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most effeicent tractor

My first guess would be the one that never gets used.

My last guess would be any 2-cylinder JD.

Other than that, I think that the answers would be each owner's favorite.
 
I think Oliver had a gas tractor with a 12 to 1 compression ratio way back when that was close to the top

It was expermintal had problem with fuel and detonation
 
In it's day, the Deere 720 diesel was the most fuel efficient tractor tested @ Univ of Nebraska. Haters don't see that but it's a fact.
 
without doubt the largest one you own,might burn more fuel but for far less time. heard one time that big bud overall was one of the most fuel effecient tractors,if you considered the work done and time in field. I burn about a gallon a hour in my 8n mowing,about 1.5 doing tillage work. but its SLOOOOW!
 
And that tractor was beat ( by very little )a Yanmar built JD 1650 in the 1980's ? Don't know what holds the title today ? Maybe still the 1650 ?
 
Actually, the one that knocked off the Deere 720 was the Massey Ferguson 150 diesel when tested in 1964.
 
Currently, Case IH claims they have the record, Challenger/MF/AGCO claims it, New Holland claims it, and Deere claims it. All use different criteria for their claims. All are making their cdlaims around large MFDW row crop tractors in the 235 to 275hp range. Still searching for Univ of Nebraska data.
 
good comments and answers .. the 720 jd has held the record the longest . yes a bigger tractor matched correctly to the work is the most efficient way to go .. But in the Practical every day lite ,,the 430 CASE DIESEL deserves honorable mention,thier efficiency goes beyond fuel economy , its dependable nimblenes and wide range of speeds for any job , versatility and operator friendlines keeps some 9 yr.old young farmers safe ,smiling and productive raking hay along side their 90 yr old granpa baling with the same model //
 
When people see a gas can sitting by my JD H on belt work, they ask if I have to keep adding gas.
I say no, I have to keep draining some out. LOL
It is very fuel efficient on the belt and when cultivating. And it does get a lot of use.
Richard
 
Guy I know with a CaseIH Stiger 4X4 complains about the numner of gallons an hour that tractor drinks........but if you do the math he's using less than a gallon an acre chisle plowing......real close to .9 an acre.

Rick
 
I don't know about "these days",but a neighbor had a David Brown 770 years ago that was the most amazingly economical tractor I've ever seen.
 
I am proof that the newer generation of engines are more fuel efficient. As I said in another post, I am using the same plow on a newer 2007 vs 1979, 4 cyl vs 6 cyl, 57 pto vs 100 pto, 4wd vs 2wd, that can plow the same field in the same amount of time on half the diesel. That's progress.

Mark
 
(quoted from post at 09:16:08 09/19/12) I don't know about "these days",but a neighbor had a David Brown 770 years ago that was the most amazingly economical tractor I've ever seen.
Click to expand...

I filled mine up in May, it holds 8 gallons. Just now went under the half tank mark. I don't do any serious work with it, just drag wagons, pull the potato digger.

The turboed DB 4 cylinders are much better on fuel according to the work you get out of them.
 
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Lot of movement now with the tier 4 stuff changing it up. I looked in 2003 ish or so and Deutz-Fahr powered machines had the lowest brake specific fuel consumption by a slight margin at the time. Some weird brands also had good number, I think Zetor or something like that was way up there in the numbers.

All the ranks have jumped around with egr adblue dpf etc. Even year to year the computer updates will alter the economy on the common rails.
 
For me the best fuel economy tractor i ever owned was a Famall 450 diesel and one fill up would last longer then i would plowing and i was young back then i had the bigger tank on mine and it held twentyfive gallon and ever with the screw turned out it would run all day and into the night on a tank pulling four bottoms . Now i see by your chart that the 706 gasser was suppose to be the worst gasser out there , welll myself i have lost count of all the 706 gassers that i have owned ran and sold and for years i had one that i farmed with and i never felt that it was that hard on gas.I could cover more ground in a day with the same plow that i pulled behind the 450 at a faster ground speed at the same depth over the same ground and use ten more gallons of fuel . we still use 2 706 gasser today for mainly chore work like mowing raking some feed grinding wagon pulling . I can tell ya this that i can mow 28 acres on some of the nastiest ground you want to be on with a 9 foot haybine then rake it twice and still have a 1/4 tank of gas left for the 8 miles back to the home farm .Our biggest problem now with them is GAS the gas we are able to get is not working out well and we are seeing a lot of problems with them now . We just had one go down on use because the guy driving it lugged it down way to far trying to pull a full silage wagon full of corn silage . A 75-80 hp tractor weighing in at around 10500 lbs pulling a wagon with 13-15 ton of silage up our hils and into and up over the pile did something as she either ate a valve or she ate a piston or she blew a head gskt. Don't know yet as i have not had time to look as much as i personally like then i think that there days are numbered . And we are going to have to get bigger higher Hp tractors with this silage thing as these loads are even taxing the 1066 to the max . And the worst tractor for fuel economy is the 2255 oliver with the Cat it needs fueling twice a day just pulling wagons and as for the John Deere forage harvester we should get a Thankyou card from the rag heads.
 
I think you misread the chart- the 706 gas was the best, not the worst.

Still remember an old-timer telling me about plowing right after WWII, with the biggest Case gas tractor available at the time. "We'd take a 55 gallon barrel of gas to the field, and plow until it was gone. We were never later for supper."
 
The old Deere was the most efficient for a period of time. In modern tractors the Ford 8870 was most efficient for a period of time through the mid-late 90's. It's record has more recently been bested slightly by an 8000 series Deere IIRC... but they're so close that the Ford I think still bests it at certain loads/speeds. I'd have to go back and check the stats. They are very close tho.
Both are hovering on the 20 hp-hr/gal mark. That's far better than the 2 lung Deere ever dreamed of.

Rod
 
When I was in college (Reagan was president) the results from Nebraska indicated the Deutz tractor line was in general the most efficient, however they were about 14 HP hours/gallon, several on the earlier posted chart have bested that, the worse was IH Hydros down around 9 HP-Hrs/Gallon. Same bragged about the efficiency of Air Cooled diesels, don't hear much about them anymore I think it's an emission issue on the air cooled it's harder to stabilize combustion chamber temperatures across the operating range.
 
Well, it only took Fix it again Tony roughly 50 years to come up with something that beat that ol' 2-banger! And by then, Deere had Dorf/NH/FIAT/Your name here playin' second fiddle AGAIN.... It must suck always being the bridesmaid!
 
The Deutz(air cooled) engines are still sold here. Lots of folks use them for irrigation. I see them used in man lifts also.

I have a water cooled Deutz Fahr. Most fuel I use per hour is pulling a 7 shank chisel plow 18 in. deep at 5.3 mph and uses 3.2 gph. That's in 4 wheel drive. That's a 4 cylinder turbo with the high pressure fuel system. 96 engine HP.
 
(quoted from post at 09:42:47 09/19/12) I am proof that the newer generation of engines are more fuel efficient. As I said in another post, I am using the same plow on a newer 2007 vs 1979, 4 cyl vs 6 cyl, 57 pto vs 100 pto, 4wd vs 2wd, that can plow the same field in the same amount of time on half the diesel. That's progress.Mark
Click to expand...

Mark
You keep avoiding my question. HOW DEEP WILL YOUR 57 HP TRACTOR PULL THE 14 shank chisel????????????? I can guarantee you nothing deeper than scratching not plowing unless it's Sugar sand. Yes your tractor will burn less fuel per hour but it will also do less work per hour than a 100hp tractor
Jim.
 
It must hurt you something precious knowing there's been nothing red on the list for 40 years...
 
I have a friend that has a 4955 fwd JD and that thing runs for days pulling a 28' disk or a 12 row planter pulling a juice tank behind. I never thought that thing would run out.
 
Jim,

It's used in clay soil that has seen a plow the previous year. I run
it 5-6" down....right where the gauge wheels were when I
bought it (well) used 10 years ago; the same depth they were
when my Deere was pulling it.

I can't use moldboards here so I can't say on them. Basically I
think the gain is in the 4wd. Really, the first time I hooked it up,
I couldn't believe it but it did.

Surely HP is HP but delivering HP to the load is something else
and I think that is the advantage; both had new tires; never
measured the slip.

But the fuel savings is real and I am talking about this
application, not every application that someone might want to
put a tractor to work. Oh and it handles my 5x4 baler like a
dream.

Mark
 
Mark
Having worked for a JD dealer and with plenty of experience delivering/demonstrating JD tractors from 70's through the late 80's I'd have to see to believe that a 57 pto HP MFWD of any brand can pull a 14 shank chisel 5-6"s deep in anything but sugar sand but certainly not CLAY. When you state 5-6"s is that measuring from the bottom of gauge wheels to the ground??????? I've witnessed farmers ""inaccurately measure a chisels plowing depth"" by how high the soil was kicking up on the shanks.
Yes I fully understand the advantages of MFWD over 2 WD but I also fully understand the advantages of a tractor weighing over twice as much pulling same size plow.
 
Jim sir, I said clay that was plowed the prior year. This translates
to plowable soil and should not be confused with clay rocks that
occur in pastures that haven't seen steel in 30 years nor rain in 3
months.

Yes the 6" is the depth after plowing or maybe the word would
be cultivating is finished.

I couldn't help but feel that you had a sweet spot for green. I too
have had mostly favorable results with the color.....as with
anything, sometimes I wondered what the designers were
thinking about; certainly didn't seem to be what they were
supposed to be doing.

Also I didn't say that the plow mentioned was the most the
Deere could pull, I just compared two tractors pulling the same
plow on the same acreage.

Lighten up man.

Mark
 

Mark
I own JD,Kubota,Ford tractors,JD,Vermeer &amp; H&amp;S hay equipment so I think I don't have a 100% sweet spot for Green color. All I'm trying to state is a 57 hp MFWD can't pull a 14 shank chisel as deep or fast as a 100 hp 2WD that weighs over twice as much. Yes MFWD does aid in traction but not to that extreme. I stating that from over 45 years experience in the farm equipment industry.

As I've previously I believe this forum should be about facts and that's as light as I can lighten up. I will not reply to this thread again.
Jim
 
(quoted from post at 09:24:46 09/21/12)


As I've previously I believe this forum should be about facts ...
Jim
Click to expand...

Fact is, Jimmie needs a hobby :roll:

Have ya tried needlepoint?

Have a good day....
 
been catering to them dam things one way or the other from can see ta can't see today and prolly tomorrow and a couple days next week. Somebody better appreciate this stuff and she better take me to dinner and a few beers when she gets back.....
 
(quoted from post at 14:46:16 09/21/12) been catering to them dam things one way or the other from can see ta can't see today and prolly tomorrow and a couple days next week. Somebody better appreciate this stuff and she better take me to dinner and a few beers when she gets back.....
Click to expand...

Does the Guberment know you're playing on a tractor forum with their computer??????? :lol:
 
Well sir you got the facts as I know them and I was there. I don't
have the 4230 any more, still have the plow, and I don't currently
have any land that needs steel on it, (just got it in grass this spring)
and taking a video is a pain in the rump, but facts are facts. I don't
lie, seldom exaggerate, and some things I forget. But facts are facts
as I see them anyway.

Mark
 

Mark
I stated I wouldn't respond any more to your replies on this thread but this is absolutely my LAST ONE!!!!!!!!!!!!
It requires 10-15 HORSEPOWER(depending on soil type) per SHANK to successfully pull a true chisel plow at a depth a chisel plow was designed(intended) to operate. Now you divide 57 hp by 15 and how many shanks does that equate to??? I think a 4230 pulling 14 shanks in some soil would be overloaded. Have a wonderful afternoon.
Jim
 
Then again, I never owned a red John Deere.

It must be terrible, constantly having to make excuses for owning Fix It Again Tony's rejects. You should seek help for the bitterness and hatred before it eats you alive.
 
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