What equipment would you run on your farm?

Like everyone else on a slow day at work, my mind wanders. Usually its tractors Id like to own some day, but today it was a bit different. I was born in the 90's, which in my opinion was the end of the last era of pure American muscle, and by that I mean tractors before they were roaring 4X4 computers on 710/70r42's. Unfortunately I can't remember these tractors when they were new, which made me think and ultimately brought me to the question I'm going to ask you. The year is 1990 your dropped down on a 120 acre farm in a location of your choice and if you so choose to have any livestock add an additional 20 acres for pasture. You are given 3 tractors of your choice along with a combine, add on a skidsteer or small loader tractor if you choose to have livestock. Also feel free to include all the implements you would need to make your farm work with model numbers, but the catch is they must be built before 1985 because the chances of someone owning brand new tractors farming 120 acres in 1990 is pretty slim. I hope to hear some responses.

We?ve never been Deere people but that being said given the timeframe mentioned I?d pick a couple of 4440 Deere?s and maybe a Ford 4610 4wd loader tractor. I hope you get lots of responses,it?s kind of fun to dream sometimes.

I would have a Ford TW-35 for my big tractor, a 7710 FWA with loader and my Ford 960 for small stuff. I would hire any combining out, because for so little ground I wouldn't be able to justify it. Heck, can't even justify the TW-35 on that small a farm.

I look at it this way. For dairy on pretty decent but not the highest quality ground it would take around 2.2 acres to support each Holstein female cow. Even though its a little smallish lets say you run 45 cows but since you would have dry cows you would probably have on average of 35 milkers. You would want to carry replacements and have a program to breed your stock and keep a certain percentage. Where all this is leading is you would need to rent perhaps 50 acres to support all the cattle and maybe buy a little feed. Hopefully, I am not going too much against the spirit of the thread. Further, I assume that the 120 + 20 acres, the cows, and the equipment is all gifted so no debt. With all that said lets have the fun that the thread is designed to produce.

JD 4050 w/ MFWD
JD 2520 diesel
IH 686
IH 584 w/ loader
IH 720 5-16 plow
IH 475 15' disk
JD 960 15' field cultivator
JD 7000 4 row planter
JD 8300 drill 18X7
NH 489 Haybine
JD 337 twine baler w/ ejector
3 basket wagons
Kuhn tedder
IH 720 chopper w/ PU head and 2 row narrow corn head
IH 56 blower
2 JD 716A boxes
NH 8 box
IH 550 spreader
Really would not need a combine under the circumstances but since you are paying (LOL) a Gleaner F3 with heads
2 KIllbros 350 gravity wagons over JD 1075 gears
NH 357 grinder
Knight feed mixer

Of course this is based on being in 1990 and dealing with the reality quite a number of dealers who would have sold this new are gone. As much as I would love to have an Oliver or White in there having JD and IH products would make for easier parts and service support. I guess the Olivers I would have to buy with my own money. Since this thread could be taken in a number of different ways you'll have to tell me what I got wrong. My choices were obviously on the rich side so if the budget was tighter the choices obviously would be different. Didn't include things like silo unloader and milking equipment. If working more ground the combine would be a JD 6620 or IH 1440.

IHC 806 diesel with all tillage equipment including a rollover moldboard plow
IHC Hydro 70 with quick attach loader
Farmall SMTAD because.
Newholland small square baler
NH 9 foot Haybine
Wheel rake
No till 6 row planter
9inch spacing drill (soybean capable)
Bobcat track steer with quick attach post hole auger, soil bucket, snow blower, grapple bucket
Mini trackhoe
Assorted flat bed wagons with Hay standards
a Gleaner combine F2 Small grain and 30 inch row corn head
My 51 GMC 3/4 ton PU
a Ford F350 flatbed W/sides
All my tools 4 beef cattle
One border collie and one Australian Sheppard Red primary color
one hay elevator
Water at 45 feet
sandy loam on top of gravely clayish subsoil
a creek on one 150 foot edge.
4 acre pond with bluegill bed at 4 to 6 ft deep, then 20 ft deep in the middle
Aluminum 16 foot rowboat
barns to shed everything and a mow for the hay
Grain bin
bazooka auger
Cub Cadette Hydro (mower!!)
That is an incomplete list. Jim

In 1990 I was running Cattle, cutting hay, 20 acres of corn and backgrounding calves on roughly the acreage you mention. had a John Deere 2520, Oliver Super 77 and Allis Chalmers 160, still own all 3 plus a bunch more. Among equipment and implements were an AC 2 row no till corn planter, New Holland 707 chopper, John Deere chuck wagon, John Deere 336 square baler, New Holland 56 rake, New holland sickle mower and a John Deere pitman mower, fed off of cotton trailers, good times and made money.

Yah it definitely is fun to take a look into someone else's dream, I haven't had time to sit down and make my own list yet. Any idea what line of implements you'd use with the tractors and would you have any cows.

In 1991 I was milking 30 cows on 200 acres,

Brand new JD 2955
JD 2120 with 146 loader that I bought from my dad...he bought it new in 1973
MH 55
NI 3632 Tandem spreader
NH 718 harvester with heads
2 Dion Forage wagons
NH 273 square baler
Plow, cultivator , 4R ACplanter, IH 510 drill
Shared the balance of equipment with my brother
A huge mortgage and 2nd mortgage and operating loan

Ben

Put the land in C.R.P. and don't quit your day job. Enjoy the tractor shows and your three vintage John Deere tractors....

Hopefully, it all worked well with your brother. It can be a tremendous advantage in the real world not to have to own all the equipment needed.

X2
Except I?d have a Ford 8N with a step up Sherman and something with a loader and live power like a JD 4440 if that is with in the age category.

Since we are already talking more power than most dairies that size would have I might flip the 686 for a 986 or 966. Wouldn't hurt to have a large tractor for the blower and back up for the 4050 in terms of power.

I like the cut of your jib there brother. Are you hiring? Bear in mind its 1990 and I'm only three.

Jim, I think I would skip the boat and fish from shore. So much easier to nap on shore when they aren't biting.

Yes, it did. As the bills got paid, we each ended up with our own lineup.

Ben

For tractors: White 100 FWA. John Deere 4030. John Deere 3020 side console, ROPS, and loader. Case 1845 skid steer. Gleaner F3 hydro with mud hog 4x4 and heads For tillage: White 508 spring reset 5 bottom plow. Glencoe 5 shank disc chisel with 4 inch twisted shovels. John Deere 110 12ft disk John Deere 712 field finisher For planting: John Deere 7000 4 row corn planter. John Deere 8200 grain drill with markers. John Deere 520 Sprayer ( hydraulic powered) Grain handling: 3 killbros 250 bushel gravity wagons 120 bushel farm fans batch dryer. Kewannee grain auger. 1 10,000 bushel grain bin. 2 5,000 bushel grain bins. Truck: Chevy k30 with 454 For L800 with 500 bushel grain bed with removable sides, powered by 3208 caterpillar Hay and Forage: John Deere 1219 haybine Ih 35 hayrake Pequa 710 hay Tedder New holland 273 with super sweep pickup and belt kicker 3 bale king kicker wagons John Deere 3950 chopper with heads and magnet 3 John Deere 122 silage boxes Gehl 99 blower. Harvestore silo. Feeding and manure: John Deere 700 grinder mixer Gehl 7190 feeder wagon International 540 spreader with double beater and slop gate. Cattle heard and milking equipment: 20 registered jerseys 15 registered Holsteins 400 gallon dairy kook tank Surge receiver jar setup Delaval system washer 40 stall tie stall barn with glass pipeline and concrete paddock outside with silage belt 30 dry cows on 20 acre pasture with feed bunks. 20 calf hutches I m sure I missed somthing.

On our 120 acre dairy farm in 1990, we had:

-JI Case 430 Diesel
-Deutz 100-06 MFWD with cab
-Deutz 100-06 2wd open
-Deutz-Allis 6260 mfwd open with Deutz-Allis 465 loader
-Deutz-Allis HD490 square baler with thrower
-Deutz-Allis SM70RC 10.5' Discbine
-IH 35 rake
-Farmhand 5 wheel rake
-Gehl 600 chopper (hay head and 2r wide corn head)
-Gehl 99 Blower
-Rex 14' chopper box
-Gehl (Kaston) 14' chopper box
-John Deere 1240 corn planter
-New Holland Feed Mill
-Massey Ferguson (Vermeer) Round Baler
-Kewaunee Corn Elevator
-Metz Hay Rack wagons
-Massey-Harris steel wheeled 9' drill
-JI Case 14' disc
-JI Case 4 bottom plow
-JI Case 2-row Cultivator
-40 Holstien Cows
-27 stanchion Barn
-Westfalia milking equipment
-Knowles 7 shank chisel plow

For the time, no big complaints about any of that equipment. Things that in 1990 that I wish we would have had and later were upgraded were:
-Oliver 5 bottom plow replacing the Case 4 bottom
-Kinze corn planter replacing the JD 1240
-New Idea 708 Uni System w/768 chopper and heads and 717 combine and grain head and 737 husking bed and 4 row head. Replacing the Gehl Chopper and allowing us to do our own harvesting of corn and oats

Haha I can relate quite well to that Ben!

Sure,I think one of the best round balers going at that time would be a JD 435 if they were invented by then. We recently as of April quit milking cows on our own farm after 61 years at this farm and close to 200 years in Canada. We had a Delaval VMS robot milker that actually worked quite well but having very little help in the barn and an enormous mortgage for a 65 cow farm was taking its toll. I love cows ,they were definitely my passion and land and equipment was my Dad?s. We worked well together. After he passed I took it all on along with doubling our debt to buy my Mom out and make the barn more labour efficient so I could do most of it myself which turned into all of it myself and I got burnt out after 4-5 years of very little help. I?d definitely do dairy again given the right situation. So if we?re talking 1990 I?d have a nice tie barn and if I?m granted the knowledge of which cows back in those days turned out to be super stars I?d go Crasdale Farms here on PEI and pay whatever they wanted for Ravenswell Lydia and flush her to Black Star and later on Integrity. Maybe even go buy Comestar Lauri Sheik as a young cow haha.

I was farming in 1990, milking 30 Holstein cows, and I had roughly that 120 acres of land to use. Half I owned half rented. I was 29, and had been running my farm I started on my own for nine years at this point. I did have a pipe line milking system and a flat top milk tank, but I cleaned the stables with a shovel and a wheelbarrow. 1990 was the year I built a bale barn40x60 for big round bales and had bought a New Idea round baler. Cows are dry hay , and I did rotational grazing from May first till weather turned to bad in end of October. I maintained a very small equipment line, and a small debt load. I had a JI Case 530 Diesel triple range , my CIH 585 with 2200 loader, bought new in 1987, and paid cash for it. I also had a 1987 CIH 885 with cab, my big tractor bought it used, and it was also paid for. NH 155manure spreader I bought new, and a 488 NH haybine bought in 1990. I had just sold my 46IH sq baler and thrower wagons that spring when I went to big round bales. Life was good, I was young strong and ambitious, and could work all day and half the night if I needed to. Our second son was born in November of 1990. My farm didn?t have a house on it when I bought it, we lived in a 12x60 mobile home. And in 1989 I moved a house from town onto the farm, and sold the mobile. Maybe not everyone?s idea of the right choices of equipment, it served me well , and I had moved most of it on within 5 years for better stuff. I did put in a Patz stable cleaner in the barn in 91-92 when I built on to the barn. It was fun !

Tractors about what I use now Oliver 1550 gas and diesel,1650 diesel,1600 gas,Oliver 1365 4WD and 2WD,AC 185,CA,D15; David Brown 1200,780,990,Yanmar YM330,Long 445,460,R9500 and a few compacts
to use gardening.No way I could hold the number of tractors to 3.
Hay equipment New Holland 456 mower,256 rake,851 baler,JD 350 mower which is what I use today.

90% was Ferguson, Massey Harris,Massey Ferguson a to-20 to a MF 2805 [and it was a good one had almost 9000 hr. when it burnt when the barn burnt]loved that tractor.all the hay EQ was MF 124 baler MF 36 rake MF 450 round baler .forage EQ was MF 925 haybine.MF 260 chopper 2 MF wagons.tillage was MF 7 bottom plow 18 ft disc. .Never had one peace of JD EQ

Well, lets see. I think I'd start off with three Percherons, a McCormick twine binder, Avery Thresher...... Wait! Sorry, thought you said 1890. So 1990, huh? Well, to modernize, I think I would go with three American Creams..... ;v)

Mike

I would take a 4040, 4240 and 4440 Deere, then sell them, buy 3 older Allis Chalmers 100 series and invest the thousands I would have left over in land.

Milked 70 cows back in 1990, tractors were a MF 2805, two 1130s and a Super 90. Still have one 1130 and the Super 90.

68 John Deere 4020 w/hiniker cab with 48 loader brackets (the summer loader tractor)
73 4230 w/cab but factory AC delete, with 48 loader brackets (the winter loader tractor)
75 4430 w/cab and AC and duals
John Deere 48 Loader
John Deere 44 Manure Spreader
John Deere 220 disk
John Deere 7000 4 row wide
New Holland 335 Grinder Mixer
Heston wind-rower
John Deere 535 Round Baler
New Holland Square Baler, cant remember the exact model
John Deere 4400 combine
4 row wide corn head
15 foot bean head
Several Parker 250 bushel gravity wagons
Pull Type New Idea 2 row corn picker
Several bush hog barge box wagons
ear corn elevator
shell corn elevator/maybe an auger if given the option

I was born in 1985 and just remember picking corn and elevators before everyone went to combines and augers. In 1990 we had about 300 acres farrowed hogs, finished hogs, had cow/calves in the pasture bottle calves in the huts and finished them all in the fat yard. Every day involved grinding feed for something. As I got older the work got lighter. Hogs were the first to go with the crash in the mid nineties. then went the pasture cows and we became strictly a bottle calf to finish operation with the row crops. Then off to college us kids went and soon the fat cattle were gone. By the time dad retired in 2017 we were a strictly row crop operation covering about 1100 acres with newer equipment. But the above list is what I remember most fondly and I actually still own a good part of the list still.

Thanks for posting such a fun topic.

Whoops, Forgot the John Deere pull type Silage Chopper. I think Model 38? Man we worked hard back then.

I completely understand, milking by yourself is tough especially if you have a job off the farm. When I graduated highschool in 2015 I went to Ohio State University to pursue a degree in dairy science thinking by the time I graduated milk prices would come back and I would be able to milk a few cows for a hobby and some side cash, I even tore a rapid release flat parlor set-up out of a partially collapsed milking parlor and had it put in my barn. I had to crawl in on my knees with a sledge hammer and saw to tear it out, pus I completely rewired and redid the plumbing in the milk house on the farm I live on. After all that work and some I didn't mention. I still haven't milked in the barn and its going on 4 years. I do own 10 registered jerseys though, they are loaned out to another farm and are brought home when they are dry, so when milk prices come back I'll be waiting. Until then I'll continue to grain farm. Also you mentioned some cow genetics LOL, 2 years ago I bought a chisel plow from a guy off of craigslist, we got to talking and come to find out he used to milk jerseys up until the early 2000's, and still had a tank full of semen straws he had kept charged in case he ever wanted to milk again. I offered him $50 for the tank full of straws, and I mean full to the point that you couldn't get anymore in, he accepted the offer to my surprise. So far the oldest straw I have pulled out of the tank was dated 1981.

That's a pretty solid line up, but think Id choose a 3488 over the 986 though.

Yes, and not terribly extravagant but a bit better than what would be found around here for that size dairy at that time.. Also, quite a bit of it would not be all that new in 1990 such as the 56 blower which came out in 1965. Some hard hustling at the auctions would bring most of those pieces home at a good value in 1990. I'm probably the only guy on here big on IH choppers and blowers but they were all over the neighborhood growing up. Just about everybody had a 56 blower and there were two 720's, an 830, one each of a 50, 55, and 550 choppers. Three IH 500 series spreaders around here. JD 3950 was an excellent chopper but I liked the heads better that went with the NH 790 but they did not come out until late 1985.

Be careful, milking Jersey cows can be addictive. Having a rapid exit parlour sounds like it would be great. Hope you get the chance to give it a go.

Wow that?s a great deal on the semen! I remember a bull that could throw dogs right up to WDE supreme champions,his name was Donnadale Skychief. He either died of a leg injury or they cut his throat thinking he wouldn?t make the cut I can?t remember. His semen was fetching up to $1500/straw a few years after his death. Same thing with a bull named Renaissance Triumphant. Braedale Goldwyn fetches big money even though he produced reasonably well for close to 10 years,he?s still the all time best site of show winners. I hope your able to make your dream of milking come true young man!

(quoted from post at 13:27:24 08/08/19) Be careful, milking Jersey cows can be addictive. Having a rapid exit parlour sounds like it would be great. Hope you get the chance to give it a go.

Click to expand...

heard some say, that people that milk Jerseys didn't want to milk goats and lacked the money to buy holsteins.LOL

I started milking in 93 with a 4020,4010,two 3020's and a 2510. But keeping with what you said I would have a 4240 with a cab,a 4020 and a 3020. All Deere tillage and planting equipment. A Nh 489 haybine,Deere 660 rake and a 336 square baler and a 335 round baler. For silage a 3940 chopper and two 714a wagons or some good 122-125 chuck wagons. Deere 95 or 105 combine and a 300 picker. Much of the stuff is exactly what I am using now. Fun to think about. Tom

We milked 35+ up till 91 with around 140 tillable acres.
Last tractor lineup was a Case 1030, Leyland 272, and an Allis D17.
Would probably switch the Allis to an IH 656 if I was dreaming, and the Leyland was nice but I'd go red there too...7 or 856 would be sweet.

Back in 69 we milked 40 head on a different place and our tractor lineup was a JD A and B...had to borrow an old McCormick 15-30 from the neighbor to run the belt powered blower. 70 or 71 dad bought an IH 460 and a brand new 444.

The international 500 series spreaders were and still are excellent spreaders I have a 540 myself, if you love IH silage equipment you'll love this. My first job out of collage was at a case dealership that was originally International in the same building, I worked there until it closed its doors. The owner actually worked in the parts department instead of sales, any question i could ever think of he had an answer for, he was probably the smartest person I've ever met. Knowing how much I loved tractors he gave me the job of cleaning the attic. I found every piece of International harvester, Cub Cadet, and Gehl advertisement memorabilia you could ever dream of and then some. Banners, posters, signs, neon tube signs, clothing, etc. Unfortunately I couldn't afford everything I wanted but I got a few nice posters including a 1440 combine poster. But while digging I found an unopened box full of posters and brochures promoting internationals new at the time silage equipment line. I don't remember what series it was but they were hooked to 88 series tractors in the pamphlets.

Thank you, and I forgot to mention they were all polled straws as well. I was sure confused when the calves weren't getting any horn buds.

Thank you and they sure are. There the only cows with personality.

I've have to say, back in the fall of 2015 I went to a few dairy sales and some of the jerseys were bringing quite a bit more than the Holsteins.

You and me both, but you know the funny part is
that most of those Holstein herds the guys used to
have that would say such things are now gone!!
Most of the dairy farms around me have some
Jersey cows mixed in with their Holsteins these
days. Pure Holstein herds are averaging 72 cents
per litre CND this summer. My pay out is always 20
cents better.

With 120-140 acres I'd probably be doing the same as I am now.
Around 50 beef cows and a couple of poultry barns.
Decent income from the barns plus free fertilizer from the poultry litter.
Equipment would be
Ford 4600 with quick attach loader
Ford 6600
Ford 7710 series II with cab.
Case or Bobcat skid steer that I'd later trade for a ASV Posi Trak
NH 461 sickle bar mower
Claas WM250 trailed drum mower
Kuhn 4 basket tedder
NH 258 and 260 bar rakes with tandem hitch
Hesston 5545 round baler because the NH 640 Silage Special belt baler didn't come out till 92.
NH 268 square baler
Couple of flat wagons on JD running great for hauling squares.
Ford or MF plow that would rarely get used.
Tufline wheel disc
3 pt seeder for grass seed.
Fuerst 24" folding chain harrow
Brilliant 18-21 ft folding cultipacker
White 5100 4 row 30" planter with no-til coulters
Gleaner F2 with heads
Ford 601 side mount picker for ear corn
Couple of 12" dump wagons on JD running gear
Lewis Brothers poultry house cleaner and litter spreader wagon.
NH manure spreader
Misc attachments for tractors and skid steer, box blade, back blade, buckets, bale spears, auger, ect, ect
Appropriate barns, bins, cribs, sheds and handling facilities
I like my Ford trucks but for 1990 I'll take a Dodge 2500 4x4 with 5.9 Cummins 5 spd
25' goose neck trailer, deck over with dove tail
20' goose neck stock trailer
Ford F-800 diesel with 6 spd trans and air brakes, 14" grain dump with top hinged tailgate for spreading gravel.