Buying our first tractor: 1977 L185DT

[Rosher18]

Good morning!

This is my first post, but I have been following the website for a few weeks now, in preparation for our first tractor purchase.

We found a seller on Craigslist (in Salem, OR) who is selling his L185DT for $6,000 (with loader, 3 spd PTO, strong 3pt, beautifully kept, almost all the warning and maintenance labels are even still there). My wife is concerned that because it's a '77, the sale price is too high (we thought it was an '82). I am sold on this tractor, so I'm hoping you all can tell me if we're making a good choice.

We have 3 flat acres of horse farm with a covered riding arena, it would be used for mowing pasture, moving manure, and grooming the arena.

We went to the seller's house and I got to drive it around. It drove like a dream, plenty of power, started right up, and it even was able to drive around in 2Hi with the brakes unknowingly stuck part-way on. (I can more than likely fix the sticky brake pedal, since it just needs to be gently pulled up to unstick).

Thank you all in advance for your info. I'll post pictures once we take delivery!

 

[JohnnyFbomb]

Congrats! That's a tough unit. If she's been kept well, she'll service your needs for years to come.

 

[North Idaho Wolfman]

Even being an older model you can get all the parts for it to keep it running great, so don't worry about the age.

Looking around OR I find a lot of newer tractors that would be a little more versatile for a hobby farm setup, look at the BX's as there is a lot of them and they normally have power steering and hydrostatic transmissions (push pedal to move, no gear shifting, much more wife friendly!

 

[Rosher18]

Even being an older model you can get all the parts for it to keep it running great, so don't worry about the age.

Looking around OR I find a lot of newer tractors that would be a little more versatile for a hobby farm setup, look at the BX's as there is a lot of them and they normally have power steering and hydrostatic transmissions (push pedal to move, no gear shifting, much more wife friendly!

Wolfman,

Thanks for the reassurance as far as parts and durability go. Lucky for me my wife is okay with standard shift, especially since she told me she's gonna have me on the tractor most of the time. Our little John Deere 135 is hydrostatic and good for most of our smaller tasks.

We were going to get an L2501 with HST and 0% financing for 60 months, but we didn't want $20,000 of debt since we just bought our house.

 

[Rosher18]

Congrats! That's a tough unit. If she's been kept well, she'll service your needs for years to come.

Like I said, even the maintenance and safety labels are still there (aged, but legible), so I think I'm good as far as well-cared for goes!

 

[JohnnyFbomb]

Thanks for the reassurance as far as parts and durability go. Lucky for me my wife is okay with standard shift.

The standards are a little more work to use, but they never wear out. No clutch pack will ever last longer than a gear on gear transmission. My dads 1939 9N ford still shifts like brand new

 

[MadMax31]

My first Kubota was a L175. Great condition. Rebuilt the steering box, new glow plugs and installed new alternator with belt. New battery and did new cables while I was at it. Pulled my 4' bush hog fine. Parts were easy to find. Messicks has online parts diagrams they email to you.

 

[oldrockfan]

I have a L185DT and have really enjoyed it. The only thing I wish it had was a front end loader instead of just a front blade but then again... the price would have been a lot higher with the loader. I use ours for lots of projects. It pulls a box blade and I use it to mow trails. Good little tractors as long as you keep in mind their limitations.

 

[Rosher18]

I have a L185DT and have really enjoyed it. The only thing I wish it had was a front end loader instead of just a front blade but then again... the price would have been a lot higher with the loader. I use ours for lots of projects. It pulls a box blade and I use it to mow trails. Good little tractors as long as you keep in mind their limitations.

I just pushed the limitations last night. I helped get my neighbor's old Ford N-series tractor started. It hadn't started in years but we got it to crank yesterday night, and it had good oil and plenty of fuel. We decided to pull start it. After a trip around his house with no sustained running, we took to the road. I popped my tractor into 3rd and off we went. I had the throttle pinned and it was dumping dark smoke from the stack, and I blew a little water out of the radiator, but just about the time we got in front of my house (a tenth of a mile or so), I heard a POP POP CRACK, WAAAAAAAAAAAAH! It started! We stopped, got it unchained from my tractor, and then he raced me back to his house. I've never seen an 80 year old man so happy.

Edit: looked up series of Ford tractor

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