Massey or Allis for 60 acre farm?

[EdselDave]

The wife is inheriting the old family farm in a few weeks. We plan to build a small house and move there. Her cousin is going to lease the 60 acre hay field one more year. After that I'll likely work my way into mowing and bailing hay. I've like the idea of using older equipment. I drive a 65 Galaxie everyday for instance. I'm also an auto mechanic by trade. I'm considering buying either an early 60's Massey 50 with a perkins diesel or a late 50's Allis d-17 gas. Both are wide front tractors. I know both of these tractors were designed to work small farms when they were new, so I like to think I'm not crazy wanting to work them like were designed to be used. Any thoughts of my choices? Maybe someone tried this and found anything pre-70's wasnt practical to use on a farm of this size? Thanks.

 

[jeff9366]

Any thoughts of my choices?

The Allis D17 may or may not have a tractor industry standard (Ferguson) Three Point Hitch.

D17 at 4,600 pounds bare tractor is a light 2-WD tractor for haying 60 acres.

Allis Chalmers D17​

Tractor hitch
Rear Type:	II*
Type:	Snap-Coupler

I speculate parts for the Allis produced engines may be very scarce.

Allis Chalmers D17 Engine​

1957 - 1967 D Series Row-Crop tractor

 

[Streetcar]

With older tractors, it is more important to what you can find in decent condition Than a specific model

 

[Streetcar]

I bailed hay with similar sized international and did fine

 

[LouNY]

When I was young we (my father) baled with a Farmall 400 and I mowed and hauled with an Allis WD. They did
the job. Then we went up with the Farmall 560 on the baler and the 400 to hauling with.
The 560 was a much better tractor for baling. The 560 is around 60 HP.

Small squares on 60 acres of hay is going to be a lot of labor. With out a stack wagon and a hay shed built for a stack wagon
it certainly would not be a one man show.

Some of Oklahoma is quite dry and irrigated, some weather can be an issue with small open times to mow, cure, bale and get picked up and undercover.

 

[jyoutz]

With older tractors, it is more important to what you can find in decent condition Than a specific model

And if the hitch is non-standard, can you find serviceable implements?

 

[sea2summit]

IH is probably where I'd be looking, lots of parts availability still. As others have said condition is king, tires might be half the value of the tractor and you'll really need to see them in person to see the value/condition of most older tractors.

 

[LouNY]

And if the hitch is non-standard, can you find serviceable implements?

Many hay implements will be pull type, just need a fixed drawbar.

 

[EddieWalker]

I've never cut and baled hay, so I can't comment on that. I do have a few different tractors for my 68 acres, and I will comment that if you cannot find parts for your tractor in a timely manner, it's totally useless. What happens if the older tractor has the fan break off and destroy your shroud and fan? I had that happen on my Case dozer, and it cost me $2,000 for used parts from a salvage yard a thousand miles away. I was broke down for over a month.

I like the idea of older tractors. More then once, I almost bought an older tractor. One day, I still might, but only as a backup tractor that I do not have to rely on.

For doing as much work as you will be doing, you need to decide what you are going to do with that hay. Are you going to sell it, or keep it for yourself? If you are going to sell it, who will buy it? Horse people want really clean hay. I have horse and it's very hard to find good quality round bales. Are you going to make square bales or round bales? Where will you store them? Round bales will start to rot if left out in the weather and decrease in value. Square bales have to be stored in a barn. How will you get the bales to the barn, or loaded when you sell them?

You really need to be looking at newer and bigger tractors. The smaller the tractor, the longer you will be on it, and the fewer things you will be able to do with it.

I'm currently waiting on a brand new Massey Ferguson 4707 4x4 cabbed tractor. There are just too many days when it's either too hot or too cold to be out on my open station tractor, that I could be getting things done if I had a cab. 70hp will be enough to handle any sized round bale and run a 12 foot batwing mower. Those are my two main requirements.

For your place, I think you need to be over 100hp

 

[can do]

The wife is inheriting the old family farm in a few weeks. We plan to build a small house and move there. Her cousin is going to lease the 60 acre hay field one more year. After that I'll likely work my way into mowing and bailing hay. I've like the idea of using older equipment. I drive a 65 Galaxie everyday for instance. I'm also an auto mechanic by trade. I'm considering buying either an early 60's Massey 50 with a perkins diesel or a late 50's Allis d-17 gas. Both are wide front tractors. I know both of these tractors were designed to work small farms when they were new, so I like to think I'm not crazy wanting to work them like were designed to be used. Any thoughts of my choices? Maybe someone tried this and found anything pre-70's wasnt practical to use on a farm of this size? Thanks.

Hey welcome to TBN ! IMHO there is nothing wrong with wanting to work with older equipment! There is a site on YouTube & a guy who has a working hay farm , & goes by the name Humble Haymaker & he is using older equipment 2 M-F 50's with Perkins diesels , & a I/H 350 ? gasoline along with a M-F 1105 with a cab all his tractors are diesel with the exception of the I/H & he has a newer JD , & he likes the simplicity of the older equipment & the reliability, & the I/H gasoline he likes for easy start up during the winter time . I personally own a 1959 M-F 50 gasoline that I use year round for grading our private road , snow removal ,skidding logs ,& splitting wood . I've never used the rear spinouts or adjusted the front end for row crops , Because I don't work any fields with it , It has been a great tractor that I bought used 26 years ago , & it is the 1st tractor I have ever owned with no regrets . I did buy a brand new tractor in 2018 to work with my dump truck a M-F 1526 diesel Iseki , Both are keepers ! But the M-F 50 is just my 1st tractor that I'll never part with. The only thing You need to do is make sure everything is in above average condition ! & with your background your making the right decision IMHO , & good luck.