I grew up using an old 8N Ford that we converted to twelve volt. That old tractor was a work horse and we used it for everything that we could.
I'd still start out with an old Ford. It'll be easier to assess what it doesn't do that you need done.
I love the old 8N. I have been driving one since I was five years old while Dad supported us kids bucking bales for all the neighbors. I still use it with the terracing blade to clean irrigation ditches or for corrugating pastures.
But an 8N would be the last tractor I would recommend for loader work. Yes, the lack of live hydraulics can be overcome with a front mounted crank driven hydraulic pump.
It is just that the little Fords do not have enough weight to give them traction in any but the best of circumstances. Then you hang a loader off the front, with a bucket full of corral cleanings and the tractor becomes absolutely helpless.
I have new Firestone 12.4 x 28 tires on the back of mine and 6.50 x 16 tri ribs on the front. I insisted that the tire shop fill all four of them with Calcium Chloride. That does help some. The extra weight in the front tires is the only which keeps the front end on the ground when I lift the five foot 3 point John Deere disc out of the ground.
