The value of a tractor after shtf

I believe a tractor will be one of your most valuable possessions after a shtf. You would need one to break up your garden,your farm and maybe could use it for transportation.Most tractors old will not be affected by an nuclear war or emp. Most of your older tractors such as a ford jubilee use a distributor and points with a carburetor for your gas engines. For most of your Diesel engines are old style with injectors and injection pumps. Also try to keep extra parts and fuel for your tractors. I have one small tractor with front end loader that is most useful for lifting and carrying things. I also keep a rear tine tiller plus parts. With a little fertilizer,a few seeds and some work,you will be feed. I keep 50 gals gasoline and 60 or 70 gals diesel most of the time. I need to buy more fertilizer as I’m down to 100lbs of 24-24-24 and no nitrogen.

 

I agree.
You don't have to have a tractor but if you look at the alternative a tractor is pretty nice.
I saw some 16 nitrogen fertilizer at walmart on clearance for I think it was $2 a bag.

 

I buy my nitrogen in fifty lb bags and seal up any leftovers in sealed up five gallon buckets to keep it full strength

 

Tractor will be just as handy then as now. I use mine almost every day. Also have a rear tine garden tiller with 8hp air cooled diesel on it. I keep 495 gallons (9x55) of diesel always, and have a 300 gallon tank normally used to fill tractor, tiller and a small excavator here on the place. Also have 2 drums of K1 kerosene that could be used to extend diesel fuel if need be. Gasoline I keep 330gal (6x55) always, and have a 500gal tank for regular use.



Don't forget to add filters, oil/transmission hydraulic fluids/grease to the list. (That is part of what the shelving is for).

Tires too. I wear out a front set of tires every 600-700hrs on the tractor (4whd) so I keep a spare set of those. Rear will last 2500hrs or so. My tractor is a 2011 model, and currently has 1700hrs on it, I believe it would be good for another 10-20 without any major work.....and in a SHTF situation, I'd probably use it less, so call it a lifetime.

 

What type of soil do you have up there?

 

Right now it’s mud,after spring it’s a clay loam with very little clay. The 160 acres I own goes from clay on one end to a sandy loam on the other. Back in the day it was a cattle ranch. When cattle price went south we let it grow up in pine trees which I just had cut. Except for the garden I turned it over to my two boys. We use the big part for hog and deer hunting. I had twelve deer mostly does in my yard night before last. For the garden we have to use a high double electric fence. The inside electric fence is about six foot tall and then I backed up about six feet and put another electric fence about four feet tall. They don’t try to get in after I built the double electric fence. The damage this year was from my wife touching the fence with her elbow while picking peas. I thought she was a teenager the way she tore up the garden,my fault I had supposed to turn it off but did not,very funny.

 

I dont use a traditional tractor, though my little Bolins could be used as such ( i do have a rototiller and disk set up) whay I do have is the Cat Crawler/Dozer which can tow any impliments i wish!
The Soil is a sandy loam and was once a cattle ranch, we burn every three years of crops to get the nitrogen levels up. Lately we have leased the land to out neighbors to run cattle, and when we are ready to go back to farming, the soil should be ready to go!
For the garden, i drag the disk and tine through it, then go back and turn the rows and its ready for planting!

 

Mine is more of a sandy soil but the topsoil itself is a darker brown
My topsoil runs anywhere between 1 ft to 3 ft

 

Do all of you folks have a petroleum refinery in your backyards?

Dont even try to tell me about sunflower oil. I have expressed oil from them, and no. NO!

There is no such thing as a crop that you can grow, using a tractor to till the soil, that will produce enough fuel grade oil, to consume while you till that same soil.

 

Just a thought? I uploaded a PDF from F.E.M.A. on conversion of gas engines to Wood gas. The manual shows conversion of farm tractors. If you had the components stored, And maybe a Living fence of fast growing trees such as Leucaena or Sesbania, (Both also are good for livestock feed) It could Handle the fuel problem in a SHTF event. Below is 2 PDF's on Forage trees

 

Nope....which is why I keep a whole bunch of diesel stored. I figure with way more conservative use than I do now, I'll get 15 years which sorta coincides with my expiration date.

 

An acre of soybeans will make 55 gallons of diesel.

 

Build one....run it a year or two and report back on how it worked out. I'm more of a results oriented guy than a "I saw this on the internet" guy.

 

Minus the number of gallons to plant, cultivate, harvest, crush and extract the oil.

 

True, I have not built one myself. But have researched it as best as I am able. Wood gas was used extensively during WW2 in Germany, England, and several other countries. Any fuel situation has both pro's and con's. I only offered up one thought on a possible solution to the problem. Maybe its useful to some, Maybe its not to others. Personally I think it is a possible solution worth considering. Just my 2 cents.

 

Yep, 1/2 mile away.

 

There is no doubt that an agricultural tractor would be an asset to a rural prepper. Particularly if the tractor has a PTO and a collection of useful PTO implements. Limitations may be fuel and replacement parts availability...otherwise, farming may need to be done the old fashion way with draught animals.

If the tractor is diesel, there is potential for producing and using your own biofuel. As has been mentioned, petrol engines may need to be converted to wood-gasification operation.


Running on wood gasification ? - Yesterday's Tractors

Engine | Gasifiers



Edit: I get the objections some here have with regards to biofuels, though it may be feasible to use byproduct of vegetable oils from other folk...spent vegetable oil from commercial food deep fryers for instance. Yes, those whose prepper bolt hole may only be large enough to have a truck garden, however, if there are opportunities to grow soybeans on otherwise unproductive ground...why not?

 

Point being Benjamin is anyone can sit and Google stuff on the internet. Those FEMA plans have been around for decades, anyone with an interest in wood gas has surely seen them....there are whole forums dedicated to just wood gas, and the problems/solutions that go with it. Plans/ideas are fine, but it's a whole lot better to DO something yourself, then report on the results.....most especially for you, but also for others to learn from the actual experience of having done something. And it doesn't have to be a big project....sow some green bean seeds, see what happens. Too many folks today make the mistake of thinking a keyboard is the same as real life.....don't be one of them.

Off my soapbox now.........

 

Runs on gas or kerosene. IMHO about the best garden/small farm tractor a guy could have. I have pretty much all the old factory attachments for it as well as a grist mill and buzz saw. We keep enough fuel on hand for a number of years.