The Accidental Smallholder Forum

Smallholding => Equipment => Topic started by: SallyintNorth on December 08, 2018, 02:32:22 pm

Title: What tractor do you have and how do you find it?
Post by: SallyintNorth on December 08, 2018, 02:32:22 pm
Trying to collate info about smallholder tractors and finding it difficult! 

If you have or have had, or used, one, please share a summary of what you have/had, and what it was good at and what it couldn’t do.
Title: Re: What tractor do you have and how do you find it?
Post by: Rosemary on December 08, 2018, 04:15:59 pm
1987 John Deere 1140 56hp 2wheel drive.
I find it by looking for the big green and yellow thing in the yard  :innocent:
Title: Re: What tractor do you have and how do you find it?
Post by: arobwk on December 08, 2018, 06:54:50 pm
Am intrigued SiN by your desire to collate (perhaps you might elucidate?).  Anyway, mine is:
Agromehanika AGT 835 T/S:  "alpine-type" compact full-time 4wd 35 hp (might be 37 hp, but hardly worth the counting) with front-wheel steer, as opposed to the articulated chassis sometimes found on "alpine" variants.   

Pros:  Very stable (low centre of gravity with vertically swivelling axle & forward weight distribution) so it's good for working steeper slopes/un-even ground, which is why I bought it and I've been in situations where, I believe, a "standard" 4wd compact would not have been safe.  Tight turning circle.  Good power/weight ratio.  Has same-size front/rear tyres so quite decent traction despite its light weight (~ 1 tonne) - enough to dig rear-end in up to axles if not paying attention with box-blade attached!  Maintenance fairly straight-forward.  Semi-independent PTO (but see below).  Road legal. 

Considerations:  Relatively expensive new or 2nd-hand.  Very hard to find 2nd-hand in UK.  Even harder to find with front loader 2nd-hand = I haven't seen one offered yet!  Manual box not great for repeated back & forwards work.  Also, a fully independent PTO would be a boon, but the 835 T/S's semi-inde' PTO clutch is half-way there (good for turning corners with PTO driven implements, but needs a little extra thought when, for example, starting flail-mower runs in tight spaces).  3PL has float, but not full draft control.   

Cons:  lift height of 3PL probably less than "standard" compact tractors. (My large-ish tipping link-box doesn't tip enough for my liking!)

Uses: 1.4m 14disc disc-harrow (no problem even when harrow at max angle and weighted for max penetration);  1.5m heavy-duty flail mower (no problem);  1.5m box-blade (no problem accept for attention lapses - as mentioned above!);  zig-zag harrow with 4x sets (hardly noticed it was attached, but, unfortunately Farmer Pete has taken his loaned z-z set-up back);  plus general carrying with the 1.5m link-box.  Then there is the odd traipse across my lumpy (as yet) untamed "moor-land" field just for the hell of it!

Summary:  love it, but it might not be the best general duty compact solution for most folk.
Title: Re: What tractor do you have and how do you find it?
Post by: DavidandCollette on December 08, 2018, 07:14:59 pm
I had (emphasis on the had) a Kubota 4 wheel drive. Quite old but did the job topping and harrowing. Would have used it more but someone decided that they wanted it more...... great little workhorse. Basic but did the job
Title: Re: What tractor do you have and how do you find it?
Post by: oor wullie on December 08, 2018, 07:21:56 pm
1980 Massey 565 with front loader, about 60hp, 2wd.
We bought it as we needed something with a loader for handling round bales.  Mostly it just gets used for loader work and one days baling hay per year.
Pros- it starts first time even if it's been sitting for months. 
Cons- the weight of the loader combined with the lack of drive in the front wheels means it tends to dig ruts in the mud instead of steering, I try to avoid taking it off road in winter!

1958 Ford son Dexta, 30hp, 2wd.  This does most of the work, flail mower, drum mower, hay Turner, harrows, occasional plough, tipping trailer.  It has plenty power to run the conventional baler but as the baler is at least as heavy as the tractor it feels a bit like the baler is driving the tractor.
Pros- cheap, light, enjoyable to drive, can cope with bigger jobs than you might imagine, simple and generally easy to fix
Cons- it's 60 years old so oil seals etc etc need replaced now and then

Would I buy another Dexta?  Absolutely, in the blink of an eye.
Would I buy another 565? Probably not, I would want 4wd in something that size.
Title: Re: What tractor do you have and how do you find it?
Post by: RCTman on December 08, 2018, 08:08:11 pm
1989 Ford 6410 4wd   95hp   with Trima 340 front end loader with bucket and forks. Purchased 3.5 years ago as our Fergie 35 (1964) wasn't  capable of handling big bales of haylage where we required them. It is only used around the house and buildings as the land we have is very steep. Wish I had it 7 years ago when we built our house it would have been invaluable. The Fergie was given to a friend who stripped it right down and rebuilt it.
Title: Re: What tractor do you have and how do you find it?
Post by: Rupert the bear on December 08, 2018, 09:56:19 pm
1st tractor was a fergie 35 purchased from a chap down the road, sadly not powerful enough. I saw a Ford 5000 going for auction in Perth, described as in new condition. Off I rushed and got there and registered as the thing was being bid on, so threw in a bid, after all it was meant to be in as new condition.
There was one other bidder, he walked away, well under my budget, a result thought I.
Better look at it and pay, it took a while no sign of a blue Ford 5000 and after asking I was shown the 3 crates, yes it was in 3 crates, made in June 1968 in essex for export but never went.
A week later I have brought the crates home had a peek inside all there but no tyres, cab ( or PRS ) after all it was meant for the dark continent !.
Still have it 29 years later, starts like a good 'un and is over maintained  :innocent:
Title: Re: What tractor do you have and how do you find it?
Post by: Buttermilk on December 09, 2018, 08:30:03 am
1971 Ford 6640.  Patsy does all the donkey work, haymaking, muckspreading, topping, rolling, hedge trimming etc.  She gets called in by neighbours to do some jobs that their monster machines are too big to do as well.

Other small day to day jobs are done with a quad.

We sourced Patsy by asking around the local small farm network and she came from someone who was retiring, sans VAT as she was no longer on his books.  One owner from new and cheap for cash  :innocent:
Title: Re: What tractor do you have and how do you find it?
Post by: Anke on December 15, 2018, 09:52:30 pm

Ours is a Foton, 29hp, two-wheel drive only, so no front loader. Bought it new and it has so far (almost 10 years) been totally trouble free. Only used for topping/cutting/harrowing the fields a few times during summer, moving sheep and moving stuff round in trailer in general, not road legal (cause we don't need it). Has been used with rotovator as well.


If I were to start again I would get a 4wheel drive with front-loader and design my goatshed so that I could use it to muck out (as in open fronted), but it's not very likely to happen.
Title: Re: What tractor do you have and how do you find it?
Post by: philcaegrug on December 30, 2018, 08:57:08 pm
I've got a late 80s ford 1720 three cylinder diesel about 23 horsepower with 4wd. I bought it. off ebay
Title: Re: What tractor do you have and how do you find it?
Post by: DavidandCollette on December 31, 2018, 07:02:42 am
I would add to my previous post now that I have got over the theft. I had an alarm in the barn connected to my mobile phone. The thieves shot the alarm before it could go off. They physically lifted the (compact) tractor sideways to get it out of the barn rather than removing the security post. They used my stack of timber to make a bridge over the dyke to get it off my land onto the adjacent field, which didn't have a gate, so my gate and entrance remained intact. They shut the barn door when they had done so that from the road nothing looked amiss.
So just a word of warning. If you are thinking of buying something that expensive think like a thief and hopefully you will keep it
Title: Re: What tractor do you have and how do you find it?
Post by: landroverroy on December 31, 2018, 10:42:47 am
Wow - that sounds like an amazing amount of preplanning  :thinking: I would be wondering who had been on your premises and knew about the alarm and all the rest. That was no casual theft.


But. ... they say every day is a schoolday! You will have learnt so much from that and hopefully it'll stop anything else getting stolen. :fc:
Title: Re: What tractor do you have and how do you find it?
Post by: SallyintNorth on December 31, 2018, 11:48:59 am
Crikey, when thieves will go to those lengths, they’re going to have it away no matter what, I guess :o.
Title: Re: What tractor do you have and how do you find it?
Post by: DavidandCollette on December 31, 2018, 06:00:47 pm
Beware LRR you're not that far away from me.
It's organised crime, not just the chancers
Title: Re: What tractor do you have and how do you find it?
Post by: landroverroy on December 31, 2018, 07:13:38 pm
Beware LRR you're not that far away from me.
It's organised crime, not just the chancers


Funny you should say that as your experience has made me rethink our own security  :thinking: . Where you had a ditch as what one would imagine to be a security feature, we have a railway line and and area of our yard that is not fenced off from it. The rest of the land is well secured with ditch, hedge and fence. Previous assumption is that "No one would walk along the railway line and down the bank just to get into our yard and anyway there's nothing moveable worth stealing. . ." But a quick look round and there's diesel from tractors and tank which could be broken into when you've got all night to do it ad several people each carrying a 5 gallon container; power washer, again locked up but not insurmountable to get at; a couple of good Ifor Williams trailers and in fact loads of other things that we've just taken for granted will never get stolen. So - tomorrow I've arranged for someone to put up 20ft of fencing to prevent a similar thing happening to us. :fc:


So when I said that every day's a school day - I meant for me as well!  :sunshine:
By the way where are you based?
Title: Re: What tractor do you have and how do you find it?
Post by: arobwk on December 31, 2018, 11:15:52 pm
I have to agree with llr:  someone had staked out your place, DandC, before the deed.  Also, I can't think why "professional" agri' thieves would go to so much trouble for an old tractor.  Therefore and unfortunately, DandC, I would guess that you are dealing with local small-time thieves. 
Title: Re: What tractor do you have and how do you find it?
Post by: Buttermilk on January 01, 2019, 06:49:49 am
There is a thriving market for small tractors in other countries and they can stash a fair few in a container.
Title: Re: What tractor do you have and how do you find it?
Post by: DavidandCollette on January 01, 2019, 10:21:01 am
Exactly it Buttermilk. It's highly organised heavy duty criminal stuff. It's the same people that have been using kids nationally to move drugs. They have realised that police forces don't share info, hence it's known as County Lines. Big stuff.
Title: Re: What tractor do you have and how do you find it?
Post by: arobwk on January 02, 2019, 02:04:59 pm
My bet is still on a local set of thieves (even if they are then supplying into a larger thieving/"fencing" network)! 

A question though [member=27141]DavidandCollette[/member] - any knowledge of other agri-theft in your area at about the same time (from small-holders or larger farms)?  None perhaps ??!!

There are obviously roving gangs of agri-thieves around the UK looking to take equipment or live-stock, but, to my mind, it wouldn't be one of them that went to all that trouble to take your old Kubota.
Frankly, DandC, I reckon you need to keep an eye on who comes and goes on your bit of land.
A personal experience:  I frequently keep expensive gardening machinery in my Estate car which is parked on the street outside my house.  Then, recently, my large garden shed was the only one in the neighbourhood that was broken into one night!  The toe-rag/s didn't know though that I don't store any kit in the garden shed anymore - tough luck you little sh*t/s!  However, I have a very mangled shed door (which required a lot of effort to break open!) and the only things they found and decided to take were a few cheap hi-viz life jackets - I guess they fealt they had to get away with something !!! 

Think local and beware I reckon. 
Title: Re: What tractor do you have and how do you find it?
Post by: DavidandCollette on January 02, 2019, 05:28:17 pm
Ours was one of 4 on the area. All the same, carefully executed with little immediate evidence to show that the theft had taken place. One barn had it's roof panels removed and then replaced after the theft.
Sorry, don't mean to hijack the thread just wanted to remind people how vigilant you need to be.