The Accidental Smallholder Forum

Smallholding => Equipment => Topic started by: hughesy on August 15, 2010, 08:02:20 am

Title: Old Tractors, Who's got what and what do you do with it?
Post by: hughesy on August 15, 2010, 08:02:20 am
Like the title says really. Share your experiences of running and using your old tractor!
We've just bought a 1958 Nuffield. It's in surprisingly good condition and came with a topper, a plough, a chain harrow, a roller and a log splitter. Plus loads of useful bits including a 1200 litre tank half full of red diesel! Still got a few bits to collect from the seller this morning then I'll be giving it all a good testing. Watch this space!
Title: Re: Old Tractors, Who's got what and what do you do with it?
Post by: JulieS on August 15, 2010, 10:35:00 am
Sounds like quite a find!  Looking forward to hearing all about it.
Title: Re: Old Tractors, Who's got what and what do you do with it?
Post by: hughesy on August 15, 2010, 06:07:53 pm
Having given the tractor a good look over this morning I hooked the topper up and cut about 2 acres of longish grass and weeds. Everything works well and the tractor ran perfectly without even noticing the topper on the back. Overall pretty please with the whole purchase. I'll post a few pictures when I get a spare minute.
Title: Re: Old Tractors, Who's got what and what do you do with it?
Post by: daddymatty82 on August 19, 2010, 10:37:37 am
got a 1959 mf35x got a rear loader chain harrow linkage box and flatbed trailer for it works most weekends have had a few probs with derv so make sure you use a gauze to filter the fuel when you fill up as these old things dont like working at the best of times
Title: Re: Old Tractors, Who's got what and what do you do with it?
Post by: cooper956 on August 19, 2010, 02:52:29 pm
macormick b275 1968 works alongside my 2 newer tracoters doing log spliting hay turning harowing topping and odd jobbing bought to restore but it runs on fresh air compaired to my 2 100hp+ tractors and pointless haveing them on the spliter  ;D
Title: Re: Old Tractors, Who's got what and what do you do with it?
Post by: lachlanandmarcus on August 21, 2010, 11:17:55 pm
Weve a 1976 John Deere 2030 which we loooooove. It has been making hay today! its 75hp 2wd, no cab, but we dont want to do farmy things when it rains anyway. It has a Quicke loader too.

Ace thing and we love it.
Title: Re: Old Tractors, Who's got what and what do you do with it?
Post by: Hermit on August 22, 2010, 08:11:40 am
We have a red Fergie! a 35 x or something.
Title: Re: Old Tractors, Who's got what and what do you do with it?
Post by: hughesy on August 22, 2010, 10:03:33 am
Here's the missus driving our Nuffield the day after we got it. The cab's off something else but looks ok. It'll look great if I ever get round to cleaning it.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v731/mal-man64/DSCF2999.jpg)
Title: Re: Old Tractors, Who's got what and what do you do with it?
Post by: woodsman on September 04, 2010, 07:05:33 pm
for my sins ,i have a david brown 880 .
mainly has a hycrack type log splitter on the back .
or a trailer ,or link box .
also have a never-fitted-anymore front loader .
Title: Re: Old Tractors, Who's got what and what do you do with it?
Post by: daddymatty82 on September 04, 2010, 08:28:11 pm
went hunting for sloes today walked a few footpaths around where i keep my pony found an old metal barn with a single padlock not opened in yrs by the look of it looked through the hole and there was a mf35 and a cabbed tractor with a front loader miles from any road well about 1 mile away and across 3 fields may need to invest in some bolt croppers lol
Title: Re: Old Tractors, Who's got what and what do you do with it?
Post by: Hermit on September 04, 2010, 09:27:05 pm
Find out who owns them and make an offer, classics are making good money when working again. I joke with my postie that my OH is having a new tractor sent up piece at a time with the amount of parts he is buying for this tractor he is doing up :o :o
Title: Re: Old Tractors, Who's got what and what do you do with it?
Post by: Moregin on September 05, 2010, 03:49:36 am
I fell heir to a Grey Fergie at the beginnig of the year and have conned an uncle into helping with the restoration!!!
It needs a new fuel tank (petrol/parrafin) and some tyres but the rest is straight and clean-ish.  A wee bit tinkering and TLC will see it running again as it was last started about three years ago and since thren has been in storage of sorts. 
My mate collects old machines and has umpteen attachments like saw tables, disc and chains sets, harrows, grubbers, ploughs, potato planters and many more all available for me to use on my huge half acre!!!!
Title: Re: Old Tractors, Who's got what and what do you do with it?
Post by: daddymatty82 on September 05, 2010, 08:05:36 pm
where you from?
Title: Re: Old Tractors, Who's got what and what do you do with it?
Post by: Le Recoignot on September 07, 2010, 04:28:51 pm
Good man!

Just bought a 1966 International B414 needs a draw bar for the rear, looked on ebay cannot find the exact part.
Think the first purchase needs to be a workshop manual, again seen on ebay. Trying to organise a V5 registration doc with original reg no but DVLA proving to be a bit ticklish over this, i am particularly interested in a log splitter and saw bench for the PTO. The who lot is to go to France to our property there.

Keep us posted
Title: Re: Old Tractors, Who's got what and what do you do with it?
Post by: Le Recoignot on September 07, 2010, 04:34:28 pm
B414 man again

See you have a new top link at the rear, roughly how much as I need one as the one with the tractor is somewhat bent.
Title: Re: Old Tractors, Who's got what and what do you do with it?
Post by: daniellestocks on September 07, 2010, 05:04:13 pm
Hey, i know nothing about tractors and machinery but i drive round ours on and old nuffield, there ace, ours is a little powerhouse  ;) i chain harrow, lead bales in on a trailer, pick up a big bale of haylage on the back with a tine to lead in for the horses, have a smll muck spreader that it uses, we also have a trasport box we move pigs about in  :D I love it there cool  ;D ;) oh and we tie the sledge to it in the snow and drive round the forestry with with the kids in toe lol
Title: Re: Old Tractors, Who's got what and what do you do with it?
Post by: Frieslandfilly on October 15, 2010, 03:33:28 pm
Soooo Jealous, I would love an old tractor, keep telling the OH what a bonus it would be, he is not very mechanially minded and not convinced (sigh)
Title: Re: Old Tractors, Who's got what and what do you do with it?
Post by: trev iow on October 25, 2010, 07:38:58 pm
tvo grey fergy ,mainly used on sawbench now plus odd carting job.& the occasional ploughing match.in the past iv'e had a dexta,a major,db 990,2 db cropmasters,,3cyl mf 35, ih b250,diesel grey fergy,4 cyl mf 35,nuffield 10/60,.also had a few 2 wheelers,an anzani iron horse,merry tiller,howard gem,wrigley motor hoe,.at present i have a shay rotogardener complete with mowing deck which is used in both modes and just got ,on permanent loan from a friend ,a auto culto junior  with plough.i owned this machine some years ago,sold it on to chap who has since died,my friend bought it from his family but never used it so now it has come back to me.good little machine with the plough,did my veg patch with it yesterday.the rotary cultivator i had with it originally has got lost somewhere but they wern't that good,with the small wheels and narrow track they were top heavy.the shay is much more managable.have always done all my own repairs as most of my stuff has been bought as scrap/in need of repair.dont have many implements now as i dont have use for them,though i've had most bits of tackle in the past.just got a fergy link box,a tasker paterson earth scoop(very useful bit of kit if you can find one)a fergy single furrow plough which has be converted by having a sellar bar point single furrow digger body on it.an old acrow flat belt bench which i converted to hydraulic lift and pto drive and a couple of small trailers
Title: Re: Old Tractors, Who's got what and what do you do with it?
Post by: NorthEssexsmallholding on February 09, 2011, 04:30:15 pm
Hoping to get a tractor in the future, I've driven quite a few different ones when Ive worked on farms, old and brand new, and I prefer the old ones.   The Ford 7810 is one of my favourite tractors, a real old workhorse but has some character, never let me down.

(http://www.iol.ie/~manister/tractortrouble/ford7810iii.jpg)



Another great tractor is the John Deere 6910, superbly solid, and again was great for all manner of tasks.

(https://secure.tractorpool.co.uk/media/6598/1366598/1242727/John-Deere-6910-Auto-Power-1242727.jpg?height=600&width=800&quality=80)


The massey 135 is a great little tractor, great fun to drive as well

(http://bacontractors.co.uk/images/p7030020.jpg)
Title: Re: Old Tractors, Who's got what and what do you do with it?
Post by: Sudanpan on February 09, 2011, 07:09:21 pm
We have a Case International 695 XL 4 wd. Its a 1991.
We bought it with a front loader attached and it was invaluable when we were digging out our site for the cottage build. We also bought a Malone post wacker - and are very proud of the fences we have put up with its services  :)
We bought a 6ft topper at the same time as the tractor and managed to keep our 4 acre field looking vaguely respectable for the 1st 2 years, but last year we just let the grass grow as we were to busy with the build.
We have just bought a Howard rotovator for the tractor so hopefully our final landscaping will smooth out the general mess that has happened during the build process.
Tish
Title: Re: Old Tractors, Who's got what and what do you do with it?
Post by: Hermit on February 09, 2011, 09:28:20 pm
Got our Fergie going brilliantly this weekend, just need a few more painting jobs and some leccy work and this year the croft will be producing animal feed and bulk veg, hopefully!
Title: Re: Old Tractors, Who's got what and what do you do with it?
Post by: Crofter on March 09, 2011, 06:33:23 pm
We have a Feguson TEF 20 1956.  One of the last of the diesels before the "grey/gold" ones. Starts and runs well and does most of the work on the Croft.
We have a 2 furrow plough, Discs, Ridger, Finger bar mower, Tedder, Potato spinner, Link box, Rotovator and a tipping trailer.
It's a good light tractor so even on soft ground it doesn't break the surface easily.  Nothing like it for hauling Peats home from the moor.
Slightly modified it to a 1 and 3/8 inch PTO shaft and fitted a Massey 35 pre engaged starter.  Only problem is it has not charged the battery in 3 years.  I'll get round to fixing it this year though :-[

Dave
Title: Re: Old Tractors, Who's got what and what do you do with it?
Post by: dyedinthewool on March 09, 2011, 08:36:44 pm
I know nufink about tractors :-[ :-[ :-[ ;D ;D

But OH has this grey fergie 35? with a gold? engine, when he has time he 'says' he will strip it down as it has an oil leak ::) ::) but he 'says' he has to split the engine to do it.  It goes real good - works hard most weeks -from shifting heaps of stone and soil to using it to lift concrete blocks onto the scaffolding.  He has a finger mower / chain harrows / Vicon spinner / and a hay turner - big spikey wheels that turns the hay/into rows.?
He gives it a squirt of 'easy start' to get it started and like Crofter he's always charging the battery up.
He's hoping to get an old baler and a ring roller? at the local mart machinery sale.  it has a big duvet in the winter to keep it warm.
Title: Re: Old Tractors, Who's got what and what do you do with it?
Post by: Blonde on March 13, 2011, 03:45:16 am
I have a chamberlain and crush pig feed with it using a hammer mill.  I works really hard when we are crushing and then augering off.
Title: Re: Old Tractors, Who's got what and what do you do with it?
Post by: Hermit on March 16, 2011, 08:26:36 pm
My OH went to get insurance for ours yesterday, the lady asked if it was right or left hand drive ???  ??? ::)
Title: Re: Old Tractors, Who's got what and what do you do with it?
Post by: immsy on April 15, 2011, 10:44:26 am
I have a Ford Super Dexta late 50's i think , i use it for slashing and a bit of forklifting.

Cheers
Title: Re: Old Tractors, Who's got what and what do you do with it?
Post by: Hermit on April 15, 2011, 06:42:56 pm
Managed to get a plough at last for ours. ;D
Title: Re: Old Tractors, Who's got what and what do you do with it?
Post by: Coley on April 25, 2011, 11:23:03 am
Hoping to get a tractor in the future, I've driven quite a few different ones when Ive worked on farms, old and brand new, and I prefer the old ones.   The Ford 7810 is one of my favourite tractors, a real old workhorse but has some character, never let me down.


I have a shire compact and was intending to get a front loader as I have a shedload of soil to shift, but the loader itself is an expensive piece of kit and looking around I could get a decent second hand medium size tractor complete with FL for the same kind of money but which one to go for, what make would you suggest? JD MF, Case?
Title: Re: Old Tractors, Who's got what and what do you do with it?
Post by: montana on June 08, 2011, 12:05:36 pm
just bought in a auction at the weekend, a  restored 1975 david brown 885 with front loader and back digger.
Just had an operation but cant wait to put it to work! We also bought a set of 8 ft drag harrows, just need to find a topper and will be well away :)
Title: Re: Old Tractors, Who's got what and what do you do with it?
Post by: andy jb on July 11, 2011, 03:24:33 pm
Hi nice old Nuffield i have got a 1960 just the same as yours back in the 60's we had 9 Nuffields on the farm that i worked on.
That cab is a Lamboure safty cab made for the Nuffield

Just use my tracors for shows road runs and on my very big veg garden got 10 now
                                           regards andy :farmer:
Title: Re: Old Tractors, Who's got what and what do you do with it?
Post by: Marlin.45 on October 14, 2014, 01:51:17 pm
We have a 1961 red MF35 with the 3 pot Perkins diesel. It wasn't cheap when we bought it but then they never are? Hours on the tractor meter were only at 90 and now sit at 120 after 5 months of use hauling our topper around.

Now road registered, but rarely sees any tarmac. Spends most of it's time fitted with a 5ft Fleming box on the back.

This winter I need to tend to a few oil leaks. From what I can gather he spent a long time holed up in a garage or barn after a partial restoration (came with almost new tyres) so the rope seals on the crankshaft and sump are weeping. A big job but not impossible. Currently leaks about 1/2 litre a day  :innocent:

(https://scontent-b-lhr.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpf1/v/t1.0-9/10299172_10152130945393927_6253250299119242749_n.jpg?oh=f7b15e6e430f7da4a03567605433b067&oe=54B6B157]https://scontent-b-lhr.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpf1/v/t1.0-9/10299172_10152130945393927_6253250299119242749_n.jpg?oh=f7b15e6e430f7da4a03567605433b067&oe=54B6B157)

Paul
Title: Re: Old Tractors, Who's got what and what do you do with it?
Post by: oor wullie on October 14, 2014, 02:58:44 pm
We have an 1958 Fordson Dexta.

It moves bales about, pulls a trailer and last week was pulling logs out of the woods but this winter it is also going to plough and disc a couple of acres.  In return I am going to treat it to a nice new voltage regulator.
Title: Re: Old Tractors, Who's got what and what do you do with it?
Post by: Le Recoignot on October 31, 2014, 06:26:06 pm
'nash' B414 1964, starts on the button!


I think when you are at the 'aged' end its down to the individual tractor and how it has been used / looked after, not the make. Nuffields, Internationals and DB's dont hold the value as well as MF's, Fords and JD's. + availability of parts.