What’s the best tractor of all time ?

[Oliveau]

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.

My eldest stepson told me a month or so ago that he'd just taken delivery of a new Deere at £170k+. He's now 68 and he said "To be quite honest, I don't know how to drive it!"

 

[alomy75]

Late John Deere 7530. Any gearbox. Strong, reliable, looks and sounds awesome and anyone can just jump on and drive it. Plus many will be experiencing negative depreciation. Late 6930 also. John Deere’s finest hour in a lifetime of quality.

 

[fiatf130]

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

View attachment 1132604

That picture is taken in Ballyclare!

 

[Jerry]

That picture is taken in Ballyclare!

Yeah. I just googled a pick to show one. Wish it was still here

 

[copse]

This old girl would take some beating and was one of the last made . Never had a spanner on it and has gone up in value by £1000 a year since new .

 

[Renaultman]

Crazy that people in this thread are pretending they’ve never heard a Challenger go past in a field

My mate used to drill Rape with one on a topdown you could hear him all over the county.

 

[ollie989898]

This old girl would take some beating and was one of the last made . Never had a spanner on it and has gone up in value by £1000 a year since new .View attachment 1132638

On proper boots, too.

 

[Wellytrack]

Not saying they are the best made, but certainly one of the best looking tractors.

 

[ollie989898]

Crazy that people in this thread are pretending they’ve never heard a Challenger go past in a field

Was in the field next door to one on 6m powerharrow some years ago. Could hear it the otherside of the village. Good job it wasn't short of engine power because I reckon about 30% of the fuel consumed was turned into pure noise.

 

[Northeastfarmer]

This old girl would take some beating and was one of the last made . Never had a spanner on it and has gone up in value by £1000 a year since new .View attachment 1132638

Cracker

 

[ollie989898]

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

7250 was a hell of a machine in it's time. Poster on the bedroom wall type stuff. Shame about the neck-brace required He-man gearbox. I often wondered if a modern version of it with cab and front suspension wouldn't be a bad thing. Replacement MX270 moved the game on a bit but not not like the original Magnum.

 

[copse]

Cracker

The best 38 k I ever spent.

 

[Northeastfarmer]

The best 38 k I ever spent.

I wish I’d bought one years ago or a 7810

 

[J 1177]

I wish I’d bought one years ago or a 7810

Always wished wed bought a 1056xl 40k, front links etc one of the last, paxton had in, ex local tattie guys tractor (all were immaculate).
I was only 18 at the time, couldnt persuade the old fella to buy it.
8k.........8grand be worth nearly double that now.

 

[Farmer Roy]

7250 was a hell of a machine in it's time. Poster on the bedroom wall type stuff. Shame about the neck-brace required He-man gearbox. I often wondered if a modern version of it with cab and front suspension wouldn't be a bad thing. Replacement MX270 moved the game on a bit but not not like the original Magnum.

there was an absolute shît load of 7140s & 8400s sold here back in the day, especially for row crop & irrigation work

they all did big hours & are still the benchmark others are judged against ( & subsequently found to be lacking )

 

[ollie989898]

there was an absolute shît load of 7140s & 8400s sold here back in the day, especially for row crop & irrigation work

they all did big hours & are still the benchmark others are judged against ( & subsequently found to be lacking )

Happy memories pulling disc and press or subsoilers with one. Great machines, especially for you guys but out of their comfort zone on the roads here. Certainly in my youth it was rare to see a Magnum or 8000 series Deere in this part of the world as they were big lumps. Nearly amazes me to see that the number of tractors you see about which are more powerful than them now.

 

[james ds]

Awww jees @Clive slow on the forum today to start a fight this big??!!!

I’ll start with any modern JD from the 6series 6010 to the 6r perfect alrounders with spec for all from the basic levers to the funcy auto powers.

Just please no one mention a TM or valtra the other thread Clive mentioned is for them!!

It’s amazing why a contractor has changed his five modern Jd tractors for 5 valtras over the last two years and his only regret is he didn’t change sooner.

 

[Lowland1]

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

I have a quote for a new T 7040 autocommand £100,000. If you are looking for a 100 hp 7840 equivalent i’m pretty sure £50-60,000 will get you one maybe a bit less if you don’t want too many bells. People are always on about how expensive new tractors are compared with old days but look for a 60 hp 2 wd compare it to a 60 hp tractor 40 years ago in an inflation calculator and you’ll find not much difference. However everyone wants a 300 hp Fendt. In UK tractors are priced to what people will pay.

 

[Farmer Roy]

Happy memories pulling disc and press or subsoilers with one. Great machines, especially for you guys but out of their comfort zone on the roads here. Certainly in my youth it was rare to see a Magnum or 8000 series Deere in this part of the world as they were big lumps. Nearly amazes me to see that the number of tractors you see about which are more powerful than them now.

in this part of the world ( northern NSW / southern QLD ), back in the day, 7140 & 8400 were probably the “standard” tractors around.

 

[bravheart]

I have a quote for a new T 7040 autocommand £100,000. If you are looking for a 100 hp 7840 equivalent i’m pretty sure £50-60,000 will get you one maybe a bit less if you don’t want too many bells. People are always on about how expensive new tractors are compared with old days but look for a 60 hp 2 wd compare it to a 60 hp tractor 40 years ago in an inflation calculator and you’ll find not much difference. However everyone wants a 300 hp Fendt. In UK tractors are priced to what people will pay.

And are you happy with those prices?

A family friend, farmer and M P now sadly departed used to rate prices against fat lambs and how he could buy a new tractor for the price of 130 lambs. He was up in arms when the numbers rose to around 200 lambs.
Try putting some of the telephone number prices for tractors quoted against the price of fat lambs now and you will see how far down our farm gate prices have slipped.