Advice on Farm plowing with a Garden Tractor

40165 Views 33 Replies 20 Participants Last post by nkaust, Jul 10, 2012

ezslim

Discussion Starter · Jul 6, 2012

hey everyone,

My family recently purchased 5 acres of farmland and we were planning on growing some veggies for the house. We want to buy a small tractor something like a ford 8n or so but more looking to buy one next year as there is no place to store it at the moment.

However, I was wondering what luck I would have with a garden tractor since I can store that in my house garage. If I were to buy one and find/make a plow for it, would that work? I have done research found pictures of people doing it, seen the recommendations on using tire chains, wheel weights, etc.

Im looking for something Under 500 without a deck which seems possible to maybe drag a plow or small cultivator attachment behind.

For example, would this tractor be any good? Its not an original motor and I heard the older ones were stronger as opposed to newer engines...

http://detroit.craigslist.org/mcb/grd/3032389124.html

The reason for this is, I am sure if I buy this even for a season I should be able to sell a small tractor especially an older one for about how much ive paid for it...How would a belt driven riding mower hold up? I heard cub cadets are shaft driven and may perform better but then again they cost more.

I know I can always buy a rototiller or hand cultivator, but what fun would that be?

Please advise..

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21 - 34 of 34 Posts

butchs_hobby

· #21 · Jul 7, 2012

I'd try to find an older big GT with a tiller. I have the best results on garden plots plowing first then tilling. Plows can be found fairly cheap, tillers are usually pricey if they are in good condition. Tilling does a lot better of a job than a disc and harrow ever would. I use an old 1855MF (hydrostatic drive) with over 2600 hrs on it that handles a 48" tiller just fine. With a GT you can usually get a decent mower for it fairly resonable to mow the rest of that property--you said five acres, one and a half for the garden leaves three and a half to mow. I can't see you getting what you really need for anywhere close to $500 but stranger things have happened.

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VWJake

· #22 · Jul 7, 2012

5 acres is alot for a GT, but I think you could do it with any older '60s or '70s GT. 10-12hp should be more than enough. I'm partial to Sears GTs. Very simple... Belt drive tractors with very stout 6 spd transmissions. Load the tires (rear ags) and weights and you're laughing at a 10" plow.

Oo-v-oO

· #23 · Jul 7, 2012

^ This. Especially if you're only going to farm an acre or less to start.

Sears (Roper in Canada, eh) sold a boatload of different attachments to work with their Suburban line of tractors. Here are some but by all means not all:

Notice what you'd need to perform the steps needed to take a field all the way to a finished garden:

Moldboard plow
Disc harrows
Pin harrows
Rototiller
Planter
Cultivator
Shredder (to process stalks at the end of the season)

Plus you can use the tractor to cut grass, push or blow snow, maintain a gravel driveway, generate electricity when the power is out, fertilize and roll the lawn, mow then rake up hay, and carry your fertilizer, firewood, produce, or whatever in a cart.

Seems like an easy choice to me!

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TooTall999

· #24 · Jul 7, 2012

Oo-v-oO said:
^ This. Especially if you're only going to farm an acre or less to start.

Sears (Roper in Canada, eh) sold a boatload of different attachments to work with their Suburban line of tractors. Here are some but by all means not all:

Notice what you'd need to perform the steps needed to take a field all the way to a finished garden:

Moldboard plow
Disc harrows
Pin harrows
Rototiller
Planter
Cultivator
Shredder (to process stalks at the end of the season)

Plus you can use the tractor to cut grass, push or blow snow, maintain a gravel driveway, generate electricity when the power is out, fertilize and roll the lawn, mow then rake up hay, and carry your fertilizer, firewood, produce, or whatever in a cart.

Seems like an easy choice to me!

Easy choice? How many of those implements are readily available today? The OP talked about plowing and cultivating, a job an 8n could do easily with CURRENTLY AVAILABLE common 3 point implements. most of the stuff in that pic is close to impossible to find, or get parts for.

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U.S.A Tractor Joe

· #25 · Jul 8, 2012

I had used my tandem disk gang, along with the dozer blade, wheelweights and 4 link tirechains on the CC 71 and ran the 40'x40' garden down to mince meat early this spring.

My only advice would be that just about any garden tractor will be too darn slow to manage 5 acres of food plot. Move up to a Farmall Super A, or a JD 1010, or the Ford 8n is great too. But to have a great garden tractor is also a plus.

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JWC3232

· #26 · Jul 8, 2012

ezslim whear in ontario are you i see you looking at the 220 case in port colbourn im just minutes away from there i could help you out jim

MasterMech

· #27 · Jul 8, 2012

Oo-v-oO said:
^ This. Especially if you're only going to farm an acre or less to start.

Sears (Roper in Canada, eh) sold a boatload of different attachments to work with their Suburban line of tractors. Here are some but by all means not all:

Notice what you'd need to perform the steps needed to take a field all the way to a finished garden:

Moldboard plow
Disc harrows
Pin harrows
Rototiller
Planter
Cultivator
Shredder (to process stalks at the end of the season)

Plus you can use the tractor to cut grass, push or blow snow, maintain a gravel driveway, generate electricity when the power is out, fertilize and roll the lawn, mow then rake up hay, and carry your fertilizer, firewood, produce, or whatever in a cart.

Seems like an easy choice to me!

Wow, there's a sicklebar for a GT? Never seen that before. Somebody just mentioned knocking down a hayfield with a Deere LT133. Should've picked up the sickle and an old Sears, lol.

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OldBuzzard

· #28 · Jul 8, 2012

MasterMech said:
Wow, there's a sicklebar for a GT? Never seen that before. ...

Haban made them for most of the GTs in the mid 60s-70s.

They are not REAL common like tillers, blades, snowblowers, but not exceptionally rare either.

I have two of them. One is a model #405A, which was for the Bolens tube frames, and the other is a #414 which was for a couple of Wheel Horse models.

Here's a couple of pics on the 405A on my Bolens G10, and a link to a vid of the first time I used it. It does a great job on that ditch now that I have it working right.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yfM-8AuLnyo&feature=plcp

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3

bstrucker

· #29 · Jul 8, 2012

One advantage of using a GT over a small farm tractor in a small scale operation is that it gives you the ability to double crop a smaller area.Say your peas or beans are harvested by the middle of July,now you can go in and retill just those rows and plant fall crops like cabbage,broccoli,lettuce or anything like that.A GT will fit in a 3ft wide space,an 8n would need at least twice that much room.

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butchs_hobby

· #30 · Jul 8, 2012

I did retill the center of the neighbors garden last year for him and a bigger tractor wouldn't have fit through there. A lot of the bigger GT implements will interchange- cat O three point, 2000 or 540 RPM rear PTO. Three point and live rear PTO you'll only get on the bigger GT's and I'd think the op should get something that size for his use.

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OldBuzzard

· #31 · Jul 8, 2012

butchs_hobby said:
... Three point and live rear PTO you'll only get on the bigger GT's and I'd think the op should get something that size for his use.

With Bolens, the tube frames and the large frames both have live PTO, and a sleeve hitch option. However, only the large frames have a 3-pt option.

Oo-v-oO

· #32 · Jul 9, 2012

TooTall999 said:
Easy choice? How many of those implements are readily available today? The OP talked about plowing and cultivating, a job an 8n could do easily with CURRENTLY AVAILABLE common 3 point implements. most of the stuff in that pic is close to impossible to find, or get parts for.

It's out there, if you know where to look. :dunno:

OP was looking for "Advice on Farm plowing with a Garden Tractor", not a farm tractor. That's what I gave. :sorry1:

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TooTall999

· #33 · Jul 9, 2012

Oo-v-oO said:
It's out there, if you know where to look. :dunno:

OP was looking for "Advice on Farm plowing with a Garden Tractor", not a farm tractor. That's what I gave. :sorry1:

But he also said he'd like an older compact farm tractor, was just worried about storing it.

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nkaust

· #34 · Jul 10, 2012

a massey ferguson 135 will fit your bill and run a tiller

21 - 34 of 34 Posts

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