What tractor to buy

henrymcd

Just came into a bit of land, uncles place, about 10 sucklers.
He had a decent setup with sheds and housing but no machinery, all done for him by a neighbour.
Ime lookin to buy something that will shift round bales do a bit of roling and fertillizer spreadin, nothing too expensive.
Any ideas? how much should i be lookin to spend

Casinoking

You'll buy a good Ford 4600 or Massey 165 for €4-5K, probably find one with a loader for that kind of money. Simple to operate and maintain, suit you down to the ground.

fig mclough

massy 365

henrymcd

If I went for a massey 165 should I be lookin at square or round axel, which is better? why?
What other specs should I look for? hours? year? would it have power steering? ide be usin it in some tight spaces?

Timmaay

case/db 1394, dont give any trouble at all, can be picked up for 3500/4k and lost all its deprecation by now

DanFindy

henrymcd wrote: »

If I went for a massey 165 should I be lookin at square or round axel, which is better? why?
What other specs should I look for? hours? year? would it have power steering? ide be usin it in some tight spaces?

Square axle lad are best by far they have wet brakes while the round axle have a dry hub and its impossible to keep brakes on them

Get yourself a wee Ford 4000 or 4600 v v good tractors simple to use good brakes easy started unless there fooked, speedy on the road easy to engage pto nice gearbox almost syncro whilst a 165 has an awfull crunchy gearbox, chronic slow on the road bad steering in many cases. Best thing you can do however is buy whatever kind of tractor your local repair man knows a bit about and can source spares aesily for...

Casinoking

The square axle were the later models, they didn't all have wet brakes originally but a lot of them were converted over the years. The wet brakes are the ones to go for, although they're more expensive to refurbish if they're shot. It's unlikely they'd have power steering unless there's a loader fitted, although that's really the only reason you'd need it as it wasn't too heavy from memory. As for year and hours, they were built from 65-76 so the latter the better and it's highly unlikely the clock is still working on them so hours is a guess depending on condition, wear on the pedals etc. Personally I'd probably go for a 4600 with a q cab, a more comfortable tractor to drive and slightly more modern. Easier to find one with power steering too, and a lot of them have loaders. Not so sure about the "almost synchro" gearbox and "speedy on the road" though, we had one at home for years and it was painfully slow on the road, although a 165 wouldn't be a lot better unless it had multi-power. Neither of them are complicated to work on if you have and mechanical interest yourself, so any decent mechanic should have no problem with them and parts are plentiful.

henrymcd

A neighbour suggested a small ursus. Any opinions?

snowman707

plenty of the older case/international still available and they just keep on going,

something like this
http://www.farmandplant.ie/Car_Detail.aspx?ID=2947518

great traction, reliable & easy on diesel.

Mr. Pseudonym

Some good suggestions there, especially the Ford 4600.

I found myself in a similar position a few years ago and after a bit of looking around settled on a Zetor 5211. Probably not the critics choice but it does everything I ask of it.

Also if you were like me and not very mechanically minded, make sure you get someone to give the tractor a good going over before any purchase.

Happy hunting!

leitrim lad

as stated above the ford 4600, 4000,5000, excellent tractor,

massey 165, good tractor in a square axel, with wet brakes, but beware of one that was a multipower, and run a mile from it, as many of them had the shaft welded and were a disaster, aswell as a health hazard ,multipower has killed many a good m,an let me tell you, so beware and ask plenty of questions when buying.

you may even get an ursus which is basically a cheaper massy, but newer, and easier bought,

good luck and happy farming

germanicus

david brown 996 or case 12/1394. quite good value to be had in these

snowman707

leitrim lad wrote: »

massey 165, good tractor in a square axel, with wet brakes,

the 165 were/are a great workhorse however they are the worst balanced tractor in their class,

I have proved this many occasions years ago while with identical traynor silage trailers a 996 on bald tyres would travel where a 165 with new goodyear radials on the rear buried herself

henrymcd

would any or all of the suggestions made have any bother lifting or movin heavy round bales, that mostly what ide want it for.

germanicus

massey 165 david brown 995/ case 1294 ford 4000/5000 would struggle to lift bales. especially fusion bales some of them can weigh close to a ton

brummytom

fig mclough wrote: »

massy 365

This ^.
You can't go wrong with the Massy 365.

pebbles21

brummytom wrote: »

This ^.
You can't go wrong with the Massy 365.

+1

Tis a fine Tractor

Casinoking

A Massey 365 is a grand handy tractor alright but might be a bit on the pricey side for someone with ten cattle

Niall09

brummytom wrote: »

This ^.
You can't go wrong with the Massy 365.

Agreed.

Sure 'tis red like a Ferrari too.

k mac

i was lookin for simalar tractor recently spent 8 months looking for a ford 4600 or mf165 found both very hard to come by a 165 in very poor condition would be at least 5 grand and a 46 in good nick would be about the same . In the end bought a very clean david brown 1390 for just 2200 does everything i need and lifted very heavy fusion bales .

snowman707

I am nearly tempted to have a look at this one my self

http://www.donedeal.ie/for-sale/trucks/982632

gave that money for tyres lately.

maidhc

snowman707 wrote: »

I am nearly tempted to have a look at this one my self

http://www.donedeal.ie/for-sale/trucks/982632

gave that money for tyres lately.

looks like good value!

I am a fan of the Ford 4000/4600. Have a rake of them, and they are wonderful tractors. They are a little small for dealing with silage bales I think though, you really would need 80hp for that.

DanFindy

k mac wrote: »

i was lookin for simalar tractor recently spent 8 months looking for a ford 4600 or mf165 found both very hard to come by a 165 in very poor condition would be at least 5 grand and a 46 in good nick would be about the same . In the end bought a very clean david brown 1390 for just 2200 does everything i need and lifted very heavy fusion bales .

Any more knockin about at that money???Cash waiting for a good wee tractor with cab !!

manta356

Leyland 270 was a good tractor at right money.Very good on the road with syncromesh box

Bitten & Hisses

270 never had a synchro box

manta356

well you could change from low to high range on the go or vice versa