Why buy an old tractor vs. a new one?
Buying an older tractor will usually mean saving 90% of the purchase price over new machines. Smaller “Hobby Farm” (less than 30 HP) tractors are designed primarily for mowing and rototilling, thus are engineered with less steel and cast iron. While cheaper to build, this may reduce the capabilities for some operations such as plowing, discing, and haying. The conditions under which farm tractors operate require weight to get the horsepower converted to usable work. New small machines are not structurally engineered to support the required weight. Many older machines (60s and earlier) in the 10 to 30 HP range can perform nearly any operation. The orientation for small tractors from the 1970s on changed from pure farming to suburban tract support. In the larger farm tractors (30+ HP), the orientation has never wavered. A full scale modern farm tractor can perform even more work than its predecessors, safer, more reliable, and environmentally sound in the process (also read cost-effectiv
