Tracotrs are liek Potato Chips - You can't have just one

[Industrial Toys]

I kind of thought, that was the whole idea.

They use those things with a stone fork around here to pick stones, given the nice unobstructed view.

A friend drove one down in the City, year before last clearing snow with a Big Pusher.

Nice Pics. When Machines were Machines.

 

[Creamer]

It was funny - my daughter was scared of it because it was so big but once she tried it she found it much easier than my Ford 1710 because she is so small she has a hard time pushing the pedals (clutch and brake). She got the hang of this one real quick.

It is funny - of my four kids (2 boys and 2 girls) by far the best machine operator is the smallest girl. This was true when I had a tool shop and running a milling machine, driving tractor or lawnmower, or just about anything else. But i still worry about her driving a car because of her short attention span!

 

[Industrial Toys]

Don't worry. The autonomous (sp?) cars are just around the corner.

 

[4570Man]

Not sure what you mean by fixed axles? My daughter loved it. Here she is driving it both directions. <img src="http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=481925"/><img src="http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=481927"/>

Do the axels steer or are they straight like a rear truck axel?

 

[Industrial Toys]

No, that's the beauty of this and most articulated machines. They have solid strong axles with no delicate joints or drive lines. Just the U-Joint in the middle.

Some machines like Deere have steering axles as well as articulation for added stability and smaller turning radius, but that has just ruined the whole idea!

 

[Creamer]

This actually has drop axles as the tires are rather small, i.e. 13.6-24. The drop axles give it good clearance.

After I had left home my Dad bought a few of these for the farm. They used it for a loader a lot but they also had a hay head and a push cultivator (back when they cultivated corn). So between the year around loader work, cutting hay, cultivating, pushing up silage onto a pile, etc. they would put nearly 2000 hours a year on one and trade it every three years. Once Ford bought Versatile and moved the manufacturing to Italy the quality died and they traded it the only blue one they owned in for a payloader. The problem with the payloader is that they are so much heavier that they were not good for muddy feedlots and the like but they found workarounds and stuck with them.

 

[Creamer]

Don't worry. The autonomous (sp?) cars are just around the corner.

If she only lives that long!

 

[Pillager]

I just had to do it a Versatile 150 Bi-Directional. Now I have joined the world of hydrostatic as well as articulated.

I am not sure of the year. This model was built 77-81 but it only has 3900 hours and has not been used hard. It has set outside though and so it needs some TLC. I can't wait to play with it!

I know the rules - no pic it didn't happen!
View attachment 481364

Hello, just wanted to give a shout out to a fellow 150 owner. I've owned one for about 4-1/2 years as a loader tractor on my acreage and the main reason was to run a snow blower. Really like it for that.

About two years ago I purchased a skid steer mount conversion for the loader, now I can use most of the skid steer attachments on it, to date I only own a bucket and a set of forks, a grapple will be next.

Yours is a nice looking machine, mine is a little more weathered, a 1977 model, yours is later 80 or 81, the glass in the lower door tells that, the early ones were sheet metal there.

I think you'll find it a very handy machine (probably already have!)

 

[Creamer]

Thanks for introducing yourself! I know mine is a Series II so I figured it was at least a '79. I am not tuned into the changes by year. I have found it very useful thus far although it does sink into the lawn more than I thought it would.

I can certainly see getting an SSQT setup for it and some forks and a grapple. It was pretty cool the other day pulling up to a downed tree with the bucket and working underneath it, then chaining it up, and lifting it a little. Then turning the seat around and pulling it about a 1/4 mile to my burn pile. the front of the log was off of the ground so it did not dig. I was able to see very well while getting into it and also not having to back up all that way.

Today I used for it work platform to get on the roof of my house and barn to do some repair.

 

[Pillager]

Thanks for introducing yourself! I know mine is a Series II so I figured it was at least a '79. I am not tuned into the changes by year. I have found it very useful thus far although it does sink into the lawn more than I thought it would.

I can certainly see getting an SSQT setup for it and some forks and a grapple. It was pretty cool the other day pulling up to a downed tree with the bucket and working underneath it, then chaining it up, and lifting it a little. Then turning the seat around and pulling it about a 1/4 mile to my burn pile. the front of the log was off of the ground so it did not dig. I was able to see very well while getting into it and also not having to back up all that way.

Today I used for it work platform to get on the roof of my house and barn to do some repair.

My seat is facing the loader, have been reluctant to turn it as I worry all those 40 year old wires and hyd hoses to the console don't have many twists and turns left in them before they give trouble, looks like a real major project to replace any of those, tilting the cab up would be required the way it looks.

They are hard on the lawn, especially turning with no differential between the front and rear drive shafts causes wheel churn, mine is compounded by having the no-slip (locking) rear end on the engine end, great during snow removal, a detriment for most other tasks, especially hard on the lawn, limiting tight turning helps. Really wish this locking rear end was like many of the farm tractors where it could be locked in or out but near as I can research this is or is similar to a Detroit Locker used in trucks.

Overall it's a hard setup to beat, especially on the snow blower which is the main reason I purchased one, not sure there's a better setup for that, certainly nothing in the same price range.