Starting Over from Scratch

[IBleedRed 24]

A couple weeks ago, at about 8pm, I finished working in my grandfathers garage and went home for the night. 2:30am I received a call that my grandfathers house and garage had burned to the ground. Thank God that him and his girlfriend were able to get out of the house with no injuries, but the house, garage, and all of their belongings were a total loss. I'd like to give a shout out to anyone who is involved in or who donates to the Red Cross. A couple of hours after the fire they showed up with some supplies and debit cards which was a great help.

The next day he was back on his feet and looking for a place. This past week he closed on a nice little 2 story log cabin well hidden in the countryside with hopes of moving in over the weekend. Little by little hes rebuilding his "collections", which in the past have included tractors, garden tractors, steins, JD related items, guns, etc.

Now to get to my side of it all. In the garage I had all my power tools, Wheel Horse parts, and three of my tractors. First was my C-141 with a 42" deck I used for mowing, second was my rebuilt Raider 12 that I built as a puller and used for my first pull ever last year, and finally there was my 1054 that I had re-powered with a 16hp Briggs twin, built a loader for, and built a custom 3 point hitch for it. The fire was hot enough were it completely melted everything aluminium, including the 16hp Briggs and the cast part of the dash towers. All of them are currently being pulled apart for whatever is salvageable.

My current dalema is were do I start over for my loader project (and eventually my backhoe project) that i can also use for mowing if needed. I am currently debating between 4 different tractors for a base. My main criteria is something with a 20hp+ engine, hydrostatic, gear reduction or power steering,and adaptable for foot pedal control. Not so important would be things like 3 point hitch (as I can build my own) and a rear PTO for a finish mower. So here's my list:

Cons: Pros:

• C-195 Hard to find Has everything I want
  
• 520h Smaller than the others Easiest to find parts for
  
• D200 Bulky and not crazy about the look Also has everything I want
  
• D250 Not hydrostatic Locking diff. and all the power I could ever want
  

All feedback appreciated.

[Sparky-(Admin) 24,035]

First off, its great to hear that no one was hurt. Of course I'm also sorry about your loss of material things.

I would go with the 520 for ease of finding parts or even finding a parts tractor that you can park and scavenge off for along time. A 520 with swept axle and gear reduction steering will be no older than 1991 while the others are all much older and will probably have many more hours and possible old tractor issues.

Mike..............

[Jake Kuhn 1,581]

Sorry i don't know much about the newer tractors. Sorry to hear of the fire. But glad your grandparents are ok. Jake

[Zeek 2,298]

Not sure about the tractors, but give grandpa a pat on the back for from me for 1) having a girlfriend and 2) not you for burning his place down :)

[can whlvr 994]

ya have to agree with the 520,i agree the d,s arnt pretty and alot harder to find parts for,the 250 is even harder to get parts for and even uglier than the smaller d,s,but thats only one mans opinion

[Rooster 192]

.... old tractor issues.

Pffffffffffffffffft....never heard of such non-sense?

Old tractors don't have "new tractor issues" ...whens the last time you chased down a kill switch problem on an RJ?

My Votes for the C195 :auto-checkeredflag:

[Kelly 1,035]

A 520 will do you well with a loader, if your not in a hurry, look for a 195, but as you know they are far and few between.

So did you have a hand in the fire having just got done working there? the bodyshop I work at, before I worked there burned to the ground after work, by someone welding and a spark smoldered for hours before flaming up, sorry for asking just glad everyone is ok.

[IBleedRed 24]

No ones sure about what started the fire. I had been grinding, which was nothing new, but my grandfather had left an old lawnmower battery on the charger overnight. Even the fire investigator was clueless. My grandfather kind of blames me, but there's no resentment because he felt bad about the loss of my wheel horses. The fire did start in the garage and eventually made it to the house. A good neighbor called it in and 45 mins later the fire department showed up with an empty truck, not to mention that the volunteer fire department is 4-5 miles down the road. He's mostly pissed that they didn't show up in time to save the house.

Not sure about the tractors, but give grandpa a pat on the back for from me for 1) having a girlfriend and 2) not you for burning his place down

I can only hope to have half his stamina when I reach 85

ya have to agree with the 520,i agree the d,s arnt pretty and alot harder to find parts for,the 250 is even harder to get parts for and even uglier than the smaller d,s,but thats only one mans opinion

I love the look of the D250, its just such a brute how could you not? In the end its just more of a want than a need.

Is there a way to rig up a rear PTO on a 520h?

[Jim_M 179]

That sounds like the volunteer fire department in the area where I grew up. We called them the "foundation savers".

[ol550 838]

Where I grew up the fire department sometimes got there in time to save the barn or house. Just

depended how close the other was to it. :banghead:

[IBleedRed 24]

Yeah, ours are called the "Cellar Savers". I don't like badmouthing someone who puts themselves in harms way for others, but a few years back two stations from different counties show up to a house fire and argued on who got to put water on first while the house burned down.

Anyways, enyone else have tractor input? I'm leaning towards the 520h, but I also think the c-195 would do great. If the they weren't so rare I would most likely go with the

C-195 for my loader, and eventually get a 520H for mowing and hauling.

[KC9KAS 4,745]

I too am glad no one was injured, and I am sorry for your loss of the tractors.

I give a thumbs-up to grandpa for having a girlfriend!

As a retired VFD member, I can honestly say in the 30+ years that I was an active member, not once did it take more than 5-8 minutes to get to any part of our protected area......which is 36 square miles.

Sometimes the outcome was the same as yours, depending on weather, manpower, water supply and the time delay in notifiying the VFD.

[IBleedRed 24]

I'm not saying all VFD's are this way, I'm just noting that its happened before.

So it's my understanding that the 520h's are a heck of a machine...

[decksetter 50]

I'm not saying all VFD's are this way, I'm just noting that its happened before.

So it's my understanding that the 520h's are a heck of a machine...

520 is a beast, a 91+ 520H will have the gear reduction steering which will make it steer a LOT easier with a loader on the front.

[Horse'n Around 22]

Im sorry to that all this happened. It is a blessing that no one was hurt or killed. My prayers are with your family.

John

[IBleedRed 24]

The gear reduction steering will definitely be a huge help, on the flip side though I could put power steering on a C-195. The only reason I'm still considering the C-195 is the fact that it's not entirely impossible to find them with factory 3 point and rear PTO at a cost.

Im sorry to that all this happened. It is a blessing that no one was hurt or killed. My prayers are with your family.

John

Thank you for doing so.

[hm12460 53]

Definitely the 520.

[can whlvr 994]

holy crap 45 minutes to respond,i live in a very rural area and we get our volunteer unit with in 10 minutes,sorry for your loss

[IBleedRed 24]

No love for the C-195s out there?

I found this on craigslist, it looks like it wouldn't be much of a challenge to adapt it to a 520 without cutting the fender pan. It was originally made for a 4 wheeler.

http://www.discountramps.com/kolpin-3-point-hitch.htm

[AMC RULES 37,251]

The 3 point hitch was a cool find, thanks for sharing.

They've got a great video of it in action on their site too.