70s tractor poll

Best tractor produced in the 70s


  • Total voters
    69
An 8011 must have been like a rocket ship in 1968!
I'm drove a few variants over the years and couldn't complain comfort wise,a different league to anything else of their era.
The nineties saw them parked in ditches but that's all changed recently.
They never seemed to suffer from rust,quality engineered in ways.
Basic but capable,they were the mainstay of every contractor fleet around here for years
 
Sherrards were the importers and distributors of John Deere tractors in Ireland in the 70s , and possibly Steyr as well ??
They sold reasonably well from the mid 70s to 1980 . 2030 , 2130 , and 3130 .
Sherrards did Steyr for a while, the 30 series JD's were through the 70's, 40 series would be late 70's, as for the Zetor Crystals with the big cab and passenger seat the joke was that it was the mechanics seat.
 
I am suprised no mention yet of Ford 5000 .I taught they might have being up there .Leyland 272 not mentioned either .There were fleets of them around here at contracting silage ,as well as the mentioned 8011 and bought cheaper then mf/ford .As good as 135 /188 were surely the 165 or 168 were the gems of the 100 series and then you had the multi power only ever drove a 135 multi but different class.My vote would be 168 multipower!!!
 
Sherrards were the importers and distributors of John Deere tractors in Ireland in the 70s , and possibly Steyr as well ??
They sold reasonably well from the mid 70s to 1980 . 2030 , 2130 , and 3130 .
sherrards sold a few 710 john deeres in wexford in the 60s if i,m not mistaken, LMI was the reg on one of them at least @nashmach will know what year that reg was used in wexford :detective:
 
Sherrards did Steyr for a while, the 30 series JD's were through the 70's, 40 series would be late 70's, as for the Zetor Crystals with the big cab and passenger seat the joke was that it was the mechanics seat.
2 brothers up the road from bought their farm in 1970 , did a phenomenal amount of reclamation during the 70s , bought 2 more bits of farms during the same decade . Bought a lot of Fr calves , and mountainy ewes to stock them .
In their wisdom , they decided to Buy a double chop to cut their own silage , driven by an 8011 . Then , surely the best way to pay for the new Kidd harvester , was to cut a few neighbours grass for them . One of them couldn't even drive , and the other had the mechanical ability to operate a 135 and a transport box , at a stretch. It was a well know place for chaps that left school early to get a job . Plenty of work , poor wages , and poorer grub and conditions.
They had 2 8011s , and a new 12011 in early 1979 . The brother who drove , operated the harvester , in a fashion . He couldn't master the fishtail hitch , and lad who was drawing in , had the job of hitching the harvester to the empty trailer ,before hauling the full trailer back to the heap .
In short , these 3 Crystal's put an awful lot of men off Zetors for life in our area . They fell apart burnt oil and were wrecked by the time they were 5 yrs old .
In reality , the same men shouldn't have been long a crowbar . Because they'd bend it in a bog . They paid peanuts , small peanuts , and got monkeys , non trained monkeys .
I've had an Ursus 385 , Zetor 8145 , and 12145 , and in all honesty , for what they cost to buy , and in repairs , I could not say one word against them .
 
sherrards sold a few 710 john deeres in wexford in the 60s if i,m not mistaken, LMI was the reg on one of them at least @nashmach will know what year that reg was used in wexford :detective:

There was a 710 sold new to man long deceased ,2 miles from.here ,by Gordon Wheatley in Roscrea , from a premises later occupied by George Jamieson . By the mid 70s the engine was failing the owner wasn't going that well . So he shoehorned a Ford six cylinder truck engine into it . I remember him well cutting his own silage using it , and a side mounted UG single chop , and a Spragelse single chop , until he bought a new Fiat 80/90 in 1985 .
A 710 was about the size of a 135 , and on 28 " rears...
 
Were many JD,s sold here in the seventies?, didn't think they were that established here back then ?
think meath farm opened in the 70s. Peter told me the whole story at the last open day but I was more focused on the lovely new 7r series deere sitting on front of me.
 
Theoretically, yes . It would have been rare to see an 8011 in Ireland any earlier than 1972 or even 73 .
Very much a 70s tractor .
They did a lot of work for handy money , and got a lot of lads started on their journey of farming and contracting life .

²
You'd want to hear about John Conatys experience with them. That's supposedly how he got into scrapping.
 
I am suprised no mention yet of Ford 5000 .I taught they might have being up there .Leyland 272 not mentioned either .There were fleets of them around here at contracting silage ,as well as the mentioned 8011 and bought cheaper then mf/ford .As good as 135 /188 were surely the 165 or 168 were the gems of the 100 series and then you had the multi power only ever drove a 135 multi but different class.My vote would be 168 multipower!!!
May include all them tractors under the 188 banner. I'll do another poll for the mid range tractors of the 70s
 
2 brothers up the road from bought their farm in 1970 , did a phenomenal amount of reclamation during the 70s , bought 2 more bits of farms during the same decade . Bought a lot of Fr calves , and mountainy ewes to stock them .
In their wisdom , they decided to Buy a double chop to cut their own silage , driven by an 8011 . Then , surely the best way to pay for the new Kidd harvester , was to cut a few neighbours grass for them . One of them couldn't even drive , and the other had the mechanical ability to operate a 135 and a transport box , at a stretch. It was a well know place for chaps that left school early to get a job . Plenty of work , poor wages , and poorer grub and conditions.
They had 2 8011s , and a new 12011 in early 1979 . The brother who drove , operated the harvester , in a fashion . He couldn't master the fishtail hitch , and lad who was drawing in , had the job of hitching the harvester to the empty trailer ,before hauling the full trailer back to the heap .
In short , these 3 Crystal's put an awful lot of men off Zetors for life in our area . They fell apart burnt oil and were wrecked by the time they were 5 yrs old .
In reality , the same men shouldn't have been long a crowbar . Because they'd bend it in a bog . They paid peanuts , small peanuts , and got monkeys , non trained monkeys .
I've had an Ursus 385 , Zetor 8145 , and 12145 , and in all honesty , for what they cost to buy , and in repairs , I could not say one word against them .
Am waiting to hear more about these lads.
 
There was a 710 sold new to man long deceased ,2 miles from.here ,by Gordon Wheatley in Roscrea , from a premises later occupied by George Jamieson . By the mid 70s the engine was failing the owner wasn't going that well . So he shoehorned a Ford six cylinder truck engine into it . I remember him well cutting his own silage using it , and a side mounted UG single chop , and a Spragelse single chop , until he bought a new Fiat 80/90 in 1985 .
A 710 was about the size of a 135 , and on 28 " rears...
the one i drove was about mf 165 size, definitely more horsepower than a 135, i,d say about 65 hp and on 12 x 36 tyres 750 x 16 on front she had power steering and lower link sensing and as far as i can remember it was a lanz back end and a deere engine thay was in her
 
Jim Butler of TFM fame , and the late Andy O Connor of Mountrath , started their John Deere path in life as apprentice mechanics in Sherrards in their short lived Mountrath Garage .
Where were Sherrards based. I remember halpin on about them before.
 
2 brothers up the road from bought their farm in 1970 , did a phenomenal amount of reclamation during the 70s , bought 2 more bits of farms during the same decade . Bought a lot of Fr calves , and mountainy ewes to stock them .
In their wisdom , they decided to Buy a double chop to cut their own silage , driven by an 8011 . Then , surely the best way to pay for the new Kidd harvester , was to cut a few neighbours grass for them . One of them couldn't even drive , and the other had the mechanical ability to operate a 135 and a transport box , at a stretch. It was a well know place for chaps that left school early to get a job . Plenty of work , poor wages , and poorer grub and conditions.
They had 2 8011s , and a new 12011 in early 1979 . The brother who drove , operated the harvester , in a fashion . He couldn't master the fishtail hitch , and lad who was drawing in , had the job of hitching the harvester to the empty trailer ,before hauling the full trailer back to the heap .
In short , these 3 Crystal's put an awful lot of men off Zetors for life in our area . They fell apart burnt oil and were wrecked by the time they were 5 yrs old .
In reality , the same men shouldn't have been long a crowbar . Because they'd bend it in a bog . They paid peanuts , small peanuts , and got monkeys , non trained monkeys .
I've had an Ursus 385 , Zetor 8145 , and 12145 , and in all honesty , for what they cost to buy , and in repairs , I could not say one word against them .
Sounds a lot like Conatys story. The story goes Conaty bought a fleet of around 3 or 4 new 8011 crystals in the 70s and a taarup double chop to go contracting. They gave him so much trouble that he scrapped them and replace them with a fleet of older 35s and 65s and eventually 135s and 165s. That's meant to be how Conaty started breaking tractors. Haven't had the time to ask him himself but was told it by one of his earliest customers and a mechanic who used to do nearly all of John's engine rebuilds when he was just starting out
 
Am waiting to hear more about these lads.

The driver brother Bill , is 92 last November . In a nursing home for 5 years , and thinks the other lad is at home minding the house . He drove his Pajero in on our turf bank hollow , obviously went to the floor in gruel walked to a neighbours house looking for him to pull him out with the tractor , before he went into care . The other brother is rounding up Kerry ewes , in the great field in the sky , for at least 20 years .

They went to Ma'am Cross mart in the early to mid 1970s , driving a cabless 3 cylinder Nuffield and ab approx 14 ft timber cattle trailer . They bought xxx ewes , which was 4 times what the trailer would carry . Bill headed for home with a load of sheep , and John followed on.foot , driving a flock of sheep in front of him. He would put the sheep into someone's field for the night , and sleep in a hayshed.
They took out ditches out of a field , filled in the drain beside it , with stones picked off the fields , and told a neighbour , We will fit 8 drills of turnips there in the width.

They often picked stones off peoples fields of corn , to get the stones for these projects .

When Men were men .
 
the one i drove was about mf 165 size, definitely more horsepower than a 135, i,d say about 65 hp and on 12 x 36 tyres 750 x 16 on front she had power steering and lower link sensing and as far as i can remember it was a lanz back end and a deere engine thay was in her

It's over 35 years ago , and that's what I remember it as . But I was never standing beside it or sitting on it .
 
The father had a mf188 and loved it. Never let him down only changed it cause he wanted a 4wd so he parted with the 2wd mf188 went for a ih 885xl , he had a ih 475 aswell which i still have he bough it from near new from sam hurst in killeigh outside tullamore with a ih loader he sId it was streets ahead of anything else in 1978when he bough it one year old. He never rated fords for being goof he always said they were soft what he ment i dont know but hed never touch them
 
QUOTE="jf 850, post: 814323, member: 4579"]
The driver brother Bill , is 92 last November . In a nursing home for 5 years , and thinks the other lad is at home minding the house . He drove his Pajero in on our turf bank hollow , obviously went to the floor in gruel walked to a neighbours house looking for him to pull him out with the tractor , before he went into care . The other brother is rounding up Kerry ewes , in the great field in the sky , for at least 20 years .

They went to Ma'am Cross mart in the early to mid 1970s , driving a cabless 3 cylinder Nuffield and ab approx 14 ft timber cattle trailer . They bought xxx ewes , which was 4 times what the trailer would carry . Bill headed for home with a load of sheep , and John followed on.foot , driving a flock of sheep in front of him. He would put the sheep into someone's field for the night , and sleep in a hayshed.
They took out ditches out of a field , filled in the drain beside it , with stones picked off the fields , and told a neighbour , We will fit 8 drills of turnips there in the width.

They often picked stones off peoples fields of corn , to get the stones for these projects .

When Men were men .
[/QUOTE]
There ain't men like them around anymore and I mean that ina good way. They sound like men that you could never fall out with and could tell a story or two
 
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