I spent the day on a Deere!

So, I raked 80 hilly acres with his new J.D. 430 - and the surprising thing is how well my 49-year-old "N's" stack up against it. The Deere was plastic-y and had mushy controls (it'll be a piece of junk in 10 years). I found that I would have preferred to do this job with a good 8N, except for the insurmountable problem of not being able to raise the rakes to go through gates (no live hydraulics on an "N"). Other than that, an 8N would have done the job just fine - the J.D. 430 is only 35 h.p.

Anyway, a day spent on an expensive green-and-yellow tractor just made me appreciate those 8N's a little more (even if they don't have safety warning stickers in five languages). I think my gearshift knobs, distributor caps, and valve-stem caps are about the only Ford plastic I own - and I'm glad that Henry made his tractors mostly out of steel!

My two first cousins own and operate a JD equipment company... very large, in fact. Last time I visited, one of them said... "Nothing runs like a Deere! But nothing smells like a John!"

I, too, would take the red and gray over ther green and yellow... any day... even before family! :-)

Here at work we have a JD750. It has just a little less hp than my 8n. It does have 4x4, live hyd, and a front loader. Although I would swap staight up, it is not all that clear cut. In many ways the 8n in is supperior. As you mentioned no plastic, easy to work on, part availible ect.

If I was given the $6k or so the 750 is worth and given a choise of it or my 8n and keep the extra cash, I would definatly have a gray/red tractor.