Take Care of That Tractor

A tractor is one of the key tools on the farm.  One hundred years ago, the horse was the means of power but today it is the tractor.  Mine are not new, in fact they are 11 and 22 years older than me!  But this does not mean they are poor quality or ineffective at what they are meant to do.  In fact, these machines have some extraordinary ability with pulling a plow, disc harrows, haying equipment and the like.  That being said, these tractors need care, more than just changing the engine oil or checking the tire pressures.

Foremost, one should find any books or manuals that can help maintain the equipment.  Having accurate measurements and specifications, instructions and advice on operation as well as part numbers makes keeping your tractor in good shape easy and economical.  Oil types, quantities, filter types, maintenance cycles or how often to check/grease/oil the machine are usually in a table in any shop manual and following the schedules pays dividends!

If there was one rule I could pass along about any equipment it is that you keep it sheltered when not in use.  A large, insulated shop with good lighting, a heated concrete floor and good work benches would be ideal, but not necessarily affordable.  But even a three-sided lean-to is an excellent option and often the best solution on a farm for sheltering any equipment.  I started with a 12 x 14 shed for the tractors.  the tractors sit quite tightly together in that space.  Each side has a rolling door which when both are opened gives a twelve foot wide open side.  It is a pole shed made with new and recycled material.  It has a sandy floor that stays quite dry and I installed lighting and a few receptacles for convenience.  As needs arose, I added a 20 x 20 shed onto the back of this shed for other smaller equipment - tiller, snowblower, ATV, etc.  The key to effective use of the shed is space management...having assigned spots for each item.

During the busy farming seasons, it can be costly to have downtime or unnecessary maintenance to deal with.  A bit of planning with the maintenance schedules before it gets busy can be helpful.  Sometimes it doesn't work out, but if you have downtime in the early spring or late fall, you can go over all necessary aspects of the maintenance schedule and have that tractor ready for work when the time comes.

For us this year, our second, newer tractor spent 2 weeks in the shop so we could check out everything.  It took about 70 shop hours to complete the work as much of the sheet-metal was repainted and a snowplow blade was fabricated for the loader frame.  This was also a good time to do a few upgrades - the power take-off (PTO) handle was in an inconvenient spot behind the seat, so a linkage was made to have it repositioned beside the seat with the three point hitch control.  New LED lighting was installed.  The rear tires were worn down alot so the tread was re-cut to increase traction.

Future plans for this tractor include replacing gauges, upgrading the quick-hitch components to handle the newest type of three point equipment, installing a front bumper/weight hanger and adding a  72 inch, 1/3 cu. yd. bucket to the loader to improve material handling.  A rollbar with canopy should also be added to give extra protection to the operator, if not an entire cab!  Appreciating and enjoying the tractor you have means caring for it.  It is worth the effort!