How far would you drive a tractor home vs a trailer?

[deere4040]

I bought an unknown tractor leaking hydraulic oil and coolant at an auction. Topped off the fluids and drove it home. 6 hour scenic drive through the Alleghany forest.

 

[560Dennis]

That’s depends on brakes , terrain , weather and daylight.

 

[Welding man]

I'm looking at a MF135 that is about 10 miles away. I doubt anyone would trailer a tractor that was a mile away. What is the distance you'd feel comfortable driving one home?

Ask Dieseltech that question. He puts thousands of miles a year on his

 

[Floopy]

I think most here would not be concerned about roading a tractor for 10 miles, or more. We road about that far between farms, pulling equipment and, like Ray,IN, have done such with a MF 135 and other tractors.

If you had a tire failure in maybe 500 feet on the road, I have to believe it needed tires before you decided to put it on the road. We can't see this tractor, don't know how it runs, or its tire condition. You can see it, you have to decide if the tractor you are looking at, and the tires on it, are fit to road about 10 miles, we can't answer that part of this for you.

I didn't have a tire failure. That was my only experience on the road and it went fine. I was just taking it for a test ride to see how it did on the road. I just assume the tires were meant for dirt and would wear quickly on the road. I've had a MF35 for a couple years but I'm a tractor newbie and like with any other hobby/project/part of life sometimes you don't know what you don't know. I don't want to have one of those "snapped a bolt off in the head" moments driving down the road on a tractor.

I'd drive a car with dry rotten tires 10 miles home 10mph without hesitation. I guess it is the same thing. I just didn't want to eat the tires up or something.

I just drive the tractor like I'm driving a car down the lane? Not on the curb or anything? I've been behind tractors but I guess I never really paid any mind to them.

 

[smokepole]

I would go for it, drove an 8N ford home once, 22 miles maybe, 2 hours or less. would make sure you have a bright slow moving vehicle sign on the back. All county roads except about a mile.
Be a memory you won't forget.

 

[Texasmark]

I'm looking at a MF135 that is about 10 miles away. I doubt anyone would trailer a tractor that was a mile away. What is the distance you'd feel comfortable driving one home?

Piece of cake. Just stay off the Interstate.....grin

 

[Fixingfarmer]

We have fields 17 miles away certainly don’t trailer anything to get there.

We used to custom farm for a place 25 miles away.

I know one guy who rigged up a hitch to his farmall though so he could pull it to his hay fields with the pickup they were 6 miles apart and that drove him crazy.

We all have our limits I guess

Our hay fields are close all within that 6 mile zone that might be enough to make a difference I wouldn’t want one 20 miles off

 

[Jim.ME]

I didn't have a tire failure. That was my only experience on the road and it went fine. I was just taking it for a test ride to see how it did on the road. I just assume the tires were meant for dirt and would wear quickly on the road. I've had a MF35 for a couple years but I'm a tractor newbie and like with any other hobby/project/part of life sometimes you don't know what you don't know. I don't want to have one of those "snapped a bolt off in the head" moments driving down the road on a tractor.

I'd drive a car with dry rotten tires 10 miles home 10mph without hesitation. I guess it is the same thing. I just didn't want to eat the tires up or something.

I just drive the tractor like I'm driving a car down the lane? Not on the curb or anything? I've been behind tractors but I guess I never really paid any mind to them.

You aren't going to wear tractor tires out in ten miles. Don't drive over obstacles and pull over and let traffic pass if it builds up behind you.

 

[BobnUt]

Most importantly..... don't forget to use protection !

 

[Rich'sToys]

Most importantly..... don't forget to use protection !

????

 

[BobnUt]

????

SLOW moving placard on back of tractor

 

[NY 986]

I think that when we are young we view ourselves as being invincible. As we grow older we tire of things such as blown tires and power steering hoses. I was always lucky while young these problems never happened on the road. In the last few years I have two tractor rear tires develop leaks while on the road and while I did not wind up stranded it sure was close both times. Both tires while repairable (one was a tube change) were more than I could have done along the side of the road. A solid tractor with good tires even if 50 years old I would not hesitate driving it for a few hours.

 

[rrlund]

I didn't have a tire failure. That was my only experience on the road and it went fine. I was just taking it for a test ride to see how it did on the road. I just assume the tires were meant for dirt and would wear quickly on the road. I've had a MF35 for a couple years but I'm a tractor newbie and like with any other hobby/project/part of life sometimes you don't know what you don't know. I don't want to have one of those "snapped a bolt off in the head" moments driving down the road on a tractor.

I'd drive a car with dry rotten tires 10 miles home 10mph without hesitation. I guess it is the same thing. I just didn't want to eat the tires up or something.

I just drive the tractor like I'm driving a car down the lane? Not on the curb or anything? I've been behind tractors but I guess I never really paid any mind to them.

Addressing your last line, on a two lane state highway with a good shoulder wide enough to get all the way off the road, drive on the shoulder. On a road with a shoulder that's too narrow to get all the way off, drive completely in the traffic lane. Don't EVER drive half on and half off, idiots WILL pass you right in to oncoming traffic. A year and a half ago, I was coming across 80, west of Somerset Kentucky and some moron on a Ford tractor being followed by a woman in a van pulling a trailer with a fuel tank on it, was driving right down the traffic lane. The shoulder was as wide as the whole highway. The only reason for not being off the road had to be pure stupidity, It was on a long stretch of hilly curvy road with plenty of oncoming traffic, so passing wasn't even an option. He had traffic backed up for a mile. I was aggravated at being held up, but was way more angry that he was making us farmers look bad.

As far as what's legal, I remember being told once that driving on the shoulder was illegal, but on the other hand, when I was about 16, I was hauling a load of logs to the sawmill with a tractor and wagon running gear on a county paved road. I met a Sheriff's deputy and he looked pi**ed and was waving for me to get over on the shoulder. I drive on the shoulder on two lane state highways a lot and have never been bothered.

 

[trackrat]

I look at it in hours not distance. If I drive on the field 10 hours a day, the tractor, swather,etc should have the same troubles if I drive that length of time on the road. I drive a swather every year 6-10 miles and it takes 20 minutes to go a mile. In the field I drive the same speed swathing. 2 hours in the field doesn’t feel long at all so I just think differently while on the road and it makes the ride bare able

we had an old IH swather swathed oats the same speed that it would travel on the road slow

 

[Fixingfarmer]

Addressing your last line, on a two lane state highway with a good shoulder wide enough to get all the way off the road, drive on the shoulder. On a road with a shoulder that's too narrow to get all the way off, drive completely in the traffic lane. Don't EVER drive half on and half off, idiots WILL pass you right in to oncoming traffic. A year and a half ago, I was coming across 80, west of Somerset Kentucky and some moron on a Ford tractor being followed by a woman in a van pulling a trailer with a fuel tank on it, was driving right down the traffic lane. The shoulder was as wide as the whole highway. The only reason for not being off the road had to be pure stupidity, It was on a long stretch of hilly curvy road with plenty of oncoming traffic, so passing wasn't even an option. He had traffic backed up for a mile. I was aggravated at being held up, but was way more angry that he was making us farmers look bad.

As far as what's legal, I remember being told once that driving on the shoulder was illegal, but on the other hand, when I was about 16, I was hauling a load of logs to the sawmill with a tractor and wagon running gear on a county paved road. I met a Sheriff's deputy and he looked pi**ed and was waving for me to get over on the shoulder. I drive on the shoulder on two lane state highways a lot and have never been bothered.

It’s not illegal to drive on the shoulder at least in Iowa. It still counts as your lane though all the way to that middle line. So it is illegal to pass in that area as it’s the same lane already used by a tractor unless you have a clear pass in the next lane over (not an hill)even though EVERYBODY does it. I slow down and wait if there’s oncoming traffic even if it looks like I’d clear in the right lane if there’s something on the shoulder usually that equipment isn’t quite off the lane.

Most of the equipment now takes up the shoulder and the lane so if it was illegal to drive on the shoulder wouldn’t be many pieces of equipment that could actually travel down the road.

 

[rrlund]

It’s not illegal to drive on the shoulder at least in Iowa. It still counts as your lane though all the way to that middle line. So it is illegal to pass in that area as it’s the same lane already used by a tractor unless you have a clear pass in the next lane over (not an hill)even though EVERYBODY does it. I slow down and wait if there’s oncoming traffic even if it looks like I’d clear in the right lane if there’s something on the shoulder usually that equipment isn’t quite off the lane.

Most of the equipment now takes up the shoulder and the lane so if it was illegal to drive on the shoulder wouldn’t be many pieces of equipment that could actually travel down the road.

Ya, for sure. I was replying to a newbie who was just asking about driving a tractor.

No duals, hauling the manure spreader or round baler or something, if you can't get all the way off, don't get off at all. That brings us to SMV emblems. You're supposed to slow down to the speed of the vehicle that it's on, then proceed around with caution, but who does?

 

[trackrat]

It’s not illegal to drive on the shoulder at least in Iowa. It still counts as your lane though all the way to that middle line. So it is illegal to pass in that area as it’s the same lane already used by a tractor unless you have a clear pass in the next lane over (not an hill)even though EVERYBODY does it. I slow down and wait if there’s oncoming traffic even if it looks like I’d clear in the right lane if there’s something on the shoulder usually that equipment isn’t quite off the lane.

Most of the equipment now takes up the shoulder and the lane so if it was illegal to drive on the shoulder wouldn’t be many pieces of equipment that could actually travel down the road.

As big as the equipment is now folded up its 20 ft wide at best, I'm glad I don't have to do it

 

[miangus]

I drove that 656 I bought last spring home about 25 miles. I had a friend at the auction who helped me go back and get my truck. I figured by the time I went home and got a trailer and added the time it takes to load it was a wash. It was a beautiful day, so a nice ride and those FarmAlls have a good road gear. I drove a 1945 B home about 20 miles as a young man; it took the better part of a Saturday. Shipped on steel but had cutoffs so it only had four gears. I got a real good look at the backroad countryside. Dad bought a MF 65 Diesel-Matic High Arch at a sale I drove it home about 10 miles, High Range third gear with the Multi-Power in high, that thing was scary fast.

 

[abuelo]

Do you have insurance coverage ? Cost to hire a towing company if you don’t feel comfortable driving it ? Enjoy the tractor addiction.

 

[NDIHC]

We've driven a couple of tractors home from about 35 miles away. I had one hauled from about 50 miles away. I was going to drive it but the seller offered to haul it at a real reasonable price so I took him up on the offer. My dad drove an old Galion gas start diesel run grader home from NewRockford ND 115 miles away back in the 70s. Had to make a few stops to fill the oil due to a bad main seal leak. And his chase vehicle driver decided to spend some time in a bar along the way so they never got to take turns driving like they planned.