Looking to buy my first tractor and start farming myself this spring. Currently have around 60 acres of row crops and 15 acres of hay, but that will grow. My grandparents have a Deere 3020 to do the light hay work but this will essentially be my main tractor. Will pull a 12 row planter, 15ft drill, manure spreader, 9ft or 11ft discbine, round baler, and tillage equipment. Really have my heart set on a 8050 Powershift, but might look at some 8030's and 8070's as well. I've only grown up around 2wd tractors with duals so thats what i'm used to, but theres been plenty of times when we've wished we had FWA. I'm just afraid of getting one and the the cost to work on it being more than its worth. I should add i do all of our mechanical work so not worried about labor, just parts cost and availability.

My question is this, what long term expense will FWA add and will it be a headache for me for my needs? My current budget is around $15k, but i might push that to $20k for the right deal. I'm perfectly fine with buying a 2wd as it is, but i've seen a handful of FWA's out there that are worth looking at as well. 

FWA is one more thing to fix,  and the 8000 series FWA. as I have read on here are not having any parts built for them any more.  I would look for a 2wd if I was you, less expense to buy and maintain.

Edited to add:

Seems every once in awhile you see front axles from a burnt tractor for sale.  Worst case buy a salvage front axle from a twd till you find parts to fix your mfwd. 

Tbone95 wrote: Going to sound harsh, sorry Allis guys, but if you're concerned about parts availability, look for a FWA tractor from a company still in business.

Unfortunately, I would have to agree.

  The so called farmer that farms the ground around me waits until enough rain has fallen to thoroughly turn everything into mud before he'll show up with a planter behind a big articulated 4WD with duals or a combine, then the ruts become misquito ponds in the summer.  My parents, grandparents and so on are probably rolling in their graves the way so called farmers abuse the land these days.

For 85 acres worth of seat time ??? WTH TOMCAT ??? Pad your A%% in your BTO JD 4x4  

You've posted too many times between 2 forums to run 16 hour days in/on a tractor 

Last time I checked 24x2.5 is 60 foot and 39x1.5 is 58.5 so with 3 passes I’m turning around in the same headland as a 12 row making two passes.  Your making a big assumption that I don’t have a row going in each wheel track.  Both the 8030 planting beans and the Genesis planting corn have units running in tractor tracks unless it’s honestly damper than you should be planting into it doesn’t effect the stand. 

When the 8030 showed up we covered just north of 300 acres a year now shy of 1200. The OP seems motivated he might very well grow into it.  I have a neighbor that farms less than 400 acres and has two articulated CIH and a Versie.  He does a fuzz of custom work but not that muck. In case you haven’t heard they make these things called smart phones a person can drive a tractor across the field and surf.  Just think I bought auto-steer for the 8030 I’ll have more time to surf.  

Yes the OP should look for an older nice 100 hp tractor if he really needs it. He can always trade it off or sell it when he gets to the point of needing something bigger and better or he might keep it and still get something better too. If he does things right, he'll grow into what he wants some day. Unless he has been gifted a big chunk of moola.

But who am I to talk! 7050, 200. R52, still have my nice L2 and a Mack with 42 foot Timpte! But a good job helps!

   Going back the the OP; with only 60 acres of cropland and 15 acres of hay, 150HP in any configuration is an overkill and tying up resources that could be used more wisely elsewhere. In the 70s I farmed over 400 acres of corn with about 100 acres of wheat, and some 100 acres of hay ground with only a Farmall SuH and an Allis B and all the corn round was plowed. 

You are COMPLETLY missing my point  !! Yes , the OP inquired about a "FWA" , and perhaps he has one located "cheap". How "cheap" was your Green Machine when the front axle snapped off ?? Is this a "normal" issue with a 7550/8550/305 Allis ???

I know in your mind God made the 190xt on the eighth day and all Deere products are the spawn of the devil.

Let’s put it this way even with me pulling the front differential out and delivering it it Bader’s and having them rebuild it cost less than each of these none Deere breakdowns 

1) Snapped shafts in 7580 tranny

2) The gernaded rear end that Heitman dump off on me in 6080

3) The three double handfuls of ground metal that was scooped out of the tranny non moving 8050 I bought

4) FW 30 Ford drop box

5) Electrolysis holes in the sleeves of the 7060

The last Allis tractors to roll off the line are 35 years old and aging.  I’m putting just shy of 300 hours a year on the 6080’s.  Considering that atleast 2 of the 3 are in the 10,000 plus hour area they won’t last as long as I hope my career to span.  Deere has rolled iron of the line so to speak daily since then.   Bader’s have a parts barn 8 miles from my doorstep that they drop to 2-3 times a week. William’s great folks but they are 2.5 hours away. 

As far as other options for the OP other than maybe a white he won’t get into a mfwd tractor for less than a 8000.  

To stay Agco it takes a 10 plus year jump from the last Allis to get decent offerings again.  Would I buy a 8775 or 8785 if  the opportunity was right?  Heck yes but very few exist.  Probably 20 or more to 1 6400 out there than 8775 and 8785.   Even the DT series sound respectable.  

Man, i've been busy a few days and this post has kinda blown up. Anyways will i need FWA, hopefully not. Our ground is relatively flat and has some wet spots but not too bad. My best friends farm who i help and who's equipment i'll be using is a different story. Their ground is only 10 miles south but lays wet and has some hills, i've gotten plenty of wheel slip pulling a disc in a less than ideal spring with duals on a 7020/20ft disc. We also do commercial snow removal(when it snows, haven't pushed any snow locally in almost 2 years now) so a decent FWA could make some money in the winter with a blade.

And call me crazy but if i'm going to spend the money to essentially break even farming i want to do it in a 8000 series. Just turned 27 but i've been an AC guy since i was born. Learned to drive on a WD45 my grandpa bought new, but threw a rod and got sold when i was 7 or 8. My buddy i help farm bought a 7020 going on 3 years ago and a really nice 7060 last year that i've gotten familiar with, spent a decent bit of time in them and wrenching on them. Nice tractors other than the cab. I spend my days stuffed into a mini-ex or skid steer, it'd be nice to have a good cab to spend my time in after work. Also having room for a passenger to ride comfortably would be nice. Not saying all the hours i spent in the back window of a 1070 case or sound guard Deere was miserable, but i'd rather not put my kids through that. 

OP is from Great Lakes area climate and soil type is much different here than where you are.  How much experience do you have with the cussed Great Lakes?

 

I also noticed you said you had a $15,000 budget.  I'm afraid if you find an 8000 fwa your going to have to spend another $10k on it.  If you look long and hard you might find one for $20.  whatever you do, my advice would be to find a nice one that might just need a cab kit.  you cant polish a t**d but you can sure dump a bunch of money in it and still have a t**d.  Good luck.