Small farm needing tractor

[marty966]

2 hours ago, hillman said:

he has a $4000 budget. Not going to get a good big one for that much money

Here`s the rest of the story on the 40 acre 4wd farmer, He had a daytime job farmed evenings and weekends and the 7520 was obviously a want, not necessarily a need.

[lotsaIHCs]

15 minutes ago, Dirt_Floor_Poor said:

When an M Farmall was brand new “here”, it was said that one man could take care of 40 acres of corn. 

Gotcha. So an A/B/C was probably a 10-15 acre tractor, an H maybe 20-30 and an M around 40. Interesting. I never considered how much more labor intensive row crops were than small grains. Of course this year my land had sunflowers and corn on it. But they don't do any cultivating. One pass with fertilizer, one seeding, spray then harvest.

[MacAR]

I dunno how many acres a tractor is supposed to farm, but I can tell you that for twelve years I farmed 80 acres (corn and hay) with a Farmall 300 and a Cub. I added an H and a 450 later, but still cover the same ground. Lots of late nights after work and all day on the weekends to get things done. But, it can be done if you want to. Just depends on what a fella wants to do. 

For no more ground than the OP has, all he needs is an M/SM/400 size tractor (brand doesn't matter). At the outside a 656 will do; anything larger is a waste of money and fuel. Narrow or wide front don't make a lot of difference; for my use I prefer the narrow front for maneuverability. I don't buy into the gloom and doom surrounding narrow fronts, either. I live in steep country and I've never had an issue; I also use my head when it comes to working on hillsides. Not sure where OP lives but I wouldn't let a NF scare me away from a good tractor. I know that a WF on any of the old IH rowcrops (300/400/etc) is a pain when it comes to turning radius. There's a reason I swapped my 300 back to NF a few years back. 

[Dirt_Floor_Poor]

11 minutes ago, lotsaIHCs said:

Gotcha. So an A/B/C was probably a 10-15 acre tractor, an H maybe 20-30 and an M around 40. Interesting. I never considered how much more labor intensive row crops were than small grains. Of course this year my land had sunflowers and corn on it. But they don't do any cultivating. One pass with fertilizer, one seeding, spray then harvest.

Back when I raised tobacco, I had an older guy who wanted part time work helping me. His dad made a living raising tobacco. He told me they had 17 acres of ‘backer and an A Farmall was all they had when he was young. They plowed, set, cultivated, and hauled it in with that one tractor. They would have been running that A a lot to do all of that. 

[1480x3]

Don't forget he needs a 3pth

[Powered by IH]

Both of my grandpa's have tractors I've driven lots that are right up your alley: One has an IH 574 diesel with 8spd, no TA, 2 remotes, hydro-static steering, IPTO, 2 remotes and 3pt. Other grandpa has MF 175 gas W/ 8speed, no MP, live PTO, 3pt, 1 remote, power steering, and an MF 180 diesel 6 spd w/ MP, 3pt, live PTO, 1 remote, hydrostatic steering.

All the tractors are very nice handling tractors, but each has pros and cons, I can go into detail if you want.

I know you said you're not really a Massey guy but I really like the MF tractors I have driven, and these would be about your size and price range.

This one would be a little bit of a drive and a little small but like I said I've been happy with the Massey's I've driven.

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/1633877841318529/?ref=search&referral_code=null&referral_story_type=post

[hillman]

10 hours ago, marty966 said:

Here`s the rest of the story on the 40 acre 4wd farmer, He had a daytime job farmed evenings and weekends and the 7520 was obviously a want, not necessarily a need.

I get it, there was a 4166 sold this week that tempted me.

[marty966]

51 minutes ago, hillman said:

I get it, there was a 4166 sold this week that tempted me.

Tidy looking machine

[766 Man]

54 minutes ago, hillman said:

I get it, there was a 4166 sold this week that tempted me.

  Around here the 4166 did not have the best reputation.  Back during the 1990's when equipment sales were still suffering a hangover from the 1980's there were several around usually sitting out in back of somebody's shop or barn.  Buy a 2 plus 2.  You will be happier for it.  

[hillman]

6 minutes ago, 766 Man said:

  Around here the 4166 did not have the best reputation.  Back during the 1990's when equipment sales were still suffering a hangover from the 1980's there were several around usually sitting out in back of somebody's shop or barn.  Buy a 2 plus 2.  You will be happier for it.  

I am not buying either. I have my own views on both of those models and certainly don't need your advice but thanks just the same

[766 Man]

23 minutes ago, hillman said:

I am not buying either. I have my own views on both of those models and certainly don't need your advice but thanks just the same

  Just trying to be helpful.  

[sandhiller]

14 hours ago, 1480x3 said:

Don't forget he needs a 3pth

A tractor without a 3 pt is pretty worthless to me too. 

However one can be added to an M easily and sure made my SM a good all around using tractor 

[red2thebone sr]

When reading most of the recommendations made so far, seems like the 10 acres had an additional zero or two added to it. 

[marty966]

Seems like there are many farms out there with more iron in the fleet than needed for the acres farmed, I`ll readily admit ours is one of them, Comes down to the size of implements used to accomplish the task at hand or how much iron one has the desire or ability to own.

[MT Matt]

4 hours ago, sandhiller said:

A tractor without a 3 pt is pretty worthless to me too. 

However one can be added to an M easily and sure made my SM a good all around using tractor 

That looks like the same brand of 3pt on the Super M I have to put together.

An aftermarket 3pt on an M or a fast hitch to 3pt adaptor for a 400/450 would give a person all they need in a tractor for 10 acres. Could get a pretty nice one for $4000. That would last forever. 

[hillman]

22 minutes ago, MT Matt said:

That looks like the same brand of 3pt on the Super M I have to put together.

An aftermarket 3pt on an M or a fast hitch to 3pt adaptor for a 400/450 would give a person all they need in a tractor for 10 acres. Could get a pretty nice one for $4000. That would last forever. 

someone suggested a Super M ta earlier. A Farmall 400 has fast hitch and live oil and shaft over an straight M or early SM -  400 cheaper than a SM T/A , great value and if he looked around most likely could find one with power steering. Low maintenance tractor as well

[stronger800]

As somebody else said, must be regional. I’ve never seen a 400 or 450. I do know of a 300 in the area, and my neighbor has that M when I was a kid. Actually I do know a guy with an H. 

[766 Man]

  There were a fair number of 400/450 tractors around my area.  At the time IH was fairly dominant in general here.  John Deere and Oliver had healthy shares but by the mid 1950's brands such as MH/MF and MM were fading so their higher HP tractor sales were less.  

[lotsaIHCs]

1 hour ago, stronger800 said:

As somebody else said, must be regional. I’ve never seen a 400 or 450. I do know of a 300 in the area, and my neighbor has that M when I was a kid. Actually I do know a guy with an H. 

Very regional. In ND an A/B/C is seen but 50X more H and 100X more M. You can't swing a cat without hitting an M around here!

[sandhiller]

3 hours ago, MT Matt said:

That looks like the same brand of 3pt on the Super M I have to put together.

An aftermarket 3pt on an M or a fast hitch to 3pt adaptor for a 400/450 would give a person all they need in a tractor for 10 acres. Could get a pretty nice one for $4000. That would last forever. 

$2000 for SM with power steering and live hyds (but no LPTO if that's a deal breaker)

$500 for dual loader

$250 for add on 3 pt

 

[MTB98]

A Kubota L45 matches up really close to a Farmall M on paper. I don’t see where he gains anything with an M.  
OP didn’t elaborate on the shortcomings of the L45 but maybe those issues could be solved by adding more ballast? 

[Powered by IH]

On 11/24/2025 at 7:41 PM, mtbsobe said:

So question is, I need a good ground works tractor tillage type stuff even a chiesl plow pulling a 4 ton lime spreader, large 3 point fertilizer spreader.

16 minutes ago, MTB98 said:

A Kubota L45 matches up really close to a Farmall M on paper. I don’t see where he gains anything with an M.  
OP didn’t elaborate on the shortcomings of the L45 but maybe those issues could be solved by adding more ballast? 

Problem is the L45 has a hydro transmission which won't pull that stuff very well, especially a chisel plow. Put an M and the L45 in a tractor pull, who would pull farther? Not saying the L45 is a bad tractor but each were designed for different purposes.

An M will pull anything the L45 will pull but not vice versa, even with ballast.

[MTB98]

6 minutes ago, Powered by IH said:

An M will pull anything the L45 will pull but not vice versa, even with ballast.

Does the Kubota lose traction or is just not able to pull it?  He’s only working about ten acres of ground so it’s not like the Kubota is doing this for hours on end day after day.  A three range hydro should be able to use all the power the engine can make even with ground engaging implements. 

[Pukeko]

On 11/25/2025 at 1:38 PM, cobfly said:

Seems to me you need 60 to 100 HP. My rule is 2hp per acre for workable land. Probably on the low end for you. How much workable land? Bigger used tractors are cheaper per hp than smaller.

Not trying to belittle you, but 60 to 100 hp for 10 lousy acres!!How much would  you need if you had 500 acres ?1000hp on your reckoning.A 300 utility,Ford 3000 series ,Masse,y 135,235 ,D17 AC, then depending on budget474,574 IH,s and so on would be adequate  in my opinion. Often it comes down to dollars,so even a good Super M with  a.ftermarket 3 point hitch like Sandhillers would work It is just going to take a bit longer ,but you are saving a ton of money..Some of the older larger Ih,s get expensive if the PTO,clutches T.A.s etc crap out.. As far as narrow fronts go,a WF is slightly more stable on undulating ground when turning.When a tractor falls over,it is always from the rear when it cocks one of the wheels .If the NF is out wide, and not making a fast turn ,especially down a bit  of a  hill ,not the side of a mountain, there shouldnt be an issue .A trailing implement with considerable tongue   weight, helps keep the bum down, more than a mounted implement based on C of G,and you are not usually turning with it down anyway.Wheel tractors are inherently  unstable , more so with speed .One of the Ag Universities in the UK many years ago were doing experiments when the first ROPS were in their infancy .They had a couple of  different makes flop over at as little as 16 Degrees angle when severely mishandled,and they were wide fronts.Even on crawler tractors pulling heavy discs,fertiliser  spreaders,etc on hill country on contour work ,you try to minimise down hill turns  ,because usually thats the time it can  go pear shaped .and they are way more stable than any wheel tractor.I have many hours on those , and on scrapers(carry-alls,pans ,depending where you come from) and down hill turns  ,even when loaded ,you try to avoid because they can flop over before you realise  whats  happening. So  a WF or NF is fine if you are careful on hilly or undulating country. On flatter ground ,a NF works very well, especially in row crop applications with small or narrow headlands .Thats just my 2 cents, not everyone will agree ,but that their prerogative . ( NB. that spelling is correct) 

[mtbsobe]

8 hours ago, MTB98 said:

Does the Kubota lose traction or is just not able to pull it?  He’s only working about ten acres of ground so it’s not like the Kubota is doing this for hours on end day after day.  A three range hydro should be able to use all the power the engine can make even with ground engaging implements. 

The kubota works but you can tell it has then horrible r4 tires. My rear tires are loaded about 550 pounds makes the tractor 5 to 6k pounds with out backhoe the backhoes 2k more pounds. It's a construction tractor. I feel the C pulls harder then the l45 so yeah if I could find an H or M put a 3 point on be good.. there's 300 around but 400s are hard and pricey. 

I'm located in bloomsburg. The farmall museum is located here