OT - "Vintage" Tractor Purchasing

[Stellaghost]

1 minute ago, Gazzar said:

Spent so many hours in a zetor I couldn't count them. I started driving in one at 7 years old. Masseys may be classy, but a zetor is better. 

We had a Zetor at work one of the first 4wd's, was still going strong when works was shut down lasted a couple of decades

Regards Stephen

[Gazzar]

My dad used to work for one of the zetor importers. He was the predelivery inspector. They used to drive them from the docks to the depot, along the quays in the centre of town. Racing tractors through the traffic! Couldn't do it these days.

[Escape]

Old tractors are cool and can be a lot of fun! 😎

We bought a 67 Deutz a few years ago, that had been sitting for many years. We got it running within the hour, after which is was used to move cars around the Workshop etc, no real tractor work. I couldn't justify keeping it (lack of space) so it was sold of with a bit of a profit. We did have a great time getting it back into shape and guaranteed a big grin whenever it was started/driven.

I fancy another one, don't really car what brand, as long as it's a classic. A mate has a Ferguson, not sure of the type, he uses at the farm of his dearly departed granddad for light maintenance duty like mowing the edges of the fields. He actually drove it the 60-odd km from the Workshop to the farm instead of trailering it! 

[Peaklander]

I’ve just walked past this. Not sure if it is used or not, sometimes it’s just not obvious.

[Peaklander]

5 hours ago, Stellaghost said:

Pressing the clutch disengages the hydraulics, so to operate say a front loader the tractor would need to be in neutral, that's my understanding of it

Our Fordson had the arms for implements at the back, with adjustable top link too. They were raised and lowered at will.

The snowplough was connected through to them using arms, via some sort of pivot, so it was lifted with that same hydraulic circuit.

That must be why the ‘dead drive’ term is unknown to me. 

[muddy]

Dead drive usually refers to the PTO so if you are mowing/foraging/muck spreading etc and you want to change gear then when you put the clutch in to change gear the pto also stops.

Live drive uses a twin plate clutch with a separate pto driveshaft turning inside a hollow primary shaft right through the gear box. PTO in/out is selected at the rear in the 'back end'

 

This is a DB but they are all very similar.

 

[Ed Poore]

On 10/5/2023 at 4:55 PM, L19MUD said:

Whilst we are on this topic has anyone got any experience of using a flail mower around the 6ft size for cutting paddocks? I have only ever used a topper which does the job but leaves the grass in a line if it is left too long between cuts

 

I am thinking a flail with a rear roller will mulch it and spread it giving a better finish?

Not 6ft but I have a 4ft Winton flail with roller behind my little New Holland 1220. It does a neater job that the John Deere ride on it replaced did. Can even use it in the wet with half decent results.

This was done about a week ago on the one dry day in that week.The grass was about a foot high and sheep had been all over it (to try and cut it down but they didn't like the long grass).

This portion of the field has nettles 3ft high when I started

Last year before an open day at the Abbey I demolished a good chuck of those reeds with the flail too.

It's a very versatile tool and if you've got the power to run one I'd highly recommend it over a topper. The 4ft is a little over sized for the 1220 but she just about manages it if you treat it gently. Just have to feather the clutch to get the flail up to speed.

Edit - you don't need the roller to spread stuff evenly, the design of the mower does that. The roller basically gives the striping effect and also means you're not running on the skids so don't tear up the ground as much.

[ThreePointFive]

I am very glad I posted this. While my own aspirations died last week (property not suitable), I can at least live vicariously through you lot.

I don't like the idea of taking up a garage space with a tractor that doesn't have any grass to play on, and it's not like I'm going to take it up and down the road for a jaunt so that's that.

[ThreePointFive]

16 hours ago, Ed Poore said:

Not 6ft but I have a 4ft Winton flail with roller behind my little New Holland 1220. It does a neater job that the John Deere ride on it replaced did. Can even use it in the wet with half decent results.

This was done about a week ago on the one dry day in that week.The grass was about a foot high and sheep had been all over it (to try and cut it down but they didn't like the long grass).

This portion of the field has nettles 3ft high when I started

Last year before an open day at the Abbey I demolished a good chuck of those reeds with the flail too.

It's a very versatile tool and if you've got the power to run one I'd highly recommend it over a topper. The 4ft is a little over sized for the 1220 but she just about manages it if you treat it gently. Just have to feather the clutch to get the flail up to speed.

Edit - you don't need the roller to spread stuff evenly, the design of the mower does that. The roller basically gives the striping effect and also means you're not running on the skids so don't tear up the ground as much.

Sir Ed, we need to work on the 'before' aspect of your "before and after' photo game.

[Ed Poore]

1 hour ago, ThreePointFive said:

Sir Ed, we need to work on the 'before' aspect of your "before and after' photo game.

I've been coerced into going down to mow again on Monday so I'll try and remember but it won't be as long.

[Gazzar]

Thought this inappropriate.

[Ed Poore]

@ThreePointFive

Found an old photo which shows some of the finish you can obtain.

Obviously mown stuff on the left, probably a couple of weeks growth on the right.

[ThreePointFive]

That's the good stuff, right there.

Can you put 35x bodywork on a 135? Asking for a friend.

[L19MUD]

2 hours ago, Ed Poore said:

@ThreePointFive

Found an old photo which shows some of the finish you can obtain.

Obviously mown stuff on the left, probably a couple of weeks growth on the right.

That looks excellent. It was a 2m Winton one I looked at with side shift. The 165 is 60hp so should easily handle that. I topped the paddock at our soon to be new house which was badly overgrown with the 135 and topper at the weekend. Some before and after.

 

It is a 6ft topper so the 135 needs to be in first gear to handle a full width at the height of grass

[Ed Poore]

2 hours ago, L19MUD said:

That looks excellent. It was a 2m Winton one I looked at with side shift. The 165 is 60hp so should easily handle that. I topped the paddock at our soon to be new house which was badly overgrown with the 135 and topper at the weekend. Some before and after.

The flail is an amazingly versatile bit of mower. I was skeptical to begin with about the finish because I always associated them with bracken bashing etc. A friend in Surrey who runs a forestry company built a massive one to go behind his Massey. He simply reverses into rhododendron bushes and woodchip comes out the other side.

However three different people said that it gives a perfect lawn finish and bit the bullet. At the time I was having to do some reed bashing which takes some power (arguably too much for my little 20hp thing) but first and foremost it had to do lawn mowing. It does a superb job on that particularly with the roller and gives you nice striped effects. Even on thick stuff because it spreads it evenly it does a better job I've found that a ride on.

The downsides, it takes some finesse when it's a bit damp as it rides on the skids (normally) so tends to tear up the ground turning. Basically lift it slightly as you turn or what I've done is extend the top link and lift the skids out of the way so it's only riding on the roller. They take power to run without bogging the tractor down, Winton actually give recommended HP on their range and I'd stick by it if you want an easy lift. I wanted a 4ft because the tractor is 4ft wide (huge turf tyres) but arguably I should be running more like a 3ft flail.

[Ed Poore]

Even better before and after for the thick stuff.

And a drone shot comparing things. Area to the right was done with a commercial ride on, middle was mown reasonably regularly throughout the summer with the flail and the field to the left got two cuts about a week apart prior to the event.

[deep]

Old tractors are just like Series Land Rovers!  The charm is in the basics, then you want more comfort and convenience so end up with coil springs, disc brakes, wind up windows .... well, not so much but if you want the real charm, learn to use them as they are?

I have two tractors here.  A Massey Ferguson TEA 28 horse and a Fiat 880DT (88 horsepower, four wheel drive).  The Fergie is a long term loan.  I have driven them since I was 14 (so close to  half a century now, ahem).  I have mown garden lawns with them and used them to clear orchard prunings, driving right into the fire to unload them from the buckrake on the back.  My favourite thing about them is they seem impossible to kill.  Overload them and they will eventually stop, or not lift, but they are pretty hard to break.  The biggest problem I have here is that the front is quite light.  Put too much firewood in the back and I get quickly reminded that only the left steering brake works.  Much less of an issue on the flat!  I don't have much flat land.

The "live drive" PTO isn't hard to live without.  You learn to throw it into neutral when coming to a halt and how to synch the tractor and mower when starting off.  It isn't hard but best learned with a lot of space around you!  A bit more annoying is that the PTO has to be engaged to use the hydraulics, so you need to put it in neutral to lift anything.  The little things are pretty stable and float nicely over the muck, due to their light weight.

The Fiat is a completely different beast but still has electronic-free technology.  It has so much grip and ground clearance that my Land Rovers can only dream of going the same places.  Power, grip, stronger hydraulics and it's a dream to use.  I use a front end loader, with either grader blade, mower or crane on the back.  I have a very old, well worn but very heavy duty, 6 foot slasher and the combination is perfect.  I unearth old logs, stumps and even concrete fence posts and the swing away blades stop any real damage.  A sharp slasher cuts beautifully and needs less maintenance than a flail mower/mulcher but the latter is better if you are dealing with woody weeds.  My one doesn't pile the grass into lines, it just chucks it all out the back in a fairly even fashion.  A flail mower is more prone to taking the high points off your lawn and needs to spin quite quickly to do a nice job.  My neighbour has killed three of them in his eternal fight against gorse!

The best thing with old tractors is that they don't need to be stored in a shed.  True story...

[landroversforever]

22 hours ago, ThreePointFive said:

 

it's not like I'm going to take it up and down the road for a jaunt so that's that.

Why not? Perfect pub run vehicle!

[Ed Poore]

The stuff I'd mown a few weeks ago wasn't that impressive but I've cut a track through the reeds. First pass lifted off about 6" then a second pass with it on the roller at a drunken crawl speed. Even a Land Rover in the picture to keep it on topic!

Bearing in mind this stuff was bogging down a 215hp tractor with a hedge cutter. So crawling it is with a tiddly 17hp and about the same width cut.

[JohnnoK]

On 10/8/2023 at 5:27 PM, ThreePointFive said:

That's the good stuff, right there.

Can you put 35x bodywork on a 135? Asking for a friend.

I can't see why not.

[JohnnoK]

As a kid on the farm, the first tractor I remember us having was a David Brown 990 which was joined by a MF135, both great tractors,, but given a choice today, I'd take a 135 hands down.

[Anderzander]

I have a friend who swears by old David Browns …. They certainly seem better prices than the Masseys 

[Anderzander]

I got 3 hours in this this week - with a hedge cutter on the back. Cutting brambles. 

[Nonimouse]

A friend is just about to sell what is believed to be the only Volvo BM600 in the UK. He's not after stupid money either. It runs beautifully and is particularly nice to work

Alternatively I know of a working Allis Chalmers Model B up for grab

[JohnnoK]

On 10/27/2023 at 6:18 PM, Anderzander said:

I have a friend who swears by old David Browns …. They certainly seem better prices than the Masseys 

Ours used to go through the reduction gear bearings at the wheels in a fairly regular fashion. A bugger of a job in the field with that particular side in a ploughed furrow, I can tell you...🤬