MF and Ford are my worst with Ford being a little better than MF. They are ok for hobby farmers but are not built for the serious user. The older MF hyd aren't very good. The main thing that bothers me with both the MF and Ford is having to reach under the seat to operate the remote hyd on some models.

 

I do have a MF40 backhoe. I was leary when I bought it but the price was right so I couldn't pass it up. It seems the industrial equipment is better than the farm equip. It has a front mounted high volume pump for the loader and hoe that works great. The power steering isn't very good though. I thought there was something wrong with the PS pump until I talked to a MF guy about it. He says that's about as good as they get. If I can figure out how to mount a decent PS pump in the place of the old one I think I'll really like the machine.

 

I will agree with Belarus, my least favorite brand out there, I was unimpressed with a Brand New Belarus that I sat it at a Farm Show back in 2002. They were right across from the JD & CIH displays. Had a hard time getting in and out of the cab, it was too cluttered and the cheap plastic door handle broke off in my hand.

A Close 2nd would be those Ponton tractors that get shipped in a create from China. 

I will drive anything, but I would never own a Belarus.

Take Care Jason B

 

Sounds like that 706 is in need of some maintence. I use to drive a 806 close to year around and never had a problem. In fact it is one of my favorite tractors. You can't fault a piece of equipment due to lack of maintence.

My second least favorite, I hate to say is the RC.  Had no power.

I do also have a love/hate relationship with our Case 885 here at work. Thing pops out of gear when in reverse and never wants to pop into gear when you need it to!

Now, I don't hate antique tractors (it is one of my passions) but there are some limitations from the modern production and safety viewpoint, so identifying and accepting the limitations is important.  I realize we are here today because of those machines and they can do alot of work if asked to just like the old days, however the equipment that matches typically did not fare as well as the tractor so if the tractor cannot be attached to a modern machine it is obsolete.  Thankfully there are  various conversion kits and add on parts out there to help fill the utility gaps in hitch and hydraulic attachments for many handy tractors.  However even with the add on parts, pushing the limits of an antique with lower parts availability is unwise.   Safety: hand clutches, transmission driven ptos, limited shielding, lack of walkways/steps etc.  If you have hired help or inexperienced help or perfect help anything bad can happen and you don't want to deal with that because even if it is the employee's fault, it will ultimately be your fault because it was your machine...

Deciding factors on any tractor for me are reliability and ease of use.  Attitude of a make's crowd also contribute.  If a particular tractor has a lot of cobbling or excessive inappropriate welds (why use a cotter pin, when you can lincoln lock it?) I will hate it.  If you can easily get tangled up operating or getting to the seat to use it, I don't like it much either.

My least favorite in the family is probably the caseih 685 (1985-1990, 62 pto hp):  The left hand shifting is awkward with a manual (if it was some type of shuttle maybe).  The exhaust is terribly loud for having such a large muffler on an open station--our older stuff puts it to shame for quietness (other similar models are the same way).  It was also a highway mowing rig originally, so it has 24inch tires and a brush mower permanently attached.  Many things are screwy because of the brush mowing equipment.  It was bought wrong, I thought my dad knew better.  The tractor itself is good mechanically but I estimate $1000 in parts to make it a normal farm tractor, excluding rear tires, rims, and wheel parts.  Even as a brush mower is difficult to use on the farm because there is no ground clearance and the smallest swell puts a rear tire off the ground.  I guess I could like it more if it were set up as an ag tractor, but the noise and left side shifting are hard to get used to.  If you write out the ergonomic reasons, left hand shifting makes sense on paper, but sometimes the complicated way (all controls on right) works better in reality.  I'd rather have a the stick(s) between my legs than at the left.

Second tractor is our 830 case gas, it was owned by someone that should not have ever plugged in a welder or fired up a torch.  Some good things going for the tractor design-wise but the previous owner ruined it.  The loader was worth the price of the combo alone so it was a good auction buy.  And it has saved our buts when another tractor has went down.

longer post than intended!

karl f