I"m going to do some growing for some folks and and would like to know people"s thoughts on the 140. I see that they had a long production run, there are still a lot of parts and attachments for them, and they seem to have quite a bit of value. Are there any things to look out for? Weaknesses? Better years than others(improvements)? I"d appreciate any and all opinions, or thoughts. Thank you.
Jason

Since your title is best cultivating tractor i would say it it a super c 200 230 with either the front mount 4 row or a modern S tine on the fast hitch/3 point.I have used both and the modern S tine on the rear was mutch less trouble and faster than the old weed controlers on the front!! Bud.

I have used the 140 and Cubs for garden work. Both are good, I would say it depends on the size garden.under 2 acers - go with a cub but anything larger I would want a 140.

(quoted from post at 06:47:33 03/30/12) Since your title is best cultivating tractor i would say it it a super c 200 230 with either the front mount 4 row or a modern S tine on the fast hitch/3 point.I have used both and the modern S tine on the rear was mutch less trouble and faster than the old weed controlers on the front!! Bud.

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Cultivated a lot of corn and beans with a Super C, but never thought they would work with a 4 row, although there was a plate on the end of the 2 row for something to mount on. Maybe there was some kind of 4 row vegetable cultivator?

I grew up on a 560 diesel with a 68 front mount cultivator and would not trade it for anything. You can see, go around corners, point rows are easier, and I love the sound of that engine. Later in life I bought a 85 12 row FM for my 1456. That too is a lot of fun and you get a lot of funny looks going down the road, but I would take my 560 any day!

I used a Farmall BN for years. Plenty of power and inexpensive to run.
I didn't think anyone cultivated anymore.

I always love it when people ask about weaknesses in these old tractors... If there were any REAL weaknesses, there wouldn't be so many of them around.

Basically ANYTHING could be a weakness on a 35- to 54-year-old tractor, just from simple wear and tear. Beyond that they're practically bulletproof as long as you use them and don't abuse them.

140 is a good choice, but you can get the same basic tractor for 1/3 to 1/2 the money if you go for a Super A. All the attachments will fit from one to the next because the Super A is basically the great grand-daddy of the 140. Almost no major changes aside from the hood after 1954.

140s are great. I use my 62 model for tedding hay, raking hay, planting (1 row Cole) plowing (2-14s), disking (5 foot tandem), and cultivating. I also have a Cub and, while it is a fine little tractor, the 140 totally blows it out of the water. My 140 is 6 volt because it is an early model, but it always starts right up. During 1963 IH changed the cosmetics a little bit. I, personally, prefer the early look. As far as parts availability, I can walk into NAPA and get everything to maintenance it with. Websites carry most other repair parts.
I absolutely love the fast hitch. That is the biggest difference between the 140 and the Super A, I believe. I can't describe how easy it is to use on the computer. It, literally, takes 10 minutes to go from plowing to cultivating and side dressing. Just yesterday I hooked and unhooked from the plow without getting off the tractor. I think that if you can find a 140 near you with some fast hitch equipment, you should snap it up.

SF

I love my super A and the 140 is just a newer version. One would hope any changes they made to it were all improvements. They do have a little more power which is always a plus.

I have no direct experience with the 140, but I'm guessing you'd be happy with it given you check it over as you would any tractor for obvious cracks, leaks, exhaust smoke, and odd noises.

They're light tractors, relatively speaking, so tires are real important. The better the tires, the happier you'll be when you're in the dirt.

I'd go with front and rear wheel weights, factor having to buy them into your total price if the one you're looking at doesn't have them.

And speaking of that, implements tend to be much cheaper when you buy them with a tractor instead of trying to accumulate them later. There are lots of parts out there, but the shipping will kill you.

The 140 was designed to do exactly what it sounds like you're doing. So its' a great choice. Of course, anything more than a few acres and you start needing something larger. How big of an area are you planning on working?

Also, if it's your ONLY tractor, you might be happier with something a little larger too - unless you're sure it's only job will be what you describe here.

My two cents.

Having a super A with no fast hitch - I read this with envy...

I love the tractor, but switching implements is enough of a pain to make me think I need two or three more super a's, each dedicated to one job.

140 and similar models are excellent for 1 row cultivating, need to have both front and rear cultivators. I am referring to the factory cultivators. Spent many hours cultivating with one.
If you have the fast hitch, you will have to take that off if your plants have any height, so it won't drag on the plants. Factory type rear cultivators mount so that you won't need the fast hitch with them.
Like some other reply's, there are newer type rotary cultivators that can be adapted to the tractor to make it a multiple row cultivator. Also if you can adapt the rotary cultivators you can increase your ground speed. Important to decide what cultivator you are going to use before you plant , in order to get row width right to use the tractor. Have fun

The main differences from earlier to later 140's is the charging system. If you are shopping for a 140, look for a 12v key start model. Also look at the block behind the carb for cracks. Finally, check the right brake pedal for side play.

I like my 140, but for cultivating and planting, (which is what I use my Cub for) my Cub does just as good of a job. Implements are cheaper too.

I do like to bush hog on the 140 though.

The 140 is an excellent cutlivation/chore tractor. I have a cub and a 130 that I use on my vegetable farm. The cub is a great machine. Simple to work on and very fuel efficient. It was my main cultivation tractor until I got the 130. I love the 130. Single point hitch, independant front and rear lift, standard PTO, and considerable more power give it the nod over the cub. Mine is still on the 6 volt system and gives me no trouble. If you are going to do more than an acre or so and if this will be your main tractor it will be worth it to get a 140 with cultivators. The quick hitch is very nice but only if you have implements to go with it. I use a 5 foot disk and a tool bar with a hitch prong and I can switch between them without leaving the seat. The super A is also an option if you aren't worried about the quick hitch. Your can probably find an A cheaper than a 140.

I have spent many hours shining the seat of a Super C and variuos H s while cultivating. I have to say I always enjoyed the job. Usually great weather and I liked the solitude as well. As any farmer or gardener knows, it is kinda fun to destroy those weeds! The Super C was the best tractor for the job,plenty of power, easy to steer and manuver, pretty quiet, easy on gas,good view, etc. Around here, I don t think a much smaller tractor would have been enough to do the clay hills and so forth. Flat loose soil, sure.

I know you're asking about the 140, but your title for your post was "Best Cultivating Tractor." Based on that, its hard to leave the C,Super C, 200 out of this discussion for 2 row equipment.

AS a matter of fact the cultivater frames i had had been stretched to 6 row for pulling beans but i used them as 4 row. For a while i was thinking of buying a 6 row planter but when i tryed a White 378?? six row 3 point S tine i had to back yp while raising it to keep the front end down!! The 20.8" X 34's on the XT 190 were to big so i put anhydrous ammonia on with the Int 200 haulling 3 leggs! The only thing the SC 200 230 ever lacked was live pto and did M&W ever make a wheel clutch for those?/ Bud.

My grandfather told me the Farmall 100 was the best tractor for cultivating because one of the gears was just the right speed for cultivating. Apparently this was changed in the 130 and 140.

140 hands down !!!If you need to be able to push a 1/4 of dirt up to the base of a plant . Very versatile tractor . I have many hours on one .
One draw back is buy the side cushions for the seat, you will have a bruised hip , been there done that .
I take a while to learn how to set up the cultivators but once you learn in , you can do very very fine delicate work with it .
I have had fast hitch , as I have gotten older , I can go from one implement to another and not have to get off the tractor .
Another good point is that you can precisely place the fertilizer where you need it .

I'm not really an IH guy, but you all seem to be split about two kinds of cultivating. Some on small acreages with truck or garen crops, others doing more conventional corn or beans on larger acreages. Now I've cultivated a lot of corn with an Allis B and a one row, and no matter how good a job it did, that's a long day without much done at the end. Best part is you can take a short nap and not plow out very much! I've also cultivated a lot of corn with H's, and they were very good, but my favorite was a John Deere H with a hand lift two row. So easy to run, used about 4 gallons of gas a day. Worst one was a Ford 9N with the rear mount cultivator. Now I've probably upset a lot of you, but that's my opinion and nobody cultivates row crops much anymore anyway.

I sure like my Super C & 200 both with fast hitch. 200 is set up to cultivate and side dress with fertilizer. Super C is set up to plow disc etc.

The Super C is my choice for cultivating for a living because they are half the price of a Super A, 100, or 140.

They'll all do a great job with a little practice and a good selection of tools.

Greg

ditto on the C or Super C. Clearance, manuverability, multi-row capable and size. match made in heaven for cultivating. only exception would be for smaller gardens, then the Cub wins hands down.

as always, IMHO.

(quoted from post at 06:54:07 03/31/12) ditto on the C or Super C. Clearance, manuverability, multi-row capable and size. match made in heaven for cultivating. only exception would be for smaller gardens, then the Cub wins hands down.

as always, IMHO.

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I will cast my vote for the Super C also. A great cultivating tractor. My Dad cultivated 60 + acres year for the 25 years he farmed while he had the SC and every cornstalk he grew was cultivated with that tractor. You sit up nice and high so you can see ,and in my eyes , a SC with a narrow front, (very important) is more manueverable than SA-140. Better clearance heightwise, too. A very handy tractor to have around for other uses too, if it would have the fast hitch on it. Like mentioned earlier, they can be had for equal and most likely less money than a Super A -140 and you get more tractor.

What is the best cultivating tractor? First off, it depends on what you are planting, how much you plant and how you plant it. I assume you are talking about doing close cultivation, as most most rip-up-the-centers cultivating has been replaced by weed killer.

To cultivate multiple rows requires planting multiple rows. You aren't going to plant one row at a time and get the spacing accurate enough to cultivate more than one. Two-row also requires twice the tooling and twice the work to change set-ups from one crop to another. Close culitivation requires close observation. Therefore ANY front mount cultivator will be better than ANY rear mount. You need an unobstructed view straight at the row.

Throw those criteria together, the best 1 row cultivator is the Super A through 140 series. I leave the old A out of this list because of no hydraulics and harder to find/use implements. Fast-Hitch (100-140) is nice if you use the tractor for other implements but irrelevant to cultivating. Second place is the Cub. Lower power, less speed flexibility and the single circuit hydraulics move it to second place. A lot of implements are easily found for either model. A begrudging third goes to the Allis G, competitive with the Cub but more costly, harder to find implements, often hand lift, hard to find parts. There are a number of Super A "clones", one batch from the 1950s, another from after the 140 was discontinued. I didn't consider them, as production numbers were low and they typically had their own problems.

If you can and want to go to 2-row, first place goes to the B or BN. Granted, it lacks hydraulics, but the work visibility is superior to anything with the seat in the middle. You also sit lower then you do on a C or larger. Better to look forward and a little down than sideways and way down. I give second place to the C and Super C. Anything bigger isn't needed for 2 rows.

Specific question about 140:
Biggest problem to look for is if the entire tractor is simply worn out. They were so good that owners just kept using them. Check for wear in the pedals, the steering, the shifter etc. Specific problem/abuse areas to check are cracked housings: mounting flanges at front of engine block, front bolster and the top of the final drives. Look at the studs where the drawbar mounts to the final drives. Check the left side of the engine block (high, behind carburetor) for freeze cracks. Drive it in each gear and listen for transmission noise.

I forgot to say that i plan to grow rhubarb. 1/4 to 1/2 acre to start the first year. Planting suggestions say rows 5 to 6ft apart.

That narrows things down considerably. Definitely 1 row at a time. Go with a Super A/140 series tractor. A Cub is plenty of tractor for that size, even if you expand several times over. However, wheel track on a Cub is limited to 56" while the Super A series can go to 68. You will be able to center the Super A tracks between wider rows. You might even want a high clearance version. However, the correct implements for them are much harder to find than the others, so stick with the regular versions.

The C or Super C tractors could be used but you would need a wide front end. Unfortunately, the C wide fronts have been bid up so high by collectors that it will wipe out any price advantage a C would have had over a 140. Another problem, you would have to make up your own tooling to do one row with a C.

There is a super C for sale near me with wide front end, fast
hitch, and new rims and tires all around. Tin looks good from
pic.There asking 2,700. I have a 504 RC now so I guess I'll
make that work for me till I get a super c some day.

I agree with everything Jim Becker said. The only advantage for the Cub he didn't mention is cost of cultivating implements is a lot lower than for the SA-140 series. You can almost buy two set of Cub cultivators for the price of one set of SA-140 cults.

I'm not sure I'd consider not having a wide front end a deal breaker. I used to grow a acre of potatoes to sell when I was in college and I used my dads super c with a narrow front end to dig trenches, cultivate, hill, and then dig the potatoes. you could slide the rear wheel(s) so far out that it left plenty of room to center the rows between the front end and back tire.