Had to walk away from a deal......

JerryS

Well-known Member
For some time I've been watching the ads with an idea of finding a 'new' tractor to replace my JD 1020. Just never liked it. Yesterday there was a '69 Ford 4000 gas burner advertised in Craig's List. From what I could see, it was worth a close look. Only thing, the look wasn't so close---160 miles away in East Texas. But off I went. I've always liked the Ford Ns and 600 series; I've never been around the thousand series tractors, but based on favorable comments here I knew I would like to check them out, so off I went this morning.

Over two hours later I was somewhere south of Dallas looking at this tractor. It was in really good original condition--no spray paint, no steam cleaning. It was raised indoors. The tin was straight, steering was tight, gears shifted easily, and it purred like a kitten. It had 3,600 hours. All the rubber was new! And he was asking only $2,800! They may be cheaper than that where you live, but around here that's a steal.

The problem? That sucker was huge! That in itself was no problem; the real problem was that it wouldn't fit on my trailer. The rear wheel width, outside to outside, was 7 1/2 feet. My trailer, between the rails, is only 6' 4". I have no access to a larger trailer, so I had to very reluctantly walk away. I've been moping all evening.
 
Can you change the wheel spacing to have a smaller track? Can you find someone with a real trailer to haul it(grin)?
 
For goodness sakes can't you get a hauler for that baby???? Oh man even I am crying. Call the guy back and buy it!
 
By golly I'd be driving it home! I have come across some deals that I couldn't pass up and always found a way to make it work.

Rent a U-Haul car trailer and tell them you are putting your '86 F350 on it. Beg! Borrow! Steal!

Course, a deal like that is likely already gone...
 
Check the oil, air up the tires and fill it with fuel and hang a SMV sign on the back and drive it on the back roads home. If it will run at least sixteen miles per hour it would take about ten hours to get there.
 
Let me make you feel real bad...........
With a little work that tractor will get down to 67.5 inches wide.
That's 5 foot 7.5 inches
Well within your 6 foot 4 trailer rails.


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I'm sure you're correct, John. I asked the owner, but he said the rears wouldn't move. I had never seen a rear axle like that: it appeared to me that it had a series of squarish spacers that probably would come out. I dunno. Other part of it was the tires themselves--each one was like 18 inches across, and they stood nearly to my chin.

If it had been closer to home I possibly could have come up with a solution, but time and distance were working against me. I'm going out of town this week for a week and a half, and I just can't deal with it now. And, the minute I said no, the owner told me he had a list of other guys wanting to look at it. Plus, even though it would have been a good buy, the truth is it's more tractor than I want or need just to drag things around my little acreage up here in Caddo.
 
I've hauled too-wide tractors a couple of times by putting them on the car trailer backwards. Remove the jack, block up the front of the trailer on both sides, and put the ramps on the front. Front wheels fit between the fenders, rear wheels up against the fenders, and its actually balanced pretty well.
 
I looked that tractor up on craigslist. It looks very nice in the pictures. If it's as nice as it looks it is a good deal. They are good tractors and usually bring 4-5000. 160 miles should be less than 500 to have it hauled. By flipping the wheels and rims or a combination of that you can make it narrower to fit on your trailer. If it's any consolation, I strongly prefer diesel over gas. I've had good luck with some older gas tractors, but just never had good luck with gas tractors from the 60's-70's.
Josh
 
i looked at a small dozer thursday night i found on craigslist just wasnt as good as advertised blowed a hydraulic hose while the guy was demonstrating it to me.if any you guys know of a small dozer in ohio area that would make a good farm dozer let me know.
RICK
 
I would be even more concerned about the weight limit of your trailer than the width. I ran into that last week when I rented a 7,000# trailer to haul my Ford 5000 to change flat tire. Manual specs said the tractor weighed 5,100#. When I drove the tractor up on trailer, it squatted pretty good. Uh-Oh, sez I! And immediately returned trailer to rental place for his 12,000# trailer. Owner said "I told you so!" Manual specs did not account for fluid in tires, wheel weights on front and back, full gas tank, etc., etc. We all live and learn, don't we?
 
Drive it home....I drove a G-1000 Vista MM 300 miles home and a 6030 John Deere 230 miles home..It was the most fun I have ever had and I'd do it again if the chance came up..I took the back roads across the Kansas Flint Hills and saw lots of neat country...
 
(quoted from post at 06:09:00 11/22/15) Drive it home....I drove a G-1000 Vista MM 300 miles home and a 6030 John Deere 230 miles home..It was the most fun I have ever had and I'd do it again if the chance came up..I took the back roads across the Kansas Flint Hills and saw lots of neat country...

.....for a really long time :wink: :wink:

Rick
 
When I owned a small 7k trailer, I walked away form some tractors too. Then I purchased a 14k sur-track implement trailer. If I didn't have a bigger trailer and truck, a bigger tractor isn't worth it. I think I purchased a 18+2 implement trailer for a little more than $3k. I use my tractors at different locations too far apart to drive tractor.
 

I bought a new to me 8240 about 18 years ago. The wheels were spaced out a lot further than I wanted. Itook me only about an hour and a half to jack it up and swap side for side with loops on the inside instead of outside. They were loaded so I had to take it slow and easy.
 
Easiest way is to simply jack it up and flip the dish in. Yeah the tread on the tire will be going the wrong direction but it will work fine to haul it. Remove the fenders if you have to for clearance to get it home. Simply flipping the tire is easy with minimal help as you only have to balance the tire in an upright position (in other words you never lay it down)

Once home you can arrange the wheel spacing to the configuration you prefer when you can round up help or have another tractor with a loader handy if you have to lay the tire down.

I hauled my farmall M home this way to make it fit on the trailer.
 
I was offered a "little 1962 Massey Ferguson" over the phone. I drove two and a half hours to pick up what I thought would be a Massey 35 only to find a huge Massey 85 parked in the yard TO WIDE FOR MY TRAILER. I couldn't leave it because the price was RIGHT. My trailer is 7 ft inside 14000lb. We found some lumber and blocked inside the fenders to make it fit. It is a gas with only 1500 hrs. Original tires are badly checked but still OK. Tin is perfect but has a cracked manifold It was used mainly for plowing snow. Wasn't what I went to get but was to good to walk away from.
Dave
 
I learned a long time ago that if the price is right I can always get it home!

When I widened out my trailer to 102 inches, I built the fenders out of quarter-inch steel plate, one inch lip on the outside, and a single brace up between the tandem axles. Any tractor the trailer can haul will drive right over the fenders.
 
agrred ,,././ shux if had to I would drive it home ,,,drove a 750 massey some 90 miles ,,. seemed like it took 4 hrs ,, no big deal with esvort...
 
That is about forty miles from my house. Next time you are down this way. Look me up at Centerville Feed Store. I believe I can get you a trailer loan.
 
wouldn't just switching them side to side accomplish the narrowing as well as keep the tread in the right direction? Bill
 

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