Tractor shopping (again)

The 285 is just not cutting it anymore. The Deutz finally laid down and died and will most likely be going the happy hunting ground/great tractor scrapyard in the sky sometime in the near future. The 3600 just doesn't have the hp to handle my larger equipment, so it's time to upgrade.

I'm looking at Fords (of course!), but I will admit I that I have also been looking at new machines as well. Of all of the new machines I've looked at, I have too say that the Case/IH Farmalls seem to be the best machines to suit my needs. I'm not real crazy about any of the other brands I've looked at. Some of the New Hollands are ok, but they have so many freaking model numbers I'm at loss to figure out what is what (plus they quit making the TB series that I liked).

As for the Fords, Bigger Brother and I went riding around today and looked at a 7810, a 7610 and a 5610, all 4wd and at various prices. The only one I could get really excited about was the 7610, but it did not have remote hydraulics, which I need and would no doubt cost a small fortune. The 5610 was the cheapest, but it had some issues that are probably more than I want to tackle. Part of the reason I'm concentrating on Fords is because I just happen to have a Ford quick-attach loader that I can bolt right on a 10 series utility tractor (the 7810 is a mite iffy since it has a 6-cylinder engine... it may be too long to fit the loader).

All of the loader concerns went out the window when we stopped to look at contestant #4... a 7710 w/cab (and working air), which may turn out to be the best of the lot. Photos may follow if I can get them off my phone....

Redneck Engineering- Chapter XXVII

I have one of the little cheap 55 gallon sprayers. The booms on it were only 6' wide (giving me a total 12' spray pattern), which is just too small for pastures (in my opinion anyway), so a while back I bought a BoomJet® boomless spray nozzle and ditched the booms. With this contraption, I now have a 30' (give or take a couple of feet) spray pattern.

One little problem... My sprayer's design was not conducive to installing said spray nozzle upon it, so I had to find a workaround.




My solution was 3 U-bolts and a piece of angle iron, with an old bicycle inner tube wrapped around the pipe to keep it from vibrating loose. Not a pretty job, but if it were, it would hardly qualify as a redneck engineering post would it?

I have got

to quit eating Mexican and watching The Wind and the Lion while reading apocalyptic sci-fi novels about the nazis winning WWII right before I go to bed!