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What tractor blew you away

A

Anonymous-0

Well-known Member
I have a fun question. What tractor just blew you away when it first came out, or you first saw one,, and why? Mine would probably be a 1486 IH. Neighbor bought one and it had all the bells and whistles. I remember how BIG it looked and so shinny and pretty. Full weights and duals. 25 foot hydraulic fold disc to match. About 77 maybe 1978. First thing I noticed was his farm name painted in red next to the farmall 1486 decal. I hadnt seen a nice cab, but this thing was delivered in the late spring so I got to feel A/C for the first time. Dads pickup didnt even have A/C. The cab was so quiet, and a radio that worked! Pull on a lever and the disc folded down, then drop it down with another and off we went. Where was all the noise? It pulled that disc with no slipping or bouncing. I could even hear my neighbor explain all the goodies this tractor had. They had a red crushed velvet pillow for a rider. Wow!! I was used to standing next to someone driving, holding on to the fender and trying not to be jarred to death. You needed to be able to read lips if someone needed to say something, but not on this baby! Dust? What dust? Man I thought that T/A was sweet. Still remember how the front tires bowed in a little with huge flotation tires. I was used to old pickup tires up front on any of our tractors. Nice quiet muffler, I was accustomed to staight pipes that could rattle your teeth. The new car smell, but in a tractor cab. This jem even had a digital Tach that was in red light. I am positive that not one of our oil leaking horses even had one that worked. Dad used to say just pull the throttle down to about here, or all the way! All of the tires on this red beaut even matched. No splits, boots, or rust steaks from the valve stems. When you pulled on the chrome door latch the door would open to expose a pair of leather work gloves to keep your hands clean while hooking up to equipment. Us boys looked like we had overhauled the engine after such a task from our oil dripping hoses and pto shafts. Staying clean was a thing you did before going to town, not while working.
 
JD 8400. Unmatched cab visibility with armrest controls with 710/38 duals on the back and 600/65/28s on the front.
 
In 1972 I started faming on my own and went out with a pocketful of cash to sales to by equipment.
I wanted Olivers and 1st tractor I bought was a 77. Went to another sale and got a 1950T from a mechanic that bought it from flood damage and rebuilt the motor. Hardly a problem with that machine the five and a half year I owned it and loved running it. Wish I would have kept it!
 
It wasn't new, but when we got our 1086 IH I couldn't have been more impressed. That thing looked huge compared to the 856 and 966 we farmed with. Air conditioning, a radio (other than the screamer in the metal box on the fender), and a comfortable seat. It was used but the BTO that had it was very particular - that thing came to the farm cleaner than our dinner table. It even had DUALS. We were sure moving up in the world.
 
The next generation JD with the soundgaurd cab, bto bought a couple of 4430s, man they were loud with that turbo, and I thought to myself, how do they sit in that thing. I had never been in one so I assumed it was like our old 4020 with a cab, or should I say hot box, little did I know! We finally bought a 4230 in the early 80s, man what a pile, wish looking back we could have kept the 4020PSlp we traded for it. That 4020 would be worth more now than any 4230.
 
I'm young enough that all the good tractors were made before the 80's and 90's when I was old enough to start paying attention to them, but the versatile g100 and d100 have always perked my interest. Maybe because they were the start of the articulating tractors, the looks or the fact that they were almost all component built and simple and anyone could have built them that I like. The tractors made since I've been born all seem blah and without style. Not to mention still more money than I want to spend on one!!
 
I lived for 7 years in Havre MT where Big Buds were made. Arizona State University Northern hired some of the Individuals that made them after production ended. I got to know a few of them, and had an opportunity to get up front and real with several Big Buds, including the 747. That is a Blow Away
Check the specs. Jim
 
430 case diesel ,, back in 1967 ,, I was 11 yrs old .. if anything pulled 3 plows in our area of clay, it was as cumbersome and old as a dinosaur,, but Pops New CASE 430 diesel would pull 3/12s all day long @ 4 mph on one tank of diesel fuel!,, with hydro stat power steering , it was nimble enuf to put anything any where easily ,, and versatile to do any job you hooked it too,, AND FAST on the road ,. everyone else around us had 65 masseys and 4000 fords, and sputter missin gasser 2010 deers that wd allis would put to shame easily ,,.when Dad got his 430 CASE ,,, every farmer around us got some seat time on Pops 430,,.and they traded those deers for a CASE
 
Ive always been partial to the looks of a G1000 Minneapolis Moline. I remember seeing a picture of one in an M&W magazine years ago. The two tone paint and all that power. There have been a few so it is hard to stop at one lol.
 
I was pretty thrilled when I bought my 8630. I was about 19 and it was about 3!

I still have it.

<img src = "http://www.gondtc.com/~blweltin/Bob/StuckOne.jpg">
 
Growing up on a small dairy farm our biggest tractor was a Case 800. When I came home on leave from the navy the old man had a 1030 that I used to work up 40 acres with a disc and it was the greatest time I ever had on a tractor. It was old even back then but it sure was fun to poperate.
 
I was 19 YO when AC came out with the Model D19. First turboed farm tractor, but what impressed me was when they FINALLY put some decent sized rear wheels on their tractor- 18.4x34, instead of those little 28 inch spools! Years later, impressed with each step up as I farmed...4020, 4430, 2470 Case, 4450 MFWD.
 
None actually.I never drooled over new tractors of any brand, i could not afford them anyway.
I started out with an old 72 cockshutt 1855 that was sitting along the road with a "for sale" sign on it. the price was right and it had the HP i needed.It had very few issues over the years so
I kinda stuck with that brand,..got 4 of them now
 
Friend had a Steiger (don't know which model)- I ran it for an hour or so, and loved the quiet cab, remember being struck by the fact that you could operate everything from the comfort of an armchair.
 
Grew up on Massey Fergusons. We had a couple that were really sweet tractors. But one day just after Thanksgiving in 1972, one of our neighbors took delivery of the very first Deere 4430 I ever laid eyes on. It looked incredible. But just how great can any tractor be? Next day I went over to go on a test ride. Never knew such quiet and luxury could exist on a farm tractor. A couple days later, I talked dad into going over and checking it out. They were toying around with a new DMI chisel plow behind the 4430. Dad took it a couple rounds and climbed out of the cab with a grin on his face. 2 months later, we got our very own 4430. It's still here, albeit with 11,000+ hours of hard use. Nothing since has been as impressive as that 4430 was back when they were the latest and greatest thing in the field!
 
First tractor that really caught my attention belonged to a guy down the road who rented my dad's small field to bale hay, it was a Farmall 560. I'd watch Mike mowing and baling hay with that 560 and it was the biggest tractor I had seen in person at that time.

Later as I got a little older my aunt married a guy who had in his shed a Minneapolis Moline G850. It was a gasser with an extra fuel tank up front and clamp on duals. Sitting on that tractor I felt like it was a monster!
 
There are two.
I remember the debut of the IH 86 series in 1976...I thought that was really something. Had that muffler under the hood and that quiet cab, but the one that really stole the show for me was the first I drove the new Magnums at the a field day when they came out.
I plowed with a 7120 and the power shift, hydraulics, cab...you name it, I was impressed. They were years ahead of the competition at the time and are still a solid work horse.
 
Case dealer Demo'ed a brand new 1965 Case 930 and 6 bottom semi-mount Case plow around the neighborhood. Came to our place late afternoon as I was getting home from school. Rode with Dad on that open 930 and couldn't believe how big and powerful it was. Biggest tractor we had was a 700 Case. Dad showed me how to run it and the plow and went home to milk. I was 17 and in heaven runnin that tractor and plow. Two years later Dad bought a 2 year old 930 with brand new Unique brand cab.
 
I got to drive one of those around the field working ground back when they were about new and I still remember the weird feeling you got when turning it was like doing doughnuts in a car.
Not many big articulating tractors in North Central Ohio back in those days either.
 

I was probably nine when I first saw my neighbor's new Ford 960. It was so big compared to the Ns and 860s and TO30s, and so new looking compared to the Farmall Hs and the green Put-Put almost tractors. I expect that he bought it as a leftover because he never would have bought new, but I just couldn't imagine anything more powerful or better looking.
 
The IH 460 and 560

Dad worked at IH Dealership all his life and when those 60 series first came in he and I could not get over that great styling and a 6 cylinder engine to boot.

Little did we know the stress and problems that lay ahead with the rear end problems that surfaced when we put them to hard work.

Bill

Bill
 
i think i was taken each time i got on a new more powerfull tractor, i grew up when a farmall M was big farm power, then the power race began, in a few short decades we went from 40 hp to the hundreds, then beyond , what these new tractors would do over the old one was always amazing
 
The Allis Chalmers 190XT. Dad got a new one when I was a kid and I got to spend many hours operating it. Loved the powerful sound. Boy, it sure did a lot of work for its era.
 
When I was a kid, Dad bought a Farmall M with a wide front end .His other farmalls had narrow front ends.I thought the wide front end was the cats meow !!!
Now When I go out to the machine shed, I'm blown away by my restored W4 !!!
 
For me it was my 1969 JD 4020 PS. The best of the best for me. I had them all 20,30,40,50, &55 series. but none could touch my 4020!!
 
For me it had to be the 1175 case It had a cab and AC and I was always impressed how you could start out with the 6x18JD plow in the ground and take off from a standstill without any problems.
 
enjoyed reading everyones thoughts fromall the brands ,,most of them seem to be from childhood ,, making excitement that much better ,, as a kid , I recall seeing an oliver at ky state fair with steps to get up to the open station ,, WOW .. when I was 8, my brother and I got to ride with HOWARD MARRS on his Comfort King 930 with semi mounted 6 bottom plow ,, we were along the o higher and higher river, LOL , and occasionally Howard would stop and we would drag drift wood and debris off the field ,,I had to ride on the lever side on the fender ,where Howard could see me always ,when I look at my 930 that spot sure looks like a tite fit,, LOL ,,we were plowing in 3rd ,and just a marchin , and that 930 roared out angry horsepower ...
 
I was in love with tractors as a kid although I grew up in the burbs. After we moved to farm country in 71 I thought the AC 190XT was about the best looking tractor out there. Then I spent from 74-96 on tanks. Sorry guys, tractors just don't compare. Now they are just another tool.

Rick
 
I remember the neighbor stopping to talk to Dad with his nearly new 1370 Case. I thought it was quite a tractor. The 504 Case engine is one of the best engines ever built. IH had a good engine also but jd never had anything even close to either of them.
 
Funny thing, our closest neighbor"s son (quite a bit older than me) was an engineer with DEERE for many years, and was on the team that developed the 4X4"s.

I hadn"t had the tractor very long when he was home visiting and came over to borrow a tap and die set as he was fixing up his Dad"s well pump.

He saw the tractor and commented "Oh, you"ve got one of the OLD ones"!
 
I climbed up on a rusted out Farmall at Grand Blanc Tractor (Steiner's boneyard) and thought it was really something. Year later I bought the SMTA. Awesome tractor.
 
I beg to differ. Case had a nice isolated cab in 1970, a few years before AC and you didn't bang your head on the sides! My 1570 is also on my list of favorites. Power, lots of torque, good cold starting and dependable. A 504 sounds good under load and takes much less fuel than the green ones.
 
I remember my Dad trading our JD 5020 for a new Case 1470. I was either 12 or 13. The 5020 had no cab and buggy top. The 1470 had a cab and AC. Man, I thought that AC was the greatest thing since sliced toast. And the 1470 had crab steering. I could make that tractor do all kinds of stunts in the field...that is when my Dad wasn't around!! I thought that tractor was the biggest thing that would ever be built for farming. That and the fact that it was one of the first 4WD tractors that was around our part of the country, so lot's of neighbors would pull into the field and want me to stop so they could look it over. I was an expert at explaining the fine qualities of that 1470 to them...even at 12 or 13...at least in my own mind. I'm sure they got a kick out of me for sure, but I thought I was something. Bob
 
Ford 801 Powermaster.

Our landlord had one, he would let me ride with him when he plowed snow. It had under/over and would really roll on the road.
 
There have been a couple. First was the 1105 Massey the day it came home. It was quite a step up from the 180 MF. Cab, air, and just seemed like it could do anything compared to the 180. The next is my 7120 CIH, more power, mfwd, power shift, better cab/seat/ac. Sure enjoy running this tractor.
 
When I was 3 years old my father had a Farmall M. I would sneak out of the house and crawl up onto that thing every chance I got. How I got up onto that seat without breaking my neck is still a mystery. I remember I was sitting on the seat and making all the usual tractor nioses a 3 year-old makes and cranking on that steering wheel, and hearing my mother let out a screech from the house when she discovered I was missing that was so loud my Grandfather came boiling out of the barn. He quickly sauntered over to the tractor and stood by me to convince my mom he was aware that I was there and he had things under control. Still have the photos 61 years later. The M was hooked up to a NH 66 baler at the time. Those were my earliest memories. Been tractor cazy ever since, too.

Oh yeah. within three days Pop had built a fenced encloseure around the back porch! And no, it didn't work. I'd just crawl up the chicken wire and down the other side. Much to the consternation of my mother(and amusment of Pop and my Grandfather).

When Pop traded that M for an 88 Oliver the next year, I was mad at him for several years. I loved crawling all over that M.
 
An uncle of mine bought a new Ford 981 in 1959 or 1960.

Talk about the cat's meow!

Dean
 
(quoted from post at 07:15:43 03/06/14) I would really like to see a tank up close. Bet they're really something.
Click to expand...

Nacy, the M1A1 when I retired was a tad over 70 tons combat loaded. It looked really big from the outside but was cramped in the crew compartment. They were fun. The drivers compartment was good and it's easy to drive. I could put you in it and within just a short while you would get the hang of it. Auto tranny, foot brake and a hand steering control like a bike. The hand grip rotates for throttle.

Rick
 
Yes! An AC dealer dropped off a D-19 on our farm for a few days during corn cutting. Very impressive tractor for the time. We used to pull the wagons on the side of the NH 800 2 row chopper and I could hardly keep up with the D-19 on the chopper in 4th gear with a JD 50. Pop thought it was funny to pull ahead and bury me in chopped corn, too! I'd be sputtering and spitting corn and shaking my shirt clean and he'd be laughing his head off.
 
John Deere G. My Dad bought one when I was just a toddler. I never forgot that tractor, and finally got one of my own about 20 yrs ago. My Dad sold out in 1951 and went to work in town, couldn't stand living in town, bought a hobby farm (80 acres) in 1959. I never got to farm, but never lost my love for tractors.
 
I would have to say a 1973 International 766 with a with a cab with a/c my uncle brought home . It also had a Westendorf loader on it.The tractor looked similar to this one minus the loader. I think the cab impressed me the most , A cab with room, compared to the old 06 & 56 series cabs.
Jeff.
a148195.jpg
 
JD 4320 in May of 1971, only tractor that dad bought brand new. It was sitting up by the barn when I got off the school bus. A few minutes later dad took it for a spin across the field with my little brother and I riding on the fenders. I was 9 years old. (Not safe I know) Did all the heavy work on our 65 cow dairy farm for years and my brother still uses it.
 
Case 1070 and the 70 series line when they were introduced in 1970. I wasn't a Case fan but I had to admit that cab and those tractors were more advanced than any others at that time. It took between two and five years before the rest of the manufacturers introduced cabs as quiet or quieter than Case. I though those were well though-out machines.
 
JD 520 about 1958 or so. I would have been 5.
Cousin John bought it brand new.
Mom could hear it coming 1/2 mile away and would tell us kids; "Here comes Dear John on his John Deere". We'd run out to the road and he'd stop and talk with us. He always carried a few peppermint candies in his shirt pocket and would give them to us kids.
The tractor was HUGE and new and shiney. It vibrated a lot and the tires would shake.
He'd let us climb up on it and turn the steering wheel. It had power steering and was easy to turn.
We could always tell when he was working it hard as that old 2 banger would really bark.
He had cultivators on it and when I was older spent a Lot of time riding on the axle hanging onto the cultivator lift handle. Sometimes one kid on each side.
John was a great singer and could yodel real well.
He'd sing along as he was plowing and we could barely hear him over the tractor. But when I'd ride along we'd sing together and it was a fun time.
I remember about 10 years later the tractor sucked a valve. Valve turned over and imbedded the stem into the top of a piston. He had it rebuilt and the old pistons were laying on the ground by a tree.
I had learned about engines by then and was amazed at how huge they were compared to a Briggs or Kohler. And thinking about the force required to shove the valve stem into the piston at high speed.
John was very kind and gentle. He loved me and my father didn't. So I spend a lot of time with him. Would sneak over to his farm and help him which made my dad angry even if I had already finished my chores.
He was never on time in his life - for church or meetings or anything. But he always had time for people.
John had that tractor till he passed away in 95 or so. He had sold the milk cows long before that but still cut wood and sold it. Used the tractor for hauling wood.
Dear John on your John Deere, I hope you rest well as you sure earned it working hard all your life.
I still have an association between John Deere 2 cyls and peppermint candy.
 
I had an extremely similar experience growing up. Same tractor too. Dad traded his 1466 in for a 1486. The cab was such an improvement over the old 66 series - and much better than the worn out F250 pickups we had. None of them had airconditioning or even FM radio - the 1486 had both. Shortly after that he bought an 886 tractor for running the 800 series planter. We used it for choring in the winter - no more old canvas "winter fronts" driving down the road with your head ducked down out of the wind. The only thing it lacked was the digital dash.
 
One neighbor has a dualed up and ballasted AC7080. Big tractor for the day. He still has it, and uses it.

Other neighbor got a Steiger, first articulating tractor in our area.

These farmers fields adjoined. Sure was cool as a kid to see these "big" tractors working at the same time.

Rick
 
The tractor that made the biggest impression on me as a kid was Dad's MM G900 diesel. I used to love to ride with Dad in the field. When not in use I would just walk around and look at it, climb on it and sit in the cab and pretend to drive it. It was such a powerful looking tractor with that big MM engine and long hood. It got traded off in 1977. I've been trying to buy it back from the second owner for 20+ years.
 
A 4890 Case 4wd. Just thought the size of these mesmerized me, especially when the neighbor's came across the field with a new one back in the day around 1980. They are still one of my favorite Case 4wd tractors today.
Kow Farmer Kurt
 
Back about 1960 there were 2 Oliver 1800,s being demonstrated by a dealer plowing sod. Back then a "large" plow around here was a 3 bottom and maybe a 4. Those Olivers were plowing with 6 bottom semi-mounts and that blew me away!
 
Im guessing that is a Big 4 tractor? I might have seen one of those at a show years ago. Not a lot of them around.
 
Those have always been a favorite of mine too. The styling that they had in 1966 to 1969 on the MMs were neat.
 
I got to run my cousin's John Deere 8630 (8 20.8-38's on the ground)disking cornstalks pulling a 23 foot Krause plowing disc. I was amazed how easy that big beast handled (This was 1981) and what a puff job it was...just drive, once in a while I had to knock a rock out that was stuck between the disc blades with a sledge hammer, but that was it. I disked over 80 acres one day and listened to 3 different football games. I was surprised how much power it took to climb some of the hills though, had to shift Johnny down and sometimes even shallow up the disc a little to pull over some of them, but no matter where I went or how wet it might be in spots that tractor just walked on through. Big tractors can do the job! Use almost a 100 gallons of fuel a day though.
 
Growing up on the farms in the '50,s and '60,s and 70,s the one that blew me away when first walked around it was the 6030 JD dualed up with 7/18,s and just playing with it. The other impressive sight was the day in 1964/5 the neighborhood beef farmers (father/son) bought two identicle 6000 Fords both sporting 4 btm mounted plows plowing across the road from our farm. That was "big time" for our area back then. 2255 Oliver is right up there too!
 
First tractor was 4020 power shift bulletproof tractor ...next was JD 7800 traded a2590 case in on this ...7800 walked circles around the case
 
(quoted from post at 13:39:56 03/06/14) Im guessing that is a Big 4 tractor? I might have seen one of those at a show years ago. Not a lot of them around.
Click to expand...

I was told that it's a 1918 Emerson-Brantingham, sold for 11k at auction a few years back and is currently under restoration, as the story goes. Is it a 'Big 4'? - I don't know but am thinking that you are probably right :)

PC120061.JPG
 
I think the ones that stood out the most for me was when the neighbors started getting the new IH 2+2s , they were unlike anything before, or since. Had an Allis 7030 with triples working on the farm next to me and a 2+2 on another side and I was on out trusty SMTA. We still have the SMTA , but the others are long gone. Used to be lots of them around , and 1066 etc , lots of neat tractors, but the look of those 3388 I think they were, was something . Kinda ugly at first sight, but they grew on you.
 
Spring of 69 just 13 years old we had 40 cows plus young stock on a small isolated dairy farm in western new york.Dad bled green we had a JD b and a JD a brother still has both tractors today.Dad had been after a new tractor we tired out several, oliver 1550,ford 4000 selectoshift ,ih 656 rowcrop,JD 3020 and JD 2020! I loved them all it was like having our own farm days at home then! Dad wasnt sold on the oliver, wasnt a ford man at all,liked the John deeres but at that time jd was changing dealers around so dad just couldnt strike a deal he liked with deere! The owner of the IH dealership live close to our farm so he stopped often. that said dad got talked into a 656 diesel hydro with a three bottom semi mount plows! I loved that tractor,plowed,crimped hay,baled,chopped,and hauled many a load home with that tractor as most of the fields we farmed were over a mile from home.A real powerhouse compared to the old corn poppers at that time!Diesel powered,independent PTO,3 point hitch,and a fast road speed made big changes on a small farm back then!Huge it seemed at that time a toy for todays needs! Now days dad long passed away, brother still runs the farm,but I bought that 656 from my brother when dad passed. I dont farm on my little place just putter around but real glad to have that bit of my past and dads to plow driveway and get wood with brings back alot of fond memories every time i fire her up!
 
Back in the 70s the BTO in the next county bought a BIG BUD and man that thing was big! My uncle knew him and he let me ride for awhile as he worked ground pulling a 40ft field culitivater and it just played with it. Quiet cab with AC and a radio was all new to me, 8 huge tires kicking up dust as we rolled acrossed the field. I was hooked on big power! It made climbing back on that WD45 and 8 foot disk real hard sitting in the hot sun in the dust. As a young man Big BUD was the biggest tractor I ever saw and still is. Bandit
 
First tractor I got to run was Ferguson 30. It was great for a kid. Got 5 Fergys now. Then one of our neighbors got a new 560 International gas. I thought that was the neatest sounding thing I ever heard when he was plowing. Little did I know what a tough time he had getting past the gas barrel. LOL
 
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