farmall 140 -post hole digger?

Hello-

I am brand new on the forum, and new to tractors too. I have a question, but first a little background...

A couple weeks ago my friend brought his dad's old Farmall 140 over to my house, along with a bushhog. I used it (first time ever on a tractor!) to clear about an acre of 4 foot high pigweed out of a pasture that has been neglected. About halfway through the job I fell in love with that tractor, and my wife did too... she realized all the things I could do with it! At some point, I want to buy one of my own.

Anyway, my friend is going to keep the tractor at my place for a while and said I can use it to do stuff. He has a bunch of implements that work with the fast hitch (bushhog, disk, blade, etc), but one thing that he doesn't have is a post hole digger. I was thinking about picking one up, which I could use now and also keep for when I get a tractor of my own. My question is..... will a post hole digger work on this tractor (Farmall 140 with fast hitch)? I read about a rare kind of PHD that they made for these tractors that costs some ridiculous amount, but I'm not really interested in that... I want something that I can use to put a fence in with. New, old, common, rare... it doesn't matter... I just need it to dig holes and not mess up the tractor. Can you all give me some pointers on what to look for in a post hole digger? Do they still make them that would work on this tractor?

thanks in advance!!

-pickNgrin

steiners sells a fast hitch to 3 point adapter, and they sell the 3 point lower arms that slide into the fast hitch, but you will need to fabricate a bracket for the top link. the 140 may be a little shy on power to run the auger, stay 12 inch or under on the bit. you can prolly get a king cutter farm and fleet brand pretty reasonable. not the best one out there, but if used modestly, should do the job. BE VERY CAREFULL when using the auger. dont let anyone get near it when running. it can catch a piece of clothing or limb and tear you to pieces. stay on the tractor when drilling. use idle speed, keep lifting the auger up to clear the hole, drill maybe 4-6 inches at a time and lift the auger out to clear it. if the auger screws itself into the ground, its a devil to get the bit out.

Two problems with a 140 and a standard 3pt hitch PTO post hole digger:

1. 140 has a ONE-point fast hitch. You could get away with off-the-shelf adapters if it were a 240 or a larger tractor with 2-point fast hitch. For a 140, you will need to fabricate a special adapter.
2. Offset PTO. Commercial post hole diggers are designed for a tractor with a centered PTO. Mount the digger centered on the rear of the 140, and you will be running the PTO shaft at an odd angle, and the shaft may interfere with the 3pt framework of the post hole digger.

The 140 is the last in a line of nearly-identical offset tractors. The 130, 100 and Super A are all almost the same under the hood. You will pay $1500 for a Super A and $4500 for a 140 in the same condition.

I used to have a 3 point hitch on my 140 and used a 3 point post hole digger on it. On the hole digger I had, the offset PTO was not a problem. I did have to adjust the top link connection on the hole digger so that the 3 point would lift it high enough. I've use a digger on a regular 3 point tractor that does not have down pressure. The digger worked much better on the 140, because you can apply down pressure to make the digger bite in. The 140 has plenty of power to run a hole digger, I believe I was using a 12 inch auger, but I think it would have handled a larger one without a problem. Never ran it much above idle.

Thanks for the replies so far! A couple more questions;

- Are there any post hole diggers that will work with the one point fast hitch, or do I definitely need the three point conversion? I'm sorry if that is a dumb question... I am still coming up to speed on the differences between the hitch types.

- Thanks for the tip on the super A. I looked at external_link... according to it the super A had a little less HP than the 140 (16 vs. 21 at the PTO). True? Also, did the super A have front and rear hydraulics like the 140?

Thanks!

-pickNgrin

I have a 140 for sale with a three point and fast hitch. I'mm selling it at half of what it's worth to raise some much needed funds.
email me and let me know if you want photos.