still farming with an M

jdetig1 · Feb 7, 2012

just wondering does anyone out there still use their M or other old farmalls to farm with? I use my M and super M for baling,raking, pulling silage wagons, a little plowing, and other small jobs. I use the 806 for the bigger tillage jobs. I like seeing people use their old farmalls for work. Also i am looking for some good used 13.6x38 rear tires for my M, if anyone knows where to get some.

2+2 Guy · Feb 7, 2012

I use my 52 M on a fertilizer spreader cart and my SMTAD on the seed wagon. Nothing better than spending some time on an old Farmall. :lol:

glennster · Feb 7, 2012

i keep my m's, h, cub and b pretty busy around the farm. best way to find good used rear tires is to go to farm auctions and look for clamp on duals with decent tires. i picked up a set of 18-4x34 clamp on duals for 55 dollars, one set of 13.6x38's for 25 dollars, two other sets of 13.6 x 38's for 40 some odd dollars.

John M · Feb 7, 2012

The only farming left going on here are the plants my wife puts out every spring, BUT my working M does get used for bushhogging, scraping the driveway, and generally tugging stuff around the place.

mike1972chev · Feb 7, 2012

I dont think Ms have ever actually quit farming where I am at?

"Work horses" !!!

DeltaRed · Feb 7, 2012

I do all my farmin' with the old IH tractors:SC,SH,SM,706,826,1256.The SM stillplants all my corn(70-100 acres) and works regularly.They're old,rusty,but I love em.

SouthernFarmall · Feb 7, 2012

It is not quite as old as an M, but I use my 1962 140 for raking and tedding 15 acres of coastal bermuda hay a year, as well as tending a 1.5 acre garden (plowing with 2-14s, disking with a 5 foot tandem disk, as well as cultivating). Just today I used it to pull out some privet stumps and yank a 25 foot tree up by the roots. I love my tractor!

SF

mike1972chev · Feb 7, 2012

VERY cool DeltaRed !!!!!

I feel the same way!

jdetig1 · Feb 7, 2012

i have a set of 15.5x38 clamp on duals that has alright tires on them. will 15.5x38s fit on an M? Im not sure how wide my rim is. Its a 1950 model if that makes any difference. How wide of rims do you need for 15.5s?

David Goode · Feb 7, 2012

On our "Hobby Farm" we use our Super M for plowing the garden, moving manure, moving snow and other jobs around the homestead. She also gets used a lot at our local Historical societies Farm harvesting wheat, hauling wood for steam engines, pull starting our older tractors, etc. I love driving around the country and seeing Old Farmalls still at work, and around Eastern Iowa you see a lot of them still earning their keep on Farms.

Montanarancher09 · Feb 7, 2012

My Farmall Cub is used for pushing snow and gravel.
Farmall H with a mounted post pounder.
Farmall 656 hay baler and disk.
Farmall 230 with New Holland 57 hay rake
Farmall Super C with a 3 point JD 350 hay rake.
Farmall M pulls the 7 ton hay wagon and 100 Grain Drill.

rustred · Feb 7, 2012

my 660 ih is my newest main farming tractor. have many many older ones that get used to suit the job. i could pretty much use a diff. one for each week during the year but then winter comes and dont even have one to push snow, what the heck .

jal-SD · Feb 7, 2012

My brother-in-law has a Stage I Super M (it has a 4 digit serial #) under a loader that is used every day on his farm. He also has a couple of SC Cases, a DC Case & my '53 Super C Farmall & '54 foot-clutch SC Case that are used as needed. (My $0.02 worth. jal-SD)

Brendon-KS · Feb 7, 2012

My FIL's H gets fired up every morning and every evening for about seven months out of the year to feed cattle with. During the summer it also gets regular use running grain augers, pulling bale wagons, powering the roller mill, and a multitude of other jobs. His 706 is the loader tractor and also gets a lot of use around the farmyard. The Westendorf never comes off of it so it doesn't see much field time. The 7230 and 986 round out the fleet.

SadFarmall · Feb 8, 2012

We farm 1100 acres and our M has been in constant use since 1941. It still mows, rakes and bales at least one hundred acres every Summer and works with ploughs, harrows and seed drill in the Autumn. It generally gets some work with the Reaper & Binder too. During Winter it helps feed out hay, hauls logs, fence posts and pulls trucks out of the mud. After all, what is a Farmall for? My philosophy is 'have tractor, will use it'.
SadFarmall

riverbend · Feb 8, 2012

The H is my regular tractor for our vegetable farm. It plows in the spring, disks, plants, digs potatoes, pulls the MH combine, runs the AC All-Crop, picks corn, pulls what needs to move and pushes snow in the winter. The Super C mostly cultivates, but sometimes pulls wagons or runs the auger.

I'm still trying to work the bugs out of a 350...

Greg

oldtanker · Feb 8, 2012

I have a 1206, M, TLB and Ford 8N. While I do use the M the lack of decent live hydraulics regulates it to the manure spreader, hay rake and brush cutter. I don't think whit where I'm trying to make the farm go I would get anything older than a 460/560 again.

Rick

Baelee05 · Feb 8, 2012

Nobody around here does much but run an auger with M's anymore. The guys that farmed with them in the day remember what running those old tractors did to their bodies and don't care to relive it. Most younger guys might take one to a plow day or something but as far as using one for real fieldwork, they kind of want to be able to stand up straight, and be able to hear by the time they are 50. They were a good old tractor but they are pretty much auger and feed grinding tractors anymore. As far as tires are concerned, good luck. Every Joe that has bought an old M in the last twenty years is looking for tires that size. Best suck it up and save for new.

mkirsch · Feb 8, 2012

Yeah man, everyone, and I mean EVERYONE is looking for a "good used" set of tires. Even if someone has a line on a set they're going to snap them up for themselves rather than share the info with you. It's the reality of the times; new tires cost more than the entire tractor is worth.

15.5x38's are the same outer diameter as a 13.6x38 when mounted on a proper rim. They would be fine for an M, as they will not increase speed but will increase flotation.

15.5's should be mounted on a 14" wide rim IIRC. Good luck finding a 14" wide drop center rim. I think 12" is as wide as they get.

If you're desperate, you can squeeze the 15.5's on to the M's stock rims in a pinch.

JRSutton · Feb 8, 2012

My friend and I bale about 2000 bales a year. We use a jd 6030 for the mowing and baling, but use his M for tedding, raking, and pulling wagons. Also use the M for plowing and discing, but not so much lately (certainly not the tractors fault though)

It's a beautiful M - I'll attach a picture with my son on it pulling a hay wagon (crappy picture - taken with cell phone that's almost as old as the M)

Allan in NE · Feb 8, 2012

Yep,

That's what farmalls are for. :>)

1066, M, 966 and 686.

Allan

Super-H-Mike · Feb 8, 2012

Yes I still use my farmalls for work. SM and SH s are used for loader work,hauling wagons,picking corn,plowing,discing,planting,dragging,spraying,spreading manure,etc.,etc. I am a small part-time farmer now, but I have always used these tractors even when I was farming more seriously. They are extra handy,cheap to own and run, and amazingly reliable . I am sure the newer compact tractors can do everything the old girls can and more, but have you priced those lately? I could buy a dozen or more H s and M s for the cost of one new compact.

kossuth · Feb 8, 2012

(quoted from post at 17:54:44 02/07/12) i have a set of 15.5x38 clamp on duals that has alright tires on them. will 15.5x38s fit on an M? Im not sure how wide my rim is. Its a 1950 model if that makes any difference. How wide of rims do you need for 15.5s?

robiably not, but you would have to check. The largest tire that went on the typical M rim was about a 14.9. Now the 450's and 560's had different rims and centers on them that folks put 15.5 and larger tires on. You'd have to look to see if it's been changed around.

jeramy · Feb 8, 2012

i still use my m for picking corn with a new idea 2 row corn picker.also do a little plowing,and haul hay wagons and haul wood too.

Farmallb · Feb 8, 2012

I farm with a 34 CC Case, a 48 H and a 50 Cub Demostrator. I just got done plowing 12 acres with the H. Ill be discing same with it as I let the drawbar go free which helps on turns.

Heifer · Feb 8, 2012

Great discussion! I use my M for plowing, raking hay, pulling hay wagons, brush hogging and occasionally plowing snow. It has a three point hitch and a wide front end, thus making it extremely handy. It is rough on the back after being in he seat for more than 2 hours!

Kippster · Feb 9, 2012

Most serious farmers around here have big machines over 150 - 200 horse an use the old farmalls like toys. They laugh at me when I tell them that I farm almost 80 acres an my BIG tractor is a 48 H!!!!

rustyfarmall · Feb 9, 2012

(quoted from post at 16:56:26 02/07/12) i keep my m's, h, cub and b pretty busy around the farm. best way to find good used rear tires is to go to farm auctions and look for clamp on duals with decent tires. i picked up a set of 18-4x34 clamp on duals for 55 dollars, one set of 13.6x38's for 25 dollars, two other sets of 13.6 x 38's for 40 some odd dollars.

WOW! You either just flat lucked out or the folks in your neck of the woods have a few more smarts about used tires. Around here, at auctions, if the tires have any life left in them at all, they will bring 2/3 to 3/4 the price of brand NEW tires. I've walked away many a time just shaking my head.

Faster346 · Feb 11, 2012

I have a H that's been in the family for several years. I retired it a few years ago and gave it a nuts and bolts restoration. It sits in the garage looking pretty and doesn't get brought out for any dirty work. I have a Super C and a Ford 640 that get used almost daily on my farm, and an M that gets used once in a while for heavy brush hogging.

Red Mist · Feb 14, 2012

About all I do anymore is plant a good dove field. I disc it with my Super M and pull the old drill with the super H. That's about it. But, it brings back the old days with the old engine sounds and smells......
Mike

still farming with an M

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