market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org
Subject: Market Farming
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- From: KAKerby AT aol.com
- To: market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org
- Subject: Re: [Market-farming] How bad are those farmalls
- Date: Fri, 15 Jul 2011 12:37:13 -0400 (EDT)
I was amused by the relative's statement that "any" gas tractor is
unreliable. That's like saying any particular brand of vehicle is
unreliable - there's a whole lot more that goes into the mix than merely one
variable. I think your relative just doesn't like gas tractors, and any
future "advice" from that individual should be viewed in that context.
When we were looking for tractors, we first looked to see what was
available 'round here. Lots and lots and lots of Farmalls, lots of Ford N
series, precious few John Deere's, the occasional other manufacturer (Massey
Ferguson, Oliver, Case, Allis Chalmers, etc). We also looked at who was
available to fix and maintain them. We found (not surprisingly) the same
distribution - IH/Farmall tractors were readily supported, but the John Deere
repair places had either closed shop or switched over to lawn tractors years
ago. The one typically goes hand in hand with the other.
During our search, we heard from folks who would only ever drive X brand,
because all the rest were "junk". The first few conversations along those
lines always unnerved us because they had so much more experience than us.
But it boiled down to this: whatever folks were raised with is often what they
stayed with. And all the other brands were labeled "junk". So you
inherit whatever their preferences are, regardless of how well those preferences
were formed. The best mentors we ever found were those who had had
multiple brands, and/or was open minded enough to see the pro's and con's of any
given machine. My main tractor mentor is a big fan of the International
Harvester family, which includes the Farmall. He was raised with
Farmall's, still has an old M which has been retired, and his main workhorse
tractors now are two IH tractors from the '70's. He had worked with a
variety of other brands, including the Ford N series and newer. He
encouraged us to get something relatively newer, say 1970's vintage, but those
were priced beyond our means. Yet the Farmalls were plentiful and
affordable in this area. Given those conditions, of the Farmall series,
his favorite was the C and super C, because they were a good combination
of size and horsepower, good tillage tools available, not as big and
thirsty for gas as the M, but much more powerful than the Cub, the A and the
H. His first tractor was an H and he says affectionately that
he loved that old machine "but it didn't have enough horsepower to pull the
hat off my head". We have settled on the C/Super C because of those
"Goldilocks" just-right features, and we've found the one we'll probably
buy. We settled on that particular one because it comes with a full set of
implements for cultivation, but also a sickle bar mower and a front end loader
which will help us with haymaking and manure handling. It's been
maintained in field-ready condition, and the man selling it is well
regarded in the area as a willing and able equipment tutor for newbie growers
like us. That's the kind of relationship which we very much wanted to
find. We're saving up the $$ for that purchase and we hope to make that
purchase before the end of the year. With that tractor and all those
implements, all of our present and foreseeable future tractor needs will have
been met. There's cheaper tractors out there which we've considered, but
none of them come with all those nice features.
Look around at what's available in your area, and why, and try to find
folks who are heavily motivated not only for you to succeed, but also willing to
consider that there are LOTS of good solid machines still available of various
vintages out there. You may find yourself gravitating towards a brand
simply because of the people available to back it up and answer your questions;
that becomes more important than the ultimate sales price because that's what
you'll take with you as you bring it home. Best of luck with your search;
hopefully you'll find some good quality iron, and new mentors, of your very
own.
Kathryn Kerby
frogchorusfarm.com
Snohomish, WA
ruminations - essays on the farming life at
frogchorusfarm.com/weblog.html
In a message dated 7/15/2011 8:18:37 A.M. Pacific Daylight Time,
barkingcatfarm AT mindspring.com writes:
|
-
Re: [Market-farming] How bad are those farmalls,
KAKerby, 07/15/2011
- <Possible follow-up(s)>
-
Re: [Market-farming] How bad are those farmalls,
SaladG, 07/15/2011
- Re: [Market-farming] How bad are those farmalls, idyllwild farm, 07/15/2011
- Re: [Market-farming] How bad are those farmalls, Bill Cromwell, 07/15/2011
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