The Tractor thread...

DVC500 at last wrote:

markviii wrote:I will soon be tractor-less.

I'm so sorry for your loss Rob, our condolences to you and your family.

I will probably post some pictures of the new John Deere mower in the zero turn thread...31hp with a 72" deck, it should really eat some grass.

Oh there we go! Thats what I'm talkin about! I can't wait to see the pics.

Old with the old, in with the new! I hated to see my Massey go down the road, but the mowing performance of the "new horse" eased the pain quickly. Sorry for the crappy picture of the John Deere, it was starting to rain and I couldn't bring myself to pull it outside. When I get some better pictures I will post them in the zero turn thread. The JD barely fits in my extra shop bay, but at least that gives me good reason to clean out the junk that has been accumulating in that bay.

The Massey compact was a GC2300 with a 60" deck, 22.5 hp diesel. The John Deere is a Z950a, 72" deck with a 31hp vertical V-twin gasoline engine (Kawasaki). It usually took me 4-4.5 hours to mow the 4 acre lawn with the tractor, yesterday I mowed everything in just under two hours with the John Deere. Obviously the bigger deck makes a big difference, but the reduced amount of turning and backing up is huge also. Something I did not expect is the dramatic difference in how much better the JD deck "flows" in heavy grass. In heavy grass I always had to slow down with the Massey so it didn't leave streaks of unmowed grass. The JD just laughs at it, and the difference in the appearance of the lawn is amazing.

I posted the last picture to give everyone an idea of how well the JD deck performs. I'm not sure what my ground speed was when I mowed that area, but I was moving pretty good. This thing blows the grass about 12' out the discharge chute, and does a MUCH better job of dispersing the clippings. I already had someone ask me if I was using a bagger or sweeping the clippings...nope, just blasting the grass over a wide area. It seems to have power to spare, and it is a pleasure to mow with.

Very nice JD you got there. Sorry to see the Massey gone, Rob. I'm sure you'll miss that bucket. I can't believe it took you that long to mow before. I have a 60" deck on my Cub Cadet. It's the same size tractor as your Massey. I mow about 3 acres and get it done in 1 1/2 - 2 hours.

Yes, I will miss the bucket. On the other hand, it wasn't good for much beyond light landscaping work and a little snow removal. I now have a plow for the F350, and I can "call in" a skidsteer for the big jobs.

You aren't the first to question the mowing time. It is actually 4.2 acres, and I have mowed it in as little as 3.5 hours. That was really beating up the deck, and the second time I attempted to mow it at record speed I had to do some welding. I have a fair amount of things to mow around, and some of the lawn is a lot rougher than I'd care for. In any case, I wanted to spend less time in the seat and not have to pound the tractor/mower to get the job done in a reasonable amount of time. So far the Deere zero-turn seems to be a home run.

markviii wrote:Yes, I will miss the bucket. On the other hand, it wasn't good for much beyond light landscaping work and a little snow removal. I now have a plow for the F350, and I can "call in" a skidsteer for the big jobs.

You aren't the first to question the mowing time. It is actually 4.2 acres, and I have mowed it in as little as 3.5 hours. That was really beating up the deck, and the second time I attempted to mow it at record speed I had to do some welding. I have a fair amount of things to mow around, and some of the lawn is a lot rougher than I'd care for. In any case, I wanted to spend less time in the seat and not have to pound the tractor/mower to get the job done in a reasonable amount of time. So far the Deere zero-turn seems to be a home run.

I'm glad to hear that your happy with your decision. My lawn is also pretty rough. Someday I'll hire someone with a roller/compactor to flatten it out. It should cost about $200-$300. I know a few guys that had it done and they were very pleased. Smoothed it out very nicely.

Finally found a tractor plow on Craigs-- $50 great deal, weights, chains, lots of hardware and manual! Had to drive in insane NJ Parkway traffic all the way down to Howell, NJ. Hope I can modify it to couple to my 1968 Sears 10XL !

Ok finally got them all running and set up for a picture! 15 total.
JD 730D
JD 530
JD 420T
JD A
JD B
JD MT
JD 40C 4 roller
JD 40C 5 Roller ATEC loader
JD L
JD LI
JD LA
Minneapolis Moline RTU
Cletrac HG-68
Cletrac HG-42 Anderson Dozer Blade
Farmall BN woods mower

Not shown lawn tractors, (2) JD 318, JD 420, JD 210

Had a few others come and go over the last year, but they were not runners or picked up for parts. All of the ones in this picture were in working order, with 10 restored, 1 old restoration in need of new paint, and 4 of them barn fresh.

Nice collection! The man that lives up the street from my mom and dad has quite a collection as well. Last I checked he had over 70 tractors, and at least one "pair" of them has following serial numbers. He usually lines them all up once per year.

markviii wrote:over 70 tractors,

So at about 1 gallon of fuel in each of them, thats close to $300 just in enough fuel to get the tank wet!

there's probably close to a quarter million $ worth of tractors in that pic. Wonder how many of them are in working condition? What kind of garage does he have? or are most of them stored outside?

Fordson major (1919)
David Brown 1210
AC190 with 5' boom mower and 11' plow
Ford Jubilee
AMT 600
PUG gator
JD 40S
Case VAC
Hustler 400
Oiiver 77
Yale forkift GLC30
Taylor forklift (14000#)
Cat 955H
JSW 50 (haha got you there)
Farmall M super 3 pt with down pressure
International 1068 with 15' batwing
Case skid steer 1845C
WH Raider 12
WH C80
All beat to hell. All in fairly regular use except the Fordson as the hand crank is too tough to live with. Covered in horse manure but mechanically kinda OK (I view brakes and gauges as optional extras). Photos? - you have to be kidding but a PM will get you one of your choice. All together worth less than one small new JD tractor but very useful around the farm.

Sold but sadly missed a Cletrac OC3 - we all make mistakes

I try to be honest in this forum. Okay, here goes; I'M JEALOUS AS HELL.

Not just the tractors, the beautiful rural American countryside

Better not let Obama see those tractors, he'll want to redistribute them.....

Here's a nice link to what a Cletrac is all about for those interested.

http://cletrac.org/pages/model/pic-HG.html

Picked up another one.

1974 JD A

Yo oros, where exactly did you say you are located--I said EXACTLY! Storing them outside don't do them any good--tires, lines of all types. Hell my friend, built at least a lean-4 over them. Hey Dan, no he won't, to many guns out these ways & usually half crazed VETERANS behind em.

freetown fred wrote:Storing them outside don't do them any good--tires, lines of all types. Hell my friend, built at least a lean-4 over them.

We've got them spread out in at least 4 garages/barns right now, and not all on the same property. Currently there is only 1 sitting outside, and it's the ugly rusty crawler. Can't hurt that one much more than it already is! Gonna take some work to make that one purdy.

This new one is taking up the the shop bay right now. Getting a good check up!

OUTSTANDING my friend