Our property has a lot of mowing, and some lesser bush hogging. We have a Kubota L4701 with a 72" finish mower, and to cut everything we keep mowed is about a 2 day job. I was thinking about picking up another smaller tractor with a 72" mower, maybe a Mahindra in the 35-40 HP range, so that two people could mow, or use one tractor for another purpose. When I started looking at the small tractors, I was shocked at how little tractor you get for $20-25,000!

I also noticed, that there are quite a few older farm tractors in the 60-100 HP range for sale fairly cheap. I'm seriously thinking about picking up a 1970-80's model Ford, John Deere, or International tractor, and a 10' rotary mower (bush hog), strictly for mowing. From what I'm seeing, I could get everything for $10-12,000.

I'm seeing quite a few Ford 6000, 7000, and 8000 series, a few Massey Ferguson and IH models, and a good selection of John Deeres. I'm thinking that anything over 50 or 60 pto HP should handle a 10 foot pull behind mower.

Any thoughts, or suggestions? Is this a bad idea?

I had a Yanmar 30HP I cut grass with for years. That tractor was simple and trouble free similar to JD but was cheaper. My neighbor bought a Mahindra and had to borrow my trailer about a dozen times to take in for "service" it never ran for two weeks in a row.

I belong to a private gun club with obviously alot of grass.  It takes a Case with a 72 inch mower, a New Holland with a 60 inch belly mower and 3 zero turns about 6 hours to cut.  So, I'm thinking you probably have less than that worth of cutting...

Anyway.. The old Case just keeps on chugging along.. I can get the model number  this weekend when I go shooting if you want.  its probably from the 70's

My dad still uses a 1960's IH 706 diesel (75-80 hp) on the farm. It's mostly relegated to bush hogging and running the big grain auger now because it's just been outpaced by farm growth. I don't think dad owns any tillage equipment it can pull anymore. But when I was growing up I baled somewhere around 1/4 million bales of hay & straw with it. I believe it has over 8,000 hours now. I would say outside of routine maintenance and occasional breakdowns, older tractors are a good choice.

If Diesel then pre 2014 to avoid the extra fluid crap!

You say a finish mower, in my experience (54” belly mower on BX and 84” finish mower on 50hp tractor) finish mowers on tractors or sllllooooooowwww.  Have you thought about a zero turn for finish mowing and the tractor for the rough areas? I’d bet a zero turn would keep up, and be faster if there are obstacles, than a 10’ expensive tractor PTO driven finish mower.

10ft brush hog - you’ll probably want 70-80hp or more. Depending on the material you’re getting into.


I run an 8ft heavy duty twin gear box bushhog. It will straight up stall my TN60A new Holland in thick grass.

My 5425 Deere runs it well enough.


The older tractors can be bomb proof. The x000 from Ford, 706/806/1066 from IH, 3020s from deer, or even the smaller iron horse series like 4040s and such.  They’ll run forever if they’re not already beat to death.  But, there is a big lack of creature comforts.  They’re also extremely heavy compared to their modern counter parts. Which for brush hogging isn’t great.

If you live in a dry area and have a ton of property to brush hog. Yeah. Probably not a bad idea.

This is what i was thinking.  Why not a commercial zero turn for 5-8k that can do the finish mowing.  They are really fast compared to a regular tractor and can do obstacles and tight spaces way easier

I have a 1960 Farmall 460. I am definitely into old tractors, and collecting old iron can turn into a hobby as much as guns. I have friends with tons of old junk. It's a lot of fun haha.

I've been told to avoid the fords. Stick to IH and John Deere primarily. Old iron isn't trouble free, and will require parts and upkeep, and some old tractors are getting hard to get parts for. Stick to USA made. I'm real tempted to get some of the import tractors, as if you can find a German made john deere, the look attractive, but there is some question on getting parts to keep those going.

I've seen guys pulling a 10' batwing behind a Farmall 560 before, and they say it handles it just fine. Depends on what you're cutting, but Farmall 560 and 460 are about the cheapest HP you will find. Mine is rough, leaks like crazy, and is not comfortable, but it sure is cost effective.

John Deere 3020 is probably what you want though. Especially if you are willing to spend 10-12k. There is one not far from me that is asking $8k for a diesel, and I'm trying to figure out how to scratch together enough money to get it, and restore it.


tl;dr - old tractors are cool and you should buy a bunch of them and post pictures.

I'm not sure why you'd avoid a Ford, unless its a SelectOSpeed.  3 cylinder Ford tractors were some of the best, efficient diesels ever made.  

This 3000 will last me the rest of my lifetime, and it's older than I am. Attached File

The finish mower is definitely on the slow side. I thought about a zero turn, but these fields can be pretty rough in places. I don't think I want to be zipping along at 10-12 mph. The material I'd be cutting mostly is orchard grass, that would be 6-8" tall. I'm thinking a bush hog won't work too much on that.

I have no idea why the lack of love for Ford around here. I found a 1973 JD 2030 that sounds decent, for just under $6000 that I want to look at. It's rated at 68 HP. Another one that is about $1000 more is a 1975 Massey Ferguson 285, which is a 90 hp. If I'm not mistaken, aren't International Harvester, Case, McCormick, Farmall, and Massey Ferguson pretty much the same company at different time periods?

My Dad acquired several interesting tractors that are still around. Unfortunately, he doesn't do routine maintenance, so they will all need some restoration work whenever they come into my hands. He has an Allis Chalmers WD45, a Farmall Super A, and  Ferguson TO35, along with the modern Kubota. Unfortunately, the Ferguson is the only one currently usable. When I retire in a few years, antique iron will definitely be among my hobbies!

Hopefully will be adding my own to the stable in the next week or so!

Growing up, everybody around here had a small tobacco quota and a Ford tractor to raise it with.  We had a JD 1530 at one time and it was junk compared to a good Ford, Dad traded it to a Ford 4600. Much better.

Loaded question.

McCormick-Deering was merged into the company that became “international”.

Farmall basically a brand of international.

They didn’t join with Case till 1984.

Massey Ferguson has been a separate company and still is. They’re the United States Name brand of Agco now.

McCormick tractors today (modern) is an independent company. They were spun off of when CNH International became a thing, when new Holland was brought into the fold completely in 2000.

The old fords are certainly good tractors. If I remember right, the only weak spot were the front axles. The pivot point can get worn out and it’s extremely hard to fix.

Run anything that you are looking at through tractordata.com.

Tested PTO horsepower is the main spec you want to look at: 60hp for that Deere, 81 for the MF.

Both the tractors you mention have two engine options, with the Deere its gas v diesel, the MF it's diesel v bigger diesel.

Back in high school I spent a lot of hours on a 5000 with a SelectOSpeed pulling around a grinder mixer.  That poor thing was abused, but was a pretty decent machine.

I'm not a Ford guy, but there sure seem to be a lot of 3000/4000/5000 tractors still around.  Concerning the 3020 Deere's mentioned above, IIRC, I was told in the past that a man could save some coin going 3010 and not sacrificing too much.

I agree a ten foot hog will stall a sixty horse tractor. If you can find a 2755 JD or 4040 they are easy to work on and reliable. I’d look for a cabbed model. I picked up a 57hp Deutz last year with less than 900 hrs that someone had decided they needed a bigger tractor after the dealer sold them a fifteen foot brush hog. Right now the fast line tractor sales catalog is the thinnest I have ever seen. Tractors are selling like doughnuts at cop rally. Good luck

John Deere for the win and they hold value. Have a few 4020’s and they are a workhorse

I have a JD 6300 it’s rated at 75-79 pto hp.  It pulls a 12 ft 3,000 lb batwing well.  A 15ft batwing is to much for it and works it really hard.  I would think you would be fine with a tractor in the 70-80 hp ranges.  Watch for if it has a 540 rpm PTO, will have 6 splines on PTO shaft I think.  A 1000 rpm PTO has 21 spline PTO shaft is a little less common.  International made good tractors and so did Case and Ford.  I have a early 60’s Ford 4000 that I use for small stuff but wouldn’t hesitate to get a bigger Ford/Massey/ or International with some age on it.  Tl

I wanted to go with a 10 for flat deck pasture mower but my place has to many changes in terrain and thought I would tear it up.  That’s the reason I got the flex wing/ batwing mower. Look up all the models you might be interested in to see what the PTO hp is before you buy one.

For reference, I still have 2-2755’s that have cut a pile of ground in front of 10’ cutters.  Thick or thin, it’s plenty of tractor.  I prefer an 8’ cutter or a batwing on the 4430 just for the ease of transport though.