Posted on 07/27/2008 3:01:44 PM PDT by Cringing Negativism Network
You’re so very right there. I’m starting a new hobby — restoring antique iron. I’m amazed at how much iron they put into those old engines with such low compression ratios.
The expression “built like a brick outhouse” doesn’t do them justice.
Not much goes wrong with the Minneapolis-Moline that can't be welded, hammered or wired back into condition. I won't be around when the new tractor is 55 years old, but I suspect it won't be either.
That’s exactly what I keep telling folks who move to small acreages and want a tractor: find some older US-made piece of antique iron. You’ll get a much better bang:buck out of the old iron than these new oriental diesels.
Sure, the new iron is shiney, it has all manner of nice gauges and dials on it. It also breaks the first time you use it for a job just a little too big.
M-M’s, Allis, the old Deere “poppers,” old Farmalls - they all have substantial iron in them. They all had to be fixed by guys a long way from town. They all were designed back when American manufacturing was the envy of the entire planet.
And you can buy the same HP in an old tractor for less than 40% of the cost of new Oriental paint.
The ideal “estate” tractor, IMHO, is a Ford 8N. About 25 hp, 3 point hitch, low center of gravity, sheet metal body, ignition and carburator parts are all available at the NAPA store.
One reason why I’d vote against the 8N is the lack of a live PTO. That’s it.
You can ameliorate this issue with an over-running PTO coupler.
It can be very disconcerting for newbies to be brush-hogging along, they get to a fenceline, raise the three point, hit the clutch to slow down and.... the angular momentum in the brush hog keeps the transaxle moving forward at the previous speed.
Other than that issue, I agree that they’re very, very easy to service.
Oh, one other thing on the 9N/2N/8N’s: Don’t put a loader on them. The castings for the crank and tranny can’t take the stresses that well.
Thanks for the info. I read this from work and couldn’t respond until I got home.....
I told the guy about it. He is a very big Al Gore style environmentalist. He has lost all interest in ethanol vehicles because of their negative environmental impact. He said something about fertilizer run off and algae blooms in the Gulf of Mexico. He won’t get a hybrid either but is now looking into a hydrogen car.
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