Home Forums Miscellaneous Topics Rural Living Open Tractors?

Cold days, and the best was the Heat Housers. I think I'm still cold.

I have froze my azz off on open station tractors. I never had a heater house on any of mine.

Nothing had a cab in the old days.


You could reverse the fans on the old Cat equipment, but then you would get pelted with snow and dirt all day.


Canvass tarps and cardboard over the engine sides. Try and run as much cardboard back around the operator.


The old Terex scraper was not so bad. It was hot all the time.


The coldest outfit is the 950 cat loader.



Regular tractor work was not too bad.....all you were doing was feeding the cows.



All day moving snow.....that was cold.

Small hometown didn't have any real snow removal equipment other than a grader. To get the snow off of the four blocks of Main Street, the town would pay farmers to come to town with tractors and loaders to clear it. It was always fun to watch them at work - all with heathousers. It made them some cash, and most of them were coming to town anyway to clear driveways for relatives and friends.

Imagine that. Hire some dumb farmer to clear a bit of snow when needed.......not bury the county in debt by keeping extra people hired all year long, borrowing money to purchase and maintain snow removal equipment.


Sheesh!

We don't get a lot of snow here, maybe a really big one every 5 years or so. We had a whopper of one though back in the late 70's, a real genuine blizzard that shut everything down for days because of the drifts over the roads.......6 to 10 feet in some places. The county and state had to hire some local farmers and contractors with loaders, and in a few instances, they made a bigger mess than good. One man had gotten his new car stuck in a drift, left it, and by morning, it was completely covered. Guy clearing the road with a dozer didn't see it in time, and mangled the snot out of it.

You have to learn real fast how to dress for the cold when all you have is an open tractor. Even if all you're doing is feeding cows. They didn't have the thermal under layers that they have today back when I was tooling around on a tractor. Insulated coveralls, wool gloves, and pac boots were a necessity.

All of our tractors in my lifetime have had cabs except one. GrandDads old 8N Ford that I learned to drive on.

Got my education on an open station of course.

That's why my tractors have a cab now...

You don't know how much you miss the a/c until one stops working either.

Even in winter time here, I run the a/c.

Still have some on the farm.

I still use an old Oliver 550 gas for pulling my spray unit around and until I bought a skid steer with a heater a few years ago it was my snow clearing tractor. I didn't mind it when it was cold until got into my 70's.

I have one, a NH TC45A, that I actually prefer for many jobs over a cab tractor. It's low to the ground, so I can step on and off easily, and you can see what you're doing a lot better. I don't use it much in cold weather, but if I have to, it's no big deal. Open station tractors will always have a place on most farms.

The open tractors beat walking behind a horse all hollow.

Especially in a parade.

Lots and lots of open station tractors here.
Many small farms have nothing else, a lot from the
50's or 60'.

As our dairy farms shut down, tractor size increases and
more are closed.

30 years ago, nobody crop farmed. It was all feed for their livestock.
Now, so many cows have left, the farmer either crop farms, or leases to
a crop farmer.

Or, the rich fuggin Import that bought a farm, pastures horses, or leases
it.

Thinking of this made me slip a Christmas spirit cog.

Merry Christmas to you real farmers.

Imports, go home!

We have a lot of imports here........Amish and Mennonites from Pennsylvania. Please come get them...lol

Merry Christmas to all.

suck....

I fed cows one day, I had a white spot the size of a quarter on my cheek. .

Windshields and snow dont mix.



Your face will toughen up eventually.

Fiddlesticks

I don't need or want that kind of nostalgia, it's too cold.
Got rid of my last open tractor a couple years ago. AC 190
Gave it to the mechanic who used to work on it.

Spread into the wind, cold but clean.

Best, low cost winter soft cab for tractor with 4-post covered ROPS or 2-post with canopy is $79.00 2-seat golf cart enclosure from Northern Tool. https://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200325703_200325703. Zippers on both sides and all four corners. Large windows on all four sides and rear window goes all the way down to see the 3-point or PTO. Easy to put on or take off.
I have it on a Ford 445C industrial loader tractor. No problem with windows fogging up, there's enough heat coming back from the engine and radiator to warm the inside of cab.

Now THERE'S a lousy machine to have to spend a day on...…...… cold OR warm.

My dad LOVED his 550. I hated it. That doofy double H shift pattern........ !!! Dad's gone. The 550 ain't. But it's basically a barn ornament. Plowing snow...……..crawl in Big Orange...……..coat off...….heater on......… Nugent in the CD player......……. Git r done !!

If I gotta work open...…...…….. our IH 584 is a peach !! A pure JOY to operate !!

I worked on neighborhood farms as a kid in the late 80’s. Cab tractors were around but rare and were almost all Internationals.
I spent most of my time on an Allis Chalmers D-17, Massey 180 or IH 966. Loved every minute of it!

Our 550 has treated us well for nearly 30 years.

We only use it for a 6' bush hog, a rototiller, and a snow blade.

But it's treated us well.

I'll continue to say that until I need to find parts for it. Lol

-Jake

Maybe you need a parts tractor ??? 🙄😁😏

Worked on many of them back in the day. Think I did on yours. (probably Don's back then)

Did you gift it to Freddie?

The oldest open tractor on the farm.

1948 Ford 8N Granddad bought it new. When I was 14 or 15 Dad and I went to an auction and he bought a Wagner loader for it with snow bucket and dirt bucket. Spent a lot of time plowing out widows and city slickers within a 5 mile radius. Good off the farm money for a teenager.



Newest open tractor on the farm.

Went old school when I ordered my latest...

My 4020 and 4430 lets me enjoy the great outdoors..

A neighbor close by has a cream puff open John Deere that can't have many hours. If he ever has a sale that could be a nice tractor for light work.

roundoaks 4430 looks like it can handle its chores.

I had an older 4020 that never disappointed me. I never really understood JD hydraulics tho...

When it comes to feeding hay in the winter, I wouldn't trade this one for a half a dozen open tractors...........and I've hauled about as much hay on open tractors in years past as on cab tractors. Each type has it's own merits, and I've spent many more hours on an open tractor than on a cab one, and actually prefer them for many of the jobs around a farm. But a cab tractor has it's perks, and I take advantage of every one of them.

You just knew that someone would eventually post a tractor with a cab on a open tractor thread.

I didn't want to be the first, but since nobody else did..........just couldn't wait any longer.

Not a real good pic, but I use this one more than the bigger ones.

Some of the first after market cabs were not so good. I have a Automatic cab I bought for a Super M years ago, it's for sale.

James, I like that 115!

Since we are talking about cabs.... ( )

The new New Holland CTL I bought has not only a cab, but it's supposed to be pressurized.

I guess to keep dust to zero inside.

Me, an' neighbor Rog were the last to plant with an open tractor. Jake at last got me to plant with a cab.

I told Roger he earned the T O B I award. Tough Old Bird Indeed.

So, you could sink a couple thousand feet without getting the bends. Nice.

Mine has the deluxe cab, don't think it's pressurized though, but it's got filters everywhere to help keep it clean. I rarely run in dusty conditions, so doubt that'll be much of a concern.