Stone Cold

I am looking into buying a tractor for next year. Everyone that I know that bought one, bought a four wheel drive. I used a 72 HP this past weekend to do our plots and it was two wheel drive. It didn't seem to have any problems. Is there a differnce is traction from a 72 HP than a 40 HP? What do you guys use.

The second question is, Is there such thing as a good second hand tractor or are the used tractors just trash?Since I woulduse a tractor onlyfor food plots a couple times a yearI would wrather buy a second hand tractor due to them being cheaper but I don't want to buy someone else's trash.

Brad W Wi

I have a used tractor, a Allis Chalmers WD made in 1952. I use it for my food plots and for skidding out some logs for fire woodin northern Wisc. A 4 wheel drive would be nice but I don't think it's needed. If you need 4 wheel to plant it's probly to wet anyway. I've never had any problem with planting with a 2 wheel drive. My tractor is 38 hp, and seems to be plenty good. As far as used tractors out there, there is a lot of good used tractors. Many of them 50 years old and older that have a lot of life in them yet. They were made for working hard and are a simple thing to workon if needed. For my money I'd get a used on and if you have to work on it a bit you'll still be money ahead. Take the money you save buying used and get what you need for putting in your plots ( implements).Get a well known name brand for your area and you shouldn't have a problem getting newor used parts for it.

coolbrze0

72 Hp is quite a lot. I've got a newer Kubota and John Deer that are 32 and 28 Hp respectively and they do all my food plot work. In terms of traction, both are 4wd, which is almost a necessity in what use them for. FELs will help out if you get stuck and it's 2wd.

Jackson Bowner

Actually Stone Cold, I can not imagine buying a new tractor. Although in my area used tractors sell for a bit of a premium, they are still a bargain in terms of a new one. If your primary use is food plots...brush hogging etc, in my opinion 4 wheel drive is not necessary unless you have terrain or a particular use that warrants it. I have a 1986, 42hp Masey Ferguson. Diesel is the key to buying. It will run hard for half a day without having to refill it with fuel. A diesel engine in general will run almost forever if you maintain it. Also make sure the tires are good. The rear tires can be quite expensive to replace.

42 hp was a little light for a 3 spade plow that someone gave me. But that was only because my fields had been fallow a long time. I think it would have been fine afterI had initially plowed them. However, I bought a 6' , tiller from my local Tractor Supply store and it makes powder of everything it touches. I only use the tiller, a 3 point landscape rake that covers the tractor tires, and the a drag harrow thatI pull behind my ATV to encourage seed contact with the soil.

timbercruiser

One more thing to consider is that a 70+ HP tractor is heavy and if you have to move it via trailer a pickup will have a harder time in the move. A 35 or so HP will do a good job and is easier to transport.

answerguy

Stone Cold,

If money is no object go for the new one. But try to buy an American made one, we're gonna need the income tax revenue to help re-build Louisiana.

doubleA

It would be nice to buy an all american tractor but even some John Deere's are made overseas (Germany) Bought a new 05 6420 4x4 cab tractor a few months back. I had to wait for 3 weeks for the shredder I wanted due to the gear boxes being unavailable to the JD factory, yes they are imported. I really dont think we have any 100% USA made tractors today.

Hunter06FlKy

my uncle collects antique tractors that were all second hand but two. they range in size from a farmall super a to a w-9. i think he has about 8 in all and it all depends on who owned the tractor to begin with. the h.p will affect the size of plow you can pull so you just have to check and see how the tractor does with a couple different sized plows.

Stone Cold

I would like to buy a 30 hp or a 40 hp so I can easily utilize a tiller. As far as new.....I don't see where I could ever recover the money spent on a new tractor using it 3 times a year.

As far as american made....I would love to buy everything I own American made, but the fact is that everything that I have bought that has been American made was made cheap or didn't last. I am a Ford man and all my vehicles are Ford. What I am looking for in a tractor is something cheap that will withstand me using it three times a year without falling apart. Make doesn't matter to me. I really like my buddies New Holland. It is easy to operate.

Dan O.

How about an old Ford 3000? They're work horses and only second to MF135 in the small orchards around me. My next tractor will be a 4 wheel drive Kubota diesel with a loader. They're just developing too much of a good reputation.

Dan O.