# Low hr vs high hr Tractor



## ANewman (Sep 20, 2012)

I know we all have our opinions when it comes to buying used tractors. What do you consider high hrs,and what do you consider low hrs? Do you have a set limit that is acceptable reguardless of age?(ex. wont consider anything above 5000 hrs) Or do you consider hours per year?(Ex. 500 hrs a year is acceptable. tractor is 10 yrs old so 5000hrs is ok) Or do you take into acoount overall condition, maintence schedule, if the engine and/or trans has been recently rebuilt, etc.?

My opinion (I think) is that 300-400 hrs per year is acceptable, until it reaches the 5000-6000 hr range. What are y'alls thoughts? What thought process do you go through when considering buying a used tractor?


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## askinner (Nov 15, 2010)

IMO, I wouldn't touch a tractor with a powershift trans that has over 6000hrs on it. Most ps trans can cost a heck of a lot to diagnose/overhaul.
All these newer tractors will be a real problem in a few years when their electronics and emissions control garbage start to fail, their will be a lot of tractors that will be uneconomical to repair I think. Most electronic control modules (ECM's) retail for around the $3-6k mark, a failing EGR valve can destroy an engine.....


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## JD3430 (Jan 1, 2012)

ANewman said:


> I know we all have our opinions when it comes to buying used tractors. What do you consider high hrs,and what do you consider low hrs? Do you have a set limit that is acceptable reguardless of age?(ex. wont consider anything above 5000 hrs) Or do you consider hours per year?(Ex. 500 hrs a year is acceptable. tractor is 10 yrs old so 5000hrs is ok) Or do you take into acoount overall condition, maintence schedule, if the engine and/or trans has been recently rebuilt, etc.?
> 
> My opinion (I think) is that 300-400 hrs per year is acceptable, until it reaches the 5000-6000 hr range. What are y'alls thoughts? What thought process do you go through when considering buying a used tractor?


I pretty much agree with you on the hours, but 4,000 well cared for haying & mowing hours is a tractor I'd buy over 2,000 below average cared for tilling and snowplowing hours.
Find out what the tractor was used for and try to do as much research on the quality of maintenance as possible.
I just bought a 2,300 hr M125X that was not well cared for and sold it after 3 months of ownership. It runs out OK, but it gives me the feeling it wasnt well cared for. Lots of little things broken or missing. That tells me the owner didnt like or care for the tractor.


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## slowzuki (Mar 8, 2011)

I bought a 5 year old MF5455 with 4000 hours on it. Good shape mechanically, rougher cosmetically. I've put a couple of grand into fixing small stuff with a few of the more expensive fixes left to go. If I did it again the hours wouldn't bother me but I would have held out longer. I've seen several since with similar hours and price but much better condition.

Just for interest saw a reasonably clean Kubota M-110 for sale in Montreal with almost 12,000 hours on it!


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## swmnhay (Jun 13, 2008)

_I'd stay away from a loader tractor myself.Alot of front end abuse,clutching,etc._


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## slowzuki (Mar 8, 2011)

I almost disagreed because my wet clutch is fine and should go to 10,000 hours but I've had problems with seals etc in the front axle on mine and worn splines on the input shaft from the 4wd braking.



swmnhay said:


> _I'd stay away from a loader tractor myself.Alot of front end abuse,clutching,etc._


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## rjmoses (Apr 4, 2010)

It's not so much tractor hours as it is operator. I know a guy up the road whose 10 year old equipment looks and runs like new. He just traded a 30 yo JD with 6000 hours on it for a new 7230--started first crank, ran smooth, etc.

There's another guy further up the road who has a reputation for being hard on clutches--burns them out in 2-3000 hours because he rides them.

I would not buy a state leased tractor from Missouri or Illinois with 300-400 hours. I know they are OK for the most part, but there's always the ones that where beat to sh** hiding in the herd. I saw one in Mo. a couple of years ago laying on its side. I saw another in Ill. that ran over a concrete barrier.

When I buy a horse, one of the things I demand to see is that it is ridden by either the person who started it, or the current owner. Just watching how it is handled tells me more about what buttons it might have, what problems and bad habits I can expect, and where it's training has holes, than anything else.

Ralph


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## NDVA HAYMAN (Nov 24, 2009)

I agree 100% with Cy. I will not by a tractor with many hours on it that has a loader. They normally are very loose and have taken a lot of abuse. I also don't buy a tractor that has been repainted. It covers up too many problems and makes it harder to tell how it was taken care of. I also have a limit of 4000 hrs unless it is an older collector tractor that I will restore and maybe sell although I do not sell many. Just a few of my quirks. I always look, drive, listen to it, let someone else drive it while I look and then make my decision.


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## slowzuki (Mar 8, 2011)

Just a quick note on the hours, a pto hours meter at 4000hrs vs a key on meter at 4000 hours is a huge difference in wear.



NDVA HAYMAN said:


> I agree 100% with Cy. I will not by a tractor with many hours on it that has a loader. They normally are very loose and have taken a lot of abuse. I also don't buy a tractor that has been repainted. It covers up too many problems and makes it harder to tell how it was taken care of. I also have a limit of 4000 hrs unless it is an older collector tractor that I will restore and maybe sell although I do not sell many. Just a few of my quirks. I always look, drive, listen to it, let someone else drive it while I look and then make my decision.


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## Colby (Mar 5, 2012)

A tractor shouldn't be something you purchase every year. Not even every 5 years unless you farm thousands of acres or have nothing better to spend your money on. 
That being said I wouldn't buy a used tractor over 750 hours and would buy something that would last me 4-5 thousand hours and I still get enough money back on trade in to make a good down payment on another tractor. 
Just what I think. 
Also when I look at used tractors and they can't even clean them before they put pictures up? That's a red flag right there. 
Buying a used tractor with a loader? Look at the bucket. It'll tell you all you need to be told.


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## swmnhay (Jun 13, 2008)

Colby said:


> .
> Also when I look at used tractors and they can't even clean them before they put pictures up? That's a red flag right there.


I know some people that spend more time waxing equipment then greasing it.Actually quite a few that way.They just care how things LOOK.

I would never buy any thing that they owned.Looks aren't everything.


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## slowzuki (Mar 8, 2011)

Colby said:


> Buying a used tractor with a loader? Look at the bucket. It'll tell you all you need to be told.


Normally around here the tractor is traded in with your worst looking q/a bucket on it. Looking at my buckets would tell you everything about what I've had in the bucket and nothing about how I look after the tractor. I work with a fellow who paints his bucket 2-3 times a year due to scratches. I asked him what he does when he has to move rocks and he looked at me funny.


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## Colby (Mar 5, 2012)

swmnhay said:


> I know some people that spend more time waxing equipment then greasing it.Actually quite a few that way.They just care how things LOOK.
> 
> I would never buy any thing that they owned.Looks aren't everything.


Looks are alot. A dirty tractor 9 times out of 10 is a tractor not cared for


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## slowzuki (Mar 8, 2011)

Colby said:


> Looks are alot. A dirty tractor 9 times out of 10 is a tractor not cared for


I disagree any tractor used frequently will be dirty. Everyone I know with really clean waxed gear worries more about the outside that the maintenance on the mechanicals.


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## urednecku (Oct 18, 2010)

> Look at the bucket. It'll tell you all you need to be told.


Not always. I'd say my bucket in only mounted ~20 - 25% of the time. I have cleared about 5 acre of orange grove & another 5 acre of brush, & who knows how much other misc. brush/trees/limbs just doing 'general clean-up' with my 'claw'. Then there is a couple hay seasons where I only handled round bales.
I don't abuse my tractor, but I use it hard @ times and the bucket wouldn't tell the whole story. If you go where it was used, look around, and ask, what else it might have been used for.


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## Colby (Mar 5, 2012)

I'm not working on a dirty tractor or sitting in a filthy cab all day. When I clean filters and radiators I blow the tractor off and blow the cab out. Your right there with an air hose might as well clean it. That's pure laziness in my opinion. If I'm going to spend 70-90k on a tractor, damn straight it's gonna get kept clean. Yeah sure my tractors get just as dirty as y'all's. probably alot dirtier down here in Texas. But when the job is done or there's down time the tractors and equipment get cleaned. It's just a simple job and shows you care for your equipment.


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## swmnhay (Jun 13, 2008)

Hmmmm.I know a guy that has the fanciest newest stuff.All the bells and whistles.Probably has 3 Mill in eq.When he trades stuff in the paint is still on the grease zerks.

I knew alot of guys in high school spent more on car wax then oil changes.

I know some are good about everything but a clean tractor doesn't mean it's been taken care of mechanicly.

Another guys hired man told me that they never used a grease gun.The guy traded all his eq every couple yrs.They always had nice shiney eq tho.

I seen a combine at farm sale ,3 yrs old had original oil filter on it yet.It sure was cleaned up nice tho.

All the above trade often,stuff is under warranty so they don't care.

I think the guy running older eq is going to maintain it because he plans on keeping it a long time.


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## Colby (Mar 5, 2012)

All I'm trying to get is my tractors are taken care of the best they can be taken care of and I expect the same thing if I would buy a used peice of equipment. I have my own personal preference of buying used if I buy used. I was just trying to give the guy advice.


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## Teslan (Aug 20, 2011)

To me over 2000 hours is quite a bit as we don't put much more then 150 hours a year on our tractors. That said we bought a used 1998 JD 7810 two years ago with 4700 hours on it. Seems to run like a champ. It has been repainted, but I don't particularly think of that as a negative. If a tractor or equipment sits out in this area even one year year the paint fades quite a bit. So a new paint job is nice. We traded a year and a half ago a NH 5080 baler that the only time it was outside was when it was baling. The paint looked new. Now after a year and a half of sitting outside on the dealer lot it looks like it's 10 years old. I do care about the maintenance though. Has the oil and filters been changed correctly and on time? Does it start quick and run smooth? That's more important. So far the JD starts easier in cold weather then the 2007 NH tractor we have and lots easier then the 2001 MF 6290 tractor.


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## hog987 (Apr 5, 2011)

Colby said:


> A tractor shouldn't be something you purchase every year. Not even every 5 years unless you farm thousands of acres or have nothing better to spend your money on.
> That being said I wouldn't buy a used tractor over 750 hours and would buy something that would last me 4-5 thousand hours and I still get enough money back on trade in to make a good down payment on another tractor.
> Just what I think.
> Also when I look at used tractors and they can't even clean them before they put pictures up? That's a red flag right there.
> Buying a used tractor with a loader? Look at the bucket. It'll tell you all you need to be told.


You dont need thousands of acres to need a new tractor every 5 years. Once my tractor is five years old and payed for Iam going to consider getting another one cause it will have close to 5000 hours on it.


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## North Maine (Jul 1, 2011)

There's both sides of the extreme... people who wash and wax but never mechanically maintain, and people who grease and change the oils and pay attention but NEVER lift a finger to clean the machine- IMO both of those cases are rare. Much more frequently you find tractors that HAVE been taken care of (In my neck of the woods John Deere's get the best attention) both cosmetically and mechanically because the owner taken pride in his machinery and then you find tractors that HAVE NOT been taken care of at all.

When I look at at a tractor its a whole picture deal. wash and wax can't hide years of neglect.


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## deadmoose (Oct 30, 2011)

hog987 said:


> You dont need thousands of acres to need a new tractor every 5 years. Once my tractor is five years old and payed for Iam going to consider getting another one cause it will have close to 5000 hours on it.


Interesting discussion and viewpoints. My question should probably be the opposite but here goes: What all does a tractor do to get 1000 hours in a year? Also what size? Must be big enough to attack so much without being too big to get in the way.


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## Colby (Mar 5, 2012)

deadmoose said:


> Interesting discussion and viewpoints. My question should probably be the opposite but here goes: What all does a tractor do to get 1000 hours in a year? Also what size? Must be big enough to attack so much without being too big to get in the way.


Sounds more like he needs to add another tractor to his collection. 
1000 hours a year? Wow.


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## JD3430 (Jan 1, 2012)

I hate washing & waxing anything. My tractors are always mechanically good, but kinda dusty, faded.


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## haybaler101 (Nov 30, 2008)

deadmoose said:


> Interesting discussion and viewpoints. My question should probably be the opposite but here goes: What all does a tractor do to get 1000 hours in a year? Also what size? Must be big enough to attack so much without being too big to get in the way.


Hard to get 1000 hrs year unless you have a truck crop farm in the southern states or a very large livestock operation running a loader or feed wagon everyday. You are going to be lucky to get 400 hrs on a row crop or hay tractor per year. Just not enough workable hours. Unless you are using the same tractor for every task. I have three averaging 200 hrs/year on 600 acres row crops and 200 hay. Did have a neighbor that claimed he would put on 200 hrs/week in busy season. Not too good at math.


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## slowzuki (Mar 8, 2011)

My 5455 had just about 1000 hours a year on it from the last owner. It was used for 2 hours a day feeding pit silage and cleaning out barns. In silage season it ran 10 or so hours a day for another couple hundred hours. 50 hour or so of manure spreading. 100 hours or so of snow removal per year.

My little Kubota gets 200 hours a year on it and it only gets started about once a week. Roughly 100 hours of hay, 100 hours of snowblowing.



Colby said:


> Sounds more like he needs to add another tractor to his collection.
> 1000 hours a year? Wow.


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## Teslan (Aug 20, 2011)

haybaler101 said:


> Did have a neighbor that claimed he would put on 200 hrs/week in busy season. Not too good at math.


 Unless he had one of those time accelerator features on his tractor. Or his hour meter went fast.....


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## hog987 (Apr 5, 2011)

My tractor is a workmaster 75 new holland. To get close to 1000 hours a year it puts up over 1200 ton of hay, loading hay as will as feeding cattle all winter long. At the moment Iam putting about 3 hours a day on it loading hay and feeding cattle. Plus I use some of dads old tractors to do some of the work.


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## mlappin (Jun 25, 2009)

haybaler101 said:


> Hard to get 1000 hrs year unless you have a truck crop farm in the southern states or a very large livestock operation running a loader or feed wagon everyday. You are going to be lucky to get 400 hrs on a row crop or hay tractor per year. Just not enough workable hours. Unless you are using the same tractor for every task. I have three averaging 200 hrs/year on 600 acres row crops and 200 hay. Did have a neighbor that claimed he would put on 200 hrs/week in busy season. Not too good at math.


Even our big ones only get 100-125 hours a year on them. One goes on the planter and stays there, one does nothing but spray and side dress. Far as hay tractors, one for the mower, one for the tedder, one on the rake and one on the baler. Our loader tractor actually gets the most hours between loading hay out of the fields then loading trucks and feeding cows all winter.

Now, when we used to milk cows we'd change oil in the tractor running the feed wagon every month might have just a few ours over or under a hundred hours but it got changed the last day of the month regardless. So figure around 1200 hours a year.


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## foz682 (Jan 10, 2013)

Not hard to get 1000 hrs/yr if you've only got one tractor or one that does most of the work. 
Our NH gets about 360 hrs/yr and I would say it's lightly. This time of year it gets 2 hrs a day max(depending on snow clearing needed) and a typical 25 mins a day if just putting in bales. It works hard for about 2-3 days when putting out manure. Once the cows go out on pasture it gets some down time until hay time, then works for about 3 weeks hard. After that it sits still until we start to feed in the fall.
I'd consider us to be a very small operation, and someone much bigger with the same gear could easily triple the hours/yr.

As far as buying something with high hours, I'd have to know where it came from and how well they treat their gear. At least with low hours there's a possibility that some of those hours weren't total abuse and neglect. But at the same time if they managed to get a lot of hours out of it then they must have been doing something right? Tough call I guess


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## deadmoose (Oct 30, 2011)

I never meant to imply it was difficult to put that many hours on. Just curious how. Most places around HERE that I see, if someone is going to put that many hours on a tractor they spread it over multiple (as many above do). Glad to hear people getting their money out of the equipment!

Your Workmaster is fairly comparable to my tractor (hp wise). What size/ kind of hay equipment and attachments do you run?


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## hog987 (Apr 5, 2011)

deadmoose said:


> I never meant to imply it was difficult to put that many hours on. Just curious how. Most places around HERE that I see, if someone is going to put that many hours on a tractor they spread it over multiple (as many above do). Glad to hear people getting their money out of the equipment!
> 
> Your Workmaster is fairly comparable to my tractor (hp wise). What size/ kind of hay equipment and attachments do you run?


I have a kuhn 313 discbine with rubber rolls. Just got a new baler last summer. A new holland roll belt 450. It makes a 4x5 bale. Have put 1800 bales through it in the first six weeks I have had it. Have ran a new holland 851 baler with it as will as some gehl balers. My tractor is 2 years on now but only put a loader on it 2 months ago. I am putting close to 900 hours on the tractor with out the loader and now it will get used even more.
Kinda of replacing an old case 930 with loader. Its only 2 wheel drive and spent a lot of time being stuck in the snow and ice with it even with weight and chains. The workmaster is much better with the fwa.
What tractor do you have?


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## mlappin (Jun 25, 2009)

deadmoose said:


> I never meant to imply it was difficult to put that many hours on. Just curious how. Most places around HERE that I see, if someone is going to put that many hours on a tractor they spread it over multiple (as many above do). Glad to hear people getting their money out of the equipment!
> 
> Your Workmaster is fairly comparable to my tractor (hp wise). What size/ kind of hay equipment and attachments do you run?


I have a 1855 Oliver that now has almost 8000 hours on the _third_ tachometer. Dad bought it from White when they were in South Bend, In. and all they used it for was moving equipment. Had maybe 400 hours on it then, was his BIG tractor for along time.

Many other things are not being considered here though. If I know a particular model is really reliable higher hours won't scare me off while if another model is infamous for having problems starting at maybe 6000 hours I certainly wouldn't buy one at 5800 hours no matter how good the price. We used to run the above mentioned feed wagon with Oliver Super 88's. Have absolutely no ideal how many hours might be on them now as some didn't have hour meters. 15-20,000 hours would be my guess. Still not scared of them though and use both all the time, very simple but reliable tractor and not horribly expensive to rebuilt given all the aftermarket parts available driven by the demand from people restoring them as a hobby.

Far as thinking something is better mechanically because it's better cosmetically can get you in trouble in a hurry. I do keep my stuff clean, but may not have time to get fresh paint and a fresh interior in a cab because I'm actually spending my time tracking down a strange noise or vibration on another machine instead of waxing another one. A few of the biggest lemons we've ever had were the prettiest ones around, previous owner was too busy keeping it looking pretty to actually spend the time to_ properly_ maintain or repair it.

Granted it can work both ways, a meticulously cosmetically maintained machine could be meticulously mechanically maintained as well, but I wouldn't hold my breath. This is where buying locally really has it's advantages. I know of guys I wouldn't bat an eye over buying a 20 or 30 year old tractor from and might even pay a premium for regardless of looks as I know mechanically its as in good as or better shape then when it was new. While on the flip side we have guys around here that you couldn't give me a 2 year old piece of equipment they had as it already beat to shit and ready for the scarp yard even though it may still look practically new.


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## carcajou (Jan 28, 2011)

Up here the 7210-7610 JD tractors are selling at premium prices largely do to their outstanding reliablity and simplicity, if you can find them. Right now similar sized early 30 series can be bought for nearly the same price, without the high hours.


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## hay king (Feb 6, 2011)

Buying a used tractor where to start. Well the mine where I work as a millwright / welder has some rock trucks with 14,000 hrs plus serviced every 250 hrs and the all run great. The older the tractor the more hrs it will give you these new electric shuttles and sensors will be major problems in a few years. I have two duetz fahr tractors one with 3600 and one with 5400 hrs both run great. If I service them regularly they will last many more years.

When I look at used tractors I like to hook them up to a dyno tester an see what happens if the pto is supposed to be 130 and the during the test it tops out at 110 and is blowing black smoke could be signs something is wrong injectors, piston rings ect but if it comes back at 125-135 sounds good no knocking in the engine, it should be a strong runner and if maintained will last.

As for loaders don't look at the bucket to easy to paint or just put a new bucket on the tractor. Look at the pins where the loader hooks to the tractor. Look for wear or slop, rust indicates lack of grease it should fit tight and not move around. Also look for cracks that may or may not have been welded, lots of farmers have welders and don't know how to use them so there welds look like bubble gum stuck on and that's not good, however cracks do happen and if welded properly are nothing to worry about. Second as for clutches most can be fixed in about 10-18 hrs for around $1000 bucks (if you can do the work).

I do all my own work everything from engines and transmissions - diffs and everything else I use to get a shop to do some work for me but they kept missing things leaving nuts and blots lose just to much stuff to let slide plus they were taking to long to fix things around 1 and 3/4 the time it would take me to do the same job and billing for $130 per hr
this happened at three different shops.

So in short snoop around look for wear and dyno test the engine that will tell you allot about the engine condition listen for odd sounds look for oil under the tractor bad sign. Test drive it make sure all the gears work do any grind pop out ect.
there's nothing wrong with new tractors but when you need a computer to tell you whats wrong when its down and you cant fix it your self Id rather not own a machine like that. Just wait till the dealer tells you you need a new computer it only costs $10,000-$16,000 for a new one or that variable transmission needs to be rebuilt at a cost of $30,000 witch a guy down the road from me needed to do (ouch). An old Manual transmission can be rebuilt for around $3000-$5000 in less than 4 days Hrs don't mean squat to me I look at the shape and year I like 1980s -1990s simple to fix.
anyhow that just the beginning hope this helps


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## slowzuki (Mar 8, 2011)

Re loader pivot points, if you follow the recommended grease schedule and keep you tractor outside the loader looks like a sloppy mess. The grease stains run all over the loader from between the mounting tabs even when you wipe the excess. I'm always skeptical of used tractors that are perfectly clean around grease points.


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## hay king (Feb 6, 2011)

slowzuki said:


> Re loader pivot points, if you follow the recommended grease schedule and keep you tractor outside the loader looks like a sloppy mess. The grease stains run all over the loader from between the mounting tabs even when you wipe the excess. I'm always skeptical of used tractors that are perfectly clean around grease points.


Sorry but That's not what i meant buy sloppy i meant lots of play in the pins as in the loader moves around allot rattles and bangs when you hit a bump i didn't mean messy. If there's lots of grease that's a good thing guess I should have been more clear on the context of the word sloppy. You are right there should be grease around all grease points on a loader the more the better also look at the grease is if old and used indicating its been done in the past after they used the loader or is it pumped full of new clean grease so it looks like it has been done just lately for show


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## swmnhay (Jun 13, 2008)

hay king said:


> Sorry but That's not what i meant buy sloppy i meant lots of play in the pins as in the loader moves around allot rattles and bangs when you hit a bump i didn't mean messy. If there's lots of grease that's a good thing guess I should have been more clear on the context of the word sloppy. You are right there should be grease around all grease points on a loader the more the better also look at the grease is if old and used indicating its been done in the past after they used the loader or is it pumped full of new clean grease so it looks like it has been done just lately for show


Alot of places I've been at the loader pins squeak.One they actualy ground.Makes a guy wonder about their maintenece.


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## slowzuki (Mar 8, 2011)

Sorry I wasn't referencing your post about slop. My Alo loader had bad bushings and pins from the soft ride function letting it bounce. I should have looked carefully as the loader was clean. I realize some of the new loaders have grease caps but it should come out somewhere!


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## JD3430 (Jan 1, 2012)

slowzuki said:


> Sorry I wasn't referencing your post about slop. My Alo loader had bad bushings and pins from the soft ride function letting it bounce. I should have looked carefully as the loader was clean. I realize some of the new loaders have grease caps but it should come out somewhere!


Interesting. I just spent $700 on KSR for my M126X. Now you've got me feeling like I should have passed on this. I had it on my Case backhoe and loved it.


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## slowzuki (Mar 8, 2011)

It is great, just keep the pivots that move a lot greased. I suspect mine wasn't as often as it should have been.



JD3430 said:


> Interesting. I just spent $700 on KSR for my M126X. Now you've got me feeling like I should have passed on this. I had it on my Case backhoe and loved it.


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## aawhite (Jan 16, 2012)

I would look at how the tractor was used, how far is it turned up, and maintenance schedule. We bought a JD 4450 with 5,000 hrs, guy left it set to factory hp, pulled a 12-row planter in spring, 500 bu. grain cart in fall. We ran that tractor to 9,000 hrs with no issues, and we turned it up to 170 hp.

Our tractors were always dirty on the dairy, and we piled the hours on them. Maintenance is the key: change oil and filter every 100 hours, blow out air filter every 100 hrs or sooner if working in dusty conditions, transmission filter every 250 hours, greased at every 250 hrs. All maintenance was kept in a written log book. We ran several feed tractors to over 12,000 hours with no work done, multiple tractors to 10,000 hours without being touched and still running strong. Every tractor we traded had a copy of the maintenance logs go with it.

As far as putting hours: 2 tractors did all of the feeding, ran continuous for about 3-4 hours a day, 7 days a week. Our 200+ hp tractors got a lot of hours: all field work, hauling manure, hauling silage. Manure hauling alone was probably 250 hours each. Mid hp tractors (130-175 hp) did all the mowing, baling, loader work, some field work, some manure hauling, planting/seeding, hay processing, etc.

As far as JD goes, I would never touch a Power Quad tractor with a loader. Really hard on clutches and transmissions. We had one, used it one spring for loading manure from the 2 big pits when our skid steer was down, took out the tranny after a week in the pit.


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## askinner (Nov 15, 2010)

JD3430 said:


> It is great, just keep the pivots that move a lot greased. I suspect mine wasn't as often as it should have been.


Yes, don't stress JD, just keep it greased and you'll have no dramas. I grease my loader whenever I load hay off the field, or load a truck, it looks like a mess with the grease, but it'll never wear out. I love the soft ride, turning it off makes you wonder how you ever lived without it.


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