Classic tractors

[Agrispeed]

Lefty said:

Lots of food for thought!


Stupid question - will modern PTO driven machinery work OK from a 50's era tractor?

Not stupid at all, and the answer varies from machine to machine, I know TE20s and the like need an adaptor shaft, but the main problem would be the power output, and the size of the 3 point linkage etc, most old, and small tractors are category 1, and modern kit is almost all cat 2, also, before the MF35, draft positioning and suchlike didnt really work, so bear that in mind.

My 2p is that i would take a cabbed tractor over a non-cabbed version in every circumstance unless working in buildings, or jumping on and off a lot, their much safer, both if you roll over (ROPS) and, especially with a loader, if something falls on you (FOPS), Ive had a handler drop a bale on the roof of a McCormick cx i was in, and without a cab, i would be a goner... also, its much nicer in dusty or wet conditions, and means you don't have to check the sheep by driving under the hedgerow , even a non safety cab will save you when the mower blade hits a stone and fires it into the side of the tractor.

Oh, and here's todays picture, My 1394 feeding the cattle (last bale of this year):

[aponting389]

I love old tractors, collectively on the farm we have (if i can remember correctly)

1967 Roadless 65 (converted to a 90), bought new
1972 Zetor Crystal 8011 bought new
1936 case model C bought new
193* Case model L on spade lug wheels bought new (i think)
1939 Caterpillar D2 bought new
1940 Caterpillar D4 bought some when in the 40s
1960ish Fordson Dexta
1940ish Fordson Major EN27

I'll try and get some pics up if anyones interested!

[Trommel]

Bought in the '30s and still on the same farm? That's pretty cool.

[m60ddy]

Ok time to come out of the closet, here's my families collection.
3 x Fordson Major / Power Major one used for launching the boat
DB 850 used on the family farm.
Grey Fergie, petrol really good condition but really want a diesel.
DB cropmaster currently on show in the DB museum at Meltham.
Think that's them all apart from the old lawn bug we have somewhere.

[Lefty]

Not quite a classic yet, just picked up my 1984 Massey 675

Pics to follow ( feckin iPhone won't upload pics )

[Agrispeed]

Lefty said:

Not quite a classic yet, just picked up my 1984 Massey 675

Pics to follow ( feckin iPhone won't upload pics )

Is that one of the ones with the no engine breaking in low? sticks on the floor jobbie

damn fine tractors, once you got used to them

[Lefty]

Yep:

With the multi-power system there is one hydraulic clutch pack and also a ratchet type assembly. When in low multi the hydraulic clutch is dissengaged and the drive goes through a pair of gears into a ratchet clutch which takes the drive to the gearbox. There is no engine breaking in low multi because of the ratchet clutch. When you move the transmission to high multi it locks up the hydraulic clutch and the hydraulic clutch gear drives another gear. Because the drive is now turning faster than through the low-multi ratchet clutch, this now becomes a free-wheeling device. It is for this reason that there is engine breaking in high multi power, but no engine breaking in low multi power.
This is also why if you are in high multi going up a hill and you depress the clutch pedal that whilst in gear no roll-back can occur because of the ratchet clutch. ie. both systems are locked together.  The hydraulic multi-power clutch is not torque converter, but is merely a multi-plate hydraulically operated clutch pack. The good thing about this is that there is no loss of power through to the gearbox.
The clutch is a conventional clutch and so is the 3 speed gearbox.

[Irish]

A saying I never tire of: " A Massey is classey but a Zetor is better ".

Have driven Massey, SAME, John Deere, Ford, Lamborghini.

Always have a soft spot for the Massey 135.

[Farmerlad]

We used to have a David Brown 996, but traded it in for a International hydro84, a future classic I think Its used everyday as well.

[4rephill]

Does anybody have/still use a County tractor?
(It's My favourite tractor of all time because My dad used to drive them in the 70's and it was the first vehicle I got to drive when I was @ 8years old)



You can take the Boy out from the country but you can't take the country out of the Boy!

[mat777]

4rephill said:

Does anybody have/still use a County tractor?
(It's My favourite tractor of all time because My dad used to drive them in the 70's and it was the first vehicle I got to drive when I was @ 8years old)



You can take the Boy out from the country but you can't take the country out of the Boy!

Funnily enough, one of the guys in my Uni course is the Grandson of one of the Country founders!
They are very nice tractors - if I was in the classic agri scene I'd be looking for a Super 6

[Agrispeed]

4rephill said:

Does anybody have/still use a County tractor?
(It's My favourite tractor of all time because My dad used to drive them in the 70's and it was the first vehicle I got to drive when I was @ 8years old)



You can take the Boy out from the country but you can't take the country out of the Boy!

I think they were let down by having the turning circle of a small field. Modern Equal wheel tractors are articulating, such as the stieger or, 4WD like the fastrac or xerion (very cool ) Although they were good at ploughing or cultivations in sticky ground, a tractor with smaller front wheels or more modern front joint system is much more versatile.

Also, as most are owned by collectors, they are very expensive compared to others.

They are very cool though! even cooler was the one i saw with a mahoosive farmhand loader, used for loading lorries, it carried so much, it had deformed the front wheels!

Farmerlad said:

We used to have a David Brown 996, but traded it in for a International hydro84, a future classic I think Its used everyday as well.

Already a classic, and suppost to be very good! also, a bet a modern(ish) 2wd massey like that is rare bet the turning circle is pretty good though!

[skene]

We have;

MF 35x
MF 35 (x2)
Ford 4000 pre-Force
Ford 4000 Force
MF 135 (by far my favourite )

[Farmerlad]

County's now have an almost fanatic following. A sort of cult status thing, one of the last ones built sold for £64K a year or so ago.

Agrispeed the Intey is great apart from in reverse, as my legs are too long so knocks the lever into neutral :P Very good for the straw chopper

The MF is our neighbours who I work for, I'm guessing a 2wd of that model is pretty rare. Great tractor for a feed wagon and grass rake, can turn on a 2p, but bounces a bit on the road, even with the new front weights on

[4rephill]

Agrispeed said:

I think they were let down by having the turning circle of a small field. Modern Equal wheel tractors are articulating, such as the stieger or, 4WD like the fastrac or xerion (very cool ) Although they were good at ploughing or cultivations in sticky ground, a tractor with smaller front wheels or more modern front joint system is much more versatile......



.....They are very cool though! even cooler was the one i saw with a mahoosive farmhand loader, used for loading lorries, it carried so much, it had deformed the front wheels!

As an 8 year old I had no concept or concern for turning circles!
This wasn't some girlie tractor with titchy, tiny wheels up front - these came with Man sized wheels front and rear and were pretty much unstoppable!

Having said that, I remember coming home all excited on the school bus on the day My Dad's 2nd brand new County had been delivered, and as we passed the field that Dad, the farm owner and the delivery driver were all in, there she was, pristine clean with a great long multi-furrow plough on the back end (I forget how many furrows were on it), and her front wheels 5 feet off the ground!

The delivery guy had sworn blind that the nose weights were enough to counter the weight of the plough to which My dad had told him: "I don't they are!".
She pulled the plough no problem and even lifted it out the ground okay (although there was some warning bounce happening that told Dad it was close on the balance, but she stayed with all four wheels on the ground), so Dad carefully made the turn at the end of the run, rotated the plough over for the return leg and that's when she popped a wheelie!

By the time I'd ran back down to the field from home (stupid bus driver wouldn't let Me off at the field! ), Dad had got the nose back down by lowering the plough down and the delivery guy had gone to fetch some additional wheel weights for the front wheels.

Once the wheel weights were on - no more problems!

God I loved those tractors!

Agrispeed said:

Also, as most are owned by collectors, they are very expensive compared to others.

I know what you mean, they were never cheap when they were new, now a barely usable wreck will cost you as much as a good condition rival tractor.

Should those numbers come up on the lottery though, There'll be at least one 70's county in amongst My car collection!

[lowdrag]

That old Fergy brings back so many memories of school holidays in the 50s and working on the farm for pocket money. Thanks to all of you for such an interesting thread.

ETA Not really relevant to the thread, but a photo I took in 1991 which i call "The tortoise and the hare". It has memories because my good friend at the wheel of the tractor is no longer with us.

Edited by lowdrag on Tuesday 22 May 08:27

[Gibberish]

Here’s my little 135 multi power.

Originally intended to cut grass with it, but a classic example of a refurbishment getting out of hand.

[Agrispeed]

Farmerlad said:

County's now have an almost fanatic following. A sort of cult status thing, one of the last ones built sold for £64K a year or so ago.

Agrispeed the Intey is great apart from in reverse, as my legs are too long so knocks the lever into neutral :P Very good for the straw chopper

The MF is our neighbours who I work for, I'm guessing a 2wd of that model is pretty rare. Great tractor for a feed wagon and grass rake, can turn on a 2p, but bounces a bit on the road, even with the new front weights on

That's why they make the best scraper tractors! (a farm i work on uses a Int sommat or other) you can kick the ones with the standard box into gear, and lift/drop the scaper at the same time! also, why does no comapies make front hinged doors now (maybe Claas does)? Great for loader tractors, where you need spatial awareness and hopping on and off

4rephill said:

As an 8 year old I had no concept or concern for turning circles!
This wasn't some girlie tractor with titchy, tiny wheels up front - these came with Man sized wheels front and rear and were pretty much unstoppable!

I always loved Fastracs for the 4equal wheel thing, and having driven a 3230, they are bloody good, and great on the road (although front suspension helps) no twitchy wheels, or getting stuck in the mud

I guess a Crawler like the Cat challenger or JD's RT are the modern version of a county...

[4rephill]

Agrispeed said:

I always loved Fastracs for the 4equal wheel thing, and having driven a 3230, they are bloody good, and great on the road (although front suspension helps) no twitchy wheels, or getting stuck in the mud

I guess a Crawler like the Cat challenger or JD's RT are the modern version of a county...

There are a lot of very impressive tractors available these days, in fact it's got to be a bit of a nightmare (and a gamble), when trying to choose the right one for the job these days.

Fastracs are impressive machines, it's got to be said, but the one that really gets My attention is the Case IH Steiger Quadtrac 4WD Tractor.
It might just be the sheer size of the thing but damn that's some piece of kit!

At the end of the day though, it'll never make Me smile like an old County!


Another of My County memories to share with you:

Dad gave up working on the farm in '79 and we ended up moving out of the farm owned bungalow in the countryside and into a council house in the Town about 3 miles away.

To help keep the cost of moving down, We used the County and a flat bed trailer to take all our possessions to the new house.
The first day We did three trips down and I got to ride in the cab with Dad for each trip.

After the third trip it was getting late so Dad backed the county and the trailer into the parking area at the new house and we closed the gates. The county was on the concrete area for a car, the front end looking over the top of the gates and the trailer was on the lawn.

To this day I can still imagine the people over the road thinking: "New neighbours!, lets see what car they've got!", and then opening up their curtains to see this bloody great tractor staring back at them over top of the gates!

They must have thought the Beverly Hill Billies had moved in!

[Lefty]

Well here she is:

1984 MF675.





One thing though, the hydraulic lift won't work until the engine has been running for about 10 minutes at ~1500rpm.

Any idea what could be causing this?

Cheers
Lefty