Machinery that was new years ago

[Greythundercloudys]

I was looking threw somethings in an old chest of drawer and found the manual that came with a tractor we bought new in 1992, it was a fiat90/90. I sold that tractor to Dobson about 5 years ago for 3grand and l bought a mf5455.from them. I can remember the day that fiat came home, l was eighteen, dad and l thought it was massive. That tractor did alot of work, we got a Astor 5.5 ton dung spreader and spread loads of hen pen with it.zetor spreader. Has anyone else got some nice story's of the day a new tractor or machine came onto the farm??

 

[Hilly]

I was looking threw somethings in an old chest of drawer and found the manual that came with a tractor we bought new in 1992, it was a fiat90/90. I sold that tractor to Dobson about 5 years ago for 3grand and l bought a mf5455.from them. I can remember the day that fiat came home, l was eighteen, dad and l thought it was massive. That tractor did alot of work, we got a Astor 5.5 ton dung spreader and spread loads of hen pen with it.zetor spreader. Has anyone else got some nice story's of the day a new tractor or machine came onto the farm??

a 90 90 for 3k !!! i sold a 100 90 similar age etc for 11k and thought that was cheap to a family member.

 

[Greythundercloudys]

It was rusted to hell and the engine was miss firing.

 

[hendrebc]

Surely all machinery was new to someone at some point

 

[icanshootwell]

I was looking threw somethings in an old chest of drawer and found the manual that came with a tractor we bought new in 1992, it was a fiat90/90. I sold that tractor to Dobson about 5 years ago for 3grand and l bought a mf5455.from them. I can remember the day that fiat came home, l was eighteen, dad and l thought it was massive. That tractor did alot of work, we got a Astor 5.5 ton dung spreader and spread loads of hen pen with it.zetor spreader. Has anyone else got some nice story's of the day a new tractor or machine came onto the farm??

Had one of them on demo, i liked it a lot but the 956 came in cheaper by about 3 k at the time, Happy days.

 

[Greythundercloudys]

Yes, but it was the bit of excitement when it arrived and the history after that

 

[icanshootwell]

yep, i went from a 784 ih to a 956, i thought i died and gone to heaven, the XL cab was streets ahead at the time, still an ok cab today.

 

[Cowabunga]

I remember going to see my MF165 at the dealer before it had the cab frame installed. I really wanted a 185 but father thought that was absurdly powerful. The reason I wanted it was for the 8 speed gearbox instead of 6.
I even remember it was the 8th Nov 1972 and it cost £1745. The registration number was PEJ527L and I sold it about 8 years ago, having been unused in the corner of a shed for a few years. It needed new brakes and the salt air had made it rust somewhat, although the mudguards were OK, having been undersealed with black bitumen Presomet by me soon after delivery. I was 14 at the time and jacked up the tractor and removed the rear wheels to do a good job of it, and it certainly worked.
Over the years the 165 gained power steering, an auto hitch, spring suspension seat and an MF80 loader, which worked hellish hard forking silage out of a pit into a small diet feeder for about four or five winters, plus buckraking into the pits, for 150 milking cows.

 

[Greythundercloudys]

Nice one cowabunga.

 

[MF 168]

There's a cupboard in the kitchen here with manuals for just about every machine we ever had. Looking at them is quiet eye opening as to how small they are vs the phone directories it takes to explain modern kit. I think the old flexi cabbed 168 is the only tractor we have thats still here and it's manual is in that press.

 

[DeeGee]

Still have the original handbook for the Fordson Dexta bought new from Jones Bros Abergele in 1959. Think it cost about £650.

Until then we had always had Fergies, but the notorious starting problems with the FE35 meant that the Perkins engined three cylinder Dexta was more reliable. In reality the three cylinder Massey 35 was a much better tractor, but the starting problems with the four cylinder 35 took a long time to forget.

 

[wasted years]

I remember when Dad bought a 7600 four county, it arrived and dad said we would go and disc with it- such excitement!
Anyway we farmed with my uncle at the time and as we arrived at the farm 'the other side of the family' had had the same idea and had got their first.
The tractor seemed capable of bossing everything but in reality it was quickly out of date with crap gearbox, crap cab, noisy etc etc.
When it went it was virtually worthless, no -one wanted them and now of course it is highly collectable.
Who knew?

 

[Campbell]

Remember a new Massey 1080 arriving at the farm where I did weekend [brush and shovel] jobs. It was massive, with all those steps up to the cab. Got a go cultivating with it a few times, but under strict supervision.

 

[Alfred]

Two days after passing my Tractor test in 1990 I drove our new JD 2850 home from the dealers.
A 15 mile road trip and I can still remember the smell of the JD green paint burning off the manifold on the way home.

 

[quattro]

Remember a new Massey 1080 arriving at the farm where I did weekend [brush and shovel] jobs. It was massive, with all those steps up to the cab. Got a go cultivating with it a few times, but under strict supervision.

I remember driving one of those,gears on the dashboard,and a great big cab

 

[icanshootwell]

Two days after passing my Tractor test in 1990 I drove our new JD 2850 home from the dealers.
A 15 mile road trip and I can still remember the smell of the JD green paint burning off the manifold on the way home.

That was a good tractor in the day, can you remember the price? I remember in that year RFM were selling 1056,s for 19 to 20k, with the new maxums coming out, they were offering some keen deals to clear up some 56 series tractors, I think a new 5140 was 25k at the time, I remember my father saying, why would you pay another 5 k for similar hp to the 1056, but power shift was a good step forward but the early 5140,s came with problems, the dump on the forward and reverse had no neutral and could leave you stranded on the traffic lights.

 

[Alfred]

That was a good tractor in the day, can you remember the price? I remember in that year RFM were selling 1056,s for 19 to 20k, with the new maxums coming out, they were offering some keen deals to clear up some 56 series tractors, I think a new 5140 was 25k at the time, I remember my father saying, why would you pay another 5 k for similar hp to the 1056, but power shift was a good step forward but the early 5140,s came with problems, the dump on the forward and reverse had no neutral and could leave you stranded on the traffic lights.

I think that the JD 2850 with a 245m loader fitted came in around £20-21k .
Seemed a lot of money back then, those were the days you could buy a new 4wd case/inter 885xl for about £15k!
Good Times.

 

[Mursal]

No new kit here I'm afraid , always someone else had it before us and more often than not, had trouble with it.
We got caught badly down through the years with bad / cheap at the time, kit.
But we live and learn and its good to hear other's thought's from the past ...........

 

[Greythundercloudys]

I've another manual for a claas 44 round baler, we got it new in 1984, lnthink, it was the first round baler a round here. That baler changed hay time on the farm for ever, no more wee square bales or the lister elevator that was hellish to start or bring bundles of 21 in with the 35x. I was only 9 back then and l look back at happier times, dads cousin's would come over at nights to build the bales in a main shed, it was roasting inside it especially the nearer the roof you got. Plenty laughs and great memory. Far better than bagging wet silage a few years later and getn bite to death with midges.

 

[J 1177]

Remember our new Zetor 9111. Turning up on otterburns wagon on the first day of the school holidays in 1988. Duncan cab, oversized 16.9 tyres,it looked massive.
Then I remember a couple of weeks later my dad bringing back a new 4f dowsdwell dp8b back from the deals (paxtons). The Zetor had been taken in previously and "pimped". Massive weight box, wheels set out. It looked even bigger.