What’s the best tractor of all time ?

Lowland1 · Aug 25, 2023

It’s far easier to put down worst tractor. Best tractor is far more difficult. I’d go for our Claas Arion 630 cebis. It’s the thinking mans Fendt. However our Claas Axos’s are brilliant. Historically it would be Ford 4000s

Clive · Aug 25, 2023

Wellytrack said:
A strangely nostalgic thread @Clive ?

Its like one from the early days.

tbh i was reading the “worst tractor” thread and just decided the negativity needed a positivity offset !

FonterraFarmer · Aug 25, 2023

9N, its the tractor that changed the world.

Bossfarmer · Aug 25, 2023

someone should start a poll with the front runners? lets see

Chickcatcher · Aug 25, 2023

Massey 65 Mkii bought 1963 would go all day on a very small tank of diesel. I think it held 5 gallons may have been 10.

Lowland1 · Aug 25, 2023

yellowbelly said:
It's a generation thing - each one has it's 'best'. Here's ours .................

1960's ............. Ford 5000.
View attachment 1132525

1970's ......... Ford 7700.
View attachment 1132531

1980's ............... Ford TW20.
View attachment 1132532

1990's .......... JD 4055.
View attachment 1132536

2000's ........... JD6910.
View attachment 1132535
All capable of being mended by me with a box of spanners and a ball pein hammer.
When electronics, lap tops, gps (you can drive straight without it - FFS,that's what the steering wheel is for), add blue and all that malarky became common, in true Dragon's Den fashion, I was out.

They broke because they didn't have a computer controlling things. A bloke with a laptop is far better than major surgery. Autosteer for those of us employing people is a god send not everyone can drive straight and no one can drive as straight as GPS. I've driven all the tractors you've put up except for the last one but honestly with tractors it really is getting better not worse.

ford 7810 · Aug 25, 2023

Lowland1 said:
They broke because they didn't have a computer controlling things. A bloke with a laptop is far better than major surgery. Autosteer for those of us employing people is a god send not everyone can drive straight and no one can drive as straight as GPS. I've driven all the tractors you've put up except for the last one but honestly with tractors it really is getting better not worse.

Better not worse ,are you sure I hate modern tractors far to complicated they just make me uninterested. By what’s on the market now it would probably be a JD power quod and you mite persuade me to get electric spools , but definitely full suspension and 50k I just want to drive them do a good job and get off them without thinking too much a bit like your old Ford 4000

Lowland1 · Aug 25, 2023

ford 7810 said:
Better not worse ,are you sure I hate modern tractors far to complicated they just make me uninterested. By what’s on the market now it would probably be a JD power quod and you mite persuade me to get electric spools , but definitely full suspension and 50k I just want to drive them do a good job and get off them without thinking too much a bit like your old Ford 4000

Yes I'm sure. When I was a kid a 4000 was a thing of beauty put a q cab on it and call it a 4600 surely it couldn't get any better? give it more power a better cab with Aircon and call it a 7610/7810 how do you top that? Our 9000 hour 2018 auto steer, auto command T7040 with front and cab suspension is how ( our Claas's are better though ). We've had an issue with the handbrake which needed a bloke with a laptop but other than that nothing. It sounds stupid getting a bloke to reprogramme it because it says the pads are worn but on the other thread there's stories of old International s needing complete rebuilds because they were driven with the handbrake on. First big tractor I bought new was a Landini 165 I bought because it was all manual and easy to fix. Being mainly mechanical it was easy to break too. Nope modern tractors everytime for me.

RmfJ · Aug 25, 2023

DRC said:
McCormick MC135 power6.
light and versatile to skip over the ground with a sprayer or spinner on, but gutsy enough to pull a 5 furrow plough or a 3m power Harrow combination at a reasonable speed.
Also the most comfortable seat on any tractor I had.

And you changed it for a Deutz

Jdunn55 · Aug 25, 2023

Lowland1 said:
Yes I'm sure. When I was a kid a 4000 was a thing of beauty put a q cab on it and call it a 4600 surely it couldn't get any better? give it more power a better cab with Aircon and call it a 7610/7810 how do you top that? Our 9000 hour 2018 auto steer, auto command T7040 with front and cab suspension is how ( our Claas's are better though ). We've had an issue with the handbrake which needed a bloke with a laptop but other than that nothing. It sounds stupid getting a bloke to reprogramme it because it says the pads are worn but on the other thread there's stories of old International s needing complete rebuilds because they were driven with the handbrake on. First big tractor I bought new was a Landini 165 I bought because it was all manual and easy to fix. Being mainly mechanical it was easy to break too. Nope modern tractors everytime for me.

But you're paying for the privilege...
I'm really not convinced, you may not have to split a fendt to fix it whereas like you say major surgery on our 7840/7740 isn't cheap - but they cost us less than £30,000 including the loader when we bought them brand new in 1997.

How much for a 95hp 4 cylinder tractor with loader and a 105-110hp 6 cylinder (do they even exist?) tractor these days, fendt you must be looking at £200,000? That buys you a lot of major surgery

Prices for our products certainly haven't kept up!

Always thought they were crap growing up when I saw all the shiny ones at royal cornwall or when the contractor pulled into the yard, now I really enjoy driving them - except for roadwork. Wish we still had the 7740

ford 7810 · Aug 25, 2023

Lowland1 said:
Yes I'm sure. When I was a kid a 4000 was a thing of beauty put a q cab on it and call it a 4600 surely it couldn't get any better? give it more power a better cab with Aircon and call it a 7610/7810 how do you top that? Our 9000 hour 2018 auto steer, auto command T7040 with front and cab suspension is how ( our Claas's are better though ). We've had an issue with the handbrake which needed a bloke with a laptop but other than that nothing. It sounds stupid getting a bloke to reprogramme it because it says the pads are worn but on the other thread there's stories of old International s needing complete rebuilds because they were driven with the handbrake on. First big tractor I bought new was a Landini 165 I bought because it was all manual and easy to fix. Being mainly mechanical it was easy to break too. Nope modern tractors everytime for me.

Yes I now what your saying ford 7810 is my favourite but not a patch on our valtra N111 & N121 hi-tec 3 with full suspension and 50 K our JD6145 R Direct drive with all the fantasy, screens and buttons and switches is just way over the top for me,we had a JD 6630&6830 power quads before the R series, they were lovely tractors.

tractorsandcows · Aug 25, 2023

Bangoverthebar said:
Deutz dx 90 spend many 1000 hours in one as a kid. It was an aircooled animal.

Nh7740 highly suspect thats is only 90hp, View attachment 1132563

It was only 95 when new and 5 could easily have died since

Jerry · Aug 25, 2023

Loved our fiat at the time when it arrived new ……

Jdunn55 · Aug 25, 2023

Jerry said:
Loved our fiat at the time when it arrived new ……

View attachment 1132604

Wow that's a nice tractor

Steevo · Aug 25, 2023

Chickcatcher said:
Massey 65 Mkii bought 1963 would go all day on a very small tank of diesel. I think it held 5 gallons may have been 10.

Funny you say that! One of those turned up here only a few days ago.

Not so many around these days.

Steevo · Aug 25, 2023

Jerry said:
Loved our fiat at the time when it arrived new ……

View attachment 1132604

Not often you see a tractor with full racing stripes!!

H200GT · Aug 25, 2023

Steevo said:
Funny you say that! One of those turned up here only a few days ago.

Not so many around these days.

I have a mk2 tucked away as well, always wanted one so bought one last year. Not yet used in anger as it needs some tlc

yellowbelly · Aug 25, 2023

Steevo said:
Not often you see a tractor with full racing stripes!!

That was @Jerry when he was going through his Starsky and Hutch phase.....

Nobody's ever seen @Jerry and David Soul in the same room

DRC · Aug 25, 2023

RmfJ said:
And you changed it for a Deutz

I know

Farmer Roy · Aug 25, 2023

8400 John Deere

7140 Case Magnum

8970 New Holland / Ford / Fiat

Any Steiger, Versatile or Waltanna articulated 4wd

9000 series Case 4wd

Plenty of these still around with BIG hours doing Stirling service

the late 90’s / early 00’s were probably the pinnacle of tractor design & build, apart from the full on “proper” tractors, the articulated 4wds starting from about the late 70’s, early 80’s. Steiger & Versatile in particular

anything else is just sh!t by comparison

What’s the best tractor of all time ?

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0 %

Up to 25%

25-50%

50-75%

75-100%

100% I’ve had enough of farming!

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