Tractors

[Ted]

I am considering the Massey Ferguson Compact line of tractor (1400 series) basically for landscaping and general maintainence on a small piece of horse property we just bought. The MF is attractive to me because their is a local dealer, 0% financing for 2 years and the chance to wear a hat that says "MF."

Any experience with this tractor or any reason I simply have to have a Deere or Kubota?


Cheers,

Ted

 

[landrvrnut21]

I have a MF 1455-4. That on the larger end of the spectrum for the 1400 series. Its 55HP, mine is equipped with 4wd, a 16x16 shuttle box, front end loader, and rear class I 3pt. I love it to death. On the rear I generally use a 72" rough cut mower, 72" box scraper, or 96" rake. It also gets hooked up to the manure spreader about once a month or so. I also have a 12" post hole digger, but havent used it since all the fence is now up.

I needed the 4wd as the rear pasture has a swamp in it, and can get quite soft. When I went shopping for one. I did not want a hydrostat, and it had to be 4wd with a 72" front end loader, and I wanted the 4cyl diesel. While I only have 6 horses right now, my tractor has the capacity to handle the farm I want in the future. I own 26 acres, and it does everything I want it to. I would like to add a rear backhoe in the future.

I have never had a problem with it. I change the oil, and filters every 100 hours. Never a leak or drip. I did add a block heater to it, to make it easier to start in the winter, as I store it under a lean-to. I havent had it stuck yet, it has plenty of low end grunt, and feels like it will pull a house down.

It was a toss up between this, a New Holland or a Deere. I got a better deal on the MF, and the dealer was close by. Plus, my wife thinks its sexy. Hope that helps.

 

[mikemeyer0]

I am considering the Massey Ferguson Compact line of tractor (1400 series) basically for landscaping and general maintainence on a small piece of horse property we just bought. The MF is attractive to me because their is a local dealer, 0% financing for 2 years and the chance to wear a hat that says "MF."

Any experience with this tractor or any reason I simply have to have a Deere or Kubota?


Cheers,

Ted

we have a small massey, a lil old but we maintain our equiptment good, it is a nice machine. they run and start up wll, they are not too bad to work on either. We also have a couple deere's, a ford 8N, and a cat back-hoe. Stay away from the kubota in my opinion.

 

[mikemeyer0]

......Plus, my wife thinks its sexy. Hope that helps.

remindes me of that song....she thinks my tractors sexy...

 

[garrett]

I have a MF 1455-4. That on the larger end of the spectrum for the 1400 series. Its 55HP, mine is equipped with 4wd, a 16x16 shuttle box, front end loader, and rear class I 3pt. I love it to death. On the rear I generally use a 72" rough cut mower, 72" box scraper, or 96" rake. It also gets hooked up to the manure spreader about once a month or so. I also have a 12" post hole digger, but havent used it since all the fence is now up.

I needed the 4wd as the rear pasture has a swamp in it, and can get quite soft. When I went shopping for one. I did not want a hydrostat, and it had to be 4wd with a 72" front end loader, and I wanted the 4cyl diesel. While I only have 6 horses right now, my tractor has the capacity to handle the farm I want in the future. I own 26 acres, and it does everything I want it to. I would like to add a rear backhoe in the future.

I have never had a problem with it. I change the oil, and filters every 100 hours. Never a leak or drip. I did add a block heater to it, to make it easier to start in the winter, as I store it under a lean-to. I havent had it stuck yet, it has plenty of low end grunt, and feels like it will pull a house down.

It was a toss up between this, a New Holland or a Deere. I got a better deal on the MF, and the dealer was close by. Plus, my wife thinks its sexy. Hope that helps.

well damit man if you have 6 horses (draft?) then what do you need a tractor for? haha. actually it is pretty cool watching the Amish around here with their teams of 4 or 6 Percherons or Belgiums.

 

[landrvrnut21]

well damit man if you have 6 horses (draft?) then what do you need a tractor for? haha. actually it is pretty cool watching the Amish around here with their teams of 4 or 6 Percherons or Belgiums.

Apparently you have never been on a horse farm. Lemme break it down. Horses eat grass, the grass goes through their digestive tract, and comes out the other side as fertilizer. Lots of fertilizer. You have to move that fertilizer somehow, hence the need for the loader. I also build houses for a living, so it comes in quite handy.

I started with 26 acres of wooded land. I now have a 1800sq ft ranch, 100k sq ft barn, 50x100 indoor arena, an 2 5-acre pastures. Believe me, the tractor has paid for itself.

 

[rmarti]

My mother in-law has a ranch near the Bisti Bad Lands in New Mexico, so alot of hard work is done when I go back home.

On this past trip she wanted me to clear out a corral full of sand, so she can put her lambs in this paticular area. Having done this job before on another part of her corral, I knew this was a going to take a day and a half with a shovel and a wheelbarrel. So I rembered a guy with a Massey Fergunsen tractor with a shovel and a back hoe and asked him to come over. MAN!! His tractor was a back saver!!! I, I mean "he", was done with the job in 15 minutes. Having that tractor was the right tool for the right job.

So, my thoughts. If you've got alot of shit needing to get done and you're the only guy there, by all means, invest in a tractor

 

[kennith]

I like MF,

I'd take one over almost anything else. Except maby Kubota.

Seeing those damn Kubotas crawl into and out of 300 foot deep mineshafts hauling trailers full of rocks up loose guano covered inclines our Rovers would shy away from day in and day out for years is pretty convincing. Especially with no maintainance to speak of. It blew me away that any machine could get beat that hard for so long and still run fine. And their off road performance was stellar, I'm talking inclines of 40 degrees here, on rock chips and bat shit. Sure they needed a tug every now and again, but very rarely.

Of course, that's not to minimise the MF, it's probably more suited to farm work, and I'd imagine easier to operate.

Cheers,

Kennith

 

[KEJ]

Apparently you have never been on a horse farm. Lemme break it down. Horses eat grass, the grass goes through their digestive tract, and comes out the other side as fertilizer. Lots of fertilizer. You have to move that fertilizer somehow, hence the need for the loader. I also build houses for a living, so it comes in quite handy.

I started with 26 acres of wooded land. I now have a 1800sq ft ranch, 100k sq ft barn, 50x100 indoor arena, an 2 5-acre pastures. Believe me, the tractor has paid for itself.

Uh, I think Garret was just funnin' ya. He knows plenty about farms and horses, and is a horse owner as well. Your barn is HOW big? 100,000 square feet is well over two acres.

Ted, we have 15 acres, a 19 stall, two tack room barn, attached indoor arena (120 x 60) with attached tobacco barn and machine shed. We have a LOT of pasture and lawn to mow, the indoor to keep tilled, and plenty of farm chores to keep the tractor busy. We've run our Ford 1710 (4WD, front end loader, several implements, etc.) for the better part of 20 years with only general maintenance required. The tractor salesman, who brings his daughter here for lessons, is constantly trying to get me to trade it in, telling me it's worth more today than what we paid. Nope, don't need a new tractor. I would think your Massey would be a fine choice. There are loads of old Masseys around here.

KJ

 

[nickb857]

We use a Kubota at the landscaping company i work at. Just picked it up about a year ago and it has been great. We use it for everything. It is hydro drive which is cool, it is really easy to use pedal to go forward and one for reverse. We got a great deal on it to as it was sitting in the showroom for a couple months and the salesman wanted to get rid of it. Comes with the backhoe and we have a harley rake for it but havent had to use it yet so i dont know how easy it is to switch things out on the 3 point hitch. Unfortunatly i cant remember which model or how much HP it has or any of the details right now, but it has been great. Only thing that would make it better is if it had the live hydraulics on the front as well.

 

[noee]

For a compact, I'd stay away from the green and orange, but I'm a massey guy, so take that fwiw. I have a MF 362, about 800 hrs on her, just breaking in. Follow the advice, you want a loader and 4wd with Diff lock (standard?) is amazingly handy at times.

Our neighbor has a green compact with the hydrostatic. It does okay for the basic stuff, but I don't like it because you have constantly push a pedal to move forward or reverse. THey're upgrading to a utility model this winter, had enough of the compact. Very inconvenient at times. In addition, it's mostly plastic (which I think the massey compact is as well), but it just doesn't seem sustantial enough.

Our other neighbor has a green one that's a utility model and it's much stouter and has power to spare. Yet another neighbor has the an orange compact *and* utility and I never see him on the compact, I think he gave it to his son-in-law next door.

The hunt club on the back line has two utility model greens and a compact orange and I never see the orange one being used.

If you think you'll be doing more than just basic stuff, I'd consider moving up to a utility model and stay away from the compacts in general. EIther way, I'd go with a manual transmission, shuttle shift fwd/rev and of course, the hi-lo box, diff lock, 4wd.

I guess it just depends on the jobs you'll be into.

 

[JeffM]

We had a couple of 8640 John Deeres on my Uncles Farm in South Dakota - probably a bit much for what you have in mind

Jeff

 

[kennith]

Noee,

yeah, the Kubotas I was referring to were manual, Hi/low, diff lock equipped and shaft drive. It does make a difference in my opinion. I'm not as into the automatic type stuff. I'm about 50/50 on it actually. It can be easier, but you lose a bit of functionality.

Most of my friends that have tractors have old Fords, and I like those too.

Cheers,

Kennith

 

[landrvrnut21]

Your barn is HOW big? 100,000 square feet is well over two acres.



KJ

I really shouldnt talk on the phone and type at the same time. The barn is 2500 sq ft. 10 stalls, heated tack room, heated wash room, etc.

 

[KEJ]

I really shouldnt talk on the phone and type at the same time. The barn is 2500 sq ft. 10 stalls, heated tack room, heated wash room, etc.

Well, I'm a little disappointed. I wanted to see this barn!

KJ

 

[syoung]

me too- I wanted to fly my hang glider in it.

 

[roverX]

Grew up driving a Massey. Dang fine piece of equipment. Be proud to own one. Can you get an extra hat for me?

 

[garrett]

Apparently you have never been on a horse farm. Lemme break it down. Horses eat grass, the grass goes through their digestive tract, and comes out the other side as fertilizer. Lots of fertilizer. You have to move that fertilizer somehow, hence the need for the loader. I also build houses for a living, so it comes in quite handy.

I started with 26 acres of wooded land. I now have a 1800sq ft ranch, 100k sq ft barn, 50x100 indoor arena, an 2 5-acre pastures. Believe me, the tractor has paid for itself.

yeh i am a little familiar with farms and horses in general. hehe. yeh i was just busting your balls, but just a little. i work on a farm everyday now. not to mention my girlfriend has managed several large horse farms in the area. 200 acres of pasture with 45 head of Scottish Highlands, four Thoroughbreds, 6 dairy cows and too many god damn chickens and not enough time to kill every god damn rooster in site.
some day i will have a nice two hitch team of Percherons. draft horses are still a very common site around where i live. it is ALL farms and working farm horses are alive and well as much as Ford 9N tractors.
as much as i love a nice little tractor, i would rather see teams of draft horses or ponies pulling a cart with a few kids at the helm.
i am well aware of the processes that have to happen to have a purely draft horse run operation. it can and still is done on many farms adjacent to Sarah's farm.
regardless a nice tractor or two is necessary in my mind. but teamed up with a few draft horses is a nice way to suppliment it.
horses poop?

 

[landrvrnut21]

I'm not going to let my better half read this, she really wants a draft. I think its the fact she is only 5'3", and likes to boss an animal 15x her size around (let alone me).

I adopted a saddlebred off the track. She is a sweet mare, and loves attention. Jen's horse is a registered Paint quarter horse. Bought her as a foal, and raised and trained her herself. She has a AAS in Equine Management, and this has been her dream. I have always wanted 20+ acres, and to build my own house. It has worked out for the best. She got her dream barn, I got my dream workshop, and home.

We board a few other horses to supplement the expense of our horses. Jen trains horses, and gives riding lessons. I am a project manager for a custom home builder. So its busy, but we still find time for the 2 of us to load up our 2 horses, and go for a day or even weekend of trail riding. This is never the life I thought I would live, but I wouldnt trade it for the world.

If I would let her, we would have a few cows, rabbits, goats, and mini's. I am happy with what we have for now.

 

[garrett]

I'm not going to let my better half read this, she really wants a draft. I think its the fact she is only 5'3", and likes to boss an animal 15x her size around (let alone me).

I adopted a saddlebred off the track. She is a sweet mare, and loves attention. Jen's horse is a registered Paint quarter horse. Bought her as a foal, and raised and trained her herself. She has a AAS in Equine Management, and this has been her dream. I have always wanted 20+ acres, and to build my own house. It has worked out for the best. She got her dream barn, I got my dream workshop, and home.

We board a few other horses to supplement the expense of our horses. Jen trains horses, and gives riding lessons. I am a project manager for a custom home builder. So its busy, but we still find time for the 2 of us to load up our 2 horses, and go for a day or even weekend of trail riding. This is never the life I thought I would live, but I wouldnt trade it for the world.

If I would let her, we would have a few cows, rabbits, goats, and mini's. I am happy with what we have for now.

get her one....or two. hell they are easier to take care of than a freaking hampster. really. they don't eat any more than my Thoroughbred does. and they are the nicest horses out there. very easy going and fun to ride. sorta like an elephant i would guess. slow and steady. and did i mention easy to tend to.
just a nice piece of land and a run in shed is all you need. oh and some electric fencing. but after the initial costs you have a great animal to use for all kinds of things. riding, pulling a cart, plowing, etc.
with a two hitch team they are really little work. no need to any machinary to clean up after them. unless you start getting up to 6 or so horses there really is no need to machinary to clean up after then. a standard utility cart or garden cart is plenty. and if you keep them in a pasture most of the time you don't have to worry about a thing. just water every few days if there is no water source available to them.
a good draft horse can be found in rural areas at reasonable prices too. a retired draft around 16 years old still have lots of years left and can still be used on a daily basis for light work.
Belgians are still my favorite coldblood horses. beautiful color and their temperments cannot be beat. just gentle giants.