Tractor recommendations

Started by grover, May 05, 2013, 08:25:53 PM

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Don_P

I took the skid steer back Memorial day and we opened up the cab. It took several hours to demuck the pan enough to dig out the worn out foot cable (Hey, I see orange down there, we must be getting close) The back glass had been shattered and although tempered there were still lots of sharps in the bottom. With the cab tilted we had good access to the engine, pump and motors. Looking from the backside the alternator's real problem was obvious. The plug in connector had been hot near the exhaust manifold gotten brittle and cracked. One of the leads had a arcing connection at best. So a crimp on connector, an $80 foot cable and a day, not bad. I got into a rock with one tire and tore a chunk out, we'll order a pair for that side and I'll pay for one, we can get inside that chain case easily then to look around and adjust it. I put around 40 hours on it in rocks and pretty bouncy terrain, by the end I was up on one cheek and supporting on my elbows for the many long runs between where I was digging and where I was depositing. They really should put a pair of gravity inversion boots on the back of the bucket for breaktime . The owner took it for a spin when we got done and said I broke the suspension  :D.

Redoverfarm

Nice Find.  Just make sure that you don't over work the bucket. Cylinders are your real concern.  It is really not rated that heavy.

   
Performance
   
The Ford 770 Loader provides a breakout force of up to 1,600 pounds with a dump clearance of 70 inches, a dump reach of 30 inches and a ground reach of up to 61 inches. The 770A and 770B offer a breakout force of 1,460 pounds with a 75-inch dump clearance, a 22-inch dump reach with a ground reach of 61 inches.

   
Dimensions
   
The Ford 770, 770A and 770B weigh 580 pounds and can accommodate a bucket width between 48 and 60 inches with a capacity of up to .30 cubic yards. The 770 offered a maximum lift of 700 pounds at a height (to pin) of 87 inches while the 770A and 770B produced a maximum lift of 820 pounds at a height of 93 inches



MushCreek

What do they mean by 'breakout force'? For example, the loader I looked it has a breakout force of 2800 lbs., but a lifting capacity at the pin of 1800 lbs.
Jay

I'm not poor- I'm financially underpowered.

Redoverfarm

Quote from: MushCreek on June 02, 2016, 05:19:20 AM
What do they mean by 'breakout force'? For example, the loader I looked it has a breakout force of 2800 lbs., but a lifting capacity at the pin of 1800 lbs.

That is usually a little confusing and is manipulated by each individual manufacturer.  I am not real clear either but maybe this will help clarify it.  There are a lot of factors which play into it such as, bucket demensions, front lip to pivot point, cylinder size and machine size as well as others.

The breakout force is the amount the bucket can exert in it's crowd back function ie. tearing out a tree root while rolling the bucket back , as opposed to trying to lift it with the loaders lift arms (lift capacity).

glenn kangiser

I thought that was when the bucket broke when I was bouncing the backend while pivoting on the front two wheels to remove a stuck whatever...  [ouch]
"Always work from the general to the specific." J. Raabe

Glenn's Underground Cabin  http://countryplans.com/smf/index.php?topic=151.0

Please put your area in your sig line so we can assist with location specific answers.


Redoverfarm

Quote from: glenn kangiser on June 02, 2016, 02:35:57 PM
I thought that was when the bucket broke when I was bouncing the backend while pivoting on the front two wheels to remove a stuck whatever...  [ouch]

Yes we have all been there.  Pushing it way past it's limits.  I recall unloading a truck full of building supplies when I did the garage addition.  Don't ask me what I was thinking when I tackled a complete hack of 5/8 sheeting.  Well it went just like I didn't expect.  I managed to lift it about 6" off the bed of the truck.  Told my friend (his flat bed) to just pull out from under it when I lifted it up.  The front axle was the pivot point.  The hack went quickly to the ground at the same time the rear wheel came off the ground.  My tractor is not a hobby one but not a big one either.  I guess the bucket is rated somewhere around 3,000#.  Determined the hack was about 5,400# containing 50 sheets.  Just lucky that something major didn't give way and damage the cylinders and what ever.  Now I am more cautious about lifting.  Well at least until another situation comes up. ;)

NathanS

820lbs, that is good info for me to have. Thanks Redover. Tractor will be used for farming, moving firewood out of the forest, stones less than 820lbs... I can also see using it to position building materials when I start framing later this summer.

Redoverfarm

Quote from: NathanS on June 02, 2016, 03:33:16 PM
820lbs, that is good info for me to have. Thanks Redover. Tractor will be used for farming, moving firewood out of the forest, stones less than 820lbs... I can also see using it to position building materials when I start framing later this summer.

Might I make a suggestion.  You should pick you up a drawbar and clevis for the rear.  It just fits into the lift arms of your 3-point hitch.  Make it a lot easier to buck logs and trees around w/o depending on the front bucket.  Not that expensive but well worth the money.  Here is one.

http://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/countyline-cross-drawbar-category-1-3-4-in-dia

http://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/search/clevis

glenn kangiser

Quote from: Redoverfarm on June 02, 2016, 02:48:24 PM
Yes we have all been there.  Pushing it way past it's limits.  I recall unloading a truck full of building supplies when I did the garage addition.  Don't ask me what I was thinking when I tackled a complete hack of 5/8 sheeting.  Well it went just like I didn't expect.  I managed to lift it about 6" off the bed of the truck.  Told my friend (his flat bed) to just pull out from under it when I lifted it up.  The front axle was the pivot point.  The hack went quickly to the ground at the same time the rear wheel came off the ground.  My tractor is not a hobby one but not a big one either.  I guess the bucket is rated somewhere around 3,000#.  Determined the hack was about 5,400# containing 50 sheets.  Just lucky that something major didn't give way and damage the cylinders and what ever.  Now I am more cautious about lifting.  Well at least until another situation comes up. ;)

That makes for a great ride though John.  [ouch]

I remember moving a rock up the mountain to anchor my wind generator to.  Went up on the front rollers for the tracks of my John Deere tracklayer.   No wonder my stuff breaks...  :(

A plus for me though... I did keep the bucket sliding on  the ground most of the way....
"Always work from the general to the specific." J. Raabe

Glenn's Underground Cabin  http://countryplans.com/smf/index.php?topic=151.0

Please put your area in your sig line so we can assist with location specific answers.


Redoverfarm

Quote from: glenn kangiser on June 03, 2016, 01:40:58 PM
That makes for a great ride though John.  [ouch]

I remember moving a rock up the mountain to anchor my wind generator to.  Went up on the front rollers for the tracks of my John Deere tracklayer.   No wonder my stuff breaks...  :(

A plus for me though... I did keep the bucket sliding on  the ground most of the way....

Who needs to go to an amusement park when we have such a good time at home ;D

NathanS

Quote from: Redoverfarm on June 02, 2016, 04:03:29 PM
Might I make a suggestion.  You should pick you up a drawbar and clevis for the rear.  It just fits into the lift arms of your 3-point hitch.  Make it a lot easier to buck logs and trees around w/o depending on the front bucket.  Not that expensive but well worth the money.  Here is one.

http://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/countyline-cross-drawbar-category-1-3-4-in-dia

http://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/search/clevis

Thanks for the recommendation, we will pick those up this summer. We have several cords of downed wood right now that needs to be dragged out of the forest and processed.

Adam Roby

This tractor hunt is driving me a little bonkers.

Any tractor I find has to be plated (we register any equipment that can potentially be on the road - even if just crossing the street).
I need it plated because I need to be able to drive it across the border.
I need to drive it across the border, because if it crosses on a transport it is considered as importing farm equipment and it will be held until  it passes all federal paperwork for importing.  Too complicated.

My budget means I will be buying something in the 50's-60's, maybe early 70's.
Most of these old farm tractors have been bought and sold so many times, nobody every bothered keeping up the registrations, so it becomes useless to me because I need proof of ownership to cross at the border, and it needs to be plated to legally drive on the road.
This fact also limits me to having a wheeled vehicle...

I know I will eventually find something...  but I think I will need to rent that skid steer after-all.
Local place wants $350 / day, $100 for transport + tax.... so roughly $500 for a day.  If I take it on a Saturday, there's a 50/50 chance they will come pick it up on the Sunday, will only know when I go pay the down-payment.  If they only get it on Monday, they give 10 hours per day so I could more realistically do two days of 5 hours and get more work done than if I am limited to 1 day of 10 hours, because I will need to stop and rest, measure, figure things out as I go, etc.  Then again, if forced to do it all in one day then I won't mess around, maybe go up with someone to act as a second set of hands/eyes/brain.   

Redoverfarm

Adam not real versed with how things in Canada work but I would assume when you refer to "plated" you are talking about the nomenclature plate listing the serial, manufacturer and etc...   The registration threw me off as here none are required to be registered to be driven on the road.

In regards to the rental machine you might check to see how they calculate the time used.  Most machines are equipted with hour meters.  Some use this method to determine daily use.  8 hours is common for day use.  So even if you would get it over the weekend and use it more than the 8 hours they could charge you an extra day for hours that exceed.  But then again some don't and consider one day (Saturday) and you could use in on the following day to be picked up on Monday.  Have had it both ways.

Might keep the hour meter in mind.  Shut off the machine during " idle times with your brain " while figuring things out. 

Adam Roby

Quote from: Redoverfarm on June 12, 2016, 01:42:35 PM
...The registration threw me off as here none are required to be registered to be driven on the road...

Actually in Quebec Canada, it is registered and plated (license plate) just like on a car.  If your wheels will ever touch a road, then you are required by law to have it plated (actual license plate on the rear of the vehicle).  This is a one time plating only when a new owner takes ownership.  The benefit of this is that I can drive it across the border, show my registration papers and that serves as non disputable proof that I am the owner and I am not importing it to be sold or whatever.  I am not sure what would happen if I tried to drive one across the border without some kind of proof of ownership...


Adam Roby

#89
This kinda just fell into my lap...  I know, she ain't pretty, and she needs some luvin, but by golly she'll be prettier when I am done with her.


Gary O

I.....hate.....you.....all


Made in India (pretty sure)
I'm enjoying all that I own, the moment.

"Live in the sunshine, swim the sea, drink the wild air." Emerson

Adam Roby

Well it's at least better than the alternative!


Adam Roby

I spent a good part of the day on Monday speaking with various government agencies.
I started with the border crossing where I always cross.  The person who answered the phone said I don't need any paperwork to cross so long as it is for personal use, and if it will return to Canada then I need to first register it with the Canada side so that I can prove I did not buy it on the US side when coming back.  The big concern for her was that it was clean, it could not have any dirt on it what-so-ever because of possible soil contamination.  She then spoke with her supervisor who confirmed what she said, and then suggested I call the main office to speak with an import specialist.  I called them, basically the same story but they passed me to their supervisor, who also confirmed and who passed me to the floor supervisor just to be 100% certain.  Everyone seems to have the same story.  The only catch I can see is if the actual crossing agent does not know the laws and then causes me grief, so I think when I am actually ready to cross, I will call the border crossing where I will cross (its a small one, 2-3 agents working at any given time), and I will tell them "I am crossing with my tractor in 1.5 hours, I just wanted to give you a heads up" and then at least its no surprise when I do cross.

After speaking with border control, I went on our local classified ads and I saw this tractor up top for sale, asking price of $1000.  I called the guy and he really didn't know what he had. He basically is a "do anything" kind of backyard mechanic.  This was part of a local farmer's barn that recently passed away.  He had emptied the barn and brought all kinds of different equipment back to his shop.  He had no clue how to start it, drive it, what the levers did or anything.  He thinks its a 1958 Belarus but on the placard it shows 1974.  It is a diesel, and other than some bad wiring and missing bolts, its looks good.  We managed to figure it out, and it runs like a top, engine is strong, actually used it to pull a truck out some mud on his lot.  I can't for the life of me find reverse, and the brakes seem seized or just very hard to press... a few things are rattling (alternator adjustment bracket is broken), but all in all it seems like a decent find.  Considering I will get a maximum of 20 hours of use per year, it fits well in the budget.  It was a 3 hour drive away, and it was too heavy for my Liberty, so I asked him to deliver.  He wanted $400, but I talked him down to $1200 tax-in for the tractor with delivery and he actually followed me back home so I got it right away.  Neighbors were giving me funny looks let me tell you.  Now I am just a little apprehensive to test it out, my driveway slopes towards the road and I don't think the brakes work and I can't find any of the gears...  we managed to test reverse and at least 2 forward gears but it was all by luck.  Front bucket has no problem lifting the wheels off the ground.  Rear tires are new, fronts are dry rot so I will need to maybe put some old car tires on there for now.

Anyways, that's the story for now.  I'll let ya all know how the restoration goes.  I have to start off by cleaning it, then changing all the oils and doing whatever maintenance was likely not done for many years.

NathanS

congrats Adam. At that price there isn't a whole lot of risk. My wife is Canadian and we had considered buying a tractor in Canada and bringing it across the border (exchange rate has been so good). We talked to the US border people on the phone and they just needed a bill of sale, clean tractor, and since we aren't using it for profit there was no import tax.

Still, I understand your apprehension, I still get anxiety crossing because ultimately it depends who is in the station when you're crossing. Sometimes I get US customs officers that will give me a hard time coming into the US WITH my US Passport.

I think you will get it across no problem. Lots of people are doing what you're doing.

Keep us posted on restoration.

ChugiakTinkerer

You probably already have her chocked, but just as a reminder...

CHOCK THOSE WHEELS!

Now I need to go see if this green coloring I have will wash off.
My cabin build thread: Alaskan remote 16x28 1.5 story


Adam Roby

Quote from: ChugiakTinkerer on June 22, 2016, 04:24:39 PM
You probably already have her chocked, but just as a reminder...

CHOCK THOSE WHEELS!

Now I need to go see if this green coloring I have will wash off.

Yup, double chocked just in case.... green coloring?

Gary O

Quote from: Adam Roby on June 22, 2016, 04:33:31 AM
Well it's at least better than the alternative!


Now, THAT'S funny
I'm enjoying all that I own, the moment.

"Live in the sunshine, swim the sea, drink the wild air." Emerson

MountainDon

Since you are new to tractors and live where freezing temperatures occur from time to time  ;D  I thought I should mention this.  Tractors have great torque. In freezing temperatures it is very practice to first move the tractor in reverse a couple of feet to break any frozen tire free from the ground. A tractor can have sufficient torque to rotate the front end up and over if the wheel can not turn and propel the tractor forward.
Just because something has been done and has not failed, doesn't mean it is good design.

Don_P

Good point, that applies to towing something as well, if you are dragging something and it stops, the machine can rotate around the rears and flip backwards. Situational awareness always, the wheels are just to move it around not to hurry, go slow.

Redoverfarm

Adam I am glad you found something.  With a little TLC I am sure it will serve you well.  I have been looking and I did find one but wasn't sure it was plated.



On a more serious note.  I would start off with a good power washing to reveal all the drain plugs and other maintenance points.  Changing fluids and filters are a must.  Especially the fuel filter.  There is bacteria that grows in the diesel and will ruin your day if not addressed.  They make additive that gets rid of it.  Probably in the fuel tank also if you can drain and flush it out.  I would not address the cosmetic stuff until you get it operating and use it some.  This will show you any leaks you might have with seals and the like then once they are tight then you can put some lipstick on the old girl.