Ford 861 vs. Oliver Super 55/550

But I ran across a Ford 861, which apparently came with lots of standard features, including live hyd + pto.

Can you all suggest particular weaknesses I should look for in this tractor? (I'm told its had a recent engine rebuild.) What's a "Rest-O-Ride" seat???

Have any of you had experience both with the 861 and an Oliver 55/550 and have a judgment about how they compare?

Thanks very much for your help.

Bob Kirk

You literally took the words right out of my mouth as I was reading all these informative responses. Not that they are not valuable -- they are! But it did occur to me that I should see what the Oliver guys have to say.

Thanks to everyone for your helpful thoughts.

Bob

A rest-o-ride seat is a seat mechanism that uses a rube goldberg setup of rubber torsion bushings and steel link arms to keep your bottom from bottoming. It's all fully adjustable, having both elevation and windage adjustments.(!) I find them very comfortable. I just got done restoring one of mine a few months back, and it's loaded with expensive flanged bronze bushings. (about $80 worth!) It has a flip-up bucket that fits most human backsides, and also has some back and forward adjustment. A T-handled tension adjuster allows you to dial in more support as the years go by and you eat too many meatballs. One cautionary on them: If you store your tractor outdoors, at least keep the rest-o-ride seat covered. If you let it get rained on often, the h-shaped link rod ends that support the seat rust up, and they eat through the bronze bushings. The rods themselves are no longer being made, so I was forced to fabricate new ones. It's not an imposssible task, but you need a well equipped shop. If you browse around the various sites and look for Ford pictures, you'll find a shot of a rest-o-ride seat. You'll know it by the two big round rubber bushings that stick out from under the seat back. Other Ford tractors used a big bent spring for seat support. Hope this was informative! Regards,
Nick

The only glaring 'weak point' of a Ford of this era is if it has a Select-o-Speed transmission. They actually worked pretty good in their day, but require time & money to fix. SoS tractors seem to sell for 50% of the same tractor with a good 5-speed.

--->Paul

No, my rubber bushings were OK. They're no longer available, but even if they were, you would not pay the outrageous price that they had listed as the last price. They look pretty tough to make, especially the metal shells, and you'd have to find a company that still vulcanizes rubber to steel, a process that requires a lot of equipment and skill. Two possibilities.....scour the country for a good used set, or follow someone who has a set installed on their tractor. He's got to park it some time. (only kidding!) You're right about the SOS transmission lowering the price on tractors. The only experience I have with them is a neighbor's unit, that seems ok. My biggest criticism of them is that precise control in close quarters is very difficult. The innards of the SOS are not unique in the world of power transmission. If you understand the basics of planetaries and clutches and bands, and how they attain varying gear ratios, you should be able to maintain an SOS. The trouble seems to come when they get neglected. (what, us farmers neglect equipment??) A simple rule of thumb is that if you pour out the old lube and it forms a pile on the ground, you probably waited too long. Good luck finding the bushings. If I run into a set, I'll pass the word.
Regards,
Nick

Both of these tractors are highly sought after tractors, so if you find one in good shape for a good price, I would say go for it.

Eric