Most problematic tractor?

Geo-TH,In

Well-known Member
My handiest, most useful tractor is also my most problematic. I had to use high a tech leak detector, cardboard.
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I'm trying to train the terramite not to pee on the pole barn floor. Use cardboard to find leaks and keep floor clean.
I had two remove 2 cylinders to see the hydraulic hose that
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rubbed against the cylinder and started leaking.

So I'm off to a place in town that costom makes hydraulic hoses to exact length. They also sell a sleeve to put over hose to prevent this from happening again.

This tractor is very prone to peeing on the floor. It has 9 hydraulic cylinders. 18 hoses to cylinders plus more. If this tractor isn't leaking oil today just wait until tomorrow.

This terramite is 17 years old. Other one is 20. It's the one I rebuilt the Dana rear end. It developed a peeing problem. I thought the worst, rear end leaking.. instead
It was hydraulic hoses above the axle started leaking from old age. Sounds like an old man's problem, hose leaking.

If I'm not rebuilding cylinders I'm replacing hoses.

So what's your handiest tractor?
What's your most problematic?
My terramite answers both questions.
Will my Kubota replace them? No, even though Kubota's hydraulics is superior.
If Kubota were to clone the terramite I would by the clone in a heartbeat

George
 
George, I have 2 that are the handiest.
Kubota L5030 with loader and 4WD. No leaks.
Ford 8N used all the time winter and summer.
Several leaks.
Richard in NW SC
 
In a lot of cases the most problematic tractor is one that has been abused and/or neglected. The handiest in many cases is the one that starts right up and runs because it has had proper maintenance and was not beaten like a rented mule.
 
My handiest tractor is my 52 8N with semi-permanently mounted carryall on lift that functions as my quad.

It comes out of the barn more times than all of my Kubotas combined, including the RTV-X1100C.

Dean
 
Geo, this could be too late for you but may help another-----stop by your local farm store prior to hitting your custom hose shop. the farm store prolly sells a half dozen different size premade hoses and you may luck out. I replaced several hydraulic hoses with ones from the custom shop and wasted A LOT$$$$ of money by not getting the premade ones!!!!! The custom made hoses are apparently a big margin item for the NAPA's and other custom stores.
 
I agree you can buy ready made hose a lot cheaper than NAPA or places that make them up . f you arent in a hurry Surplus Center is even cheaper.
 
The handiest tractor on my place is the JD 5065, it is the first small tractor I ever had, and I wish I had one like it years ago. I dont have any problematic tractors, but there is an IH 1568 my grandad bought new, and I have never seen it used, he said it was a POS from day one. He parked it for a spare a couple of years later and bought a Case 1570. In 1996, I remember he told me that 1568 had been in the same spot for 20 years.
 
My most problem tractor was a wore out Deere 3010 diesel bought when I started farming. There was always something wrong with it. We kept fixing and updating but it was always something else or redoing what was already done. Back when I was young and dumb I thought if the 24volt wiring was good enough when new it should stay that way. Bought a complete brand new 24volt harness but in a few years it was causing problems. Finally gave in and made it 12 volt and end of electrical problems. One day on a farm sale I bought a sharp low hour 3020 gas. The 3010 engine went into the 3020 and the 3010 was sold at an auction. I often wonder if the new owner had problems like I did or if I finally had all the issues fixed. The 3015 that we built has been a great tractor and feeds cows every day as well as being my sprayer tractor. Tom
 
My Farmall C, I can never count on it to do a important job. I suppose the fact that it is seventy years old has something to do with it.
 
2nd Surplus Center,replaced all the hoses on my JD 855 loader with hoses from SC for a fraction of what they would have been from JD or even NAPA.Plus changed them all over to JIC so easy to find a replacement if needed now.
 
Thanks guys, I not looking for cheaper. I'm look for exact length with right fitting. Length is crucial. I'm also going to buy a protective sleeve.
 
We also have a Kubota L5030 with loader and 4wd. Handy as a pocket knife. The women on the farm like using it too. It is unbelievably fast on loader work once you get used to the HST pedal.
 
The 706 I started out with in '78 was 'problematic'.A lemon. Traded it off in '80 on a brand new JD 4040(BIG mistake!)It also had it's share of problems.One of the reasons the bank sold me out in '84.The 1256 I boughtin 2000 sight unseen from a used truck dealer in western Kansas prooved to be "problematic".I was lied to. I sent the next 3 to 5 years rebuilding/repairing it. It has been virturally trouble free ever since.
 
The 8N is becomeing the handiest tractor,especially around the yard. My SuperM and 706 are a close second.Currently,I dont own any tractors that I would consider "problematic".
 
I've have very few problems with my 1950 Farmall c. Boss loves it. Has 6 ft mower.
Fewer repairs that terramite. Very useful too.

Engine was totally rebuilt before I got it. Doesn't use oil and very little gas.
George
 
Not anything I own currently, and not a farm tractor, but when I was growing up we had a 1989 Cub Cadet 1315 lawn tractor. That was probably the most unreliable tractor I've ever had the displeasure of using. It had the Kohler command 12.5 engine which was always hard starting, especially in cooler weather. A few years into owning it, the governor gear grenaded inside the engine, and we had to tear it down to put a new governor in it.
It ate belts like it was designed to do so. All of the 3 belts wore out nearly every year. This is mowing about an acre of slightly sloped lawn once a week.
The mower deck was insanely loud. It sounded like an airplane taking off, and it tore up spindle bearings like nobody's business.
The only part of the tractor that didn't cause us problems was the 5 speed manual transmission.
We struggled with it for about a dozen years then sent it down the road.
 
Most problematic was a IH hydro 84 money pit. 2 starters, alternator, I can't remember all that kept breaking. I finally traded it towards a new manure spreader. I hope it went far away.
Close second is my JD 4010. Bought it the second year after I started farming, in 1981, to keep from killing my 3010 (next biggest tractor). it got so I could count on the 4010's getting a hangnail every planting season, just when I needed it most. So I started buying bigger IHs. These days, the 4010 is relegated to stacking round bales, which works really well with its narrow front end.

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My Super C is a 1953, I bought it in 1990 I think, and did a lot of work on it then but I can't think of any glitches that stopped it. It's been damn cold for a month or so and the old six volt battery starts it instantly so I can plow snow.
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those must not be the rounds we have around here,no rear weight you be in trouble, please be careful with that nsrrow front unit,they are real easy to flip with loaders
 
Ha-Ha - Even the most rabid Deere fans admit the 1010 & 2010 tractors, especially the diesels are best used ONLY as static lawn ornaments. My Uncle bought a brand new 3010 diesel in '61 or '62, was supposed to replace his FARMALL 400, and he sent the 3010 back to the dealer THREE times complaining about lack of power, his new 55 hp Deere couldn't come close to keeping up with his tired old 45 hp FARMALL. Dealer finally turneed the 3010 up to 70 hp and the complaints stopped. DAD bought a '63 4010-D in December 1968, tractor already had the 4020 kit in it and still burned a "little oil", like 4-5 quarts per tank of fuel plowing with 4-14's and a Midwest plow harrow. It wouldn't begin to pull the 5-14 plow and harrow! On lighter work it's appetite for oil decreased. But there were constant little problems, tierod ends were junk, draft bar seals only replaced once, but right in the middle of corn planting, the pto shifted itself from 540 to 1000 cutting weeds with the trailing 6 ft Brillion rotary chopper, there were a couple new water pumps, always new batteries, blew the head gasket fall plowing maybe 40-50 running hours on a rebuilt injection pump. The brakes grabbed, the steering wheel turned a full revolution ultivating or plowing/disking our half mile rows.

So, sounds like NONE of the 10 series were very good. Oh, guy that bought the 4010 put a turbo on it, barely 6-8 months after finally getting it he broke something, LOTS of things, expensive things, and expected Dad to eat some of the repair expense.
I've got the two BEST FARMALL'S we had out in the shop, '51 M and '54 Super H. I got a couple IH Cub Cadets that just keep running and running too.
 
I was still in college. Dad bought new 1970 4020. Great tractor. About same time he bought 1956 Farmall 300 on auction. Great tractor. Pulled Deere 494A planter a great combo. In a weak moment Dad traded 300 off on 530 John Deere. That was not a step up.
 
Chattering brakes on a 5 year old tractor sounds like incorrect oil introduced to the tractor system by the original owner. Either that or poor operation by the original owner. All in all 5 years of poor maintenance and incorrect operation will doom any new tractor. The local IH dealer brought out a used 1466 for dad to try in 1977. It was underpowered for a 5 bottom plow and dad let the dealer know in short order after both of us ran it. The dealer was very nonchalant about it so after a couple of days dad called them to take the tractor back. The more we looked at it the more we questioned its history. Being 1977 it could not be very old but it looked like it had been run 10,000 hour versus the 3,854 on the hour meter. Don't know where it wound up but I feel we dodged a bullet on that 1466. Especially, since the asking price was north of 20K.
 
I still have the Old Reliable 3010. It was my only loader tractor from 1980-1989, and the NI loader is still on it if I need it. It does all my spraying, and lots of smaller stuff. It will be the real sleeper at my auction (whenever that will be), because it has just over 900 hours on a rebuilt-to-3020 engine (after turning 9000 hrs on the meter).
 
I've only had three. The most problematic one for me was a John Deere 2210. Bought it new and had a problem with the transmission from day one and the dealer wouldn't fix it and the company kept telling me to take it back to the dealer so I got rid of it. I took it back to them four times and they would just let it sit untouched on the lot for two weeks at a time until I got tired of waiting and picked it back up.
 
(quoted from post at 14:29:40 02/24/21) In a lot of cases the most problematic tractor is one that has been abused and/or neglected. The handiest in many cases is the one that starts right up and runs because it has had proper maintenance and was not beaten like a rented mule.
100 o/o agree with NY 986
Please some body fix the EDIT function, that's a real problem. Or at least let me delete my post when I HIT THE WRONG KEY..
LOL
 
He was used to international brakes not John Deere that actually do something when you step on the pedal 😐
 

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