So...I broke down and bought a tractor. A few days after saying I wanted to keep my costs as low as possible, I plopped down 2 grand on this 65 year old beast.
Why? I realized during last week's nice weather that I didn't have the proper equipment to get vegetable plots in the ground this year. My $100 walk behind tiller that I purchased last year was already held together with baling wire and chewing gum, and after tilling a few rows, it decided it no longer wanted to run. I spent a half day working at fixing it, then decided that it was likely going to cost me more to fix and maintain than it was worth to me. I got my $100 dollars worth last year (and maybe I'll even be able to get a few bucks for it on craigslist). Old equipment can be great--it's often built to higher engineering standards to modern equipment, but the cheap acquisition costs can only be justified if maintenance time and costs can be kept to a minimum. When I bought the tiller, it was already half broken so I figured I came out on the good side of the deal for the 10-20 hours I got out of it last year.
So, the original plan for this year was to make due with the tiller, my 4x4 truck, and a wheel hoe. I did try and pull my disc harrow with the truck, and it worked pretty well, but it was burning a lot of fuel. The truck was not meant to run at such slow speeds for extended periods. With the tiller a lost cause, I figured I had a few choices: Rent a tiller, borrow a tiller or tractor from the neighbors, buy another cheap tiller, buy a newer more expensive tiller (in the $750-$1000 range), buy an older small tractor and implements, or buy a new small tractor and implements.
I crossed buying another old tiller off the list as it took me quite a while to find the first one I bought last year, and I didn't want to spend a lot of time waiting and perusing craigslist for something that wouldn't last me very long. I also crossed buying a newer tiller as I don't think I want to use a walk behind tiller for my primary tillage in the long term--the $750 range tillers aren't the best quality, and lots of other reasons. I dreamed of buying a nice four wheel drive tractor with a diesel engine, a three point hitch, and a loader--but I didn't have $10,000 lying around and it doesn't fit with my plan to scale up the farm slowly. I'd never be able to make enough profit from the use of the tractor in the next few years to justify the price and operating expense.
So, I was left with borrowing/renting or buying an old tractor and implements. Borrowing/renting was probably the best short-term choice for keeping my costs to an absolute minimum this year, but in the end, I decided I wanted something that a bit more of an investment. I also really like working on and with old machinery--so there's the fun factor as well. I'd been doing research on older tractors for a couple of years now, so I was already familiar with my options. I narrowed down my choice to two options: the Farmall Cub and the Ford N series. Here is just one example of the kind of information you can find comparing the two.
I made a list of things I anticipated I would need to do in the next year or two that I could use a tractor for to help me compare: Till vegetable plots to prepare for seed, plant seeds, cultivate to control weeds, mow grass, weeds, and ditches, pull manure spreader, pull trailer, move wood chips around farm, move bulk bags of feed, load manure into manure spreader, dig and maintain ditches. I could do all of those things (except dig ditches) with my previous landlord's modern 4 wheel drive tractor, but I still only used the tractor less than about 20 hours the whole year (I also used it and her implements to make hay, but I don't anticipate doing that at this farm). Digging ditches requires specialized equipment, which I'm better off renting or borrowing. Moving stuff around the farm with a loader is very convenient, and although both tractors can be equipped with a loader, from everything I read it's not really worth it on such small tractors. I thought long and hard about my WANT for a loader and my NEED for a loader, and decided that I could probably make do without one. Either of the two tractors can do any of the other things on the list, with some significant differences in method. The Farmall cub is better at cultivating row crops because of its unique off center alignment, while the Fords have about twice the power of the Cub and the 8n has a modern a three-point hitch (which means one can use modern implements). Based on my Craigslist research, Cubs tended to be a bit cheaper than the Fords and often came with more implements.
So, with that in mind, I decided that either tractor could work for me, and it would all come down to condition, included implements, and driving distance. I perused Craigslist for quite a while, did more research, and waited. One thing I've found with Craigslist is that you can often get a better deal on a piece of equipment if it doesn't include any pictures. These ads are often posted older farmers and collectors who aren't necessarily super computer savvy, but tend to take good care of the equipment. The lack of a picture also scares some buyers away. That was exactly the case with the Cub I ended up buying: it was advertised without a picture and without much description, but did say that it included a few implements. I called the number on the ad and was greeted by a very nice guy who told me he had bought the tractor as a project to fix up. He started listing off a long list of implements and parts on the phone, and I realized I may have hit upon a good deal. We arranged a meeting for the next day.
It was an hour drive (to Sumas), but it was worth it. The owner had only owned the tractor for a few years, but had put a lot of time and money into getting it fixed up. I could tell right away that while the paint was faded, the tractor itself was in very good condition. It started right up on the first crank from a cold start. Yes. The implements were also in good condition, and there were a lot of them:
Why? I realized during last week's nice weather that I didn't have the proper equipment to get vegetable plots in the ground this year. My $100 walk behind tiller that I purchased last year was already held together with baling wire and chewing gum, and after tilling a few rows, it decided it no longer wanted to run. I spent a half day working at fixing it, then decided that it was likely going to cost me more to fix and maintain than it was worth to me. I got my $100 dollars worth last year (and maybe I'll even be able to get a few bucks for it on craigslist). Old equipment can be great--it's often built to higher engineering standards to modern equipment, but the cheap acquisition costs can only be justified if maintenance time and costs can be kept to a minimum. When I bought the tiller, it was already half broken so I figured I came out on the good side of the deal for the 10-20 hours I got out of it last year.
So, the original plan for this year was to make due with the tiller, my 4x4 truck, and a wheel hoe. I did try and pull my disc harrow with the truck, and it worked pretty well, but it was burning a lot of fuel. The truck was not meant to run at such slow speeds for extended periods. With the tiller a lost cause, I figured I had a few choices: Rent a tiller, borrow a tiller or tractor from the neighbors, buy another cheap tiller, buy a newer more expensive tiller (in the $750-$1000 range), buy an older small tractor and implements, or buy a new small tractor and implements.
I crossed buying another old tiller off the list as it took me quite a while to find the first one I bought last year, and I didn't want to spend a lot of time waiting and perusing craigslist for something that wouldn't last me very long. I also crossed buying a newer tiller as I don't think I want to use a walk behind tiller for my primary tillage in the long term--the $750 range tillers aren't the best quality, and lots of other reasons. I dreamed of buying a nice four wheel drive tractor with a diesel engine, a three point hitch, and a loader--but I didn't have $10,000 lying around and it doesn't fit with my plan to scale up the farm slowly. I'd never be able to make enough profit from the use of the tractor in the next few years to justify the price and operating expense.
So, I was left with borrowing/renting or buying an old tractor and implements. Borrowing/renting was probably the best short-term choice for keeping my costs to an absolute minimum this year, but in the end, I decided I wanted something that a bit more of an investment. I also really like working on and with old machinery--so there's the fun factor as well. I'd been doing research on older tractors for a couple of years now, so I was already familiar with my options. I narrowed down my choice to two options: the Farmall Cub and the Ford N series. Here is just one example of the kind of information you can find comparing the two.
I made a list of things I anticipated I would need to do in the next year or two that I could use a tractor for to help me compare: Till vegetable plots to prepare for seed, plant seeds, cultivate to control weeds, mow grass, weeds, and ditches, pull manure spreader, pull trailer, move wood chips around farm, move bulk bags of feed, load manure into manure spreader, dig and maintain ditches. I could do all of those things (except dig ditches) with my previous landlord's modern 4 wheel drive tractor, but I still only used the tractor less than about 20 hours the whole year (I also used it and her implements to make hay, but I don't anticipate doing that at this farm). Digging ditches requires specialized equipment, which I'm better off renting or borrowing. Moving stuff around the farm with a loader is very convenient, and although both tractors can be equipped with a loader, from everything I read it's not really worth it on such small tractors. I thought long and hard about my WANT for a loader and my NEED for a loader, and decided that I could probably make do without one. Either of the two tractors can do any of the other things on the list, with some significant differences in method. The Farmall cub is better at cultivating row crops because of its unique off center alignment, while the Fords have about twice the power of the Cub and the 8n has a modern a three-point hitch (which means one can use modern implements). Based on my Craigslist research, Cubs tended to be a bit cheaper than the Fords and often came with more implements.
So, with that in mind, I decided that either tractor could work for me, and it would all come down to condition, included implements, and driving distance. I perused Craigslist for quite a while, did more research, and waited. One thing I've found with Craigslist is that you can often get a better deal on a piece of equipment if it doesn't include any pictures. These ads are often posted older farmers and collectors who aren't necessarily super computer savvy, but tend to take good care of the equipment. The lack of a picture also scares some buyers away. That was exactly the case with the Cub I ended up buying: it was advertised without a picture and without much description, but did say that it included a few implements. I called the number on the ad and was greeted by a very nice guy who told me he had bought the tractor as a project to fix up. He started listing off a long list of implements and parts on the phone, and I realized I may have hit upon a good deal. We arranged a meeting for the next day.
It was an hour drive (to Sumas), but it was worth it. The owner had only owned the tractor for a few years, but had put a lot of time and money into getting it fixed up. I could tell right away that while the paint was faded, the tractor itself was in very good condition. It started right up on the first crank from a cold start. Yes. The implements were also in good condition, and there were a lot of them:
Cultivator
Moldboard Plow and Front and Rear Wheel Weights
One working sickle bar mower and a nearly working parts mower
Drag Harrow
Grader Blade
He also had two boxes of spare parts and a factory shop manual.
While the tractor was in good condition, the real treasure trove here is all the implements. Since the Farmall Cub doesn't have a modern three-point hitch, it has all its own unique implements. While possible to find these singly, it's best to get them all at once when you buy the tractor. I can do all my tillage and cultivation with just these implements and my existing two behind disc harrow.
So we had a deal, and I was back the next day with U-Haul trailer in tow. I think I made a good investment, and if all goes well, I can pay for that investment with the revenue from this year. In the future, if the farm starts to grow, I'll invest in a more modern tractor with a loader.
While the tractor was in good condition, the real treasure trove here is all the implements. Since the Farmall Cub doesn't have a modern three-point hitch, it has all its own unique implements. While possible to find these singly, it's best to get them all at once when you buy the tractor. I can do all my tillage and cultivation with just these implements and my existing two behind disc harrow.
So we had a deal, and I was back the next day with U-Haul trailer in tow. I think I made a good investment, and if all goes well, I can pay for that investment with the revenue from this year. In the future, if the farm starts to grow, I'll invest in a more modern tractor with a loader.
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