What are the good and bad points??

For my "Yesterdays Tractors" mean 1960s and earlier.

I like a slow turning engine with lots of stroke to produce torque, not the faster turning engines that produced it with RPMs. The old Deere and MMs were hard to beat for those qualities.

A lot of the older tractors had small fenders which bathed the operator in dirt all day long. I've always had an oily complexion and can remember coming to the house in the evening with quite a layer of dirt. We ran a GTB MM and an LA Case. The Case had a fuller fender, hence less dirt.

We always believed that the older Case tractors had a propensity for overheating. If we didn't keep the fan belt adjusted frequently and the timing proper we really had to be careful to watch the gauge. The GTB was much more tolerable along those lines.

Our Case and MM were gas tractors. The LA took an extra 5 gallons per half day for doing the same amount of work. An extra 10 gallons per day is quite a bit.

The MM was easier to steer. Perhaps a higher ratio in the steering box?

Right hand clutch vs. left hand clutch. We most often were one-way discing so had a furrow to follow with the right side, hence stood on the right side of the platform. A right hand clutch was more readily available for a quick stop if something should break which wasn't often.

While we never had any engine problems I like the idea of having multiple cylinder blocks, i.e. three blocks with a pair of cylinders in each to make up a six cylinder MM, two-twos for a four cylinder Case, etc.

John Deere "D" tractors had a wonderful napping area for kids to sleep on atop of the transmission housing. Who wouldn't grow to love Ds from those early experiences with dad?

Internationals were a good solid tracor and good workhorses, but we always felt like the horsepower rating was a little more than what they actually had. What does rating matter unless you buy without trying a tractor anyway?

I think that MM was slow to catch up with progress during the row crop era, while fine for the plains wheatland crops. Why spend $800 to $1,000 extra for a 3 point anyway? Could any of us live without it since experiencing it now? My family never owned a tractor with a 3 pt. until I bought a 1070 Case and started growing some row crops. We never owned a loader tractor either, but with 3 strong boys and a strong man in the family what do you need one for? Oh my aching back!

Those are just a few of my thoughts and observations. Deere, Case, MM, & International were the brands we had in our area. Massey Harris/Ferguson, Oliver, and Allis Chalmers were all pretty rare in our area.

my 2 cents

For example, the weak link on IHC tractors is the TA tranny - but it is fairly straight foreward & not too spendy to repair one. While it's the weak link, it's also a good feature that I'd want on a tractor I was looking for. Then older H & M models don't have the TA option, so can't fault or praise them....

The Ford had that dreaded SoS tranny, cuts the value of a tractor in half around here when it has that. But the same year, same model Ford tractor with the 5 speed is a really good dependable tractor, but the same year, same model tractor with the 4 speed lacks live pto & does not offer good slow speeds for some applications.

Ollie tractors are generally undervalued for what they are around here, and still a good support network locally, so I would say an Ollie is usually a good buy around here - opposite of what you find.

JD has good parts & good iron, but it is valued so high, it generally is just a collector machine around here, can't afford to use them any more.

Most over-valued machine ever is the Ford N series. Were a great inovation in their day 60+ years ago way ahead of their time, but today are a featureless machine compared to anything from the 50's & 60's, but sell for equal or more $$$$. People just pay money for a cute little tractor without looking at it's value & function.

I find mid 50's to mid 60's IHC & Ollie tractors to be the best bang for the $$$ these days, folks haven't 'discovered' them yet. I'm partial to the Ford 100 series without SoS, probably because the first tractor I learned to drive was a 5 speed..... :)

--->Paul

One of the prime considerations would be what kind of dealer support you have in your specific area. What may be my #1 choice could be the worst possible one for you.

I tend to favor John Deere equipment made from the late 60's on throught the early 90's. They fit in cost effectively for me, I have a great dealer network locally, and their product was designed for farming the way I do it...

With-in their product line, there are several models that work best for me. They have also made a few that I would have little or no use at all for. Same applies to every brand.

Point being.....I can't see any one brand being "best" for everyone, all the time....John

These tractors do whatever I NEED of them. They hold up well, and like I said, the dealer I have is PERFECT for my operation.

Don't mess with success..... ...John

Wouldn't you agree that ol’ Indy displayed and uncommonly high degree of self control on his post?

Kinda proud of him. :>)

Allan

(Still keep my GREEN and YELLOW though) John