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Worst model tractor in each brand

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Paul Janke

Member
There is always a lot of discussion about which is the best brand or model in that brand. Does any single brand win the "honors" of being all around as the worst, and within the brands, any models win as losers? Not trying to start a war, but even fans of any given color still know there are certain models to avoid.
 
Theres always a model someone didnt like while others have had good results so your question is sort of open for debate and cannot be solved.
 
I think it's universally accepted that the 2010 diesel is the worst John Deere.And in my humble opinion,I think the 340 IH ranks pretty high on the 'bad' list.The Ford 6000 has a pretty bad rep.The 8nNFord is considered pretty worthless by some(I love em!)But then,there are guys out there who think that each is the greatest ever.
 
My dad ran a tractor repair shop for years.

he talks about the old days often. He told me IH tractors were good for having transmision bearings out.
Olivers had trouble with the hydraulics.
Massey harris had trouble with everything.Were very hard to steer.
Minnie Molines had valve trouble all the time.
John deeres would crack the block near the spark plugs.
Ih diesels had warpped valves from running on gas too long.
JD diesels the pony motor gave lots of problems.
Dad favorite was the Fords 600-900. Don't remember any neg comments about Fords.
His least favorite was anything that said Massey harris on it.
 
Way back when it was a choice to deive a new N series around your field. Or to drive around a field looking up a horse"s behind. The N and the matching mounted equipment was a step up.
However the late 1930"s are long gone .by the late 1950"s. tractors with live pto, live hydraulics , creeper 1st gear and decent brakes were common enough.
It"s been quit a while since the late 1950"s btw.
 
Yep.By todays standards,the 'N' is pretty obsolete.But in the day,they were state of the art.With hundreds of pieces of 'matched' equipment made by dozens of smaller manufacturers they were extremely 'handy'/useful/adaptable/desireable......Probably the best tractor of its day.But they only made over 800,000.A number unmatched by anyone.Steve
 
In the mid 1950s Minneapolis Moline had a lot of transmisson troubles that was related to the wrong kind of oil for the tourqe converter.
In the late 1950s IH had a lot of hydraulic problems with some of their tractors.

I have found that aboot all the tractors if used for there intended purpose would serve the owner reliable service. But a lot of people wood buy a tractor just big enough to get by and it was used in a capacity that should be for a bigger machine.
 
50 series IH gets my vote after 2 transmission rebuilds the 5488 went to the salvage yard. When the 5288 needs a rebuild it will go.
 
Yep,the 560 is considered by some as the tractor that killed IH because of its rearend/final drive problems.
 
The Fiat built Olivers were some of the worst and the best that Oliver sold. The early 1250 four cylinder and the 1450 were to be avoided,but toward the end,the 1265s and 1365s were some of the best.

I know there'll be those that argue with me,but the worst tractors I ever tried to farm with were,in order,an early Farmall 706 diesel,a Deere 730 diesel and a 3010 diesel. Nice collector tractors now,but as users,junk.
 
The first ford 6000 had major SOS problems. So bad, Ford recalled them and gave us a new tractor.
 
Now come on. Are ya just tryin' to make me feel bad? 'Taint working. :>)

Allan

1z1s7d4.jpg
 
I agree, George.

The 6000 must rank at the top of the "worst" Ford due to serious issues with the first ones produced.

Dean
 
Ford Ns were popular enough. We laughed at them and referred to them as "garden tractors" before there was such a thing as a garden tractor. Neighbor bought one along with a two bottom mounted plow. Found out the first day there was no way that little thing was going to pull two bottoms in red clay alfalfa sod "Ferguson System" or not. Went back to the dealer and got a one bottom. No better than a team of horses. He bought a used John Deere A for plowing and heavy work and kept the N for light work and it all worked out OK for him.
 
Another comment: Those damned little Ns were dangerous to anyone intending to hook onto the loads we used to pull with horses. They were designed to replace a team of horses but each horse weighed at least the weight of that little tractor.
 
And a high percentage of that 800,000 are still around, working---at least they are in my part of the country.
 
I'll vote along with some others below that the For 6000 Commander was the worst because of the aptly named "SOS" transmission. With no alternate transmission available, they quickly became dead meat and in spite of Ford replacing them, the new ones, initially anyway, were no better. Today, a rare used 6000 will have very few hours on it. Telling.
 
8n ford, 2n ford and 9n ford along with MT john deere. I had to run those dam no start fords, worse than a rooster scratchin gutless junkers for the neighbor and Dad bought a MT with a complete line of mounted machinery. John Deere knew better but went ahead and unloaded those no stopping, underpowered, finger eating hunks of iron on the American farmer.
 
Badmouthing the Ford N's is without logic. They are over 70 years old and were created to replace a team of horses. All modern tractors use systems that they patented.
 
2010 JD
Ford 6000
1250 Oliver
560 Farmall
These are the ones that come to mind. I never thought he N series fords were any good either, from my own personal experience. Even though I know that will make some of you mad.
 
The 560 killed IH the same way the Pinto killed Ford.

For all the talk about how bad the 560 was it was a good seller and thousands are still in the field today 50+ years later. IH continued to out sell John Deere in tractors for decades after.

What killed IH was hiring a guy the ran a copy machine company and putting him in charge of world's largest heavy equipment manufacturer, that and the auto union.
 
Really, a MT is a worst tractor? Foot clutch, live hydraulics, same HP as a model B, but 1000 lbs lighter. I admit that they are really hard to get on and off of and the axles stick out a long way.
 
Of course the N Fords were not useful to the big farm types- but they were great as utility tractors on the zillions of small dairies and other small farms of the day- 3 point was great for back blades for manure and 3 point hay mowers, draft control worked great for single bottom plows, handled a front pump loader well, and were agile enough to be used in small places. Many years ahead of their time. We had a 35 cow dairy, and an 8N was the only tractor my dad ever had.

And as someone on here once said, "They're still great for going down and getting the mail. If you don't have too much mail."
 
Did the 1920's Fordson tractors (with the worm gead final drive) have a reputation for flipping over backwards and killing the operator?
 
The worst tractor ever built was the one that wouldn't do what you wanted, when and how you wanted...and was expensive to operate and maintain. The best one was the one that fit your needs perfectly, seldom broke down, and was inexpensive to operate AND maintain.

I thought everyone knew that.
 
I wouldn't call the N series a bad tractor but maybe one of the most overated. I know they gave us the 3-point hitch but that would have happened anyway. There had been various tractors all the way back to the teens before with mounted implements on the back and it was just a matter of time before somebody got everything right. N series were good for misc light duty work around the farm and maybe a 30 acre farm. But give me a Farmall M, Oliver 77, or JD A for serious farm work.
 
Ford held the patent on it so it either had to run out or be bought from Ford. Oliver made a trade with Ford when they came out with the 55. There was more than one patent involved in the trade both ways but. Dad bought the first 55 my Uncle got in at his Oliver dealership. I don't remember all that was involved in his explanation.
 
Yes they did. I'll tell you a funny story about them. In addition to flipping over backward they also were hard to start when hot. They also, after getting worn, tended to jump into gear when left idling. They didn't have a parking brake. Henry Ford was very concerned about the back flips and had a set of heavy duty fenders fitted on all new tractors after a certain date. They cost $50 but you couldn't get the tractor without them. They were very effective in stopping the back flips. My uncle managed to get one of the last ones without fenders and boasted that he had saved $50. One day, all four of the Fordson's little quirks came into play. He had the Fordson sitting in the yard idling (hard to start when hot), it jumped into gear and headed straight for the silo. When it hit the silo it climbed right up the side of the silo and then performed one of its famous back flips and landed upside down, caught on fire and, in spite of it being made primarily of steel, burned beyond recognition. After the fire died, he went into town and bought a new Allis Chalmers WC. We laugh about that to this day.
 
Essex Tri-D Series II; the first model was out of this world; the second put 'em out of business. Some folks just can't leave a good thing alone.............
 
Oh, how true! Iph only they had adopted a hands ophph policy, or "Laissez-phaire" I believe it's called. (;>))
 
Our worst was a 1948 JD "G" that we bought new. Hasn't been a JD tractor on the place after all the trouble we had with that one.
 
Ford didn"t hold the patent for the 3pt linkage. Harry Ferguson did. Ford used his patented system on the 8N without his permission which led to the $250 million dollar lawsuit that Ford eventually admitted to several patent infringements.
 
It sure doesn't take much to get people to start bashing the Ford Ns.
Compared to many of it's contemporaries it was a wonder.
The 3 point is still why the little Ns consistantly fetch more at resale than many other tractors of similar vintage and HP.
 
grandpa farmed a 3/4 section with an 8N ford and a 41 JD A. grandpa like the ford better. it would pull the plow up hill. The JD could only plow down hill. When he picked corn he pulled the MM 2 row picker with the Ford and the Wagons with the JD A. The Ford had a faster PTO speed.
he used the Ford for plowing,disking,hay mowing/raking, bale moving,(he had a fork and moved roto bales one at a time.) he also had a lister and cultivator.

The Ford did as much or more of the hard work.

I have a 9n. And get along fine with it. it starts good hot or cold. The problem people have with N's. Is they try to put a 6ft mower behind it, then try to mow foot tall weeds in 3rd gear.

You need a Ford 800 for that. If you mow with an N you need to mow when the weeds are just above your ankles.
 
Just how much farming did he do with that tractor? I wouldn't think much.

I had a MF-20, MF 35D, MF 135 as I recall (Masseys were good tractors), Ford 2000D pair of 3000Ds, still have one of each of these for utility tractors (good tractors too) 4600D. JD 4010 LP (LP sucked) 4020D, 4230D with cab restored, Farmall Super A, weak little sucker, all for my little 20 acres owned by a urban worker, part time farmer/beef producer Johnny come lately to the farming business. Probably forgot 2 or 3. Current workhorse is a Branson 6530C diesel, 4wd, loader. Love it.

Mark
 
The first 8N Dad bought got hot if you farmed with it. Come to find out some-one had left a stubby screw-driver in the head below the thermostat. Dad always made fun of it and called it a scratching rooster. But we had at least 3 of them 2 with loaders. So they couldn't have been to bad! What I liked about them was their speed cultivating. We had a JD G with a two row cultivator. and my uncles had 2 H IHC's with 2 row cultivators. So I got 2 rows and skipped 6 rows. By noon I could have almost as much cultivated as they could get all day. And the Ford cultivator didn't dodge around weeds like a IHC. Worst tractors we had were 350 IHC utility diesel, traded for a 2010 JD diesel (worst) traded for a 801 Ford diesel (good) Then a 4010 JD LPG Would not start if you killed it hot. or when it got cold. Still have a 4010 Diesel.
 
Well, everyone says a John Deere 2010 and I sort of agree. I keep one running for a friend, and it can be an expensive challenge at times, but everything on it works right. Now his Kubota is another story, and I would say it is the worst.

Maybe he got a good Deere (it was free) and a bad Kubota. Neither one is pleasant to work on.

My wife's uncle was an engineer for Deere and I asked him about the 2010. He was very surprised we have one that works 100%.

Josh
 
(quoted from post at 18:29:36 11/30/13) Well, everyone says a John Deere 2010 and I sort of agree. I keep one running for a friend, and it can be an expensive challenge at times, but everything on it works right. Now his Kubota is another story, and I would say it is the worst.

Maybe he got a good Deere (it was free) and a bad Kubota. Neither one is pleasant to work on.

My wife's uncle was an engineer for Deere and I asked him about the 2010. He was very surprised we have one that works 100%.

Josh
Click to expand...

It's nice to know there is another one out there besides mine.
 
100 acres tillable and 100 acres of pasture and hay...The 8N was used almost every day..It needed to be overhauled every winter...

Several neighbors farmed 160 acres with a WC Allis as their only tractor..Another farmed 320 acres with a H Farmall...It ran 24 hours a day when needed..
 
My 1950 Oliver was the worst. Broke teeth off the bull gears and a axle. When it wasn't in the shop, it got work done. Right behind it were a 400D and a 560D.
 
Henry Ford and Harry Ferguson were in-laws, Ford hated detail did the whole agreement on a handshake. Both men were good for their word but when Henry died Edsel ran Ferguson off and he sued Ford and won.
 
I have never read anywhere that Harry Fergusons wife Maureen Watson was Henry Fords sister and I'm pretty sure Harry's older brother Joe didn't marry into the Ford family. Edsel Ford didn't do that considering he died in 1943 it was Henry Ford II that screwed over Harry Ferguson.
 
MY FIL's Allis 160 is the biggest piece of $hit I've seen. Constantly down and no parts available. It's an embarrassment.
 
The Jubilee, NAA, then 600,700,800, and 900 series were more or less a continuation of the N series and kept up with most other manufacturers at the time with independent hydraulics and ipto available on the hundred series.
 
(quoted from post at 12:39:17 11/30/13) Yep.By today's standards,the 'N' is pretty obsolete.But in the day,they were state of the art.With hundreds of pieces of 'matched' equipment made by dozens of smaller manufacturers they were extremely 'handy'/useful/adaptable/desirable......Probably the best tractor of its day.But they only made over 800,000.A number unmatched by anyone.Steve
Click to expand...

Not wanting to look up a horse's behind doesn't make the N series a good tractor. Just that the N was better than the horse.
 
Edsel died in 43, and old Henry died in 47 at the age of 83! After Edsel died Henry took over running the company and Henry's grandson Henry II was called in from the navy to take over the company.
 
(quoted from post at 23:45:45 11/30/13) Ford didn"t hold the patent for the 3pt linkage. Harry Ferguson did. Ford used his patented system on the 8N without his permission which led to the $250 million dollar lawsuit that Ford eventually admitted to several patent infringements.
Click to expand...

It was $9 million and it was settled out of court. Henry Ford II and Harry Ferguson couldn't come to an agreement on financial terms of the N-series. Ford manufactured the tractors and sold them to Ferguson at cost. The patent for the Ferguson system expired in '52, months after the lawsuit was settled. The Fords and Fergusons were not related. Henry Ford's grandson did marry a Firestone though. That's why new Ford cars and trucks came with Firestone tires.
 
What was wrong with the 560D? We've owned three that were all run ragged with over/close to 10K hours on them. Admittedly at that point the entire tractor needed overhauled and we didn't bother because of the cost and how cheap you could buy another one for half the cost of just overhauling the negine.
 
(quoted from post at 14:12:14 12/02/13)
(quoted from post at 23:45:45 11/30/13) Ford didn"t hold the patent for the 3pt linkage. Harry Ferguson did. Ford used his patented system on the 8N without his permission which led to the $250 million dollar lawsuit that Ford eventually admitted to several patent infringements.
Click to expand...

It was $9 million and it was settled out of court. Henry Ford II and Harry Ferguson couldn't come to an agreement on financial terms of the N-series. Ford manufactured the tractors and sold them to Ferguson at cost. The patent for the Ferguson system expired in '52, months after the lawsuit was settled. The Fords and Fergusons were not related. Henry Ford's grandson did marry a Firestone though. That's why new Ford cars and trucks came with Firestone tires.
Click to expand...

Yes they did settle out of court for $9 million. I was saying that Ferguson sued Ford for $250 million not what the settlement was. Also part of the settlement was that Ford could no longer use a pto driven hydraulic pump after the 8N. They could no longer use a crankshaft style cross bar on the plows and there were some other patent infringements that Ford could no longer do as part of the settlement. I can't blame Ferguson for turning down Henry Ford II offer. They offered Ferguson 30 percent while Ford would retain 70 percent.
 
(quoted from post at 18:14:26 11/30/13) The first ford 6000 had major SOS problems. So bad, Ford recalled them and gave us a new tractor.
Click to expand...

We had a later 6000, a Commander, had very little problem with it, and we ran it hard.
 
(quoted from post at 20:17:30 11/30/13) Of course the N Fords were not useful to the big farm types- but they were great as utility tractors on the zillions of small dairies and other small farms of the day- 3 point was great for back blades for manure and 3 point hay mowers, draft control worked great for single bottom plows, handled a front pump loader well, and were agile enough to be used in small places. Many years ahead of their time.
Click to expand...

Every real farm in our area when I was growing up had one for utility work, this in the early 70's when the newest N was 20 yrs. old already. Must have been a reason that they were built from 1939 to '52 and in such great numbers, and there are a lot of them still around today (full disclosure, I have two).

Worst Ford? No.
 
Delta red, I had a 560 Farmall that pulled its heart out and hardly used any diesel. best tractor I ever owned.
 
(quoted from post at 08:00:27 12/03/13) Delta red, I had a 560 Farmall that pulled its heart out and hardly used any diesel. best tractor I ever owned.
Click to expand...

560 uses 4.1 gallons per hour to make 59.48HP . A 10hr day would be 41 gallons and " hardly" any.
Deere 730 diesel built in the same era used 3.15 gph to make 56.6HP. 10hr day would be 31.5gallons and hardly 9.5gallons and $40 a day less.
 
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