which tractor would be good

My boy and I are wanting to farm around 70 acres and wanting advise on which tractor to get the ground is gently rolling in South East Illinois. We want to work it and plant it with the same tractor only tractor we have is a 65Massey . Thanks

Another Massey.Something around 60 hp.175,180 or even a 1080 -either would do a good job for you.Remember you're better off with "too much" horsepower,rather than not enough....GoodLuck

I will be working it with a int 480 disc thats 15ft and 9inch spacing.

You would need the 1080,or even a 1100. 80 to 100 horsepower

Just go find a good old 806 or(heaven forbid!)a 4020 or something like that.

Something in the 80-100 hp would be good. Stuff from the mid to late 1970's mostly had good features to look at, and can be found , and still has good parts support.

60 would get it done too, but you might as well have a little spare hp so you don't have to work the l out of the old tractor.

--->Paul

Not a lot of info to go on here! Do You want a cab? Do You want to stay with Massey? Is there a price range? What kind of planter are You going to use?

9 inch disk spacing wont normally leave the ground worked up as well under certain soil conditions so You may need to run a harrow to get a good enough finish for older planters with runners on the planting units instead of disk openers. If you pull a 15 foot harrow behind the disk; then add another 25 HP.

Tractors between 1970 - 1980...
1) Massey 1105 - About 100 PTO, & 85 drawbar HP.
2) Massey 1135 - 120 PTO & 106 DB HP.
3) I-H 966 - 100 PTO & 88 DB HP.
4) I-H 1066 - 125 PTO & 108 DB HP.
5) John Deere 4230 - 100 PTO & 86 DB HP.
6) JD 4430 - 125 PTO & 108 DB HP.

THINK ABOUT THIS!!! In the early 90's I went to a CASE-IH dealer, & bought a new 20 foot disk. The sales person said that my JD 4430 would pull it with no problem. I could not under any condition pull that disk all the way down, & at more than about 5 MPH. Went back to the dealer complaining & he told me that I didnt say I was going to pull it as deep as it would go! I never went back, & dealer is now closed (I wonder why!). That disk weighed 7000#. An IH 780 is a pretty heavy disk, & I am not so sure You can pull it well with 80 DB HP. But I cant say for sure! I learned to have more HP, or get smaller equipment. Once you buy a tractor its to late to go back; UNLESS... its a dealer demo; then you will know! & if it doesnt work the dealer will take it back the same day!

I had engine trouble with my 4430, & the dealer gave me an MF 1135 to use while they RE - rebuilt the engine. The #5 rod spun a bearing about 20 hours after a JD dealer overhaul! The 1135 had 6800 original hours on it; it blew a little black smoke all the time. But it was one of the best tractors I've ever drove. I planted 400 acres with it that year.

Scotty

Back in the 60's when Dad was still farming, he had an AC WD and C tractors to farm 120 acres in southeast Illinois near New Athens. A Massey 65 should be more than enough for 70 acres. Biggest drawback with only 1 tractor is you'll spend more time changing implements

I agree with Lefty,

Your Massey will handle that 70 acres without even breakin' a sweat.

We used to farm 88 acres with horses.

Allan

Ford 7710 had a long production run and there are still a lot of them out there working every day. they put out 90 HP and are known for good fuel economy which could be a plus these days.

Get a smaller disk and keep the 65 as long as its a good runner and reliable. We farmed a couple hundred acres with two 45 hp. tractors in the sixties. If you got the money and time spent doing the job is a factor then get the bigger tractor.

As they often say here, whatever dealer you have available locally for parts should factor in your decision.

Thanks everyone for the comments . I was wondering where to fine my # on my Massy 65 for the year to see what hp it has ? I was wanting to go with a cab since my son is 11 but really he likes the 65 with out cab, just a safty concern. Oh another thing is there a down fall on a cab? The amount I was wanting to spend is around $7500 and just dont want no major breakdown for our first planting son is really excited .Thanks again for the great ideas.

You already have a tractor right? An MF65? What is wrong with that? When you find an equal or bigger tractor for the right price, buy it. Until then, this one should handle anything to be done, at a reasonable pace. If in doubt, go see some Amish guy with 70 acres- and a 2 horse team.

The JD 4020 is bulletproof and will handle up to 150 acres nicely as a sole tractor. We are doing that with 240 acres and need a bigger tractor.

Forget the amish, please refer to Lefty, Allen and Double R! I should have read you guys' earlier posts closer. Yes, like you guys, when I bought my +300 acres, the people I bought it from started farming with a 9N and two teams. As the horses retired, they got bigger tractors as they found good deals. when the last horse died in the early 80's, they still had the 9N, a farmall trike and a hefty allis. The stuff I used was barely equal this this collection.

We have had the 65 3 years with no ploblems at all been using it for brush hogging and putting in 4 foodplots that are small by using a 5ft tiller on the back and dragging a screen for cover. The tractor has been really reliable but dont want to over do it. If I do use it what disc would be idea for the job? The biggest part of the field is 55 acres that is gently rolling with about 75% of that pretty level. The other 15 acres is in a 6 acre field a 4 acre field and 2 acre with the rest scattered. The bigger field is a 1/4 mile wide by about 500 yards long. Thanks very much again to all.

Oliver 1850 White 2-85 or 2-105
MF 1100 or 1105
IH 806 or 856
Deere 4010,might be hard to find a good 4020 for $7500
Case 1070 They might have some trans issues,but I ran a couple for neighbors and liked them.

I agree with everyone else, you have enough tractor for 70 acres. I wonder if it is possible though to find equipment that small. Around here 12-14 ft grain drills, chisel plows, discs, planters ect are common, but that calls for 90-100 hp. I like the 930 and 1030 Case, they are inexpensive, tough, and sip fuel. Not having a turbo or any sort of powershift on a old tractor is not necessarily a bad thing.

Whats wrong with the Massey 65?A friend of mine raised 500 acres of wheat with an International 300.

Your going to need some rear wheel weights and dual wheels to pull that disk.

since its a hobby, go ahead and buy another tractor. gives you a backup and this way you dont have as much unhooking and hooking of equipment. here are some decent options in your price range.

oliver: 1650,1655,1755
white: 2-70, 2-85
jd: 3020,4010,4020
massey ferguson: 180,1080,1085,1100,1105

the most important factor here is not which model but finding a tractor that has been well takin care of.