best and worst buys

[drapp]

Let's start a thread that could be very helpful by giving someone advice about products that work and ones that don't.  Perhaps this thread could save someone alot of trouble or give them the encouragement to buy with confidence.

The best buy: We own 2 IH 826 tractors and had an IH 806.  I would say they may be the best tractor ever built.  You can use them for almost everything and you can't kill them.  They just a good solid machine.  We also have a Gehl discbine that nevers breaks and mows like crazy.  The blades can be replaced in a few minutes and it has been a real time saver.  Can't imagine how we ever made hay without it. (clapping)

The worst buy:  A Troy-Built weed wacker (4-stroke).  It starts hard and the string feeder is very cheaply made.  The string often breaks of inside the reel and you have to stop every ten minutes to rethread the trimmer line.  I am also disappointed with the portable gates I purchased from the Tarter gate company.  They just don't hold up, even under normal use.  I have several 16 footers that are bent like a "C" and the walkthrough gates break apart at the base making them nearly impossible to carry and move.  The gates are not very old and getting ready to be sold by the pound.  Good thing scrap prices are high, maybe I can buy some better gates. :

I also have a friend of mine that was a Ford mechanic and he said the 6.0 L Powerstroke is an absolute nightmare.  Very expensive repairs every 15-20,000 miles.  He said EGR valves are bad and causes other failures like headgaskets, fuel injectors, etc.  He even said in many cases the cab of the truck must be removed to work on them.

 

[knabe]

best buy  good partner

worst buy  a bad partner

 

[hamburgman]

Those IHs just don't have enough hydraulic power compared to JDs and Allis for me.

 

[BSCattle]

We bought a Mi-T-M kerosene radiant heater last month, used it a few times in the barn and took it to Denver last week.  It has done an excellent job so far and was half the price of anything else we looked at ($1000).

 

[DLD]

Let's start a thread that could be very helpful by giving someone advice about products that work and ones that don't.  Perhaps this thread could save someone alot of trouble or give them the encouragement to buy with confidence.

The best buy: We own 2 IH 826 tractors and had an IH 806.  I would say they may be the best tractor ever built.  You can use them for almost everything and you can't kill them.  They just a good solid machine.  We also have a Gehl discbine that nevers breaks and mows like crazy.  The blades can be replaced in a few minutes and it has been a real time saver.  Can't imagine how we ever made hay without it. (clapping)

The worst buy:  A Troy-Built weed wacker (4-stroke).  It starts hard and the string feeder is very cheaply made.  The string often breaks of inside the reel and you have to stop every ten minutes to rethread the trimmer line.  I am also disappointed with the portable gates I purchased from the Tarter gate company.  They just don't hold up, even under normal use.  I have several 16 footers that are bent like a "C" and the walkthrough gates break apart at the base making them nearly impossible to carry and move.  The gates are not very old and getting ready to be sold by the pound.  Good thing scrap prices are high, maybe I can buy some better gates. :

I also have a friend of mine that was a Ford mechanic and he said the 6.0 L Powerstroke is an absolute nightmare.  Very expensive repairs every 15-20,000 miles.  He said EGR valves are bad and causes other failures like headgaskets, fuel injectors, etc.  He even said in many cases the cab of the truck must be removed to work on them.

Well, here's a can of worms...

I know the Ford 6.0's have a bad reputation,  so obviously there are some issues.  They're kind of persnickity - they don't take well to abuse, modifications or poor maintenance, and yes repairs can be expensive.  But they're not all bad - I bought my first one with 60K miles and put another 100K on it in 4 1/2 years.  In that time I spent less than $1000 total on all repairs beyond regular maintenance (yes, that did include one EGR valve).  I bought another one last fall with just under 60K miles, and I love it.  Maybe I'll get bitten, but I did my research and feel comfortable that this truck's as good as my last one.  I also have several friends that drive 6.0's, and not one of them has had anywhere near the kind of problems you describe, and many of them liked theirs enough to own more than one as well.  Again, that's not to say the problems can't be real, but they're just not nearly as prevalent as they're often made to seem. 

 

[Cow Chaser]

The 826's are good old tractors and as far as the hydraulic power there aren't any early 70's tractors that had any hydraulic power.  And in reguards to the 6.0 Fords we have two 2003's at work one is a 350 and the other is a 450.  The 350 has never pulled a trailer and we have put 3 turbo's replaced and a couple injectors.  The 450 has a little dump bed on it and we have replaced all the injectors once and a couple others three times along with two turbo's.  All of this happened with less than 100,000 miles on both trucks.  I'am not saying they are all bad but being around these two would be enough for me to never buy one,  they don't have enough power on the low end to satisfy me anyway. 

 

[Cyfarmer]

Best Buys - New Holland LS 170 Skidloader with cab and heat, and quick tach bucket - makes moving snow somewhat pleasant. Also a best buy is our 2006 Chevy 3/4 with Duramax/Allison - 130,000 miles and running as strong as ever. Also love our 2004 24ft Eby Wrangler trailer 
Wost Buys - Any weed eater I have ever purchased - seems as though they last a year then turn to junk. A couple of calves I have bought over the years would also qualify for worst buys - last year had a Who Made Who smoke steer out of a char cow that turned out to be a cripple. Also had a Ree Heights Steer last year that was a hard feeder, and was also too straight off his rear wheels.

 

[JTM]

Best buys: 2005 Dodge Ram 2500 short bed with Cummins diesel bought new. Has about 80,000 miles on it with only problem being a water pump seal and tailgate latch. Great truck. Another good buy is the New Holland TC 45 boomer tractor. Hydraulic drive pedals. It has held up to a lot of abuse. It's really small but has the hydraulic power to lift a round bale in front and back to haul them off the fields. It can stack them three high also.

 

[vc]

Chevy 1/2 ton 4x4 1999  (right after the strike) 252000 miles before the transmission went out (I think the 17 year old helped it along). Used it to pull a 16' featherlight goose neck for the first 2 years of showing, So-Cal to Central Valley 6 or 7 times a year, 5 trips up the old 395 (450 miles one way) 2 for camping pulling a 24" camp trailer and 3 pulling a flatbed with 60 bales of hay on it from NV. Motor runs great still and once the trans is rebuilt back on the road it goes. Have not used it for long hauls since 05 when we bought the 2500 with the diesel and the Allison. The only other repair to the vehicle prior to the trany was an oil pump at 180000. The original brakes lasted 110000 miles.
Dewalt set, love having a cordless reciprocating saw for those jobs out in the middle of nowhere. Really comes in handy when working on broken irrigation lines.

 

[renegadelivestock]

Best Buys - New Holland LS 170 Skidloader with cab and heat, and quick tach bucket - makes moving snow somewhat pleasant. Also a best buy is our 2006 Chevy 3/4 with Duramax/Allison - 130,000 miles and running as strong as ever. Also love our 2004 24ft Eby Wrangler trailer 
Wost Buys - Any weed eater I have ever purchased - seems as though they last a year then turn to junk. A couple of calves I have bought over the years would also qualify for worst buys - last year had a Who Made Who smoke steer out of a char cow that turned out to be a cripple. Also had a Ree Heights Steer last year that was a hard feeder, and was also too straight off his rear wheels.

some of those whoxchars can get awful straight off the front end, who has a bit of a tendency to make them that way, and the char amplifies it, was this the issue with yours?

 

[Cyfarmer]

Best Buys - New Holland LS 170 Skidloader with cab and heat, and quick tach bucket - makes moving snow somewhat pleasant. Also a best buy is our 2006 Chevy 3/4 with Duramax/Allison - 130,000 miles and running as strong as ever. Also love our 2004 24ft Eby Wrangler trailer 
Wost Buys - Any weed eater I have ever purchased - seems as though they last a year then turn to junk. A couple of calves I have bought over the years would also qualify for worst buys - last year had a Who Made Who smoke steer out of a char cow that turned out to be a cripple. Also had a Ree Heights Steer last year that was a hard feeder, and was also too straight off his rear wheels.

some of those whoxchars can get awful straight off the front end, who has a bit of a tendency to make them that way, and the char amplifies it, was this the issue with yours?

Yup - started out a little straight when a calf, and by the time was fat he was over in his knee so bad he could not hardly walk. Just looked uncomfortable when he stood still. Pretty disappointed since his disposition was almost perfect, and daugher really liked him, but I just could not let her take him to the fair.

 

[rasor club calves]

worst- troy built weed eaters
best- redmax weed eaters
Best calves- Bought a bred heifer in a sale at the sale barn for $1000 and she had a show heifer that is probally worth 2 or 3 times that. Hope to do a repeat his year with a $1000 cow from the same farm.

 

[LN]

A best for me is a vaccine I tried this year that is a combined 7-way and pinkeye vaccines. Last year we had a tough time with calves getting pinkeye so used a combined vaccine this year and not a single pinkeye case yet!

http://www.valleyvet.com/ct_detail.html?pgguid=30e07d67-7b6a-11d5-a192-00b0d0204ae5

 

[Shorthorns4us]

One of the best buys we made when I took over the cattle side of the farm business-- Sqeeze chute-- sounds funny to some of you, but growing up-- we never had one and as the years went on Dad would never buy one and then the 80's came and we didn't have the money to buy one even if we wanted to.  So all those years in the 70's, 80's and 90's when we had to deal with cows or calves we had to corner them in a tiny pen in the barn, make a make-shift catch chute out of gates, lasso them and try to snub them up to a post,  or just wrestle them down-- I am amazed that no one ever got hurt or we didn't end up with broken legs, arms and necks!!  Don't get me started on some of our pig stories during the years we were full on farrowing to finish!!  LOL

Some of my worst buys have been cattle-- experience is a good tool and inexperience can be a cold bitch--it is hard sometimes when you are starting out to see all the potential problems in a calf, cow or bull.  I don't beat around the bush- so I will just say it--  you can hide a lot in fat and hair. 

As always, my opinion.
EF

 

[cowboybecoachin]

One of my worst mistakes was buying cattle from breeders that had herd-reduction sales. Obviously, they kept back their best cows, so in essence, I was paying a pretty good price for mostly second-rate cows.

When I started paying a littlemore, but going for the best, our herd and show calf quality improved immensely. As did using more A.I.

It is not how many cows you own. It is how many GREAT cows you own!

On equiptment, I have a J.D. 4440 that is one stout and dependable older tractor (Built about 1978-80).

Comment on trucks: I drive a Dodge Megacab 2500 4x4 flatbed. The good include biggest, roomy cab, Cummins deisel power, shorter turning radius. Disadvantage is not the smoothest ride (a little rigid), constantly changing brake pads, and recurring air conditioner (expensive) problems.

Also own a 2002 Ford crew cab F250 4x4. Has the 7.3 L engine, just a real stout truck, pretty smooth ride only real problems was transmission replacement/repair.

I might add, I am hard on trucks and put 35,000 dirt-road and trailer pulling miles/yr. on them.

 

[secondbest]

Worst but - 2 wedding rings (argue)
Best buy - my farm  <cowboy>

 

[flacowman]

Best buy: JD 4440 and 4640 tractors...18000 and 14000 hours respectively and no repairs at all besides maintenance (changing filters/fluids) and a few hydraulic lines etc...never had to send either to a shop.  Also have a Priefert Squeeze that we know has had an average of 900 cattle worked through it 3 times a year every year since 1978.  All we've done is keep it greased and replaced the locks once which have a lifetime warranty and were free.

Worst buy:  My father's 3 divorces (including my mother) and a New Idea hay cutter

 

[BadgerFan]

Chevy 1/2 ton 4x4 1999 

I had the same truck.  Bought it with 79,000. Just sold it with 215,000 same tranny. I'd have driven it longer but needed more leaf springs and an extended cab.  Only major work was a fuel pump at about 160K.  Excellent truck- I used it for way too much farm stuff for a half ton- haul a ton of feed, cattle trailer, 10 round bales, etc.  Yes, I've gotten smarter as I've aged (bought a 3/4 ton) but that truck was a good one.  I don't routinely check fuel mileage but I know I got 18 on the highway at least a couple of times.

 

[BadgerFan]

BEST BUY- I'm also going to add a Westendorf TA-26 loader to this list.  Bought it used for $3000.  The quick attach feature is awesome.  You can switch from bale spear to bucket and back in a matter of a couple of minutes.  It was a two person chore with my old loader with a pin on bucket.  I think they make the newest Westendorfs with hydraulic quick attach so you don't even have to get off the tractor, will have to get that when I get old and feeble.    The JD 4030 it's hooked to is pretty good also.

POOR BUYS- every bale ring I've ever bought (rust, broken welds). every weed wacker I've ever bought.

Good topic.  I subscripe to Farm Show magazine just to read the best buy section.  It's like Consumer Reports for Cowboys.  ;D

 

[Red Cow Relocators]

Best - 2002 F350 with the 7.3 powerstroke, 210,000 miles and aside from a few camshaft sensors no problems. Also a few years ago I bought several bale rings made from high impact gas line poly pipe, they are virtually indestructable.

Worst - Any gate that ever came on a Kentucky gate truck.