3 ms·
The real problem I see for modestly sized farms's is they are massively underserved by modern tractors. They are over complicated and over priced. Most of the f
by donatj 8y ago
The real problem I see for modestly sized farms's is they are massively underserved by modern tractors. They are over complicated and over priced. Most of the farmers I know still use tractors from the 1950s-1970s as their primary workhorses because they're simple and reliable. No one builds tractors like that anymore, in part due to the shrinking demands and in part due to regulation.
Why would I pay $50k+ for a new tractor that does way more than I really need, breaks down often and I can't service when I can get an old but just as useful tractor for $3-5k.
The companies that have sprung up to build parts for these ancient tractors is absolutely fascinating. Outside of perhaps some of the larger cast pieces, you can replace almost everything with new parts.
- Loughla 8y ago>The companies that have sprung up to build parts for these ancient tractors is absolutely fascinating. Outside of perhaps some of the larger cast pieces, you can replace almost everything with new parts. There is a literal workforce dedicated to fixing or fabricating these old parts. Find your nearest custom machine shop. One-job shops. They exist to build or fix a million things one time, instead of production machining where they build one thing a million times. These people are mad-geniuses at reverse-engineering and figuring out how to make things based on burnt-out or broken pieces. Source; My father is a master machinist at one of these shops. He has worked on everything from re-building hydraulic cylinders for local guys to one-off parts for prototype cars that we can't discuss the name of to rebuilding structural supports on a bridge.