Tractor City

[JaySVX]

Cars, trucks, motorcycles, there's plenty of ways to get around town. But what about those little engine driven things that provide you with a nice looking lawn?

Not many people put to much stock into their lawn care equipment. To many, it does hte job, then goes back into storage. It breaks, buy another. Would you do that with your car? Surely no, so why do it with your lawn care equipment? That, naturally, might get old.

What if there was an alternative option? How about, general maintenace, and your tractor will last 20, 30, or even 50 years? Surely, you'd think, that a tractor like that must cost thousands of dollers to offset the lack of required upkeep. But what if, just by chance, it didn't cost any more than a regular tractor? Blasphemy you say?

In my shed I have the tractor that my father mowed with before I was born. The battery is dead, it has been there for 6-7 years, untouched. I went out a few weeks ago with a jump pack and a can of ether. Hooked up the jump pack, sprayed the intake, turned it over, and 3 turns later, it was chugging away. I'd like to see some craftsman do that.

Your standard consumer lawn & garden tractors, however, are designed to be throw away's. Five years and it's dead. 10 if you don't use it often. 15 if you don't use it AND you are extremely lucky. And that's with regularly scheduled maintenance.

My arsenol consists of three tractors.

A 1950 Case VAC farm tractor. Runs like a champ, even after my little engine fire incident thursday night. Just had to require the electrical system. Don't even bother with leaded gas. Paid $1200 for it, with bush hog and rear blade.

A 1967 International Harvester Cub Cadet 124. Was sitting for ages. Starts and runs beautifully. Doesn't look so hot though, needs some cleaning. I have never done an oil change on it since it has changed to my hands 15 years ago. Gifted from my father. Kind of a right of passage, as I Frankenstein'd it by transplanting the engine onto a Cub Cadet 104 body because I ran into a stump and broke the steering rod.

A 1969 International Harvester Cub Lo-Boy 154. Just picked it up. Beefcake, turf tires, 60" deck, mid and rear hydraulics, rear PTO, 3 point hitch. Drove it off the trailer, lowered the deck, engaged the rear PTO, and proceeded to mow the lawn. 15 minutes later, I drove it across the street and mowed the neighbors lawn. 20 minutes after that I took it into the garage and parked it for the night. These are 2-3 acre lawns, and it's been raining, so mowing is over due and the grass was damp. Came out with a clean even cut through-out. Paid $1400 for it. Haven't found a flaw with it yet.

I also aid and assist in maintaining my father's two tractors.

One being a 1971 New Holland S-14 with hydro-static transmission, front, mid, and rear PTO, and hydraulics. It has a blade and a tiller, the mid PTO for the deck doesn't function. This tractor has been a nightmare to maintain, not because of it breaking often, but when it does, parts are next to impossible to find.

The other is a 2004 Craftsman something-or-other, 6 speed, 44" deck, blah blah. It ran around $1500 new. The deck has broken in one way or another a good 15 times. The oil filter costs $55. The headlights burn out way more often than they should. You cannot get the "spring" you need for the tensioner on the belt. Nor can you fasten one. You can, however, buy another mower deck for $400. It's been 5 years, time to throw it away and buy another.

My other neighbor has a 2005 Craftsman something-or-other, along similar lines. In 2008 he had to get a new engine. It was not covered under warranty, and came to the tune of around $700.

Other neighbor has a JD lawn tractor, circa 2006. Same thing.

Other neighbor has a Bolens lawn tractor, circa 2003. It's been dead in the water for a couple years. He now drives a 60's Bolens. Hasn't had a problem with that one.

The maintenace on my Cub's over the years has been sharpening of blades every couple years, which I do myself on the high speed grinder, and adding gas. In 2004 I replaced the belt to the deck, the old one snapped.

I can get new old stock for every old tractor I own, minus New Holland, thank you Ariens, I hope you go bankrupt.

Every tractor I have mentioned costs in the neighborhood of $1500-2000. New ones and old ones when they were new. However, the old ones, 30 years later, are selling for the exact prices they were when they were new.

Sure, you can go out and get a Scag for $6000, it'll last you a solid 15 years, probably more, and it will do a grea job mowing. And, it will require minimal maintenance. Cost of ownership over 15 years is about that of a new lawn tractor. If you are going to buy a lawn tractor, check out those Scags. They're nice.

If you don't require the ludicracy of a Scag, and don't want to spend the money, consider something a bit older. They may not be as fancy, but they get the job done year after year.

Lets not forget transmissions. Older tractors get their power to the ground. My 12hp Cub Cadet has much more power to the ground than the 20hp Craftsman. That means thick or wet grass bites the dust, instead of bogs the engine and lays down to stand back up later as if you hadn't cut the grass at all.

1950 Case VAC:


1967 IH Cub Cadet 124:


1969 IH Lo-Boy 154:


1971 New Holland S-14:


Also, a 1968 IH Cub Cadet 124 I parted with to YT:


You wouldn't throw your money away buying a Daewoo car, so why buy a shoddy tractor?

*I don't have pictures of the craftsman, it's currently in pieces due to a broken spindle on the deck.*

Long live the real tractors!

[subeman90]

I'm too tired to argue but you are comparing apples to oranges here.

-Craftsman never made a "compact tractor" which is what some of your tractors are.

-craftsmans are junk....what isn't for $1500 but don't compare it to a JD. There are a few types of JD's the cheaper ones (formally known as Sabres and the ones you see at Home Depot) are made to compete agains craftsman junk. "real" JD's are much better but at 3x the cost though.

- that New Holland tractor is worth money...stop using it.

-one other thing is that you can NOT get parts for some of the older tractors. Trust me on this..I have hauled many to their grave after 30 years over stupid crap that is obsolete.

Just my 2 cents though from my experience working at a JD and NH dealer

[JaySVX]

That New Holland pretty much only plows snow/dirt, and tills fields. It's beefcake.

Yes, you can't compare the Case with a craftsman tractor, or even modern simplicities or bolens or JD's, because they're in diffent size class. However, the IH cub cadets, older simplicities, and things that were made iwth cast iron transmissions instead of some hapless belt driven system will last almost forever, and actually get the power to the ground.

The Lo-Boy is a hybrid, between the smaller garden tractors and the large farm tractors. I replaced all the grease in hte fittings this afternoon, made some deck adjustments, and mowed a field. It is larger, sure, however, if it can fit width wise, it can mow your lawn. 60" is pretty wide, but that thing can turn on a dime, better than any tractor I've ever encountered other than the trike style farm tractors, and they can do it because of their style. I would guess it to be around 80 degrees off strait for the wheels cut all the way one way. I have never seen that on a tractor before.

I love my Lo-Boy, for mowing, it's the absolute perfect tractor. The back field I mowed had been hit with a bush hog a week ago. I had the deck all the way down and it tore through giving a clean and even cut.

JD's are great, if you have a farm tractor or utility vehicle. However I have yet to see a garden tractor class JD that is worth it's weight in dog crap. And they cost much more than others in their class, because you are paying for a name.

As for parts, I don't know what brands you've had problems with, but any Allice Chambers, Ford, Farmall, IH, or Massey from 30 to 60 years old, you can get new old stock from quite a few places. New Holland has been my only problem, because Ariens needs to rot in an eternal hell for what they did to them.

[Sean486]

New Holland tractors are made in New Holland Pennsylvania, so go out and buy a new one and support our Central PA economy!!!!

[subeman90]

Originally Posted by Sean486

New Holland tractors are made in New Holland Pennsylvania, so go out and buy a new one and support our Central PA economy!!!!

no they aren't. Most come from England and Italy. What is made in NH is the bailers and stuff like that.

Jay: I totally agree with your opinion of the "green" ones being overpriced. I have seen it first hand and could not agree more.

Ariens is who everyone gets to build their snowblowers. Back just a few years ago...the JD snowblowers were made by them. Most dealers gave up on selling the JD's and just ended up selling Ariens SB's.

You want to see a great L&G tractor...A JD 425, 445, and 455 now that is a good JD that is more then just a name.

[JaySVX]

I was gonna say, there's different New Holland companies. New Holland was bought by Ariens in 1972. That's why the NH S-14 was only made in 1970-1971. Ariens continued the S-14 line in 1972, and it was identicle to the NH brand, just red instead of green. I am not sure of much of the details after that, or how they came to be under I think Case now.

What's irritating is, there's really nothing out there anymore for those who want something inbetween a garden tractor and a farm tractor. THe lo-boy and S-14 were great examples of these, but these days you can't get something like that.

[subeman90]

the middle ground has been skewed by the people who are too cheap to buy a good tractor and will buy a piece of crap and then misuse it, then it breaks and they complain about it.

I do agree though...thye sure don't build them like they used to. *sigh*