Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Help buying a tractor

That 3350 takes a belly mower and a front mounted thrower.

I bought me a new 1739E Massey Ferguson today. Hydrostat, 4x4 with a quick attach FEL. I also bought a Rhino 72" rotary cutter and a 66" Rhino Tiller. I like the 5 year warranty, weight, FEL height, axle width, hydraulic pump capacity and the dealer. I asked our local Kubota dealer for a price and I am still waiting. As I said before, I know very little about tractors. But MF seems to be a reputable company and the dealer is family owned and has been for many decades. The price seemed to be ok. I will start out with this size and go from there. I am pretty excited. Thank you everyone for your help along the way. Food plots here I come!

bowfishersmith,
Congrats!!! There's nothing like some "tractor therapy" to get a fella ' s mind right after a tough week...a MF is a reputable brand...let us know how she works out...you're gonna really like that 4x4 pulling that 6' cutter...
Charlie

There is no way anyone could convince me to use a gasoline engine on a small utility tractor. There is no way I could even begin to compare the differences of a 15-30 HP gasoline engine tractor with a 15-30 HP diesel tractor.

Except for the Chinese tractors, and some of the eastern European tractors, there are few bad diesel tractors made these days. Those made in Japan and South Korea, under brands from everywhere -- like Mahindra of India, most of these tractors are extremely tough and nearly maintenance free.

There is absolutely no performance comparison between a 20 HP diesel utility tractor that weighs 2000 lbs., vs a 20 HP gasoline lawn/garden tractor that weighs 400 lbs.

My 23 HP diesel, with front-end loader, backhoe, and many other implements, sips about 1 gallon per hour. My 21 HP gasoline garden tractor sucks about 5 gallons per hour, and I regularly have to use the diesel tractor to get the gasoline tractor unstuck!

Regards,
Ken

Yep!

Horsepower can be misleading. Torque, and traction (weight) play a much greater role in getting the work done. As an example, Deere offered the 455 garden tractor, which featured a yanmar 3 cyl diesel rated at 22 hp, but the thing was still just a garden tractor....it only weighed around 1000 lbs. The same tractor with a 2 cyl. gasoline engine, the 445, weighed only 100 lbs less and had the same horsepower.

By comparison, a steam powered traction engine from the very early 1900's might be rated at 25-30 hp, but could pull a six bottom plow through prairie sod for 10 hrs a day. Hook that same plow to one of today's 4WD compact diesel tractors with the same horsepower and have a go at it... be about like a banty rooster scratching in the dirt.

Weight (traction) and torque....that's the key.

Forgot to add...congrats on the purchase, bowfisher!

Bowfisher, I have about the same in a JD. Like my 4 wheelers, it is a utility machine for me.

Bowfisher, Stickem wrote there is nothing like tractor therapy, but the therapy I need is after I get off the darn thing. it's like ridding a hard tail motorcycle. No shocks, so I feel every bump and then when I get off @ the end of the day and I need Therapy for sure My respect for the true farmer has gone up a lot. I do about 15 acres in yr round food plots. Does not sound like much till you figure it's 3 here and 2 there. On the hill and in the bottom, Ha ha, I like it but the tractor beats me up lol

Tracy

It's a good hurt Tracy. I'm with Stickem. Gotta have it

Pat, u and Stickem are right, I love it to, all that beat me up, from the tractor ride is worth it most of the time because I love watching the deer in the summer months. A soybean field in the summer will hold Bucks, Does and fawns all @ the same time. Where not so much in the fall and winter food plots. But, I wished a tractors ride was like a Big OLD Cadillac with a soft ride

Tracy

Fellows, I think you may be comparing Chevy's to those Cadillacs....a utility tractor is just that. Utilitarian. A much larger farm tractor will generally take operator ergonomics into account and have a better seat suspension, and larger tires and wheels that help smooth out the bumps a little.

And that farm tractor may spend much of its working life in huge, established fields. Not the woods, or crossing creeks, or running over logs, or clinging to the side of a hillside. With no suspension to speak of, the terrain is usually the problem, not so much the tractor.

Sparkie, the description of the land with rocks, logs and etc sounds just like the area where I do most of my farming

Tracy

Congrats on the MF - I was raised on Massey - first Massey Harris, then MF. Currently have a Massey 50 that I use for tilling/mowing/drive maintenance and looking to pick up another.

Would that be farming, or playing, Tracy?

Dale, I was raised around the other half of the family...my father is an ex-Ferguson mechanic.

Useless trivia for the day: Harry Ferguson invented the hydraulic, draft-sensing 3-point hitch system still used today. He demo'd the tractor on a farm belonging to Henry Ford, and Ford was so impressed that he struck a bargain with Ferguson to allow Ferguson's hitch to be used on Ford's tractors. The two men made the deal in the field, and sealed it with a handshake. There was no paperwork or contracts involved.

Ford was able to use Ferguson's system on his tractors, provided Ferguson was given credit. That's why older 9N and 2N Fords have a badge on the hood that mentions "Ferguson system"

When the popular 8N came along, Ford decided he no longer needed to acknowledge Ferguson's involvement, and the lawsuits began. Ferguson began building his own tractors, and merged with the Massey-Harris company in the early fifties.

Sparky we had a 9N when I was a kid that had the 'Ferguson System' plate on it...that was the tractor I learned to drive first...then we upgraded to a Ferguson 35 Deluxe with a 2 stage clutch...I was sh!^^ing in tall cotton that day! I could run the bush hog and not get pushed down the hill anymore!

No overrunning adapter on the PTO shaft? Yeah, that'll scoot you right along.

Grammer makes a low profile suspended seat that might be able to be adapted to small utility tractors. I'm going to find out some day. Have a "Bad Boy" brand zero turn mower that has rubber suspension on all 4 wheels but also offered an optional suspended Grammer brand seat which I purchased. Expensive but we'll worth it to a farmer that spent too many years on rough riding equipment that resulted in 3 back surgeries.

I've taken measurements, and it appears it may be adaptable to my 3038E Deere tractor with new brackets fabricated. If so will buy another. Sure would be welcome addition. All our big tractors have either air seats or hydraulic active seats.

The Grammer model on the mower is a first rate seat with good although limited travel suspension as well as a really good seat with lumbar and fully adjustable for weight. Not a cheap Tractor Supply replacement seat.

My last four tractors have all been less than 25 HP, for exactly what Sparkplug is saying. My present "utility" tractor is 23 HP, but very very heavy, and with a very low center of gravity. The entire drive train, including the axles, are cast iron. I've got the rear wheels filled. It is 4WD, and runs with a 3-cylinder Mitsubishi diesel engine that has remained unchanged in design for at least 20 years -- and is still being used in many small category-1 utility tractors. When I bought my present tractor about 6-7 years ago, that engine model had been 20 HP for many years. Somewhere in the last 3-5 years California mandated that it should be 23 HP to meet their pollution regulations.

This little tractor weighs in at nearly 3000 lbs., with the front-end loader, which I never remove. Add an implement to the back, like the mating frame-mount backhoe, and it goes up to about 4500-5000 lbs.

No, it doesn't have any suspension, but it moves through the woods, and around my ponds very gracefully. For someone who needs a "utility" tractor, the small 4WD diesels (under 30-35 HP) sure are tough and versatile. Cabs are even available for most of them. Mine has moved incredible amounts of snow, pushed over one heck of a lot of trees, and so many other things I can't even begin to list them. Without any suspension, they don't do well on long trips, plus they only have a maximum road speed of about 10-15 mph. But, they sure will do a lot of work, with minimal maintenance, such as oil changes, regular greasing, filter changing, etc.

Totally agree. A good utility tractor is as handy as a pocket on a shirt, rough riding or not. If you're going to make your living from the operators station, then pay some mind to ergonomics and comfort. If you're only in the seat for a few hours every month, then simply do the best you can, seat/suspension wise, and go on.

I firmly believe that tractors are like chainsaws, firearms, and Lays potato chips.....one is never enough. Soon, you grow tired of switching implements. Sure would be nice to have a dedicated machine for the box blade/ bushhog/ FEL/......

Tony -- that is a serious low blow to one's manhood!

I think I have at least four working chainsaws, not including things like chain limb trimmers.

I don't have a lot of firearms, but I feel I actually have an adequate sufficiency to cover any of my requirements from squirrels and snakes, to cattle/hogs, and deer.

But utility tractors -- I only have one these days. There sure are times when I'd like to have a couple more, just for what you stated. Especially when I need to use implements that need the PTO. They should should all have their own tractor. My PTO implements cause me to use a lot of the 10-bad-word vocabulary I learned while in the Navy.

I will say that "quick attach", whether front-end loader devices, or three point hitch quick attaches (I use "Pat's") sure saves a lot of bad words. But, anything with a PTO attachment sure uses up all the bad words saved elsewhere.

My tractor barn is only big enough to hold four tractors, and it currently only has enough room for one tractor, its implements, my UTV, garden tractor, and other good toys.

Don't tempt me. It could lead to a divorce!

I'm with Sparky on this one...the MF 50 is purely a 'pulling' tractor...blade/bush hog/tiller/etc. I have an International 2540 that has a mid mount hydraulic sickle mower that basically has one use - mowing the pond banks. I have a JD 300 loader/backhoe for any big work I need to do. And I'm currently in the market for a small loader or possibly a skid steer.

The only difference between a man and a boy is the size of their feet and the price of their toys.

I've got Allis to handle the trail mowing with a 5' finish mower that seldom gets removed, and the Ford 801 to do everything else. Trouble is, this time of year I need the bushhog frequently, as well as the box scraper nearly everytime it rains. So that means a lot of attachment swapping, which is not nearly as much fun as it used to be. Anyone else keep a steel fencepost handy to act as a prybar when swapping implements? A tip to help speed the process along: keep a separate toplink with every implement, already set for length. Much quicker.

I want a FEL, badly. VERY badly. So that will entail purchasing another tractor, probably a compact diesel.

And I hadn't even considered a skidsteer, but now I see where that might round things out nicely. Not good.

Tony,
I wholeheartedly agree...I think about that 2nd tractor every time that I make a decision to go from the box blade back to that 969 lb 6' Howse shredder....it's tough on my sanity (and my back) as I am usually alone...

Hey guys, for those of you talking about the pain of switching attachments...have you looked into something like this? I think it's about $170, but looks to save quite a bit of time.

Pat's Easy Change System
http://greenwellmfg.com/

Sprkplug
A skidsteer is nice but will flatten your wallet
I got a Kubota MX5100 turbo diesel 6' howse shredder, Armstrong box blade, and FEL and I love it.

PS the three point hook up adjusts to angles if you're not lined up