Never under estimate a Farmall M

Last Sunday the wife and I went to an antique tractoe show at Philpot Ky. There was antique tractor pull going on so we stayed and watched awhile. There was an M that pulled all the way through. There was a 1466 Farmall and an 820 Deere that pulled after the M that only made it about 3/4 of the way. Its a thrill to see an oldie beat newer and larger tractors. Joe

'M's are pretty amazing creatures.When I was a kid,my father would 'regale' me with stories of the mighty 'M'.He was of the opinion that an M was the greatest tractor ever built-by anyone.I tend to agree....Steve

While I will not say the M was a bad tractor I will never say it was the best. A lot of farmers farmed a lot of ground with M's. But a lot of farmers farmed a lot of ground with JD R's and G's, AC WD 45's, Oliver 77's and other tractors.

I would say that the 560D could do more acreage in a day on less fuel and the 560 was not a great tractor. The 80626/56 was way better than the 560 and I think 3 times the tractor an M was.

Pulling in different weight classes with different operators, different weight on the sled and or transfer rates makes pulling a very unscientific way to rate a tractor. I tend to go by the Nebraska test to really get a good fair rating.

Rick

This thread reminds me of a local fool that pulls JDs. He would always complain that XXXX pull was a bad pull because his JD pulled 280' at East Troy, 310' at Elkhorn, and only 220' in Union Grove. How do you know the weight on the sled, track type, moisture in track, etc.

Are you sure the 820 JD and 1466 were in his class? I certainly doubt it. The 820 is 1.5 times the tractor as an M and the 1466 is about 3 times bigger.

Either way they are pulling machines!

In order for a 560d to do anything much less outwork an m you had to get the cold blooded thing started first and hope you didnt blow the head gasket along the way.

Ive never been let down by mine. I pulled a loaded demolition dumpster with mine I honestly didnt think it would budge. Really impressed the guy picking the dumpster up. This one is my second one, didnt think I needed the first one around so I sold it. Found out pretty fast I could live w/out the other tractors easier so I found this one. It lives in the garage right beside the mini van. Despite all of their short comings they are my favorite.

The newer tractors are "supposed" to be an improvement--maybe not if you compare the M successor, 450 to a 560. Comparing a M to a 806 is like comparing an apple and orange. Both served their purpose in the time frame for which they were designed.

My Father and Uncle share your Fathers stories Steve. Kent

(quoted from post at 12:34:38 10/12/12) Ive never been let down by mine. I pulled a loaded demolition dumpster with mine I honestly didnt think it would budge. Really impressed the guy picking the dumpster up. .

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Was custom picking corn with a JD 60 and a 227 picker when the tandem GMC with a load of corn got stuck in the field. He said there was no way I was going to pull him out, but I pulled him up onto the road... really impressed that truck driver. A lot of it is about maintaining traction.

(quoted from post at 14:19:27 10/12/12) The newer tractors are "supposed" to be an improvement--maybe not if you compare the M successor, 450 to a 560. Comparing a M to a 806 is like comparing an apple and orange. Both served their purpose in the time frame for which they were designed.

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Ah but the original poster tried to do just that. But I guess that's ok cause he was trying to say the M is a great tractor. But I'm wrong cause I pointed out that IH made better tractors. I wasn't comparing power. I've done farm work with an Super C, M, 460D, 560D, 806, 826, 1086, 1206, 1566/86 series tractors made by IH, A, R, 3020, 4020 and 4440 JD's, Ford 8N's, CA and 190 XT AC's and with Case 970's. I'd rather spend a day in the field with a 460/560 than a day on a Super C or M and I've done with those tractors. If I don't get a bigger plow for my 1206 I will have to plow 60 acres in the spring with a 2-14 plow behind and Ford 8N because that's what I have. There is one guy in the area who uses an M for more tahn PTO power or poo spreading that I know of. Lots of 806/25/56/86 tractors still in the field doing work though. Fair number of 560's still being used too. Most of the non show M's I see are owned buy "summer" people with a couple of acres in case they come up in the winter to push snow and to mow a couple of ruff acres of ground once or twice a summer. I run my M less than 30 hours a year. But I run my 2 Ford 8N's about 100 hours and sometimes more. I mowed weeds in my pasture with the M, about 8 hours, did 4 hours of custom cutting and spread poo with it this spring.

Now I know a lot of people love the way the older tractors look but I like the looks of about 1960 and newer. Each to his/her own on that count. I think that of the pre 1953 tractors made the best were the IH M, JD R and Ford 8N. Post 1952, 7/8/1206 56 series and 86's were about as good as it got. Don't really care for the JD's of that age, and while the Case 70 series were a very nice tractor to operate they had too many problems. The AC's while being great looking through the 100 series were not well made and with the "power director" were a pain to operate. Keep in mind I have formed these opinions by actually being in the field on them and or owning them. Biggest mistake I made buying a tractor was an AC 190XT series III.

Rick