OT: Value of Farmall Super A / hydraulics/snow plow ?

The guy who has been plowing our road and drive for several years has given up his plowing business, so I'm faced with the prospect of finding another reasonable, reliable person to plow, or doing the snow removal ourselves.

I found this Farmall Super A locally which appears to be in excellent condition. Everything seems to work, hydraulic lift for the snow plow and hitch (but not a 3-point hitch), flat belt and spline PTO. Back tires are fair, fronts are pretty well used up.

I realize there are lots of variables, not the least of which is location (I'm in midcoast Maine), but any idea what a fair price is for this?

Opinions on it's capability as a snow plow for perhaps 300 yards of road and drive? It weighs about 2400# and the engine produces all of 23hp or so out of 120 CI.

Anything to watch out for? The hydraulic unit is a bit puzzling to me, acts almost like a servo--it maintains a position to match the position the control is placed in.

Here's a few photos, I think the paint is original.

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Thanks, Ned Simmons

Reply to
Ned Simmons
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Up here in Ontario you would likely pay $2500 Canadian or more. Those and the 8N Ford are pretty popular for hobby farmers etc. The Farmall A, Super A and Massey Harris Pony are a little lite for snowploughing up here. A Ford Jubilee is closer to what you would want. Basically, a 3 bottom (furrow) rated tractor.

Reply to
clare

When I was growing up we had a Cub (NOT Cadet) which was just slightly smaller than the "A" and it was useless for snow of any depth. The thing just couldn't get any traction; the rear end wasn't heavy enough even with liquid in the tires and weights on the wheels. If the tires had been twice as wide it may have been a different story. The tires on that "A" look similar. Of course what little snow we get usually starts and ends with a sheet of ice. As for the hydrolic lift, that one appears a close relative of the Cub and we never had the slightest problem with it. The lift does follow the position of the control lever very nicely; makes for easy adjustment of the attachment height.

Reply to
keith bowers

Wow- a Super A in the original paint. This is a *very* collectible tractor. Buy it and treat it well- it would be a shame to see it all restored as some kind of static display.

It'll do just fine as a plow and repair books are available.

-Carl (why is this stuff never near me?)

Reply to
Carl Byrns

You might check out the Yesterday's Tractors page, they have a forum as well as classifieds. I don't remember the url, Google should pull it up. ytmag.com?

Reply to
ATP

That's not too far off what he's asking--$2500 US. I expect we don't get nearly as much snow here on the coast as you do. Anything over 12" is pretty unusual, and a fair amount of melting goes on over the course of the winter so we don't get the 10' snow banks that are common 50 miles inland. Ice is a given, so chains may be necessary for anything I might buy.

Thanks, Ned

Reply to
Ned Simmons

Visit my website:

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expressed are those of my wifes, I had no input whatsoever. Remove "nospam" from email addy.

Reply to
Roy

It doesn't take a lot of weight on the back of a small tractor to make it do wheelies. You can add weights to the front, but if you check out the manufacurer's recs, it's surprising how little they allow. It's a sweet looking tractor, I would use it but more for "gentleman farmer" activities. A plow on a 4WD truck is much more effective for pushing snow.

Reply to
ATP

From what I've been able to find, the Super A is at least

50% heavier than the Cub and has around twice the HP. I couldn't find a definitive answer on the tires, but I think you're probably right that they aren't much different. Ice is a problem here on the coast as well, I'm only about 125' from the water sitting here, so I think chains will be mandatory.

Thanks, Ned Simmons

Reply to
Ned Simmons

The guy whose selling it, a very nice older gentleman, is selling it for the widow of a friend, so he hasn't plowed with it himself. On the other hand, the previous owner plowed with it since 1954, so unless he was a glutton for punishment, or perhaps using it for only a very small area, it must be reasonably useful. He does own a Cub, and as others have remarked, he said the Cub is really too small to make a good plow.

Thanks for the prices, the asking price on this one is $2500, so considering the condition this one is in, that doesn't sound out of line.

Ned

Reply to
Ned Simmons

The plow frame is pretty stout. What about putting some weight on that back near the rear axle?

Ned

Reply to
Ned Simmons

Check out

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there are lots of tractor fans there and a good forum. Filling the rear tires would keep the weight off the axles, but you can probably find better advice that is specific to your tractor at that site.

Reply to
ATP

Check out

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lower left of the home page has tractor values. Unfortunately it doesn't take into account accessories like the plow or condition but it is a guide.

Reply to
Tom

mmmm, tractors...... ugugugugug

I justified (to myself) that I need a small farm tractor for my 1.1 acre estate. Ok, so part of that 1.1 is wooded, house, garage, and outbuilding, but other than those items, it is wide open space. =) Seriously, I live on a private road and would like the ability to move snow in the event of a serious snowfall. I would love to play in the dirt, as well.

Ask enough people, your wishes will come true. I was gifted a Ford 9N, running. Needs rubber on the front, maybe the electrics gone over, but otherwise a true diamond in the rough. There is NO rust on this thing, and for southwestern PA, that is amazing.

I'm eyeballing a front end loader on ebay that is local, at last view, aroud $200, including the hyd pump...

Reply to
gromit

these tractors are not suitable for this purpose, tho many opt for it. you will wish for power steering on the very first use. --Loren

Reply to
Loren Coe

Yikes, look at those prices! i thought a 2n-8n got cheaper the further East they were? these are higher than they were in NM a few years ago. --Loren

Reply to
Loren Coe

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