tractor recommendation

roxynoodle · Oct 22, 2006

There is some question about whether my tractor can safely pull it. I do have a 3ph drawbar but my neighbor is fabricating a frame for it to attach the toplink to so it can't spin. So now I guess it comes down to whether my tractor would be able to pull it anyway? I haven't tried to pull it full yet. I guess that's one way to find out, get it hooked up and see what happens. I am asking for opinions on that on the Yanmar forum.

shvl73 · Oct 22, 2006

It shouldn't spin if pinned to the spreader. If you use a trailer ball, then it will need to be kept from spinning. There are brackets that are made that attach to the drawbar and 3pt arm that will stabilize the drawbar.

Farmwithjunk · Oct 23, 2006

roxynoodle said:
I am considering buying an old ag tractor for pulling my manure spreader. Right now I'm pulling it with my truck (need my tractor to load it and can't pick it up to hook up to the tractor when it is loaded). It is an old spreader, probably a New Idea from the 50s. I was all set to buy a 1940 Farmall (B I think) from a friend but now he doesn't want to sell it. Someone is selling a Farmall BN for $1100 that isn't too far away. I looked up the BN and saw info that there were only about 1500 of them produced, which makes me think parts would be hard to come by. Someone else is selling a Farmall 300 for $1500. I have not seen either tractor yet. The only use for this tractor would be pulling the spreader and possibly an interesting restoration project for me. Any info anyone can give me would be appreciated. I also saw what appears to be a nice AC on ebay. It is going off today though and is 165 miles away, which doesn't leave me time to go look at it.

A BN FarmAll will share a great many parts with the A FarmAll. They're not all that UNCOMMON. Parts are no harder to find that parts for any other old Binders. If that B is in decent shape, that's not a bad buy for a very collectable tractor.

I'm not the ultimate IH collector/expert, but I'm fairly certain the 300 is/was a further extention of the immortal FarmAll "H" line. That would be an excellent tractor for your needs. That's about an "average" price for a running 300.

H and M FarmAlls can be found in that $1200 to $1500 range from time to time. Good ol' tractors with the spirit of the Energizer Bunny.

roxynoodle · Oct 23, 2006

Well I drove a Farmall H tonight that runs really good but is pretty ugly. But, it's only $500 and I don't think it will take a lot of convincing myself to justify having a second tractor, lol! These things could cause people to need a 12 step plan. Tractors Anonymous.

Soundguy · Oct 26, 2006

I think the BN will share parts with another IH model... but for 500$.. that H sounds like the ticket.... Wish i could find an ugly H for that price!

soundguy

roxynoodle said:
I am considering buying an old ag tractor for pulling my manure spreader. Right now I'm pulling it with my truck (need my tractor to load it and can't pick it up to hook up to the tractor when it is loaded). It is an old spreader, probably a New Idea from the 50s. I was all set to buy a 1940 Farmall (B I think) from a friend but now he doesn't want to sell it. Someone is selling a Farmall BN for $1100 that isn't too far away. I looked up the BN and saw info that there were only about 1500 of them produced, which makes me think parts would be hard to come by. Someone else is selling a Farmall 300 for $1500. I have not seen either tractor yet. The only use for this tractor would be pulling the spreader and possibly an interesting restoration project for me. Any info anyone can give me would be appreciated. I also saw what appears to be a nice AC on ebay. It is going off today though and is 165 miles away, which doesn't leave me time to go look at it.

scott_vt · Oct 26, 2006

Mornin Roxy,
All good advice from the guys, and as they stated, dont worry about gettin parts for the BN. There are plenty of parts available.

The next question, ugly Farmall H or probablly better lookin 300, which is nothin more that a updated H

Different sheetmetal though! How ugly is the H, if the sheetmetal is all bent and dinged and rusted, then when you decide to restore it needs to be replaced and or fixed !

But for the price I cant see where you can go wrong

You said it runs well and there are plenty of parts available for the H, so no problem there !

My vote goes for the H, mostly because they are great tractors and it will be better equiped to pull a fully loaded manure spreader

roxynoodle · Oct 26, 2006

I bought the H. If I could figure out how to link the thread here, I would. I posted a picture of it in the Buying/Pricing forum if you want to look at it. Personally now that I see it in sunlight it is not as ugly as it looked Monday afternoon in the dark and snow. I first looked at it in the garage but I guess that light wasn't too good either. I was mostly concerned about how it ran, the oil pressure, if it was burning any oil or leaking, etc. I also checked it good for any cracks, either repaired or unrepaired in the engine and trans. blocks but didn't find any. I think I got a good deal!

bones1 · Oct 26, 2006

Roxy, you got a real good deal.

Farmwithjunk · Oct 26, 2006

roxynoodle said:
I bought the H. If I could figure out how to link the thread here, I would. I posted a picture of it in the Buying/Pricing forum if you want to look at it. Personally now that I see it in sunlight it is not as ugly as it looked Monday afternoon in the dark and snow. I first looked at it in the garage but I guess that light wasn't too good either. I was mostly concerned about how it ran, the oil pressure, if it was burning any oil or leaking, etc. I also checked it good for any cracks, either repaired or unrepaired in the engine and trans. blocks but didn't find any. I think I got a good deal!

That "ugly ol' tractor" will be an ugly old tractor after we're all long gone. That H is perfect for what you wanted it for. Some of those H's went their entire life with just the minimal amount of care and still show up for work every day. Narrow fronts are handy for barnyard tractors. Very nimble. Ya done GOOD

roxynoodle · Oct 26, 2006

Good! Thanks everyone. It sure does turn easily. Now I know what the tricycle front ends were for. It turns easier than my Yanmar. I was pleasantly surprised. I stopped and said, "does this have power steering???" and my neighbor said, "no, definitely not", which is what I had figured but it steers great! I do have a question if anyone knows. I looked up the specs before I bought it and it lists hp for the drawbar and hp for the "belt"... by belt I am assuming like if you had a belly mower on it? Question 2: does anyone know the engine hp or PTO hp? Or does PTO hp mean drawbar hp on this?