If you had your pick

[Tim Steele]

If you had your pick of an Allis C, an Allis B, A Cub or a John Deere M with a Woods belly mower for my mostly flat mowing area, which would you choose?

 

[Janicholson]

Either Allis Would be my choice. Cub, no guts in the engine. JD less handy and rougher running. Jim

 

[DeltaRed]

Allis C or Farmall C. Something with a tricycle front for ultimate manuverability.

 

[CLYDE MASON]

don't C ALLIS work good

 

[Tim Steele]

Let me add Farmall A and Super A to my previous list for opinions. I found a nice Allis C from a Forum member a considerable distance away and 2 nice John Deere Ms. One M is restored and high priced and far away. The other M has no mower but the price is right and it is close. I have my local John Deere dealer looking up the price and availability of the mounting brackets, pulley and hardware for the M and a new L59.

 

[cuby]

H farmall w/narrow frt. and p.steering.

 

[gene bender]

The Cub hands down probably more woods on Cubs than the rst of the list mentioned

 

[Zachary Hoyt]

I had a C that I used mainly in the woods and it was great for getting into confined areas. I like the little Allises, they're fun and pretty cheap around here compared to
the Cub or the M.
Zach

 

[Russ from MN]

I have heard that a 2-cylinder will make the belt flop, and woods mowers have long belts! On some of the Allis's the pto has to be running for the hydraulics to
work, that could be a problem. We have a 59 on a Farmall C with a narrow front, works well.

 

[Janicholson]

With the inclusion of the Super A1 or Super A Or Super C all those in addition to the allis choices are good. Condition of rear tires might make all the
difference. Jim

 

[old]

Allis C or B would be my first choice. Both are in the 23HP range. The cub is more like half that HP. The C is likely to have a trike type front end and the B would have the wide front end.

 

[rustyfarmall]

How about a Farmall H, equipped with a Woods L306, ready to mow? I might want to sell it.

 

[D beatty]

I would go with a Farmall Super A. Has hydraulic to raise and lower deck.

 

[Tim Steele]

I am afraid an H is too big and too heavy for where I will be mowing...

 

[Tim Steele]

Thanks for all the replies.

 

[fastfarmall]

I use a B Farmall, but the Allis- has a faster 1st gear, which might be to fast.

 

[wisbaker]

Farmall 240

 

[kub6040]

Bud this is the red tractor page , I have other tractors
that aren't red , but drive them . I would want a farmall
B,C,H or a later variation or them , Allis C would be a
bit down on my list close to a B farmall , nothing is live
and no power steering . My choice would be farmall 404,340
or 404 with narrow front-end and power steering .

 

[Ron Weber]

Nice question. I have driven an Allis C & B with a 60" woods mower, a John Deere MT with a woods mower, a Ferguson To-20 with a
Belly mower, F-12/4 with a 60" woods, and a cub Low-boy with a 59" woods.

Here is my take. The place I have has a little hills, trees to go around, low branches, etc.

Tires make the difference too. Lawn tires work the best for tight turns.

I find I get it done the fastest with the TO-20 in third and 3/4 throttle.

The Allis, B, C, Farmall 12/14 has plenty of power and does the job. Ride isn't that comfortable for the Allis B&C. The F-12 is
slow and too tall for going under trees.

The John Deere MT isn't bad, but turns sluggish and does bog down in heavy grass.

The Cub Lo-boy is a 1958, and I have been mowing it for the past 41 years (I was 8 when I first mowed with it). It gives me the
best finish, turns the sharpest, best on the gas, and I get the most day dreaming accomplished on it. It is my favorite.

 

[dgoodman2]

Looks like lots of opinions. We have a M and I wouldn't put a woods on it if I had one to fit. Just seems they were behind farmall of the same
era. We have a cub that we ran a woods on for years. They are small and light on the yard. If you cut regularly it has plenty horsepower to get it
done. Ours has live hydraulics. Many people around here have used them to mow their lawn for years.

Happy hunting.

 

[BarnyardEngineering]

A new Woods 59 isn't cheap. I think they were $3500 just for the mower the last time I saw this discussed. Could be remembering that wrong but anyways, not cheap regardless.

If you're looking to spend ~$5000+ on a mowing setup, for what you'll have in a new Woods mower setup and the antique tractor, you can buy a commercial zero-turn mower which will do a better job quicker.

The disadvantage to an antique tractor is that anything can break on it at any time, leaving you high and dry with no way to mow your grass, especially if you have no mechanical aptitude or it's a part that's NLA. Not being able to find certain parts is a distinct possibility for the Deere and Allis tractors. A Cub you can find anything for. They only made a quarter-million of them.

In contrast, a new mower can be hauled somewhere for professional service, and a name brand mower will have good parts availability for at least the next decade.

 

[rossow (mn)]

FWIW, I have a Cub with a 42-inch belly mower, and it bogs down in anything but really short grass that hardly needs mowing. I'm spoiled by my 60-inch Woods under an 8N Ford. I love the Cub's agility, but I really need to mow more often if I want to use it effectively. (Neither one is as good as my 212 and 214 Deeres with 46-inch mowers when it comes to yard mowing.)

 

[rhtx55]

I would buy whatever tractor suites your fancy. I worked for a large cemetery when I was younger. We had to mow a new 10 acre plot and we used a small tractor pulling a used golf course gang reel mower set up that would cut over an 8 foot swath.
It was quite a job to get all the blades sharp, but they would last most of the season. Much quieter to operate.