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m16ty 
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Joined: 28 Jan 2011
Location: TN
Points: 1480
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 Topic: Reverse drive tractor
Posted: 14 Oct 2017 at 7:06pm |
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I've been doing the fall bushhogging today with the D19 and 10' cutter. As most of you know, bushhogging and the like gives you lots of time to think. As I was fighting all chaff in the air and having to stop every so often to clean the radiator, I was thinking how nice it would be if the cutter was out in front of the tractor. Radiator would fair better, you could see better, and you would get a better cut due to not running over the grass with the tractor before you cut it.
I wonder why the reverse drive tractor never took off? I know Ford/ Versitile made one but I don't think they sold many, at least not around here.
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Stan R
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Joined: 03 Dec 2009
Location: MA
Points: 999
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Posted: 14 Oct 2017 at 7:59pm |
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I think you answered your own question: "they never sold many"
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joe
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Joined: 30 Nov 2009
Location: SW Ontario
Points: 167
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Posted: 14 Oct 2017 at 8:09pm |
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New Holland still makes the bi-directional. I'd say they're more popular in snow removal than anything, but they're hydrostatic drive, and are a little lazy for a lot of jobs. What is catching on some with the double and triple mowers (one on the front 3pth and 1 or 2 on either side on the rear 3pth) is a reversing fan. Clean fix is one manufacturer of them, and they use a little air compressor to reverse the fan blades for a few seconds, which blows all the crap off the grill as well as what what got to the radiator back out.Quite a thing to watch and listen to.
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DiyDave
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Joined: 11 Sep 2009
Location: Gambrills, MD
Points: 55282
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Posted: 14 Oct 2017 at 8:15pm |
AC Had 1 before Ford... Google AC 451 loader... 
Edited by DiyDave - 14 Oct 2017 at 8:17pm
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bigal121892
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Joined: 05 Jan 2010
Location: Nebraska
Points: 819
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Posted: 14 Oct 2017 at 8:29pm |
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Fendt, and Valtra, both had reversible tractors, I know Valtra still makes their's, not sure about Fendt.
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JarrodACFan
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Joined: 24 Jan 2012
Location: Delaware Co. IN
Points: 732
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Posted: 14 Oct 2017 at 8:34pm |
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I think the bi-directional concept is sort of being replaced with front 3-point hitches. That makes more sense to me. Rather than re-engineering the tractor, you just hook the mower on front.
As far as the reversing fans, we have one of those on our new Gleaner. It will reverse the blade pitch every so often to blow out the radiator. Let me tell you, it does it's job. We checked the radiator periodically last year and it was always cleaner than we could have gotten it with the air compressor. Never did clean it out manually. That would be great for mowing/bush hogging.
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1956 WD45 Narrow Front Factory Power Steering, 1953 WD Wide Front
Allis Express in Muncie, IN
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m16ty
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Joined: 28 Jan 2011
Location: TN
Points: 1480
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Posted: 14 Oct 2017 at 8:40pm |
I think the main reason you don't see them is that farmers don't like change, myself included. I understand that tillage tools are better pulled instead of pushed, but for just about every other tractor job, it would be beneficial for the implement to be in front.
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MACK
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Joined: 17 Nov 2009
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Posted: 14 Oct 2017 at 9:22pm |
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Deutz uses a lot of front mounted implements with front 3 pt and PTO.
Saw Cabota the other day with a front mounted brush cutter. MACK
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shameless dude
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Joined: 10 Apr 2017
Location: east NE
Points: 13607
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Posted: 15 Oct 2017 at 1:08am |
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the first bi-directional tractors that New Holland build had a terrible problem of starting on fire all by themselves, and burning to the ground before the fire dept could get to them. didn't matter if kept inside or outside. then people quit buying them because of that, plus the insurance industry quit insuring them. the company must have fixed the problem, as later on people started buying them again. and as said above, they weren't a very powerful tractor, but worked good in nurseries and snow work. Valtra and Fendt still offer their tractors with the front 3-pt hitch...might be standard equipment...don't know, I've seen a farmer not far from me using the front hitch, and it does work good. looks funny, but works good!
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Don(MO)
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Joined: 12 Sep 2009
Location: Bates City MO.
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Posted: 15 Oct 2017 at 7:42am |
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Back in the late 70's IHC built some front mounted implements, I was working at a AC/IHC dealership at the time and was asked to go out to the back lot with the block man from IHC , he had me load the cutting torch on the fork truck and then told me to cut-up two new old stock hay rakes that where sitting in the lot for two years and didn't sale; I must of had that dumb look on my face because he started to tell me all about them, the short story is IHC and some high-up had been over-sea's looking at all the new push implements and was behind building the rakes. The year before cutting them up I had installed one on a 656 tractor so the dealer might make a sale on them, turned out the be a real POS made a mess of the hay with all the digging in and skips. We removed it and the two rakes just sat there in tell I cut them up. loaded them on a truck the same day.
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3 WD45's with power steering,G,D15 fork lift,D19, W-Speed Patrol, "A" Gleaner with a 330 corn head,"66" combine,roto-baler, and lots of Snap Coupler implements to make them work for their keep.
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darrel in ND
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Joined: 22 Nov 2009
Location: Hebron, ND
Points: 8779
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Posted: 15 Oct 2017 at 7:52am |
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Them Ford/New Holland bi-directional tractors are pretty popular around here. So many things they are useful for. One thing on my bucket list, is to go cut hay with one of them, having a 16 foot hay head mounted on the front, and pulling a 16 foot swing tongue haybine behind it. I've seen it done several times, and even helped get the machines set up for people to do it, but never done it myself. It's not something you want to do on a five acre hay field. Need a good sized field. Darrel
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jiminnd
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Joined: 16 Sep 2009
Location: Rutland ND
Points: 2337
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Posted: 15 Oct 2017 at 8:33am |
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Like Darrell said, here they were popular with the cattle guys for that reason, cut hay in the summer and feed all winter. They were much improved on the later ones, more power and just a better tractor. A lot are being replaced with high HP front assist with loaders and guys with big self propelled hay cutters.
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1945 C, 1949 WF and WD, 1981 185, 1982 8030, unknown D14(nonrunner)
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jaybmiller
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Joined: 12 Sep 2009
Location: Greensville,Ont
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Posted: 15 Oct 2017 at 8:39am |
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OK... WHY did the NH tractors catch on fire 'all by themselves' ??
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3 D-14s,A-C forklift, B-112
Kubota BX23S lil' TOOT( The Other Orange Tractor)
Never burn your bridges, unless you can walk on water
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Michael V (NM)
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Joined: 12 Sep 2009
Location: NM
Points: 2555
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Posted: 15 Oct 2017 at 9:41am |
 jaybmiller wrote:
OK... WHY did the NH tractors catch on fire 'all by themselves' ??
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IIRC these tractors articulate,, ie bend in the middle,,, there was some wiring that would wear through the insulation and there ya go up in flames,, there was a fix for this I think,,prolly corrected cause there's a few of the later ones around here. I have used a neighbors to load hay with,, not quite a payloader, has foot and hand controls for the hydraulics but works ok. the later models have more HP than the earlier ones Darrel, I had friend that had the setup your talking about,, worked pretty good at the time,, now days those big Krone's cut about 30' at ,,, well their travelling really fast..
Edited by Michael V (NM) - 15 Oct 2017 at 9:42am
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TramwayGuy
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Joined: 19 Jan 2010
Location: Northern NY
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Posted: 15 Oct 2017 at 1:03pm |
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I first saw a Deutz with front 3-pt back around 1980. This was in wine country of New York.
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