Cadillac of tractors?

[Ken45101]

A compact segment didnt really exist until the 70's IRRC.

Oh I don't know about that. I just saw a very old and very small Farmall for sale here locally with a cultivator. The Farmall models A and B were 2400# and about 16 hp.

Specs for a Farmall 140: 23 hp, 3000#, built from 1958-1979.

In the same fashion as the Farmall A and B tractors, the Farmall 140 tractor was also built to handle a single plow.Its relative smallness makes the Farmall 140 ideal for plowing in small acreage farms and in gardens. Still, large farms are known to use the Farmall 140 for simple farm operations until now. The Farmall 140 also found application in gardens.

Approximately, 66,290 units were manufactured and sold in the market. Interestingly, the Farmall 140 had one of the longest productions run among International Harvester tractors. It has been reported that this model kept the company on the black.

(from tractordata.com)

Ken

 

[Builder]

I'm in the market for a tractor, either in the ~33HP range or ~40HP range, not sure yet, close on new property this Friday. Should know which is needed pretty soon.

In the "small runabout" category in the boating world, there's Cobalt & then there's the rest. Cobalt is far & away the best boat built in that category. Best design, best materials used, best fit-&-finish, etc etc ... of course highest cost.

Now you may see a Sea Ray, Wellcraft, Crownline, Regal, or others & think it looks just as good as a Cobalt. And maybe it does "look" as good, but when you handle, drive, inspect, touch, feel, sit in/ on, etc, a Cobalt, you know right away they're kind of like BMWs or Mercedes on water.

So the question: Which brand, if any, is the Cobalt of tractors? Which brand uses the best quality, most rugged materials, has the best fit-&-finish, etc., to where you just know ____ is the best brand. Seems from my reading like maybe there really isn't one, just curious.

My input is Deere. Their finish quality is excellent. I have only one Deere, it's a Garden tractor, but I've owned a bunch of larger tractors and the thing that is constant with them is they hold their value so well. High resale value means they are trusted more than other brands. I equate Deere to the Mercedes Benz of tractors.
Next step down would be Kubota/NH/Case.

 

[wedge40]

I agree with the "The Cadillac of Tractors is the one you're happiest with"

I don't get all the use of "CUT".

Growing up on a farm, where a compact tractor is near about useless... Well, not useless, but definitely almost un-necessary, but I digress... The word "utility" in "CUT" of "Compact Utility Tractor" is wrong. Compact tractors, which is what industry experts call it, is fitting. It is a compact tractor, and has very little "utility".

To the industry a "Utility" tractor is something like an JD 5030 series, or a Case IH 45. They may only have 40 HP, but they have much larger, heavier, sturdy chassis. Another example is a Massey Ferguson 2600 series.

Just thought I'd get that off of my chest.

I have no idea if the OP uses this phrase very often on here, but I just saw it, and I wanted to address it. I've never heard the term "CUT" from someone that works for any of the compact tractor companies, and I know a bunch of them.

Maybe nobody cares, but I thought I'd just interject that small bit of info.

My take is there are Ag tractors, built for working over 40 acres of land, utility tractors that can easily handle up to 30 or 40 acres and finally CUT, which is the "Jack of all trades, but master of none" type tractor and these are good for people who have less then 15 or 20 acres. You take a typical ag tractor slap a 15' bat wing and tool out to your 5 acre pasture to cut and you'll be doing 3 point turns to turn around. Each tractor "style" has it's niche but none are usless. To me they are all designed to meet different size needs.
Ya I know I just stated the obvious.

Wedge


Wedge

 

[om21braz]

Considering that Deere, McCormick and others have been around longer than Cadillac - would'nt a better question be who is the John Deere of automobiles? LOL

 

[TripleR]

I have never been impressed with Cadillac. In the smaller tractors I don't think there is a premium model; own John Deere and Kubota both. In the larger ones maybe Fendt, Valtra.

 

[foggy1111]

I remember when the type of work performed described the tractor. For example:

"row crop" typically having a high chassis for crop clearance when cultivating and wheels that could be spaced between the rows. (Oftentimes having a narrow front end too....but not required).

"industrial" having a heavy duty front axel for loader work and a low center of gravity etc.

"orchard" narrow width and low for use between rows of trees

"utility" a tractor used to pull bale wagons, run an elevator, mow, rake hay, and perform a whole list of chores around a farm.

To me there were (are) big utility tractors, small utility tractors and compact utility tractors (or CUT's).

Thats my story and I'm sticking to it.

 

[Soundguy]

Pretty. I wonder how the n8 would sand up in an arm wrestling contest with my Jinma. Not which is stronger able to lift more, which can go till something breaks or overheats.

I don't think it would be anywhere near apples to apples or fair to pit a top teir newly designed, option laden boomer 8n ( if that is what you are referencing from a few posts back ), vs a bargain line fairly economical tractor.

soundguy

 

[CowwFace]

I'm in the market for a tractor, either in the ~33HP range or ~40HP range, not sure yet, close on new property this Friday. Should know which is needed pretty soon.

In the "small runabout" category in the boating world, there's Cobalt & then there's the rest. Cobalt is far & away the best boat built in that category. Best design, best materials used, best fit-&-finish, etc etc ... of course highest cost.

Now you may see a Sea Ray, Wellcraft, Crownline, Regal, or others & think it looks just as good as a Cobalt. And maybe it does "look" as good, but when you handle, drive, inspect, touch, feel, sit in/ on, etc, a Cobalt, you know right away they're kind of like BMWs or Mercedes on water.

So the question: Which brand, if any, is the Cobalt of tractors? Which brand uses the best quality, most rugged materials, has the best fit-&-finish, etc., to where you just know ____ is the best brand. Seems from my reading like maybe there really isn't one, just curious.

Hey Bepp..,

My thoughts would be anything with a Hydrostatic transmission is a Cadilac if you have to do alot of front end loader, or snow plowing. Now of coarse I'm a bit biased toward Kioti.

Carry on,
Phill

 

[Heywood Jannockitov]

Whichever one sports the biggest fins, I guess

 

[Ken45101]

Whichever one sports the biggest fins, I guess

I didn't realize there were Finnish tractors on the U.S. market :laughing: