Comparison Ford Jubilee vs 641 - First Tractor!

[nards444]

Cant imagine a tractor without a bucket, even if it could carry little weight. Also no bucket on the front means no running anything else off the front. 2-3k I dont know what you could reasonable expect for condition.

 

[rScotty]

Congratulations! I'm sure you will be having a lot of fun. Make sure that there is some sort of shear pin or slip clutch on the PTO shaft to the mower. That's what protects the tractor's PTO gears if/when the mower blade comes to a sudden stop against a hidden rock or stump. There is also another type of clutch - sometimes built into the tractor itself - that is called an over-running clutch. That clutch s what prevents the blade momentum from driving the tractor forward when you slow down. I don't know if the 641 has that feature, but someone will know.

The PTO shaft needs grease on the sliding splines and in the U joints. Most bush hogs also have lube in the right angle gearbox that sits on top of the bush hog body. It is common for lube to leak out the seal between that gear box and the mower blade. That's not a problem; most older hogs will leak some there. Check it before use.

Back blades.... all of them have an adjustment for blade angle. Better back blades also have an adjustment to offset the blade from one side to the other. The top of the line back blades will have a total of three blade adjustments as well as bolt on end pieces that turn the back blade into a sort of box blade. Hydraulic control on the back blade is nice, but not necessary. Pins and cotter pins for adjusting blade angle, offset, and tilt are more common and work fine.

Be careful. Go slow. You can't go too slow to start. Bush hogs can throw things an astonishing distance. Don't ever trust a spinning hog.
rScotty

 

[ericm979]

The over running clutch on the PTO keeps the mower from being a large flywheel that keeps the tractor moving even when you push the clutch in. While a rotary cutter does not have as much inertia as say a wood chipper it could still be an unfortunate surprise. I'd experiment with it in an open field to see how it performs before mowing close to objects or drop offs. Not all old tractors' PTOs are set up that way.

It's "bushing". it's a kind of bearing, just a tube of metal of a specific size. Keep that greased with a grease gun.

 

[goeduck]

Cant imagine a tractor without a bucket, even if it could carry little weight. Also no bucket on the front means no running anything else off the front. 2-3k I dont know what you could reasonable expect for condition.

If you do a lot of brush hogging not having a loader is a big plus, it allows you to maneuver better in tight locations. I keep a 40 year old tractor just for that and spraying.

 

[nards444]

If you do a lot of brush hogging not having a loader is a big plus, it allows you to maneuver better in tight locations. I keep a 40 year old tractor just for that and spraying.

Yeah I guess. But most come off within minuets. And if you only have one tractor a bucket is a must

 

[Tennsawdust]

Yeah I guess. But most come off within minuets. And if you only have one tractor a bucket is a must

A loader is nice, but not an absolute requirement. He isn't going to find many tractors with a loader for less than $5,000.

 

[Tennsawdust]

Quick update for everyone here. Finally pulled the trigger on the Ford 641!

When I went back out there the tractor started right up on the first turn (even before hooking up the new battery i took with me). The seller had fixed the tube running to the carb and thinks that's what caused the slow start before. I then closely inspected the front end fix and asked some questions and found out that there was actually no welding required. They simply had to take part of the tractor apart to put in a new pivot pin into that brushing (hope I'm not butchering that). Either way when I asked "so did y'all have to do any welding of the axle or any of these parts" he responded "oh no no, nothing like that. that wouldn't have been good". After driving it around again and kicking the tires a bit (and considering I had seen another 3 or 4 tractors to compare it to), I felt good with moving forward!

Can't wait to brush hog some stuff down with it this weekend! Now to learn how to properly maintain the thing... and start shopping for more implements! Will start with a blade / box blade for the driveway, and maybe a finish mower for once I get things cleaned up with the brush hog... but I'm sure the collection will grow fast.

Thanks again for everyone's help.
Tyler

Looks like the bodywork is in good shape for it's age. Have fun putting that classic to work!

The 641 does not have a live PTO so make sure you have an overrun clutch on that mower. Otherwise you may tear down some fences.

 

[rScotty]

A loader is nice, but not an absolute requirement. He isn't going to find many tractors with a loader for less than $5,000.

I'd agree with all of that. And for $5000 it is going to be well used and probably has some shortcomings. Around here there are occasional decent older homeowners selling FEL tractors for that price, but they go fast.

My friend who has a Massey very similar to the 641 Ford put a rear 3pt dump bucket on it and said the main problem he had with the rear bucket was that the tractor ran so well and the rear bucketworked just good enough to keep him from justifying buying a real FEL & tractor..... which would of course be quite a bit better.
He ended up haying his 10 acres for 20 years without a loader. "Stubborn" is the word that comes to mind.

Most FELs today are quick attach/detatch (QA) type so having a FEL is no longer an impediment for mowing. More and more we are seeing buckets that are also quick attach/detach (SSQA) too, and that's even easier since the hydraulic hoses can stay plugged in.
rScotty

 

[RickB]

And with a QA bucket the loader stays on which gets around the sometime disadvantage of dismounting the entire loader then having an unballasted front axle.

 

[goeduck]

Yeah I guess. But most come off within minuets. And if you only have one tractor a bucket is a must

Agree that if you have one tractor you should have a loader. But for me it does not make sense to have 4 loader tractors or make that kind of inve$tment . You can buy older non loader tractors cheap for brush hogging type duties and in my case I put on a lot of hours hogging, much more than loader work.

 

[Tennsawdust]

I'd agree with all of that. And for $5000 it is going to be well used and probably has some shortcomings. Around here there are occasional decent older homeowners selling FEL tractors for that price, but they go fast.

My friend who has a Massey very similar to the 641 Ford put a rear 3pt dump bucket on it and said the main problem he had with the rear bucket was that the tractor ran so well and the rear bucketworked just good enough to keep him from justifying buying a real FEL & tractor..... which would of course be quite a bit better.
He ended up haying his 10 acres for 20 years without a loader. "Stubborn" is the word that comes to mind.

Most FELs today are quick attach/detatch (QA) type so having a FEL is no longer an impediment for mowing. More and more we are seeing buckets that are also quick attach/detach (SSQA) too, and that's even easier since the hydraulic hoses can stay plugged in.
rScotty

My father used one of those dump buckets (or pond scoop, as they used to call them) for many years. He even excavated for an addition on the main tobacco barn with it. You have to use what you have I suppose.

The OP will get good use out of his classic Ford until he decides he can afford to upgrade to something newer with a loader, etc... The Ford isn't a bad choice for something that gets the fields mowed and fits the budget. He may even decide to shine it up a bit and keep it after he buys something else.