Getting on and off old tractors

The older I get (I'm pushin' 78 LOL) the harder it is to get on and off my WD.

Always figured the WD was meant to be mounted from the rear. Why else would there be a platform behind the seat. If it was meant to be a PTO shield can't see any reason for it to be that big. If they were meant to be mounted from the front, you would think there would have been a step there from the factory.

Hard to get in the seat, hand clutch lever in the way. ---still gotta get rid of mine. Lock it in---take/cut lever off. Stiff legs/bad back makes it awfully hard to get on. The young bucks don't have any problems, but just wait until they get over 73!

Slowmotion, x2 that one of the D series with a step might be the best solution. I've got a WD45 and a D-14. The D-14 is WAY easier to get on/off. Maybe trade your WD45 and some $ for a D....one not afflicted by the gear jumping problem.

I haven't found that much of a used tractor and implements market around here. I do 95% of my looking on craigslist, I've thought about going to auctions. My only experience with auctions has been as a spectator, and very little of that. If I could find a one bottom plow for my 5020, I'd be in business. But I'd still want to get the WD running. I would consider swapping it for a D-14 or something similar that's easier to get on and off. I like the orange and the red tractors.

I think the Fords are the easiest to get on and off of. Grandpa's 8N was my grandmother's favorite tractor to operate, mostly for that reason. My great-grandfather was so bothered by rheumatoid arthritis that he could just barely shuffle around, let alone climb up on a tractor like a WD or Deere or Farmall. Running boards on his Jubilee weren't too high. He'd get on from the left, and once he sat down, he just swung his right leg over the steering wheel, being as his knees didn't work too well. Served him well until he died. The 8N through the smaller thousand series aren't that much different. 

By seat hinge, do you mean the flip over seat? I was wondering how that works. The original seat is definitely in my way and makes things more difficult.

CrestonM wrote: I think the Fords are the easiest to get on and off of. Grandpa's 8N was my grandmother's favorite tractor to operate, mostly for that reason. My great-grandfather was so bothered by rheumatoid arthritis that he could just barely shuffle around, let alone climb up on a tractor like a WD or Deere or Farmall. Running boards on his Jubilee weren't too high. He'd get on from the left, and once he sat down, he just swung his right leg over the steering wheel, being as his knees didn't work too well. Served him well until he died. The 8N through the smaller thousand series aren't that much different.

FORDS are easy to mount and dis mount because you always need to get off to be fixing something: FixOrRepairDaily😸😸😸

Edited by PaulB - 23 Apr 2019 at 4:42pm

And backwards, "FORD" is "Driver Returns On Foot." Kidding of course, I have an F350 4X4 dually. It's been good to me. BUT - I did have a Ford 6000 Commander Diesel... with Selecto-Speed. When it ran right, what a joy, best I ever owned. But the 90% of the time it didn't run right made it a nightmare. At start-up, the transmission would hang up in reverse and forward at the same time and stall itself out. No telling when it would do that, or when it would free itself. Horrible idea. But, it was the easiest tractor to get on and off that I've personally ever owned. So, yeah, good thing since the problem could easily run down a battery in no time lol.

Absolutely the Edsel, which is what we used to call the toilet when I was a little kid because one of my uncles had an Edsel lol! The ONLY thing that was wrong with mine was the Select-o-Speed; and, honestly, that worked fine until someone "borrowed" it and the fan belt broke, they didn't notice, it overheated, and - according to the mechanic - the fingers in the valve body got messed up (would stick?) and when bringing it from "Park" to a forward gear, naturally it passed reverse, and that's when things got buggered up because it was engaged in forward and reverse at the same time. It was too expensive to fix, so we used it as it was. But when it ran right, I never had a better tractor, honestly. I sold it back in the early 90s. Funny thing is, at an auction last year, I saw what I thought was it, I snapped a pic with my phone of the serial number. It looked absolutely exactly the way I remembered it when I sold it. When I got home, I checked it against the number on the old bill of sale I had prepared way back then (I'm a bit of a hoarder, I keep everything in files). It took me awhile to find it, but it was my old tractor. FWIW, I sold it for $2,800 back then. I decided I'd try to get it back, but when the bidding went over what I decided to spend, I was amazed... the high bid ended up being $6,850. I have no idea who would pay that much, or that so many people had bid for it in the first place. I guess there really is one born every minute? Even if I had been certain it was the same tractor during the bidding, nothing, not nostalgia or anything else, would've trumped common sense and made me bid half of that. If you have 7 minutes to waste, here's a propaganda - I mean sales - presentation from back in the day. https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=ford+6000+select+o+speed&view=detail&mid=A6BF6C4E80D63934CCDFA6BF6C4E80D63934CCDF&FORM=VIRE

GARY(OH/IN) wrote: At one time I thought I wanted a 6000 Ford. They had power, looked cool, and were cheap. Lucky I never found one as you really do get what you pay for.