I like tractors! Have used them, and worked on them for a great number of years. I think learning to work on them at a very early age shaped the direction of my professional career in many ways, leading me into working on large trucks and heavy equipment for many years. And to be honest, it was a career that I truly did enjoy for many years.
But I do like tractors. I enjoy working on them. I enjoy spending time in the seat working with a tractor, whether it's doing dirt work, or just brush hogging a field.
My father bought a 1975 John Deere 1530 for the farm when we first moved here, after he inherited the farm, and we started farming operations. He bought several pieces of equipment we needed to do various jobs around the farm. That tractor is still going strong and we still use it regularly around the farm. Dad added a front-end loader to the tractor back in the mid 1980's. He says it's the best money he ever spent on the John Deere!
My brother bought a smaller more compact tractor in 2011, a Cub Cadet Yanmar EX3200, with a front bucket and a small backhoe attachment. That tractor probably gets used more than the others. It's small enough to gt into many places a larger one can't, but still has plenty of power to do many jobs. It's an awesome tractor.
A couple of months ago, he bought a used, but in good mechanical shape, 1979 IH 1086 tractor. It needed some repairs, but the engine, trans and hydraulics were in near perfect operating order. It needed some attentiuon cosmetically! It's fixing to get a paint-job here pretty soon. We are now working on the A/C system, and if things work out, we should have that fixed by next weekend. Friday, he left to go to Missouri for an auto electrical members convention, taking his trailer with him. He already had that trip planned, but a couple of weeks ago, he purchased a front-end loader for the 1086 in Missouri. He found out that the loader was only about an hour better from where the convention was being held. So no shipping costs on the front-end loader for the tractor!


