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Which (compact?) tractor, to do everything on a smallholding?


sandspider
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Some things are worth checking before you buy. Put your hand on the engine block and make sure it's stone cold before the seller starts it, this will tell you if it will start for you on a winters morning. Check the tyres, they're very expensive to replace, some cracking on the sides of old tyres isn't then end of the world, but knock the seller down anyway, make sure the rears have lots of tread and the fronts have sharp edges to the tread.

 

Have a look at the tyre tracks to see if it's been recently moved, if not, look for oil / fluid leaks underneath.

 

Hydraulic hoses degrade in sunlight, check them and knock off money for any that look like they need replacing. They might work fine, but it's a bargaining point.

 

Move all the levers, if they're very tight mention it and knock off money. They might just need some WD40.

 

Look for bodges, like bypassed oil coolers, DIY repaired radiators, welded linkage arms etc., etc. It might work fine, but you can knock some money off.

 

Check the brakes. Some farmers don't consider these important.

 

Note to self.... never sell a tractor to catweazle i would end up giving him money lol

Edited by ferguson_tom
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Listen to farmer sim , cracking stock on a quality hill farm , advice from sim is well worth grasping , what are your thoughts on the david browns sim , I recon mf 35 /135 all the way.Although some grey fergies are superb tools , majors are cheap and a good tool too.


 

Note to self.... never sell a tractor to catweazle i would end up giving him money lol

Ha ha

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I thought hydroshift was good? Similar to an automatic gear system but without actual gears (or stepped levels) as it's all fluid controlled? Maybe they're a ****** to set up, but good once working? :hmm:

 

Supposedly easier for inexperienced drivers?

Edited by sandspider
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Hydro shift brilliant gearbox loverly for bailing and road work but a bit slow being case it'll have manuel gearbox no shuttle as it only came out on the 90 and 94 sereies on the lus side a recond hydro gearbox is 1500 and a manuel synchro is 6000 here some of my daily drivers abit out you price range I think tho atb scott

 

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I like the 7810 scott , i drove them a good few years ago . my favourite tractor of all time

The hydra shift was a good gearbox for its time on the 90 & 94

I thought the 885 only came with an 8x4 gearbox with an optional splitter ( torque amplifier ) but on the picture of the dash the decals on the left lever has forward and reverse icon

I drove an old 584 ( i think ) with a full hydrostatic box ( like a combine ) and the photo reminded me of it

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Listen to farmer sim , cracking stock on a quality hill farm , advice from sim is well worth grasping , what are your thoughts on the david browns sim , I recon mf 35 /135 all the way.Although some grey fergies are superb tools , majors are cheap and a good tool too.

 

Thanks for the kind words mate :good: - we try to do the job properly! :)

 

As for DB/Case - not for me, Fergy all the way.

Is a shuttle gearbox or a hydro box ?

Avoid hydro

 

My thoughts exactly - too flippin complicated.

 

Note to self.... never sell a tractor to catweazle i would end up giving him money lol

 

Indeed.... you and I would be in the same club :lol:

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Yeah, mostly a bit big and a bit out of my price range! Impressive machines though.

 

Any thoughts on hydrostatic vs manual gearboxes / transmissions?

 

hydrostatic and the DB/Case hydro shift are two different things.

 

New hydrostatic transmissions are good, but power hungry, and often computers are involved, which can make them very expensive to fix. granted they don't go wrong often, but, for the purpose you described, I would strongly suggest something much simpler.

 

Most of the older manuals were made properly, before the bean counters had got involved, and this is why they have lasted, and will continue to last, with very simple "easy" maintenance.

 

Unless you NEED the productivity of computer controlled hydraulics/transmissions etc - avoid them.

 

ATB

 

Sim

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hydrostatic and the DB/Case hydro shift are two different things.

 

New hydrostatic transmissions are good, but power hungry, and often computers are involved, which can make them very expensive to fix. granted they don't go wrong often, but, for the purpose you described, I would strongly suggest something much simpler.

 

Most of the older manuals were made properly, before the bean counters had got involved, and this is why they have lasted, and will continue to last, with very simple "easy" maintenance.

 

Unless you NEED the productivity of computer controlled hydraulics/transmissions etc - avoid them.

 

ATB

 

Sim

 

Got ya, thank you. Simple is better, and I don't need super productivity / computer controlled anything.

 

Got a couple of Ford 4000s on my Ebay watch list now too. :good:

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Did someone mention modern hydrostatics/CVT transmission type tractors? This is my main drive at work....

 

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We do have a little MF 135 on the farm as well which is now for sale as it just doesn't get used for more than 10 hours a year now. If its a tractor that won't be used a lot I'd be looking at something from the late 70's or early 80's that doesn't have a lot of electronic stuff on it to drain the battery while its standing around.

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Keep it simple, and go for something with as few electrics/electronics as possible............ they'll break your heart on an older tractor. They best medium sized tractor we've had was a Fiat 880 DT5 four wheel drive. Great gripping tractor, brilliant in the silage clamp,could climb over almost anything. The only downside, the body work was made from old bean tins and it rusted to hell and back.

 

Here's my current donkey...................

 

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Very please with her, used mostly on a 2600 gallon slurry tanker, which weighs in at about 15 ton. It has the same Dynashift gearbox with the manual forward/reverse shuttle, as the smaller Massey's, and I've found it reliable and easy to use.

Edited by the enigma
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