks got it done with a tractor under 50 hp.

I realize that times have changed, farmers have to do more with less, manpower is scarce, bigger equipment is used, disc mowers that require more hp, more plows being pulled than a 3 or 4 bottom.

Question is - who is still farming under 50 hp as we steam towards 2015?

Thanks,
Bill

I grew up on 300 acres and 80% of the work was done with a Ferguson TO-30. It was that way until 2003 or 2004 I guess. We did borrow a neighbors Farmall Cub one year to cultivate tobacco and I hated that thing. It had no power although in it's defense it was probably worn out many times over. I have my own place now and I use my MF 175 for most of my baling,but everything else is done with a Ferguson TO-20. All the plowing,discing,planting,raking hay,lots of odds jobs. They are just handy,nimble little tractors. I like them so much that I bought another one so now I have two TO-20's. I guess it helps that I have fond memories of growing up with them also. I did buy a Farmall Super A to do my cultivating with. It is a 1954 model so I put the 3.25" sleeve and pistons in it. That thing is light years ahead of that cub I used. It is quite the set up for cultivating, in my opinion anyway. I recently traded for a MF135 diesel which will probably take over the plowing since I am converting my 2 bottom plow into a 3 bottom,but I don't want to speed things up too much because I enjoy my seat time in those old tractors.
 

Roger my 88 was the handiest grinder-mixer tractor on the farm. Easy to get on and off, PTO lever right beside the seat, easy steering and nimble. It could have had a few more HP to match the grinder's capacity and it was a little too light for dragging the grinder through the mud but the advantages more than outweighed tose small disadvantages.
 
I still do all my cultivating with the little 9 hp Allis G



and all my planting with an Allis D14 and 2 row planter.
 
When I was growing up our Farmall M ran the sickle mower, hauled bales on the three point and ran the auger. It was considered one of our smaller tractors. Now days you see John Deere 4440's being used for ditch mowing, running the auger and light loader work around the yard. It's funny how timed have changed. It'll be interesting to see what happens over the next 25 years!
 
We are still <a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/JamesLHowell?feature=mhsn">farming with John Deere tractors</a> and one Ford that are all 50HP or less.
 
A little over five years ago my uncle and his family's biggest tractor was a super M, well they had 13 of them and 1 H. He farms over 500 acres milk 120+ cows and raises all young stock. How he did it you ask? First six family members, small square bales and ear corn, no tills all his corn. Now he has a 5240 and 2 5230 CIHs, a 7060 NH baler, 2450 NH haybine, and he bought a new Case skidsteer.
 
For the past couple years, my SA with the Worksaver 3pt kit does everything here, from mowing the lawn, spreading manure, brush hogging, cutting / conditioning / raking / baling hay, plowing, cultivating, drilling post holes, to bringing out firewood and plowing snow. Yes, I sometimes ask of it more than it was ever designed for, but with thoughtful use and care, it complies, and has become absolutely invaluable.

My other tractor, a MF65 diesel hi clear, may not strictly qualify as less than 50hp, unless you consider how worn out it was when it went into the workshop. It's still in the shop being re-worked one part at a time, back to front, as time and money allow (neither of which I seem to get enough of at the same time to make quick progress with it). But between the both, the SA will probably still be the most used tractor on the place.
 

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