Big Blue is Here...

This morning I received a call that they would be delivering our new Ford 5000 tractor and this afternoon it showed up ... ready to work! Of course I had to take the obligatory, "New (to me) Tractor and Proud Owner Wearing Dealer's Ball Cap" picture as you can see above. After that I shut it down and let the kids take a turn at the wheel pretending to drive. Once all of that was out of the way I just drove around a little trying to get used to everything and hooked up a few implements to the three-point hitch just for kicks. Before the night was over I put the loader bucket to good use and cleaned out a stall that we had set up in the storage side of our house for a calf that we wanted to keep a closer eye on. So far, so good.

Here are some of the details of our new tractor (if you are interested in this type of thing). This particular Ford 5000 was made in 1967 (I believe) and is an 8-speed diesel tractor with around a 60 h.p. engine. It has the loader as you can see and the three-point hitch which will come in handy around the farm with a few implements and my new three-point carry all (machinery auction this morning). Other than those details, I just know what I read about this particular Ford model and try to learn as much as I can.

Also, as I mentioned in my "Tractor Shopping" post, this tractor has recently had an engine overhaul. This was a big selling point in my book because of the lack of mechanical abilities that I have. That overhaul included: a new crankshaft, 2 rods, 4 ring sets, various new bearings, new gaskets, a new clutch, a couple new hydraulic fittings, new hoses, new filters, and a few odds and ends. On top of that they did a once over and fixed a couple things at the dealer.

My hope and prayer is that all of this adds up to a tractor without MAJOR problems. I completely understand that there will always be something on a tractor of this vintage, but if we can stay away for the biggies I will be a happy camper. If not ... I'm buying a horse and buggy and selling all the vehicles :)

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!

International Harvester Farmall 450

Shopping is something it seems like I have been doing a lot of lately. First we went shopping at the "land store", then we went shopping at the "hay equipment store", and yesterday I went shopping at the "tractor store"! The other day I mentioned that I had found a tractor that I wanted to check out. Yesterday my dad and I traveled up to take a look at it and see if it would work out for the new farm. It was rainy and it was muddy, but luckily the tractor was in the shed so we were able to check it out in relative comfort.

The tractor in question is a IH Farmall 450 from the mid/late 1950's. As you can see from the pictures it is in pretty good shape cosmetically and seemed to be in fairly good shape mechanically. We looked it over, took it for a test drive, talked about some of the other tractors the guy had (probably 50+), haggled about the price, and eventually decided to make the purchase! I'm glad my dad was able to make the trip with me because his help was much needed and the conversation is always good in the car.

The other good news is that my cousin is going to be coming through the area this weekend with an empty trailer. That means he will be able to pick it up and bring it South. It's nice when stuff works out like that! I'll tell you more about the tractor next week...

Thinking About Tractors...

Things have been CRAZY around here! Two weeks ago I started coaching soccer again for my fourth season. I coach varsity high school girls and I really enjoy it, but it does take a lot of time. Each day I spend two-and-a-half to three hours at practice, and things are about to get even busier because games start tomorrow! On the flip side we have a lot of away games this year so hopefully I'll have some time to read on the bus rides home. What I'm trying to say though is that my blog posts have been a bit irregular lately and I haven't had as much time to jump into some of the discussion in the comments. But, there has been lots of good ideas thrown around and I'm following along. Keep it up!

Anyways, back to beginning farming! As we are getting close to closing on the farm and preparing our building plans I am really starting to think about the tools we are going to need. Everything from basic construction tools to a chainsaw to possibly even a tractor with a front end loader. There are plenty of Management Intensive Grazing based farms out there that survive without a tractor (especially one our size). They hire in work done when the need the tractor and save money along the way. But, we are going to be starting out with nothing and a tractor could come in handy.

Since our land is completely bare we are going to have plenty of work to do. Everything from clearing pasture to putting up a house will have to be done. Fences need to be put in, trenches and holes need to be dug, a hay shed needs to be put up, some downed timber needs to be cleaned up (for burning), hay needs to be made (we could easily hire this done). And that is just some of the summer stuff. When winter comes we are going to need to be able to clear snow and maybe even move big round bales depending on what happens during the.

So, with all of that in mind here is what I'm thinking would work for us. A tractor with 45 to 80 horsepower, a front end loader, a three point hitch, a power take off, and it needs to be used! With all of that we should be to take care of most things on the farm, and if we are careful shoppers we might even be able to afford one, we will just have to see.

Pictured throughout the post are some of the tractors I have found that would fit our bill. Some of the pictures show loaders and some don't, but a loader will be high on our list. Also, a couple of them are narrow front end, but we will want a wide front end. The first picture is of a Massey Ferguson 165, next we have a Massey Ferguson 85 (a litter earlier than the 165), after that is the International 706, then the Oliver 1550, and finally a Ford 5000.

A Few Tractor Thoughts

Right now my dad's 160 acre farm is the home to a Minneapolis Moline M5 (53 HP), a 3 bottom JD plow, a disc, a harrow, a rake, and a pull behind sickle mower. We also use from time-to-time a New Holland baler, a JD drill, and a few other implements. The M5 is a nice tractor and can handle all those implements with no problem ... except it has no three point hitch and no loader.

So, when we were done at the auction and working on the fence we stopped to see a neighbor who will be selling Jinma Tractors soon. Jinma's are Chinese (yuk) 4-wheel drive tractors that are priced much less than the name brand counterparts. You can get a 35 horse tractor brand new for around $10,000 to $12,000. The other nice thing about these compact tractors is that you can get all sorts of implements for them. Some that would be nice to have around the farm would be the box blade, brush cutter, chipper/shredder, log splitter ... and above all ... the LOADER! I don't know how many times we could have used the loader around the farm and as we make a transition to making the farm into a working farm it will become that much more important.

Right now I'm doing as much research as I can and basically checking out the options. Once the neighbor has his up and running (the come in crates and take a little assembly) we are going to do some test drives also. For right now you may find this link about Chinese Compact Tractors interesting. Just click HERE.