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Advice Needed

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smalltownfarmer

02-20-2006 15:53:03

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I am writing this post as I'm at a crossroads.Im 23 years old and have a small cow/calf operation that Ive been running since my dad passed away four years ago. Its a small farm with about 200 acres and 30 Cows. My dad was an Oliver tractor collector and had 10 tractors that he collected. 4 are work tractors and 3 are restored and 3 were partial resored tractors. Im getting to the point that im spending more time wrenching on them than doing field work or paying attention to my cattle. The question is would you part with a few of these tractors to get one good one? The problem I have is that 3 were my dads babies (and I wont get rid of these)But im afraid ill never be able to aquire tractors like these again. Id like to be a farmer first and a collector second, but id like to hear from you as to your advice. Id like to keep farming but im not sure what I should do.

Thanks in Advance

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cockshuttguy

02-22-2006 14:06:42

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Re: Advice Needed in reply to smalltownfarmer, 02-20-2006 15:53:03

Wish I had my dad's first new tractor. My son sold it and we have lost track of it. If one of your olivers is a large one I'd consider re-powering it with a 5.9 cummins. That would do all the major heavy work on a 200 acre farm. A firm in Wisconsin has a ton of experience with putting cummins in the 1800 series.
Hope this helps.
Good Luck!!

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Leroy

02-21-2006 06:05:39

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Re: Advice Needed in reply to smalltownfarmer, 02-20-2006 15:53:03

To give good advise a lot more information is needed. 1, Are you married, if so kids? 2, Do you have an off farm job? Or can get one? 3, Other than the cattle what do you raise? 4, Where are you located? Climate? Wet or dry? Corn or soybeans or wheat with what type of hay-pasture do you have? The question is what can you grow? 5, what model tractors are they? 1, the workers models to know if they will do the jobs needed? 2, the restored ones what are they, can they be workers or just collectors? 3, Partly restored ones, same ? 6, What is always going wrong with them? Why are you always having to work on Them? 7, Unless you are doing a lot of heavy tillage you do not need a large tractor on that acreage, If all in grass-hay anything over a 77 in size is a waste of money as that size would handle all the hay equipment you would need.

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Punchie

02-21-2006 05:33:22

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Re: Advice Needed in reply to smalltownfarmer, 02-20-2006 15:53:03

HI Small town farmer

Some of what was said I like , 50 year old tractors can be trouble free, if not get better ones or fix them right. What type of crops are you growing? Where are you can you sale product for more than you make feeding it to your cattle. I bale hay and get around 80.00 -120.00 a ton for it and I feed only the hay I cann't not sell, if it got rained one etc. The rest is sold to horse people. I would say you need a good 100 HP tractor a 70-80 HP tractor and a couple of smaller ones. Like guns you can only shoot one at a time. If you need the money sell one to make one better. Whatch and learn from others and see if you can find a better way to do something and go slow never jump right in. Listen more than you talk. It is hard to part with and old family member but remember he is gone and what would he do, ask your self that. I would down size and get something you need that works for you as to make life simpler for you.

Have a Good One !!
Teddy

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mjbrown

02-21-2006 04:51:28

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Re: Advice Needed in reply to smalltownfarmer, 02-20-2006 15:53:03

I'll venture a guess that your dad would understand letting some of the old tractors go. I'm sure he would rather see you keep the place than the iron. To make a go of it on a small place you have to work it more intensly to maximize the return per acre and cow and timliness is one of the keys to doing the job. A bigger better tractor will allow you to make the most of your windows of opportunity (weather) to get the work done when it will return the most for the effort.

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IaGary

02-21-2006 04:37:26

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Re: Advice Needed in reply to smalltownfarmer, 02-20-2006 15:53:03

When my father died five years ago he had 7 tractors. I would have liked to bought 3 of them but I kwew I couldn't afford to buy them at the auction.

Instead I bought the one I knew he thought the most of.

It was a Farmall 460 and was the first no houred tractor that he bought.He had seaveral before this one but this was first new.

I didn't have the time like he did to keep them all running

Sorry to see the others go but I got over it and glad to keep just the one.

I had enough tractors when he died that I didn't need all of his.

What I'm trying to say is sell some and get what you need and keep the favorites that you can.

Just my thoughts.

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kyhayman

02-20-2006 20:00:00

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Re: Advice Needed in reply to smalltownfarmer, 02-20-2006 15:53:03

200 acres and 30 cows, 2 tractors is plenty, 3 at the most for working it. The rest are for fun. That sounds harsh, and there are sentimental values but sentiment doesnt pay the bills. Just my hard, cold, heartless business advice. But, business, and money isnt everything.....

Pick 3 to use and block the rest up in storage if you dont need the cash flow?

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Josh H

02-20-2006 19:14:29

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Re: Advice Needed in reply to smalltownfarmer, 02-20-2006 15:53:03

Thats a tough problem, and i'm not sure ive got any good advice. I'm 23 and farm some too, during my summers off of college. I've been slowly upgrading my machinery to slightly newer "junk", but it does hurt a little to sell my first stuff. I actually cried last year when i had to sell my old farmall M. The newer equipment does make a world of difference though. I went from an Oliver 77 to a 1655, and while the 1655 is still awful old and not real big, it really makes the work go quicker. The only small piece of advice i can try to give is that 10 tractors is a lot. Maybe you could carefully store 6 or so of the oldest/least used, and concentrate on keeping the other 4 going? It will probably be tough to replace them down the road. Good luck with the decision, its good to see other young people farming.
Josh

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RedJD

02-20-2006 17:19:51

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Re: Advice Needed in reply to smalltownfarmer, 02-20-2006 15:53:03

I can understand where your coming from I lost my dad quite a few years ago.He had a lot of old two row equipment and some old John Deere tractors.He was quite fond of all this old equipment because he held on to it even after buying more modern equipment.I would have liked to keep it all but this just was not possible so I settled for keeping some and parting with some.I know my dad would understand and yours probally would too if it means keeping you in farming.Like the guy said before me,I'm sure he loved you more than his tractors.

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Nebraska Cowman

02-20-2006 16:57:33

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Re: Advice Needed in reply to smalltownfarmer, 02-20-2006 15:53:03

Hummm, spending more time fixing than working? 50 year old tractors maintained properly should function relitivly trouble free. Of course if you get too many, it seems like one is always down for some darn something. Maybe you just need to cut back to 2 or 3 of the best ones, maybe set 1 or 2 of your pets back in the shed for future times and then sell the rest? Then do a little brainstorming as to what you could do in addition to your cows, maybe some specialty cropps, organic veggies or something, maybe wildflowers? Or you might want to host vacationers who just want to get out of the city and see farm life up close. You wouldn't even have to put them up but pick up you clients at a local motel or bed& breakfast and give them a tour, let them feed the chickens etc. People are willing to pay big dollars for a taste of the country. Just some ideas.

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phillip d

02-20-2006 16:43:32

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Re: Advice Needed in reply to smalltownfarmer, 02-20-2006 15:53:03

Hi Smalltown,you have a really touching story.I'm not much older than you are and we have a fairly small farm too;even though my Dad is still living,he's really not that well at all,so in some ways,i can relate to your situation.In my opinion,if you are going to make your living on the farm,if you can find a way to pay for it,it would make your job ALOT easier if you had at least one reliable and user friendly tractor to use,if you have cattle,preferably a good loader with enough power to do other field jobs.I don't blambe you for wanting to keep some of your dad's favorite tractors at all.If you sell some of the others to buy somthing you need worse,i'm sure your dad would be very proud to see you make the best decisions for you and your farm to sustain a living.If things work out for you,maybe down the road you can afford to pick up some oldies again,after all at the end of the day it is a hobby.Any way,i really hope things go your way whatever you do,and remember,if your dad was like most dads,he loved you more than all the tractors and the farm put together,and just wanted to see you be happy and make a living doing something that you really enjoy.Best regards,Phill

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