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Operating older tractors

RBnSC

RBnSC

Well-known Member
This may be a dumb question but I would like to see what you think. Growing up Dad bought a JD 3010 I was big enough to drive and bought another when My younger brother was big enough to reach the pedals. The second was a much nicer tractor, no problem mine was a little faster. Through the years after farming we had dump trucks and other equipment. I would always take the one that was having a problem. Brakes acting up or slipping clutch ect. Long story short with equipment I would always run the challenging tractor truck or backhoe. Really what I am asking is would you rather work on a tractor or working with it?
Ron
 
I prefer to have things that are repaired correctly and that operate as they are designed. Having said that, I also get a thrill out of fixing things creatively to get by until there is enough down time to repair it. As an example, I had an idler spring break on a belt tensioning pulley once. Needing the machine to keep running, I hung a 20 ton bottle jack on the idler pulley bracket with a piece of wire so the belt would not slip. Certainly not an OSHA approved fix, but I was the only one who would suffer if it failed. Whether the silo is half full or you have three rounds left before a rain comes in, sometimes you do what you have to do to get by. But there are times when a machine's quirks get to be too much, and its safer and more enjoyable to have it fixed right. That's just my opinion...
Lon
 
I always liked to row crop farm, could do it ten hours per day 52 weeks a year if I could just afford it :) sold my 40 acres in 2010 for out of state relocation
 
I prefer to use older things. When I get a piece of equipment I go through it so that I don't have any surprise breakdowns. I also know its quirks better, too. Nothing makes me crazier than using something that doesn't work right, but I like equipment that has some character. I feel like we work as a team rather than me just using it.

Breakdowns around here are very rare. I don't have time for them, so I make sure everything works like it did when it was new. I don't need all of the bells and whistles, but I need the ones that it has to work. I'm kind of the same in that I always ended up with the stuff that was limping somehow. I think that made me a lot smarter and ready for life on the farm.

The equipment that gets used here daily ranges from 1949 to 2007. Every single thing would start up and work without a hitch right now. You have to be smart about it - that isn't always cost effective.
 

Nothing pisses me off more than a tractor that breaks while I'm using it. I can usually make a quick fix and stay running, but I MUCH prefer to do preventive maintenance and stay on the tractor when I need it to do what it was made to do. Downtime is money.
 
I like equipment that breaks down a lot, especially in the afternoon. I have a good shade tree and refrigerator at the shop. I can set in the shade, drink some cold beer, and cuss my misfortune.

And I guess you know I am kidding. (sort of)

Gene
 
well... I look at it this way. Most anyone can run a machine that works good, BUT it take a good OPERATOR to run the older more challanging stuff!!! LOL Doug
 
I don't think anybody likes breakdowns but at least on an older machine, you have a chance of fixing it yourself if something goes wrong. A lot of this new equipment you need to buy expensive computer software to plug into a test port to tell you what's wrong.
 
(quoted from post at 16:55:35 06/02/13) well... I look at it this way. Most anyone can run a machine that works good, BUT it take a good OPERATOR to run the older more challanging stuff!!! LOL Doug
Click to expand...

Doug you beat me to it. that is something that it seems you used to hear a lot but rarely now.
 
I'd say the answer would depend on when you asked it.

before a breakdown - better using a tractor than fixing it.

during a break down - MUCH better using it than fixing it.

But after a breakdown - right after you made a repair and you know you did it well, that can be extremely satisfying, and boost your pride in that self-reliant feeling kind of way (as long as you didn't spend too much on parts and you weren't down too long)
 
that's how we are here ,, my BIL is the type guy that will finish a job well done and come dragging in with barb wire tyin it All together ,, and be sayin ,, Jim I got to put some new wire on the fence before the cows figure out they can get loose
 
I usually take the stuff that ain't quite up to snuff. That's usually what I got to run when I was learning. Like the tag-a-long without any brakes that we hauled the backhoe and dozer on. Or the 1066 we just put new axle bearings in.

Mechanics at trucking companies hate me. I can often hear a problem developing long before whatever is going bad falls apart.
 
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