I've got two tractors at my rural place. One is a 1955 Ford 600 and the other is a John Deere 301A gas industrial which is very similar to the 1020 agricultural model. The Deere is two decades newer, has a more comfortable seat, live PTO, power steering, a dual range transmissions so it can operate at slower speeds, and is just larger and more powerful. Most of my tractor use is mowing.
I use the Ford with a 5' finish mower. I'm sure that it could handle a wider mower, but my "finish mowing" area is more pasture like than a city lawn. A wider mower would cut faster, but the quality of cut diminishes because the wider mower is more likely to scalp the high spots and leave taller grass in the low spots.
I use a 7' flail mower with the Deere--mostly for areas which I mow infrequently and for mowing trails through the back of my property. (My property is "reclaimed" mining ground with quite a few rocks on the surface. The flail mower came with the tractor and does not throw rocks as bad as a bush hog.)
I've found that the two major disadvantages of the Deere is that it uses considerably more fuel and parts are much more expensive and more difficult to find. The additional cost of more fuel for the Deere is relatively minor in the grand scheme of life, but is a more major aggravation when you have to haul fuel in five gallon cans from a nearby town and store it in your barn. The old Fords were made in very large numbers a lot of parts were interchangeable between several model tractors made over a long period of time. Aftermarket parts seem to be readily available at many places at low prices. Parts for the three cylinder gas engine Deere tractors aren't stocked at most farm stores and are much more expensive. For example, both of my tractors have horizontal exhausts. Replacing the Ford exhaust from the manifold back was less than $100 total in parts. Replacing the Deere exhaust from the manifold back is more than $600 in parts.
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Today's Featured Article - A Lifetime of Farm Machinery - by Joe Michaels. I am a mechanical engineer by profession, specializing in powerplant work. I worked as a machinist and engine erector, with time spent overseas. I have always had a love for machinery, and an appreciation for farming and farm machinery. I was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York. Not a place one would associate with farms or farm machinery. I credit my parents for instilling a lot of good values, a respect for learning, a knowledge of various skills and a little knowledge of farming in me, amo
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