Just a Little Shopping...

The New Holland dealer a couple towns to the south of us was hosting an open house for the 40th anniversary this week and since there was free food (and homemade ice-cream) I thought it would behoove me to at least go down and celebrate with them. Really the food was good, and it was the reason that I waited until Friday to stop by, but the real reason that I wanted to go down was because there were three tractors there that I was mildly interested in. I did not plan on buying from a dealer because I usually figure the dealer price isn't worth paying.

The three tractors I was interested looking at included two John Deere 4020's (the best selling JD ever I believe) and a Ford 5000 (pictured above). Like I said, I knew going down that they were more pricey than I had planned on spending, but I just thought I would take a look ... remember we are talking about free food! One 4020 looked pretty nice with good tires and a good John Deere 148 loader while the other 4020 left a little be desired, but was still probably an average tractor. It just so happened the nicer one sold earlier in the day, which probably didn't effect me too much because I know for sure it was out of my price range.

So, my dad and I went over and looked at the Ford 5000. In my extended family there have basically been two brands of tractors on the farm for the past 60 plus years. With a couple exceptions they were Minneapolis Moline and John Deere. That is all to say that my dad didn't have a lot of experience with Ford tractors and I of course had none. I did do a little research before hand though and found that they made the 5000 model from 1965 until 1975. That is a decent run for a tractor model.

I decided to investigate the Ford tractor a little more and went inside for a sit down with the owner of the dealership. He was able to give me more information about the Ford 5000 and this tractor in particular. It seems that this tractor had a complete engine overhaul (new rods, new crank, new bearings, etc.) this past December/January and was is pretty good shape. The loader on the tractor is nothing special, but might be a slight upgrade over the one I had on the Farmall 450.

Long story short ... We now have a blue tractor (well, it will be here in a few days). I know I could have bought a tractor for less, but I also know that with this one I have the bill showing everything that was done (totaled over $4,000) and the benefit of a 90 day warranty. Plus, I purchased it from a dealer that has been around for awhile and that my neighbors have dealt with for years. I understand my mechanical limitations and hope that the extra things that have been done on this tractor will pay off for me in the long run. I did a pretty good once over on the tractor and don't think there is anything that I will have to repair or replace right away.

I'll keep praying this works out :) And post some pictures when it is delivered. I already know plenty of projects that it will get used on!