Ford 8N or Jubilee

Finally! A guy who didn't stay at the holiday inn. That has got to be one of the best informative replies based on experience that has ever been posted. Well done!

I agree, it was a great post.

Whatever tractor you decide to get, just realize you arent going to be able to do things as fast as with a bigger tractor, and your not going to be able to pull the same machinery. Think small and you'll be fine and its easier on the tractor. You may be able to plow deeper with a one bottom plow than a two, just one example.

You could get normal sized cattle. Just butcher them younger and they'll grow faster, less feed involved.

Great info. Thanks Jerry! Sounds like the later 800 series is a good way to go power steering and live pto. I haven't heard very good things about the Thousands series or the select o speed. My understanding is the R&D wasn't very thorough.

Thanks again,
Andrew

ASea wrote:Great info. Thanks Jerry! Sounds like the later 800 series is a good way to go power steering and live pto. I haven't heard very good things about the Thousands series or the select o speed. My understanding is the R&D wasn't very thorough.

Thanks again,
Andrew

861's are definitely great tractors if they've been cared for and well-maintained. There's some real bombs out there too. As far as the thousand series, don't overlook the 63-64 2000 and 4000 4-cylinder tractors. They are some of the most unappreciated tractors there are, I think. They're the same exact tractors as the 601 and 801 series but they had a different center hood piece in the front and 4000's had a chrome trim piece on the front of the center fuel tank cover. All you have to do is find the 5-speed with the double clutch for the live pto. I'll go one step further and say something a lot of guys will disagree with. The 63 and 64 Select-O-Speed tractors were ok in my book. By that time Ford had developed the transmission and got rid of the stuff that caused most of the problems, the main thing being the overrunning clutch that was always failing in the early units. 63 and 64 tractors didn't have the dangerous free-wheeling gears that the overrunning clutch provided before. I'm not going to change many peoples' minds, but I like driving those tractors and with care they can be bulletproof. Not many people have the proper training to work on that transmission any more and parts can be hard to come up with, so even though I really like them, I wouldn't recommend one to most people.

Hey, Olpanrider, I think I might know you from another forum. My name over there is 77cr237. Good to see you here!

About tractors, there are some smart folks on here. I'm not one of them. I bought a utility tractor last year and the guys here were a great help. Here is a link to my thread with pics of the tractor I bought. Tractor ??? It is a great little machine, I mostly bought it for my 14 year old grandson after his Dad was killed on Christmas 2013. It has kept him occupied learning how to do things with it and take care of it. I never used an 8N, 9N, Jubilee, but everyone that has one loves it. Looking at the specs on http://www.tractordata.com/farm-tractors/000/2/2/ ... rd-8n.html the little Fords are about half the HP & half the weight of my IH, even though the physical size isn't much different. For heavy work it can't hold a candle to my old Case 580 Construction King LBH.

My friend has a couple Fords, 4000 & 5000 I think. One diesel, one gas & one has a loader. His grandmother passed away & he needs to sell them if you are interested, although the distance might be a problem. I don't know what he wants for them, but it will be very fair.

On those small cattle, I was looking for low line angus or white face hereford steers but could only find expensive breeding stock on this side of the country. From what I read they would be great for feeding a family. A higher percentage of edible meat to live weight and a higher percentage of premium cuts to hamburger. I have not looked for several years, so things may have changed. I have raised my own beef & also bought auction beef, raising my own wasn't much cheaper but the quality was way better. I buy hogs from from a Mennonite farmer ready for my butcher. He raises them naturally without administering any drugs and grinds his own feed. I really can't raise them any cheaper if I bought piglets and feed. If you buy property that needs cleaned up, hogs are good at that. Just dump some corn around an old tree stump and let them root.

Great info JJ. I have a "heartbeat" Jubillee but we can live with that for our application. The vane pump had one advantage that is critical for us. The PTO was a 700# lift from the factory but we use a Reist groomer for daily horse arena grooming that weighs 1000# with a long leverage and our pto can just cope with it "beats" and all. 30HP is the sweet spot. One mans negative is another mans feature. We would not change our Jubillee. If I need more HP I prefer the David Brown tractors the 1210 being the best of the best.

Buy a 2 bottom plow & a disk,forget the tiller for the tractor. Buy a rear-tine tiller,Troy-Bilt,BCS, or even the chain driven MTD unit if rock & root free ground is to be tilled.You won't need to till all your ground for all the crops,tilling destroys many earth worms that are beneficial to the soil.

Ford 4000 Diesel all gussied up with the 8N paint scheme would be a sharp unit to be sure. I have a soft spot for Ford Tractors, I sat on my Grandfathers lap and rode around his 140 acres on the old 48 8N. I wouldn't mind having that tractor. When I do get one it will be a Ford.