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["SISU!" <erthnsky AT bellsouth.net>]

Thanks Don.  This is exactly the kind of info I need.  I mentioned the
implements because I don't want to buy a tractor that wouldn't accept
later additions as I can afford them.  I have seen a couple of 1949 8N's
and other old Fords for sale that I could afford, but now that I know it
won't work with what I need to do, I will discount that.
Basically, this is what I need a tractor for....
To bushhog/mow the 9 acres of pasture that is too rocky for a garden
tractor.  The pasture is 95% flat, with only a small slope on one side.
To move debris piles around on the property for burning, and to move
various "piles" of dirt, compost, hay, etc.
To work the gravel driveway..
To pull trees and large limbs-basically clearing storm debris from the
roads, including a forest service/old logging road that is rutted and
not suitable for my truck.
I've been using my truck, a '95 GMC Sierra, (city kind of truck) for as
many jobs as possible.  Just today, I pulled out an old fence that was
overgrown and entangled with weeds, along with a few 'stuck' fenceposts.
 I also loaded, moved, and unloaded a small pile of lumber that I could
have actually scooped up with a front end loader if I had had one.

The garden tractor, a 20 hp Murray that we bought before we moved here,
is long dead, and basically I have been trying to maintain the property
with a push mower, my truck, and a weedeater.  As you can imagine, it's
very labor intensive and it would be nice to have a little more muscle.
I don't think I need a whole lot of horsepower but I do need more than 20.
What if I bought a gas powered bushhog and pulled it behind my truck?
Is that possible?
Of the cheaper, foreign made tractors, which ones should I avoid and why?
Will the MF and the 1960's International tractors you recommend allow a
front end loader?

Bev

Don Bowen wrote:

> There are a couple of things you should be aware of in older 
> tractors.  Older is something say early 60s and older.  Few were set 
> up for a front end loader, the front ends are not nearly strong 
> enough.  There are exceptions to this as some industrial versions 
> have much stronger front ends.  This is not something that ne easily 
> modified, if you see one with a modified front end, turn it down.
>
> Another point is that few older tractors have a live PTO.  Most have 
> the PTO running off the same clutch as the rest of the drive train. 
> What this means that something like a brush hog can continue to drive
>  the tractor even with the clutch depressed.  You can get an 
> overriding clutch to install on the PTO shaft and some brush hogs 
> come equipped with one.  I can tell you from personal experience that
>  a spinning brush hog can drive you a long ways.
>
> I no longer know prices but I would look for Massey Ferguson or 
> International, from the 60s.
>
>
>
> Don Bowen              Awl Knotted Up                       KI6DIU 
> http://www.braingarage.com My travel journal 
> http://www.braingarage.com/Dons/Travels/journal/Journal.html
>
> I am omnivagant. _______________________________________________ 
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--
Bevanron in NW Georgia          EarthNSky Farm  34.498N 85.076W
SISU! (Finnish--There is no single word in English that encompasses
all that sisu means, but it combines the following ideas: guts, pep,
determination, stubbornness, perseverance, hardiness, stamina, go, do,
nerve, spunk, pluck, and grit.  It's like "Just Do It!" & "Go for It!")
                                GO NAVY!