# Suggestions on used 125 HP tractor



## JD3430

OK guys, I have come to the realization that I need 100+ PTO HP for my operation. I currently am scraping by with a 71HP Kubota. Here's my wish list:

Requirements:
4WD
Cab w/HVAC
540/1000 PTO
>125 HP
Reverser
Well known brand (No Belarus, etc.)
BUDGET IS $25,000 
Needs to be dealer financed. 
Under ~5,000 hours

I have found a few candidates. Found a Deere 3255 for ~$25,000, but only 107HP. 
Do you have any specific suggestions? Mostly doing hay work and bush-hogging. 
Dream tractor is JCB Fast Trac, but even high-houred units sell for $35,000.
Would prefer Deere, Case-IH, etc. for ease of parts/service


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## rjmoses

Talk to the people around you to find out which dealership has the best service and support reputation. JD, Case, NH, etc., all pretty much have good products. But a product can be made better or worse by the dealer's service. With hay, you want a dealer who can take care of you, especially when the weather is moving in!.

Ralph


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## slowzuki

MF6200 series with a dyna shift and reverser. They have fallen in price now and fairly reasonable.


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## Teslan

I'll agree with slowzuki. We have a MF 6290 and it's a good tractor. I like it better then our newer New Holland.


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## haystax

CaseIH MX110-170 series are pretty hard to beat. Bulletproof engines, versatile transmissions, quality lights and wiring, and pretty simple (non-electronic) to maintain. I'm always looking for another one.


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## JD3430

We have a lot of Case-IH & NH dealers around. Not a lot of MF presense in the area (not saying they're not a good tractor)
One thing I notice about the Case-IH MX's-they have the "road speed" feature on some of them. I wounder what they can do down the road. Have lots f pasture cutting spread out all over the place.


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## Bob M

Not sure how close you are to New Holland Pa. but M. M.Weavers in Leola is one the best dealers in the area, and they sell Massey.


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## JD3430

I'm just starting to find out who the "big boy dealers" are around here.


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## Nitram

With a moniker JD3430 you gotta go green don't cha? If its not to old for you the 4430/4440's are a wonderful machine. I love the one I bought. But then again it was my first one with a working A/C cab tractor. good luck and happy haying Martin


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## mlappin

Our MF 8160 does around 25 or so on the road if I remember correctly. Some other brands might have a higher road gear, but 25 mph is hauling *ss if you grew up on Oliver Super 88's that might have did 13mph downhill, maybe only 11 mph on the road if they had the "corn picker" rear gears.


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## Gearclash

> CaseIH MX110-170 series are pretty hard to beat. Bulletproof engines, versatile transmissions, quality lights and wiring, and pretty simple (non-electronic) to maintain. I'm always looking for another one.


I will second that. The MX150 and MX170 have a heavier rear end than the others but are otherwise the same. The PTO and trans is somewhat electronic but not all computerized like the newer stuff. Road speed is about 20 mph on std gearing, 25 mph on the fast side. Thanks to European regs, only MFD models get the 25 mph gears.

Unfortunately for the OP, the price tag on the MFD MX's, especially the 150 and 170, will be above the specified budget.


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## CockrellHillFarms

Grab a tractor house mag. Look through the ads. You will find a good deal in there. When you have specific requirements it takes awhile to find that "good" deal that fits you. I'm not sure how many acres your running but the thing about the older tractors around 125 hp is there are very fuel hungry. I have a 7020 allis. Great tractor. If you found one. I'd tell you to buy it. But the down side is it likes fuel. So there is some give and take. My newer tractors weren't cheap but easier on fuel. So there's a trade off. 8k-9k for a 7020 but that leaves 15-17k for fuel and repairs. If your not running many acres. My suggestion would be to stick with the older tractors and pay the repairs/fuel. But I think I'd stay away from JD green only because they will cost you more for the paint. However, they hold value very well. I feel like you are paying for the name on those 40 series tractors more than you are paying for the horse power. Just my thoughts. Cheap horsepower: Allis, International, Massey.


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## mlappin

You can search Tractor House online as well, a lot faster.


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## JD3430

yeah I'm on tractor house every night. Love older IH tractors, but they almost seem to be fetching big bucks for their collector appeal????


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## CockrellHillFarms

One other thing I should have mentioned. If your buying a tractor with a loader. Some of those older tractors are a real pain with loaders because of the gear design. Too many gear level changes have to be made to be very quick on direction changes.


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## JD3430

No loader on this one. I already have a loader on my mid-size and I have a backhoe with a loader. 
I think I might be moving closer to buying this 3255 4WD Deere. It's about $24K
My only issue- is 107 HP enough to do all haying/mowing chores? 
I know it'll run my 15 batwing and should run any baler, right? 
Would you be afraid of 5500 hours if it checks out OK? 
I see older Deeres run 10,000 hours pretty regularly.


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## Teslan

if by any baler you mean any small baler 107 hp tractor should be more then enough.


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## Gearclash

107 hp should turn any round baler. I used to run a 15' stalk chopper all day long with 115 hp. We run a 2x3 mid size square using just under a 100 hp. 
Best of luck!


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## JD3430

I meant any baler. 
I think it might not be enough for large square baler which could be in my future. 
Maybe I better go bigger.....
I do like the looks of the MX150-170. 
Gonna need more $$ though


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## aawhite

That 3255 would handle anything you need, and the hours are not an issue. We regularly had our JD tractors go to 10,000 or more. The high horse tractors might be another story, as they are usually worked hard.

If the hp is a concern, have your dealer turn it up. Should be able to turn up to around 120-125 hp no problem. Only down side is burns more fuel.


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## mlappin

JD3430 said:


> I meant any baler.


Depends on the brand of latge square baler and especially you're terrain. On fields that look like a sheet of glass you need just enough HP to run the baler, on very rolling terrain you need enough HP to drag it up the next hill and more importantly with more HP comes more weight to keep the baler under control. After going from a 65hp tractor on my round baler to a 120hp tractor I'll NEVER go back to the small one unless it's a dire emergency. The extra weight the 120hp tractor has makes baling so much safer on very rolling fields.


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## Teslan

Even a 125 would be on the very lowest end of hp for a large square baler. I tried our MF 6290 which is 120 on our 3x3 baler last fall. And while it worked ok in light crop conditions it was sure putting a load on it.


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## JD3430

Yes, I'm undergoing much stress over the few hills I'll have with the mid size pulling the 648 baler!


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## slowzuki

Yeah, a large square baler is not going to like a smallish tractor, they are heavy. Around here, the cheapest tractor you will see on a big square baler is an older White. I'm guessing the over-under shift is helpful and they are cheap.

A neighbour had a NH8630 with I think 130 hp and a 16 speed ps, was great on a round baler for sileage, looked into a big square baler and found it could run only the smallest models and may still have pto problems over time.


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## CockrellHillFarms

If your not sure about where you really need 150+ hp now. I wouldnt worry about it. You could always buy a cheap older tractor for the hp later just to run a large square baler. That JD should be ok. I get scared with anything over 5k but maybe I'm just worry wart. I would make sure I check that oil. Look at the color and smell it for diesel. My neighbor has had a hard time with one of is older JD tractors with Diesel getting into the oil. Took JD 3 weeks and two rebuilds to figure out what the correct problem was. Check the 4x4 also with that many hours. If it hasn't had repairs it will need them soon. That 4x4 will add more pulling power if ur doing any tillage work. That size tractor prob hasnt done a lot of hard pulling. Anything over 5k hours on a bigger tractor I wouldnt touch. To risky for my taste.


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## carcajou

I had a 3255, bought it new. They are a very good tractor. They have one negative though, dry clutch. I would not turn this one up for that reason if you plan on heavy tillage, i was able to slip the clutch on mine. If you don't plan on using it for a loader tractor you'll be happy with it. The 3255 and smaller 55 series tractors are easy on fuel also.


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## JD3430

Oh crap. I'm glad you told me that. Don't like dry clutches. Here I thought it was a hydraulic type shuttle/reverser. 
Thanks for letting me know.
So what model # Deere am I looking at to get hydraulic reverser and >150 HP?


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## carcajou

John Deere 7410/7610 , better than the 20 series ( less electrical) and very reliable, but you won't find one in your budget. I can't seem to find one with the 40k 20 speed at all!


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## mlappin

slowzuki said:


> Yeah, a large square baler is not going to like a smallish tractor, they are heavy. Around here, the cheapest tractor you will see on a big square baler is an older White. I'm guessing the over-under shift is helpful and they are cheap.


The White 2-135's had the Hercules engine and came from the factory with 135hp, wasn't a problem at all to get 200hp out of them. Transmissions were for the most part rock solid, not sure how the PTO took the extra horsey's. Have an 1855 Oliver with around 7000 hours on the THIRD tachometer, no transmission problems except for worn splines on the input shaft. The 135's weighed in around at least 13,000lbs. The Over/Unders were for the most part very reliable as well, with one quirk, even if you never used under drive, ever, it still could go out. THey used a sprag clutch in them and either the clutch, shaft or both could wear out with no use. The only time they incur no wear on the sprag is when under drive is actually engaged.


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## shortrow

How's bout a good 'ol IH 1086?


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## joeberg

Two years ago, I borrow a IH 1086, NH haybine, and Gehl baler to make my first crop of hay. I cut 30 arches of read canary. All of the meadows I cut we're mostly under water the first part of the year, they didn't dry out until July 4th. To be honest with you, I had no training, no mentoring, with very little guidance.

Between plugging haybine 2-3 time per day on read canary that was 5 ft tall, relocating a few hidden rocks, and using 6 days of vacation. It was a great learning experience. I wish I would have asked better questions, but know I know.

The Hp on the 1086 was ok, to cut the read canary. The fact is, I couldn't cut it any faster, because I couldn't hang on anymore.

The haybine I used work well, when all of the knives were sharp on not broken.

The bailer did a fine job, bailing my wet, green, striped windrows. My hay was terrible. After moving all of the bails unto the yard on borrowed hay racks, I decided to swing by and talk with a friend that works at the local John Deere dealership.

That was a fun day. I left with a JD 5083E, JD 926 discbine w/flail conditioner, JD 467 baler. My next crop of hay only took me 4 days. It worked much better. The quality was better. This time the grass was actually cut, and not stripped. The discbine is a better type of machine for cutting grass that is 5-6 feet tall. After raking, my windrows were actually dry. My only issue this time was, my bailer pickup head was set to low. Since I was cutting in low level meadows, the grass laid 4-6 inches away from the water table. The bottom of the windrow never drys fully. A year later, I find if I just raise my pickup head, and leave the wet hay, my hay is much better. After bailing each time, I just let my cows out, and they seem to eat everything that I leave in the field.

As far as the HP of my tractor, the JD 5083E has a tow bar HP of 83 hp. and a PTO of 65. It works. You can make a good product for beef cows, but it's more about were I'm cutting hay.

A year later, I had the opportunity to help out the friend I borrow the equipment from the previous year. We cut the same field together. My tractor & discbine cut 2/3 of the field in the time it took him to cut 1/3. This was 40 arches upland alfalfa/grass field he uses to feed his horses. I back off on my flail, I didn't want to beet the leaves off the alfalfa. The field was level and smooth. This was the first experiance I had driving in a smooth field. I actually was able to cut around 6 miles per hour. In the swamps, I'm only able to cut a 3 mph. I found out later, that the 2/3 of the field I cut dried a day early then the 1/3 he cut with his haybine w/conditioning rollers. That was good to hear.

Last year, since my experience level has increased, my hay making abilities have gotten better. I've been fine tuning my discbine, rakes, and baler. The hay I made last year, was much better then my first year. I've finial found that my tractor just doesn't have the horses need to make hay the way I want to. I've increase my hay ground to 100 arches of upland hay field, I've added another 20 arches of swamp grass all of this is cut, rake, and bailed on shares. Time is important to me.

So, the only issue I have with my tractor is the 65 hp PTO. I'm not able to really make tight bails. The HP of the tractor can't spin the bail and drive at 4-6 mph.

So, this winter, I bought a JD6130D with an air ride seat. The seat alone is worth the money.

I can't wait to plan my vacation time. A little tractor time is actually what the doctor order.


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## JD3430

mlappin said:


> The White 2-135's had the Hercules engine and came from the factory with 135hp, wasn't a problem at all to get 200hp out of them. Transmissions were for the most part rock solid, not sure how the PTO took the extra horsey's. Have an 1855 Oliver with around 7000 hours on the THIRD tachometer, no transmission problems except for worn splines on the input shaft. The 135's weighed in around at least 13,000lbs. The Over/Unders were for the most part very reliable as well, with one quirk, even if you never used under drive, ever, it still could go out. THey used a sprag clutch in them and either the clutch, shaft or both could wear out with no use. The only time they incur no wear on the sprag is when under drive is actually engaged.


White, huh? I've heard of them but assume they're long out of business? 
Here's one with cab & 4WD for 17,900. Over 7,000 hours, though. So ugly, it's kind of cool looking. 
http://www.tractorhouse.com/listingsdetail/detail.aspx?OHID=6836495&


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## mlappin

DON"T get an older one with front wheel assist. They shortened the wheel base to make em turn shorter, but the short wheel base will beat you to death. Thats about right though. I dropped around 12.5K for each of my 2-110's that each had slightly less than 5000 hours.

This one is slightly better looking. http://www.tractorhouse.com/ImageSe...mg=98719636&listingPub=TH&nMaxW=565&nMaxH=424

THis is what my 2-110's look like, http://www.tractorhouse.com/listingsdetail/detail.aspx?OHID=6874335& . The price is a little steep in my opinion even with a recent rebuild. Agco still supplies parts for em and their is a ever growing supply of after market parts as more people are actually collecting them. Some of the late model Oliver and early model Whites have interchangeable parts as well.


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## JD3430

mlappin said:


> DON"T get an older one with front wheel assist. They shortened the wheel base to make em turn shorter, but the short wheel base will beat you to death. Thats about right though. I dropped around 12.5K for each of my 2-110's that each had slightly less than 5000 hours.
> 
> This one is slightly better looking. http://www.tractorhouse.com/ImageSe...mg=98719636&listingPub=TH&nMaxW=565&nMaxH=424
> 
> THis is what my 2-110's look like, 1983 WHITE 2-110 100 HP to 174 HP For Sale At TractorHouse.com . The price is a little steep in my opinion even with a recent rebuild. Agco still supplies parts for em and their is a ever growing supply of after market parts as more people are actually collecting them. Some of the late model Oliver and early model Whites have interchangeable parts as well.


Need 4WD. I was looking at Allis Chalmers for cheap HP, too. Their 4WD's are "short wheelbase" like Whites. 
Looking at all the off brands, but need cab 4WD.


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## CockrellHillFarms

I havent measured wheel bases per say. I just know short vs. long by looking at them. But in my opinion most 4x4 tractors have a shorten wheel base. The only ones off the top of my head that I can think of that have 4x4 with a longer wheel base would be some of those older New Hollands. I cant remember their numbers and the ones I'm thinking off might not be 150 hp. I'm thinking they were in the 100-110 range. The allis chalmers with 4x4 had a shorter wheel base. Even the ones that are around 170 hp like an 8070. My 4x4s have a shorter wheel base and I have a couple of different brands. If your willing to settle for something without 4x4, just make sure it has a locking rear axle. I'm able to get out of a lot of stuff with that but 4x4 sure helps. There's no question about that!


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## JD3430

Found an AC8070 4WD w/ cab and low hours for $20,000...... looks good.


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## Canderson012

John 4440 or Intl 1086 can't go wrong!


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## evan

I would second both the 4440 or the 1086 choice, if you could find a McCormick i would also back that one. We have a 105 max and love it


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## JD3430

I can't find a 1086 or a 4440 in 4WD with cab.


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## evan

IRON Search - Dozens of Used John Deere Tractor 4440s For Sale By Dealers and Owners

what about a JI case, my uncle has an older one (cant remember the numbers 1896 maybe?) that he uses every day to spread manure and to run the silo blower. He has had it as long as i can remeber and never has had any major issues with it


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## JD3430

ya, I have looked at a few of those. I think I may be able to afford a little more tractor than that. I agree they're probably very easy & simple to maintain. Looking at older Ford "TW", too.


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