JohnS
Platinum Member
Hello everyone,
I have been lurking here for some time. I have been reading and appreciating all of the posts here. This is a very active community.
Having recently registered, I would like to give a little background on myself.
I grew-up on a central NY "hobby farm". My dad raised a small number of Herfords and my mom's horses. He also has some very large gardens. The tractors and implements he has were old then and are probably considered antiques now. He has IH A, Super C, and M tractors. He has numerous implements, most are pretty old. The hay baler use to have its own two cylinder engine. It was replaced with a PTO when he purchased the M. He did have an even older, four-cylinder baler, that bit the dust. It is now part of a maple syrup still. All tractors are still in use today. I used most of this equipment, but was most familiar with the Super C tractor.
At this time, I also worked a neighbor's Angus farm. He was a Ford man, and I had experience driving 8N and 9N models. While I also helped out on numerous other dairy farms, most of this was unloading hay wagons and stacking hay. Never got to drive their big air-conditioned Deeres.
Fastforward about 20 years, I now live in a rural area in the Southern Tier of NY. About a year ago, I purchased 60 acres of land that surrounds my house. A local dairy farmer was selling out his farm. He was getting too old to actively work it, and his children decided against farming. About 20 acres is open fields that I let a local dairy farmer use, as long as he maintains them. There are about 4-5 acres of tall grass fields, that use to be pasture. The rest is hills, streams, and woods. Future plans calls for a pond or two, plus tree planting, and maybe a garden.
My family, wife, two children, and two dogs, enjoy the open country around us. We enjoy watching the deer, rabbits, and numerous other animals. My wife has recently seen a black bear, not too far from us. I have some "roads" cut through the woods, that serve as hiking and access trails. I am not a tractor owner yet, but will be soon. See more on that below. Primary uses for the tractor will be mowing that old pasture, maintaining trails, clearing new ones, help maintaining a dike, some yard work, and numerous other odd jobs.
Now for the controversial part. The tractor that I am purchasing is a Chinese Jinma 254. I know that the general opinion by many here is that this is not a very good tractor. Well, for numerous reasons, and one major one being cost, I have decided to go this way. Please be gentle with your replies to any of my tractor issues that maybe posted here in the future. J This was not a haphazard decision. I did talk with and exchange email with many Jinma owners. Most had very positive experiences. Also parts do not seem to be an issue. As some have pointed out, many people are putting their name on the same tractor. I have found two dealers near my area that have a good supply of parts. One is only a half-hour away. About as close as most of the major dealers. I will also be accumulating my own parts stockpile. The tractors are a very basic design and will be relatively easy to work on. I will be performing all maintenance and repairs.
With the tractor, will be a Chinese FEL. I will be doing mostly light duty work with the FEL. I have a trailer that will be used with this tractor, and have plans to purchase a rotary cutter and rear blade. I am sure that I will also purchase other implements as jobs present them selves. I will be taking delivery about the end of the third week in July.
As long as there is interest, I will report my experience with this equipment here, good, bad or indifferent. I will help others with whatever Jinma issues they may have. I will not be bragging-up the Jinma here, only reporting my particular experiences. I will also participaint in many of the other forums here, including Rural Living.
Well, that's about it for now. I look forward to chatting with many of you.
JohnS
I have been lurking here for some time. I have been reading and appreciating all of the posts here. This is a very active community.
Having recently registered, I would like to give a little background on myself.
I grew-up on a central NY "hobby farm". My dad raised a small number of Herfords and my mom's horses. He also has some very large gardens. The tractors and implements he has were old then and are probably considered antiques now. He has IH A, Super C, and M tractors. He has numerous implements, most are pretty old. The hay baler use to have its own two cylinder engine. It was replaced with a PTO when he purchased the M. He did have an even older, four-cylinder baler, that bit the dust. It is now part of a maple syrup still. All tractors are still in use today. I used most of this equipment, but was most familiar with the Super C tractor.
At this time, I also worked a neighbor's Angus farm. He was a Ford man, and I had experience driving 8N and 9N models. While I also helped out on numerous other dairy farms, most of this was unloading hay wagons and stacking hay. Never got to drive their big air-conditioned Deeres.
Fastforward about 20 years, I now live in a rural area in the Southern Tier of NY. About a year ago, I purchased 60 acres of land that surrounds my house. A local dairy farmer was selling out his farm. He was getting too old to actively work it, and his children decided against farming. About 20 acres is open fields that I let a local dairy farmer use, as long as he maintains them. There are about 4-5 acres of tall grass fields, that use to be pasture. The rest is hills, streams, and woods. Future plans calls for a pond or two, plus tree planting, and maybe a garden.
My family, wife, two children, and two dogs, enjoy the open country around us. We enjoy watching the deer, rabbits, and numerous other animals. My wife has recently seen a black bear, not too far from us. I have some "roads" cut through the woods, that serve as hiking and access trails. I am not a tractor owner yet, but will be soon. See more on that below. Primary uses for the tractor will be mowing that old pasture, maintaining trails, clearing new ones, help maintaining a dike, some yard work, and numerous other odd jobs.
Now for the controversial part. The tractor that I am purchasing is a Chinese Jinma 254. I know that the general opinion by many here is that this is not a very good tractor. Well, for numerous reasons, and one major one being cost, I have decided to go this way. Please be gentle with your replies to any of my tractor issues that maybe posted here in the future. J This was not a haphazard decision. I did talk with and exchange email with many Jinma owners. Most had very positive experiences. Also parts do not seem to be an issue. As some have pointed out, many people are putting their name on the same tractor. I have found two dealers near my area that have a good supply of parts. One is only a half-hour away. About as close as most of the major dealers. I will also be accumulating my own parts stockpile. The tractors are a very basic design and will be relatively easy to work on. I will be performing all maintenance and repairs.
With the tractor, will be a Chinese FEL. I will be doing mostly light duty work with the FEL. I have a trailer that will be used with this tractor, and have plans to purchase a rotary cutter and rear blade. I am sure that I will also purchase other implements as jobs present them selves. I will be taking delivery about the end of the third week in July.
As long as there is interest, I will report my experience with this equipment here, good, bad or indifferent. I will help others with whatever Jinma issues they may have. I will not be bragging-up the Jinma here, only reporting my particular experiences. I will also participaint in many of the other forums here, including Rural Living.
Well, that's about it for now. I look forward to chatting with many of you.
JohnS
