Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Farmall 400 still at work

,...and doing a good job of it.

Disc it up

Dad always said the 400 had the best sounding engine IH ever made.

It looks like he's just running a straight pipe off of that one,...unless there's a muffler tucked up under there somewhere.

It does sound good, though.

This one is right down the road,...but it's way more tractor than I need, for sure.

https://lexington.craigslist.org/grd/d/farmall-400/6397490670.html

Neighbor has one he inherited when his grandfather passed. He would compete in local tractor pulls and had trimmed weight everywhere, bolts included. Kicked the chit outta everything in its class.

My azz spent MANY an hour in the steel seat of one just like this but not as pretty.

The 400 is my all-time favorite tractor. Did anyone ever see one with the Electrall option?

uh-uh,....what is it?

How much difference was there in the 400 and the Super M? I was just getting started driving in the field when my Granddad was finishing up. He ran a Super M and an H

The H I learned to drive on is still in service

Love to hear those old tractors purr.
Spent a few hours on a 300 and 400,
Also an Allis WD-45 and D-17.

Modern tractors don't sound like that,
but quiet isn't a bad thing.

We had two M's and an H as working tractors when I was growing up. My people were IH people all the way. The M's especially were very popular around here. You seldom saw a Super M. The 400's were even less popular and supposedly were prone to the rear ends going out.

I don't like any of the old tractors with seats hanging out over the implement. Very dangerous IMO. The 330 or whatever it was that Bristoe posted had a much better seat and the utility type configuration setting lower certainly made it seem safer.

farmers call that configuration the wrist breaker. maybe that was for models that didn't have power steering.

That 400 in Harrodsburg has the wide spaced front wheels. But like I said, that big Farmall is way more tractor than I need.

Still,...I recently paid as much for a lawnmower as I could pay for a tractor with a 6000+ lb drawbar pull. I don't know what that would do for me, but I'd never have to sweat running my car off in the ditch again.

All of this tractor stuff is new to me. I spent my youth around them,..but they were just "tractors",...didn't mean anything.

But reading up on them over the past month or two has given me a new appreciation for those old tractors that were made back about the time I was born.

The Ford 8n is pretty much the classic tractor from that period. But if you look into it a bit, those big Farmall row crop tractors of the mid 50's were the "hogs" of their era.

A man would get on one o'them long, tall Farmalls from that period, hook a big ass 3 or 4 bottom plow to it, pull the throttle down and turn soil to the horizon.

I don't know why I think so all of a sudden, but it's satisfying to watch one of those big, archaic tractors work.

I don't really appreciate modern tractors. I just like them old "raw dogs" from yesteryear.

like guns

True,....

I grew up on Hs, Super Ms and a 400. Started when I was 5. Those were good times. I always figured the 400 was a Super M with live power and a TA.

I had never heard that about the 400s. I do know that it became a problem with the 560s. The rear end in them was essentially unchanged from the Ms and even the Hs. When they tried to make the 560 a 5-plow tractor, the rear end was not up to it. There was a retrofit that was available for the 560s. If a 560 has had the retrofit, it should have a triangle stamped onto the ID plate.

we had the tricycle front end on a farmall, I used it to rake hay, pops used it to brush hog. Turned it over on a hillside, for the life of me can't recall what the lil orange tractor he got after that with the wide front end to bush hog with was???

good old tractor, I've no idea what happened to ours, sold at auction I reckon, will have to ask my mom.

I like old guns better ,but my newish cab Tractor with a buddy seat is the chit.

The 300 and 400 series were prone to brake issues.
They had a weird ball and ramp system, worked great, untill they didnt.
Some times they locked up, sometimes they didn't work.
A narrow front end 400, on the road in 5th gear, try to stop and one side locks up.
Gets interesting.

Allis Chalmers, maybe?
At 7 years old, I started on an 8N.
Went to a 350 industrial type at 10 years old
But got to work the neighbor's Super M and 400 on occasion.
Next, another neighbor bought, and loaned us to plow his 560 Farmall - man, what a beast in the early '60's!

I used a 560 a lot growing up and we never had a problem with the rear end. My cousin drove the 460 and I drove the 560...then we got an 856. The 560 diesel was great until the head warped. My Uncle never could get the thing right again after that despite planing it multiple times. I guess that was a thing with them. To me the 560's bridged a gap between what I'd consider antique/primitive tractors like the M's and modern ones like the 856. The next big step up was an actual usable, comfortable cab such as those found on the 1086, which was our next tractor.

Tricycles were much better for some chores such as cultivating, but you had to watch them. The 560 I was talking about had a wide front end and was a lot safer though not turning as tight.

I grew up driving the "old" tractors, and while I like looking at them today, no way would I want to go back to using them. I have tinnitus, partly from shooting without hearing protection, but also from a lifetime spent around equipment that was loud. I love my tractor with a cab, and I sometimes wish my little one had one as well. Todays hydraulics and electronics, and friendly operator controls make the old ones totally obsolete. They are okay to use for nostalgia sake, but for actual work, they went the way of the mule and the horse.

i miss the sound of the old tractors. my dad was a colletor/restorer. he did many old farmalls and a few john deere tractors. his favorite engines were the old matags washing machine kick starters.

No doubt.

I do have a cab on my smaller tractor as well.

Just one day of 105* with dirt, dust and mosquitoes, not to mention yellow jackets will make you appreciate a nice quiet, air conditioned cab.

If I were doing this stuff just for schidts and grins, and could leave the old tractor in the barn until it was 75* and sunny and dry, I might have one. But, I put my time in riding one of those... and I'm not into it for the "practice" anymore.

The reason I don't have a cab on my small tractor is that it's my "piddling" tractor, and I'm on and off of it constantly, and it is too much trouble to climb in and out of a cab 27 times a day. Otherwise, it would have one. I'm too dang old to eat dust and burn up in the sun, like I used to.

This^

That one has the IH fast-hitch too.. Very handy, that - and quite frankly I'm surprised it's asking price is that cheap..


The field being worked in the video looks to be pretty good sized - those boys are gonna be out there a while with those rigs..

I didn't look at the picture until now. That is a pretty nice tractor.

What it seems like is there really is a wealth of 50's era semi-restored tractors in the 30hp +/- range that can be had for about $3500. You just have to find the one you want.

I think I'd be looking for someone who is bundling implements into the mix as a package deal. Spend $4500, get a bushhog, blade, box grader - kind of the tractor starter kit

That's definitely a thought. But the big trick is finding an old tractor that's not worn down to a nub. That's difficult enough. Finding one that's not worn down to a nub with a compliment of implements in close to impossible.

Certainly many of these pretty tractors would last a long time driving them in numerous county fairs whereas actually plowing a field with them (which probably isn't what you're going to be doing anyway) wouldn't contribute to their longevity.

What I've found is that the parts that wear out on a lot of those old tractors have diminished the availability of parts for them.

Steering boxes seem to be one of the hardest and most expensive things to replace. You've got to find out what the weak spots on those old tractors are and then, when you check them out to make sure they're in good condition.

The steering boxes on those international 300, 330, and 350 series are known to cause problems. There's no new ones left, but a rebuilt example will cost you about $1200. That's just one example.

Three or four items like that and all of a sudden you've got $7000 in a tractor that you can get $3000 for.

On the other hand, there's a lot of parts out there for the old tractors that don't cost all that much, but you have to be set up to work on heavy equipment to maintain them. (which I'm not)

Basically, I'm looking for an old tractor that will give me 350 hours with no maintenance other than an occasional oil change here and there.

They're out there, but you have to look for them.

True,...I won't be hooking a 3 bottom plow up and heading for the horizon.

I had an M for many years that I significantly injured my left wrist on when my front wheels hit a hole. That steering wheel spun so quickly it caught my thumb and snapped the wrist sideways. That was after first breaking both bones just above the wrist running hurtles (or should I say tripping over hurtles) in HS. Pounding it really friggin hard with a 3 lb sledge last year didn't help either......

I knew fellows who died on tricycle tractors - Dad wouldn't have one (mostly because teaching young boys to operate was safer with wide fronts)

Yeah, but turn the wheel, stomp on the inside brake, and a narrow front tractor is zero turn.

Many hours here in the seat of 2 different size Farmalls ( F and M?). And then there was the old fly-wheel green machine JD. I loved driving that thing!

And if you happen to be in reverse, you can back one rear wheel up over the wagon tongue to which you are attached. (Don't ask me how I know this.)

I used to be able to back into position the second haywagon of a tandom job behind the Farmall. (That ain't easy!)

Now, I look for a space downtown where I don't have to parallel park....

So, OK - I did it today going to the Apple store on 5th in Anchorage, and the rear wheel was only half up on the curb. But I got it on the first try!

Ok, dammit. Since you went there.
Mine was a hay rake going forward.
Lucky I figured it out, just before it took me off the tractor.

yep, I think every farmer had heard of someone injured when those front wheels went into a rut, if it didn't happen to them personally

I had my thumb dislocated when my front wheel, on an old Ford tractor with no power steering, hit a tree and spun the steering wheel while brushhogging. I was able to give it a good jerk and get it back in but it sure did hurt for awhile.

The narrow front ends had some real risks. They were also easier to roll on a side hill. We have 2 IH Super M's with the TA in our barn. Both are 1954's. (the only year they were made with the TA) We used one of them 3 weeks ago to drag off some trees we cut down to make room for a new fence. It's tough to have even a small place without a good tractor.
kwg

A family friend’s dad had an M with the tricycle front end. Story goes that when he was about 8 his dad put him on the M pulling a chisel and told him to plow for a while, he needed to run the 3 miles to town and would be back shortly. Not long after he left the little fella plowed across a terrace burying the chisel up to the beam. But instead of spinning or stalling the old M started to stand straight up into a wheelie. Panicking he fed her more gas which only made the rate of climb increase and it wasn’t until it was standing on about a 45 degree angle that the thought occurred to him to get on the clutch. He said he just knew that it had punched that front axle all the way through the hood when it came down it hit so hard.

He somehow managed to get it out of the terrace and back heading the right direction before his old man came back and didn’t mention it until he was an adult.

Old fellow that is my parents’ neighbor has an old M that he more than likely bought new. He’s in his 90s and farmed forever. I was stuck on one of his places once when I was hunting and he brought it down to pull me out. I rode the drawbar from his barn down to where I was stuck about a half a mile away. We hooked it up with a 100’ log chain doubled over and he never even idled it up, just eased the clutch out and drug me right out of the mud hole.

The wide front doesn't provide any stability on a hill. It pivots. The stability comes from the back wheels. And was my old man the only one who kept after his kid to keep his thumbs outside the wheel?