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tractor- best buy-worst buy

S

swindave

Member
whats been your best buy tractor? and whats been your worst buy tractor?
my best is a 1952 farmall h that i got not to far from home for free!
now i admit, it did not run, and took some money and time, but its been a good tractor,
i just dont have a lot of uses for it anymore,

my worst buy, but oddly enough one of my favorite tractors is my 1949 model a john deere,
i paid way to much for it,when i got it(WASNT RUNNING), and have easily spent twice on it what it is worth!

whats your best and worst tractor buys?
 
Best by far my 1964 IH 2424. I paid $2500 for it in 1988 and have used it for logging, firewood cutting and splitting, snowplowing, etc. I have replaced all the tires, and the ring gear (did a new clutch while it was apart). So I probably have 6K or so in it over all those years. But that amortizes to about $200 a year. And it looks good - I could probably recover half of that if I ever wanted to sell it.

Worse would be the old Case 700 that I watched my neighbor use for years when I was a little kid. I found it abandoned where the second owner left it and got if for $800. 2K plus later it ran, but poorly. I sold it at a pretty big loss. 2nd worse was an AC B I bought because we had one when I was a kid. Had great tires and weights, but not running Got it running, but it still was not right. Lost a grand on that one when I sold it too.

Won't be buying any more non-runners!

Tim
 
I'm still looking for what I believe will be the best tractor imaginable.
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The worst one I ever bought was a Ford 8000, it was nothing but one problem after another. Sold it after one season of trying to use it. The best buy was a Case 830, I traded an International Cub Lo-Boy 154 for it, straight up even trade.
 
I got a NH 1720 a decade ago, it’s too small and a bunch of other too this or that, but handy as a Swiss pocket knife. Good buy.

Got a Ford 5200 some years ago, most used tractor now on the place. Good buy.

Can’t really say the others were bad, don’t know that I got a bad buy in tractors.

Paul
 
One owner Super C,fast hitch and the IH loader. I paid $500.00, two hundred to fix the locked up engine and I have had it for twenty years now.
 
It's a cross between an SC Case and a B Farmall. Dad bought the SC not running for $100 in 1970. I threw a carb and a Fairbanks mag on it and it to get it running. The only work done to it since then is the addition of a Distributor in place of the mag and new sleeve Orings. I use it once or twice a week in the summer but now it hibernates in the winter. The B Farmall dad bought in 1974 to put a Woods mower on. I overhauled it in the winter of 1975. For the next thirty years dad put 150-200 hours on it per year mowing. The only work I have done on it in all that time is a new clutch, generator and this last summer I had the radiator fixed. Today it might use a quart of oil per summer but it isn't hardly used anymore. The 1086, I bought it new and it's bumping 18,000 hours and it has served me well but it has not been trouble free.
 
Best is probably my New Holland TC48DA "Boomer" tractor, which is the only one I bought new. It gets double the use of any other on the farm cause its so darn handy. Worst is probably the JD 2510 diesel I bought off of Ebay. Blew a plug out of the hydraulic pump when loading it up to haul home, so we re-negotiated the price to allow for that. Then the engine went up in smoke so I put a rebuilt one in that only ran a month before the head needed fixed. Someone had used the wrong size valves and it ended up having a valve rubbing on the cylinder wall which broke off. It runs fine now, but still needs some work to make it shift right. But its a handy size. I use it mostly for my sweetcorn planting tractor.
 
best either John deere 1025r or john Deere 2510. 1025 is sub compact handy for what is built for.
wosrt Ford 800 with loader loader was to big for tractor loader could lift any thing I wanted wouldn't keep big wheels on ground.
 
This IH backhoe is the best buy hands down. Give 2500 for it, used it to dig the new basement and put in the septic field. Payed for 3 times over just that. Been here 8 years now and gets used all the time. Spent a couple hours yesterday moving things around. Can't really think of a worst buy. Been a few I should have left where they were but I never lost a bunch of money on one. Corse I never spend much on one.
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See my post below in "Tractor Pics" on a 44 Massey my father gave me.

The worst was an Oliver 70 my dad bought. It was a decent enough tractor--if you could ever get the dammed thing started. We routinely belted it up with a VAC Case to start it, particularly in cooler or cold weather.
 
The best tractor I ever purchased was a Ford 971. I did a lot of baling back in those days and the PTO was used a lot, but it never gave us any trouble handling the JD 24t baler. The worst one was an AC WD45 which is now at my son's place. I got a good buy on it in 2011 and then proceeded to put on all new tires, repair the wornout shifter so it could be shifted safely, added power steering by using a priority valve from the loader and thought that it would serve us well. Then, the weights on the governor broke loose, passed down the timing gears, and pretty well wiped out the first cylinder before it got shut down We recently got it running by installing a WD engine with new sleeves, pistons, bearings and a complete valve job. So much for a good buy!
 
Mt worst was a Deere 3010 diesel I bought when I started farming. It was a very high hour south tractor. It just always needed something fixed. I finally bought a very low hour 3020 gas and put the 3010 engine in it. I still have it and feed cows every day with it. My best buy is my 4020. I bought it very cheap as the seller was still using it but had money problems. He was out discing with no sheet metal and only one fender. He wanted an offer and he knew I was coming to look at. I figured if he did not care why should I and gave him a very low offer which he took. I ended up overhauling it with an M&W kit,rewiring it,and new tires along with 4 pair of wheel weights. It was my big tractor for lots of years and still gets plenty of use.
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My best and worst buy was the same tractor. A 1956 Ford 850 was my best because it had a rare Sherman Napco front wheel assist on it. The 1956 Ford 850 was also the worst because the rest of the tractor was a cobbled mess of a zenith carb, Ferguson seat and steering wheel, wrong fenders, dry rotted tires, and bad repair front bolster. I removed the entire front wheel assist conversion and installed it on my 1955 Ford 860, put the standard front axle from the 860 on the 850, and sent the 850 on down the road.
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worse unit ever on the farm was the 1586 IH Dad bought with 705 hours,, I rebuilt almost every corner of that pile in the next 4500 hours,, Every Case I have owned was Great but if I have to pick only one Best I would say my 1951 CASE VA only thing I worked on was to install new brakes, new rear tires and a few battery's in the past 40 years
cnt
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My best deal on a tractor,would have to be my 1966 MF203 diesel backhoe for $1600.I got it running at the sellers place,after he shorted something out,and thankfully it was just the starter switch and fuse which I brought with me.

I wouldn't say that I got a bad deal,because I don't spend much on equipment in general,but as far as lemons go,it would be that cub lo boy 184 sitting in the weeds.I bought it for $700 with a 6 foot belly mower and 6 foot snow plow.It had 3 engine rebuilds prior to me buying it,and I could never get it running right,and I tried everthing,but it had a really hard life,and it was burning oil like crazy.

Rock
 
The best is my dc I got from dad and runs reliably every day as gets used most days. The worst is my 400 that I bought thinking it needed a head gasket and would be good. 7k into it and it still doesn't run. Hopefully it will run soon tho.
 
Understanding that I don't buy "real" tractors for my little 4 acre patch of heaven, my 1988 John Deere (Yanmar) 750 was a heck of a deal. Owned it for 28 years, only thing I did to it besides tires and fixing operator-induced problems was an alternator and a voltage regulator.

The Kubota B2650 that replaced it is much nicer to operate due to the HST and cab, but it's only 5 years old, I've had the AC fixed 3 times and just replaced the engine computer. Not calling it a "bad buy" but not as dependable as the 750.

The 1938 Farmall F14 didn't make any sense financially. I put a CRAP-load of money into it and never did anything with it but haul trailers. Had a lot of fun bringing it back from the dead tho. Lost my shirt when I sold it.
 
Ya, but it had good looking rear tires on it & you felt sorry for the poor old girl when ya first saw it, if'fn I remember right. But I thought you had a lot of fun putting it together right, didn't ya? That's gotta be worth something! Besides, ya probably needed a new shirt anyway. Just my $0.02 worth! Jal-SD
 
Worst was a 830 Case non running tractor. We got it home and decided to rebuild the engine. Once heads were off, you could see there had been a crack in the block, it had been drilled and pegged. Sent the block to a machine shop, that said they could repair it. When we got it back and put the engine kit in and started it up, ran for about 5 minutes before pressurized the coolant system. Machine shop had screwed the top of the block. Now it’s a parts donor. The best tractor, not really sure, I have had a lot of good ones over the years, and only got skunked bad once
 
I forgot to mention the worst tractor buy. It is another SC Case. I bought it on a whim because it is a 52 with eagle hitch and live power. I knew the head was cracked ahead of time but the sheet metal was very nice and everything was still stock except for battery ignition and an alternator added. I did not look it over well enough and after I got it out of the dark building and into my shop I got my eyes opened up. Everything that could be broken on the eagle hitch was welded up. After I got the head welded and got it running I found out the PTO clutch was on its last adjustment and later on I found it slipped under load. The main clutch is on its last adjustment and does not snap in tight. It rides rough because of bad tires and I just cannot get used to that left hand clutch being the old Deere guy I am. Getting on and off it is not nearly as easy as my 48 SC without eagle hitch. The casting where the front mount cultivator mounts is broken away. Somebody must have hit something awful hard with the cultivator.

So I am going to make lemonaide out of a lemon. The engine in the 52 is good with very little ridge in the sleeves. The engine in the 48 SC is tired and knocking so the 52 engine will be going into the 48. That should perk it up maybe a little bit. The back half of the 52 is going away. The axle trumpets will make good heavy jack stands but the rest will be scrap iron.
 
My best tractor I bought was a JD 2510. My worst buy was a JD 2510. The first one needed some work but has been an excellent tractor. It is so good that when I was at an auction another 2510 was going relatively cheap so like an idiot I raised my hand. It has become the bane of my existence. I knew it needed some work as well but everytime I fix one thing 3 other things go wrong. Right now it's been parked in the corner of the barn for a couple years due to time, money, and motivational issues.
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My best purchase would be my 2444 with loader & trencher. Got it from a dealership initially for $4K, which got knocked down to $2K. When I payed the initial amount & went to drive it home, there was no getting up the hill in 4th or 3rd. Took it back to the dealer, told him what's up & he looked a bit shocked. He beckons his sales manager over to ask about the details of the trade they took it in on. Supposed to have been a good runner & traded in on a Kubota.... something (I forget what they're called. It's like a 4 wheeler with a cab & box on it.). The sales manager didn't pick up the 2444, the delivery/drop off guy did. He didn't think there was anything wrong with it. He only picked it up with the trailer & dropped it off at the lot. When I found it on the lot, it was only there for a couple days. My inspection was minimal. Never thought to take it for a test drive up & down the road before I bought it. It wasn't a new Mustang. Drove it around the lot, played with the loader & trencher. That was it. So, the dealer told me he could put it through the shop & get back to me. I agreed. Got a call about a week later with some news. The fuel filters were changed out, the oil was changed, the oil filter was changed. Brakes were inspected to make sure they weren't dragging. The motor was tired. It has blowby. Parts are available. Going to be an expensive fix. They'll give me my money back or sell it to me for half price. I went for option B, but instead of getting the rest of the cash back, I got a hydraulic 3 pt boom, a fast hitch back blade, 55 gallons of Hy Tran & the remainder put on my account. Not too bad of a deal in my book. Got free delivery, too. Since then, I've done a bunch of landscaping around the yard. Took out 9 stumps that were rotted. Used the trencher to dig those out, roots & all. Used the loader to fill the holes in & move the stumps & roots to the brush pile. Filled in the low spot in the garden. Have done plenty of lifts & moved things around. Pushed a bunch of brush into piles for my uncle & loaded about 300 loads of manure. Probably a bunch more stuff that I'm forgetting. All within the last year & a half. Since I started working it, the blowby has subsided some. There isn't a river of oil flowing down the side of the hood.... & yes, I check the oil. Lol! The only money that's been put into it went to 2 belts, a thermostat & a hydraulic hose. So, no complaints here about that purchase. The hydraulic boom I got out of that deal has also been extremely handy. That tractor & loader combo also seen to be tank tough. No complaints here!!
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I think my SP chopper is my worst buy. Nothing but a money pit so far & will require tons more to overhaul it ($8K - $9K) & get the rest of the machine into working order. It looks nice though. :vD

Mike
 
Best Buy had to be my first actual tractor for me personally. I went to a local consignment sale in 1976 and bought a 1945 Farmall H Still have and use. Just rebuilt the engine I am the second owner. I gave $500.00 for it. A close second is A Farmall 400 I bought a local consignment auction. I made the first and only bid at 1200.00. My boy were estatic my wife no so much. It has been a great traction. My worst was when I let a friend talk me into two MF 50 to make one. I couldn’t knock the MH in the head so he sold me a third to make two. So I am sure when I get done I will have a expensive pair. But think of all the fun I will have.
 
My Dad had a John Deere M he bought about new in '52 with all the attachments, including a snow plow. I kept the old tractor for several years, until my neighbor traded me for a nice Farmall Super A cultivator tractor. The old John Deere M was wore out, and needed much work, including the steering. He rebuilt it, looks like new now.
 
We have 750 that we bought new in the early 80s and all thats ever been done is oil changes and batteries, has original turf tires. That tractor has augered alot of corn in its day.
 
Best tractor is a 1967 Ford 5000 diesel with SOS transmission. An absolute dream to use in the hayfield. Worst was my Dad's Ford 9N. Couldn't do much work with it and frustrating to work on.
 
Best buy was a MH 55 with a 3- 71 Detroit diesel. Paid $300 Canadian for it, non running. Towed to start, ran good. Put new batteries in my JD and stuck the old batteries in the Massey. Had fun with it for a couple years and sold it for $2500....

Worst buy....not done buying yet, but I could tell you my sob story about a 1967 Rambler American Rogue....☹
Ben
 
Bill ..... they only built three of those with the solar collector on top and I own two of them, the third one was burned up in a fire so you can quit looking. You might find one without the collector but they've pretty much lost their collector value.
 
The best is my 806 Diesel, it has never let me down, Two TA's, two Water pumps, and 2 or 3 injection pump overhaul's, never use's oil,always starts! Still plows at the local plow day!
 
Best buy would be my Oliver 1850 with a bad motor. I had a MF 750 parts combine that I took the motor out of and put in the Oliver. It's been a good dependable, low cost tractor for almost 20 years
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Worst would have to hands down be the Farmall 400 and loader. When I put up my building I needed a loader and that was the only one that I could find within 150 miles at that time. Supposed to be a good old tractor, LOL. Steering is terrible loose, with anything in the bucket you can't steer it unless you are moving. It fouls plugs within a couple of hours. It's hard to get on and off of. More cold blooded than a moonshines mother in law. Leaks oil every where.
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Not sure where it went. The original owner tried to buy it back, but lacked the cash. I think he bought through a jockey, but thats almost 25 years ago,

Ben
 
Best is a 4320 Compact JD. 4x4 Cab loader. Share it with my son. It is used nearly every day. It's a hydro with resume on cruise control. Air ride seat. Not been entirely trouble free. But I forgive it!. Most reliable is a AC WD45 with trip bucket loader. Worst was a 4010 JD on LP. Wouldn't start when got below 40 deg. And wouldn't start hot. But would start if you pulled it 10ft. Had to carry a chain.
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Love em all! But especially the Ford row crops. Cubs are close behind
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The 951 was a great deal $1200. So was the wide front 950 $1800 . Both from Tracy Brown.( so was the purple cub and H.
 
I love all tractors, but I do love my 4020s the most. First one came here dead with a narrow front for 700 bucks. Rebuilt the engine and trans, installed a Case 1070 wide front. Then a KD 5000 loader. That was 40 years ago and still the most dependable tractor to be found. Dad bought a Ford 5600 new in 77 and it is still here. Restored it and it looks and drives like it is 77 again. Those two tractors have paid this family back many times over for their service. Any tractor that is in the shop broke is the worst until its repaired. Al
 
The worst tractor was a 1966 Ford 4000 diesel. We were told it had an engine rebuild, but it didn't want to start when it was 40 f out, then we found out the trans seal was gone when getting it home and sat in the driveway and had a bad death wobble. That tractor went back to the seller on a trailer and we didn't have that for a week. The guy wanted near full price and he didnt put the loader on the tractor. The best (deal after some work) was the Ford 4500 loader and backhoe. It took two tractors but got it cheaper than the 4000. My favorite tractor is the Ford 6610. It rides nice and powers all our equipment. The column shift, 8x4 is good when baling.
 
Same problem on a 4020 LP. Also paid good money for it used and when I got it home I found out why the "weep" holes in the side of the block. Even with the inframe OH, it still was a PIA to start....and refuel, nurse tank or not!!!! My absolute worst!!!!!
 
The 5 yr old 4010 diesel Dad bought December 1968 was his absolute worst Money Pit. Month after he bought it at auction it had all 4 new tires. I was lucky I made it the 20 miles home after the auction, tierods so worn I wore through the last of the tread rubber and 2 of the 6 plys. Dad tried to run it 20 miles to his favorite Deere dealer for a tune-up, made it about 4 miles, blew a frt tire, spent rest of day messing with front tires. It got repainted before spring fieldwork too. Looked brand new. It supposedly "Used a little oil" according to the seller at the auction. Disking corn stalks with our 12 ft disk was no load for it and it used a quart or two per tank of fuel. But plowing with 5-14 Case trailing plow with Midwest plow harrow, it struggled in 3rd gear in corn ground, 2nd in sod, and after burning half a tank of fuel we'd add 2 quarts of oil, and another 2-3 quarts when we fueled. 24V electrical system was a joke, Was a "Good Day" when I ran it to the field and didn't have to walk home. Power steering wasn't right, steering wheel would have to turn about half a turn going straight every quarter mile, brakes seemed to hang up if you used them, took a couple seconds to release after you released the pedal. The red Lock-Tight didn't keep the 4 cap screws tight, had to snug them up every load of oats we combined with our #30 combine, but running the 6 ft Brillion rotary cutter was worse, and the stub shaft loosened and tried to shift from 540 to 1000. Had both engine & pto clutches installed then too. Replaced the draft bar seals in the middle of corn planting, I was disking ahead of planter, Yes, we REALLY wanted to work half a day on some rookie engineers poor design instead of plant corn. The first tune-up by the self-proclaimed Best Deere diesel tech left a tractor with the 4020 kit making around 65 hp. Had another pump wizard come over one night, Dad grew up neighbors to him, rebuilt the whole pump and we had 100-105 HP, and about 50 hours later popped the head gasket fall plowing. When the pump guy rebuilt it with M&W sleeves and pistons the oil burning stopped.
The BEST tractor would be a tie, either the '51 M Dad bought brand new, or the '54 stage 2 Super H Dad traded a '39 H for May 8th, 1968. I bought the parts spring of '69 to put a tach/hour meter on the SH, we put 250 hours a year on it, May not seem like a lot, but only registered an hour for every 64 minutes of run time, the FARMALL 300/350 tach registered hours at 1750 rpm, Super H ran 1650, and depending what I was doing I may only run it 1400-1500. I don't ever remember the SH breaking down, Dad had my IH dealer rebuild the carb a year after we got it. Head and oil pan never been off it almost 67 yrs later. I bought a set of New Old Stock IH FireCrater sleeves & pistons for it last spring. Need to start getting the rest of the parts gathered up. The SH was always on Dad's list of things to do, maybe replace the rings, grind the valves, but whatever money he had to spend on repairs always had to go into the 4010 to keep it running.
 
Best buy my Oliver 1365 with a broken loader frame for $500,Bud Yingling up a Gettysburg gave me a good loader frame and I have used that tractor for about 20 years with no real issues.
 
I have a 1947 M with a Dual 325 loader with a grapple fork and added aftermarket 3 point as my best buy. On my small acreage it moves round bales and manure and anything else that you need a loader for. The old M is dependable and easy to work on. I added a 1 spool valve to my 3 spool valve to raise my 3 point and currently have a 6 ft. blade on the back of the M. Being 67 years old I grew up with points so it's not a big deal to tune her up. Yes she has a few oil leaks and uses a little oil but I tell my wife she is the bread and butter tractor on the acreage!
 
Well, why would you want two? Surely you would be willing to part with one. "Every man has his price" or so they say.
 
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