Show your tractors

[woody paul]

Picture 4 that crane is a Cotil fitted by Ernest Does .

[s o c]

When I started cutting in 1987 , a lot of our work was line thinning on steep sites extracted in bundles of 5 or 6 foot logs with a jones high-lead set up on a 764 County.  Looks like that’s what they were doing in the last photo.

The bundle would pretty much bounce it’s way down the slope pinball style, many bundles would open, many of the side trees would have bark damage. The chocker- man was only safe uphill of the bundle and he dare not poke his head out when the cables were whipping around the place. The 2way radio were erratic at best.

The guy on the controls hadn’t it easy either, on his knees on the tractor seat while winching, climb out of tractor, climb stack, open chocker, tidy logs , down off stack and back into tractor maybe 5 times per ton.

Really makes you appreciate the remote control winches we use nowadays.

[william127]

On 06/08/2019 at 19:09, william127 said:

So the tractor in this picture is long gone-at a great profit!- and its time for another! 

(I did think that buying a brand  new loader 2 months ago would 'scratch the itch' for this year, but apparently not!)

So any suggestions of tractors to meet this criteria:

4wd

80-100ish HP

40kph

Loader 

2 spools

£10000-12000(roughly)

Nice cab

Big wide door

Lots of leg room

Gear sticks to the side, not between your legs

3pl controls on the outside for easy hitching up 

 

My current contender is a mf3090/95, or a 3080/85 if it was in really nice condition for the right price. Reading through here Aspen Bob has got me tempted by a 3125 but I think that's somewhat overkill!!

I'm also very keen on the case 1056xl for the simple reason that a farmer/contractor 2 miles from me has had at least 20 of them and never got rid of any so there are plenty of spares and knowledge on them in the area, plus they are simple and just do the job. Not sure what they are like to work in/drive?

I will probably head to Cambridge sales next month- not to buy, I can't risk this much on an auction- but its the best place to climb in the cabs of many different models! 

 

Any suggestions appreciated, but I'm not in the market to buy right now, itll be a couple of months yet ??

Looking at this again,  my Farming Friend says that 100hp is too much for topping and harrowing.  I can see his point of view,  as I will quite happily do paying jobs like that with an MF35. 

But to tow a trailer worth having for tree work, about 6 -8 ton ish I think I need 100hp? Which would then be under stressed/overkill for grass work? 

My opinion is the big one can do what the small one can, but the small one cant do what the big one can? 

Especially as I could pick up a rough but sound little classic for not a lot of I needed to, but if I bought a 75 hp middle ground,  then needed to tow/power more, I couldn't?

 

What do people think???

 

[s o c]

Sounds like you need two tractors.

definitely need 100hp for that sort of weight on the road, especially if in hilly areas. Farmers might prefer you use a lighter tractor on their lands though.

classic aged tractors don’t depreciate as quickly as most things and don’t cost a fortune to insure so not the worst investment so long as they are reliable.

[gdh]

I would go for 100hp, you'll soon appreciate it towing, especially on the road and it will have the weight to help you brake on hills which is the main advantage. 

 

I wouldn't worry about using it for topping either. It will have bigger tyres to balance out ground pressure and have enough power to run a flail topper or even hedge trimmer if you wanted to go that way.

[woody paul]

More hp means more fuel. I have a fendt 304 which is only about 60hp regular tow 6t plus with it narrow at just over 6 ft wide and gets into a lot of tight place, good for mowing as pto has 750 setting so uses very little fuel.

[william127]

1 hour ago, woody paul said:

More hp means more fuel. I have a fendt 304 which is only about 60hp regular tow 6t plus with it narrow at just over 6 ft wide and gets into a lot of tight place, good for mowing as pto has 750 setting so uses very little fuel.

6t is pretty good going for 60hp?

[Sutton]

20 minutes ago, william127 said:

6t is pretty good going for 60hp?

For the size of the Fendt - agreed - but they're good tractors

Pre CVT, the rule of thumb was 1ton:10hp and 10% off engine hp for PTO. So that rule still seems to apply

If you're set on a MF 3000, find out when the transmission was rebuilt. I've heard they weren't entirely reliable

[woody paul]

37 minutes ago, william127 said:

6t is pretty good going for 60hp?

Never had to drop in to bottom  gear in high range but have come close.

 

[difflock]

21 minutes ago, woody paul said:

Never had to drop in to bottom  gear in high range but have come close.

 

I reckon 10HP per trailer tonne.