Worst thing that ever happened looking at a tractor

They wouldn't let me put the whole title in the post.
But what was the worst thing that happened to you when you were looking at a tractor to buy?
Some years ago I was looking for a little newer Ford tractor. There was a 650 in the paper so I called and drove the hour and a half to go look at it. Cold, cold MN windy day in December.
Tractor wouldn't start without a jump. No problem.
Seller hooked the 12v jumper to the starter stud then accidently touched the ground to the hydraulic manifold on the other side of the tractor. Don't ask me how...
But, it arced a good pin hole in the pressure side of the hydraulic manifold.
Sheesh.
Of course I didn't buy the tractor. Why shucks it was wore out and had blow by, bad rubber and worst of all, was squirting hyd fluid all over.
I felt bad for the seller but wasn't gonna buy it.
There's gotta be some good stories out there.

Drove past a car trailer parked on the side of the road with a sign on it for 3 weeks.

Stopped in when I saw someone in the yard.

He chatted with me a 1/2 hour, we even managed to talk about the trailer a little bit.

I finally asked what he wanted for it, 1'2 hour was long enough chit chat.

Well, see, he wasn't sure he really was selling it after all.

Sheez.

Trailer sat there another week or 2 with a sign on it. It's not like I lowballed him or anything, price never came up.

Sure seemed pointless to me.

I don't do well in private sales, I prefer auctions.

--->Paul

This fall my co-worker was trying to get me to buy a rougher Minneapolis Moline G705 from him. I knew what he had into it, but his asking price was quite a bit higher than that. I told him I wasn't interested. Some time passed and he had a guy interested in it-- as he told me, the guy test drove the tractor, and they were hammering out the final price with the tractor still running near by- then the tractor made a loud bang and died! He found a bunch of push rods all bent up and he sold it for next to nothing to the old White dealership. Just glad it me trying to sell it!

Feb 2010 was looking for a 1947-48 AC WC, legit to put the WD factory wide front on it (had an extra). Drove with the trailer about 3 hours to Mazeppa, tractor is in 3 feet of snow. Owner had an auto body shop, was surprised I brought the trailer. Went somewhere to get a battery, I was cold, stayed in the shop. He was afraid I might steal something? He said, well, you never know! Course it wouldn"t crank, so he did. I already knew it wasn"t ready to sell, I wouldn"t buy it, so I let him crank, knowing the gas was running out of the carb cuz the drain was open. When I got tired of watching him crank, I left. But the trip was worthwhile....called a new buddy I met online (here), another SF Veteran, and we met for lunch!

I had been watching a farmall A parked in a yard for several years. Stopped in oneday and ask was it forsale. The older woman said it had belonged to her late husband but take a look at it and make a offer. Her brother came out and was showing all of the cultivators part piled up in the barn and said go look at the tractor and someone would be right back. I walked up to the tractor and a wasp flew out and stung me right between the eyes. Had to put a dern ice bag on face but bought the tractor for $700 dollars.

Not a tractor. But years ago I was asked to meet with the owner and a customer. To certify that a generator was ok. Half way through the load test. Rod popped out of the block. Customer left and generator went to the scrap yard.

Went up to Medicine Hat Alberta Canada once to pick up a tractor. On the way back I pulled into a place to take a look at a tractor that I had spotted on the way up. It was early spring and as soon as I pulled into the driveway I had this sinking feeling...seemed to be no one around and I was sinking in the driveway and starting to spin the wheels...I did a quick turn around and barely got back to the blacktop....100 miles later I was chipping all kinds of mud off the trailer and truck with a putty knife before I could cross the border.

B.I.L. and I were out riding around one sat afternoon while the ladies were doing this baby shower thing. We see a nice looking CIH 7140 sitting along the road for sale. It was clean, had decent rubber, weights, duals etc. We pull in and the owner steps out from the barn. Were talking tractor and B.I.L. pulls the dip stick. Oil was down just a skosh but seemed fairly clean. Owner gets in and fires it up while we are walking around it looking at everything. Seemed to run nice, B.I.L. climbs in and starts driving it around, goes out on the road gives it some throttle and starts shifting through the gears when all of a sudden clunk rattle, rattle. He shut it down right there and rolled to a stop owner and I jump in the truck and head out to the tractor. Decided to pull it back to the yard. Owner climbs in and fires it up. Still rattled and a little louder now. Few weeks later B.I.L. went back and the owner said that the engine had spun a rod bearing and was having it rebuilt.

At an auction the auctioneer moved over to a tractor that was for sale as the crowd gathered around. Owner climbed up and hit the starter; tractor started right up, in gear. He didn't run anybody over but sure wasn't happy to make that mistake in front of a hundred people.

I had an 87 F-150 with the 300, 5 speed, in it ran great and I had moved it 1 week before(out of the shed and back in and idled about 1 hour) I had it sold. We started it up and it dropped a push rod right there, I still sold it, but the price went down quick.

About ten years ago I was looking at this used round baler. On the JD balers the side doors swing out to open. I swing the door open and a five foot long black snake fell on my head. He had been laying on the top of the door. I don"t know who was the most surprised. LOL I did buy the baler but before I put it into the shop I banged on the thing a few times to make sure that fellow did not have any friends with him. The seller ran back scared to death. I am not afraid of snakes but like to know where they are.

Does beyond looking count? I left a deposit, seller sez 'call me before you come back to get it, so I'll be ready'. Next day, I call. I said to a woman, 'is your husband there? I'm the guy that bought the tractor'.... she sez 'you what? you bought the tractor? That sob didn't tell me he was selling the g d tractor! You get here right now, we'll see about this'. So yeah, I am going. He got my deposit. I get in the yard, seller is there, no women around. He sez 'why didn't you call and tell me you were coming?' Anyway, I dialed the wrong number. Someone's husband, but not him, got hit with a rolling pin that night....

I bought an old Ford and the seller hooked a strap to it and was pulling me up the road to my house about a mile away. All the wasps in a nest under the hood were flying out and landing on me. I was yelling at him to slow down. He didn't look back once. I had to stand on the brakes when he slowed down way to quick. Next time I'll rent a trailer.

Went to look at a dump truck, price was reasonable.

Ran the bed up 3 or 4 times, on the last time it blew the pressure line. Had a 5 x 5 area of fluid every where. Made them a low ball offer, since the dump bed didn't work. They accepted. $40 for a new line and I was back on the road.
Sellers wife was standing there, she clearly wanted out of her driveway no matter what.

Guess if I would have tried it one less time, it would have blown at my house, AND I would have paid a lot more.

What about after working on one? I recently rebuilt the engine on a smaller, foreign made, Ford branded tractor for a friend of mine. Finally got everthing back together and got it running for pickup. Called the guy and he said he would pick it up the next day. Since I was wasn't going to be at the shop that day I backed it out on the pad and and left the keys for him. I got a call right after lunch telling me it wouldn't start and asking how I got the thing started since the switch wasn't working. I told him how to bypass the switch and get it going since he had plans to use it that afternoon. It had acted up on me one time right after I got everything hooked up, something I attributed to it having set for nearly a year and a half between the time the engine went down and it was brought to me to get rebuilt. Funny thing though in several dozen starts after the one hiccup it hit on the first turn of the key and never acted up again. We discussed this later that evening and he remembered it doing the same thing once before to him several months before the engine spun a bearing and the tractor got parked. At the time he had gotten a new switch but had never replaced it because it never acted up again. never heard of any more problms so I guess the new switch solved the problem.

Given the situation it was no big deal but it was still embarrasing to me to do a complete rebuild on a man's machine and then it not even start with the switch when I got done...

Then there was the Ford that I serviced for a customer. He said he always had problems bleeding the fuel lines after changing the filters. I had no problem doing it and ran the tractor around the property several times before calling the guy to pick it up. His wife dropped him off to drive it home and he made it maybe 50 feet down the drive before it sputtered and died. Bled the lines again and he made it another 100 feet before it died again. Bled once again and it was another 50 feet to the end of the drive. We pulled it back down to the shop and bled and moved it twice more before it ever ran long enough for him to get out the drive and headed home with it. From that point on it ran like a top. I've seen engines that were hard to get bled but NEVER before or since have I seen one that did like this one did....especially the part where I ran it around the yard for 15 minutes with no problems but he couldn' make it another 150 feet without bleeding it another 5 or 6 times. But, like the old saying goes...'just when you think you've seen it all............'

Oh, I can top myself.....

We traded cars, had to wait a week for the new one to get transported down & gone through.

My sister passed away the day before they called it was in pick it up. On the way there, our old car died on the side of the road 1/2 hour before closing time. Called the dealership, they sent out the salesman and a rollback.

The trade-in went down drastically, and we all know it was just a bad battery, but it was a tough day, didn't want to deal with much.

--->Paul

Not a tractor, but a pickup. I was looking it over and asked to take it for a drive. Guy says it wasn't licensed, but no cops ever come by. So we head out his driveway and no more than a 100 yards down the road, a deputy sheriff pulls me over. We explain the situation, but he still gave the owner a ticket. Worst yet, I didn't buy the truck.

Another pickup. Wife and I were looking at pickups, right after we bought a farm, in about 1974. A dealer had a really nice cornbinder, the two-tone green with matching upholstery, AC, all the bells and whistles, in great shape. I've always liked offbeat stuff anyhow, and the price was right.

Took it for a test drive, drove nice, was headed back to the dealer to pull the trigger. Looked in the side mirror, and the rear wheel was outside the fender! We found a phone booth real quick (there were a lot of them around in those days), and called the dealership. Salesman told us to just go ahead and drive it in. I told him I didn't think it was going to make it, and once that axle worked its way out a little further, they were looking at a lot of damage when it let loose. Suggested he get the boss on the phone, to verify the instructions. He muttered something, and said a tow truck would be on the way.

We bought a Chevy. The one I later sold my boss, and was with him in it, when the transmission started drinking fluid. We stopped at Schucks and bought a case of it. It was all a bit awkward. . .

I bought it.

I went to a local annual spring consignment auction abvout 4 years ago. Saw a Cockshutt 30 sitting there. Not in good shape but complete. They started the bidding and no one was bidding,so I bid $100.00 and went to $300.00 and ended up with it.My wife wasn't paying attention until I gave up my number and then .Bang a big slap on the back of head and a (WHAT ARE GOING TO DO WITH THAT) and along quiet drive home.

I got a good laugh when the cab doors fell off a 1466 International at an auction last spring. People climbing in and out all morning to look at the thing. All of a sudden I look up and the doors are laying on the ground, hinges rusted off.

Guess the farmer picked the perfect time to retire.

Watched an auctioneer climb up on a hay wagon one day, took one more step farther onto the bed and fell right through. That item changed instantly from "hay wagon" to "running gear".

Three auctions, all a few years ago. Nothing bad for me, but not a good day for those involved...
One had a very nice Ford 861. I was quickly outbid, think it sold for near $4500. Auctioneer continued down the line of equipment, with the tractor's new owner following along and bidding on several other pieces. Few minutes later, a kid who was standing on the rim to get a better view of something manages to break the valve stem... fluid all over the place. Someone thought to roll the tractor ahead enough to get the valve stem at 12 o'clock, but the new owner still had to have the tire shop send a truck out before he could take his tractor home. I did manage to buy a nice Dearborn 10-1 two bottom that day.
Another one was a consignment auction about 15 miles east of here. Parking area clearly marked, away from the equipment, but a few people just couldn't walk that far, I guess. One was a brand-new 3/4 ton Dodge, all dressed up, the kind that hardly ever leaves the pavement. Maybe 1/2 way through the auction, there was a big BANG, and a couple kids went running. They had climbed up an elevator, and of course together they weighed enough to bring the top end down...right on top of the passenger side of the cab of the Dodge. Left a deep crease in the roof and top of the door. Their Dad took them home... and knowing him, I'm sure they got their hides tanned.
Third one was a farm auction near Glen Flora. This time the BANG came from the highway, not the sale area. An older IH flatbed, maybe 1600 size? lost the driver side axle shaft and duals. They crossed the centerline and took out the left steering tire and radiator on a logging truck. It went into the ditch and tipped over, dumping a just-filled fuel tank. The logging truck, just a couple years old, was likely totaled. Flatbed coasted to a stop a couple hundred yards down the highway. Thankfully, no one was hurt.

I bought a 4010 JD tractor from a dealer a few years ago. I went to look at it, dealer salesman asks me if I want to drive it. I said "sure". So I drove it around their lot some and he went inside. I was driving it around checking out all the gears and then all of a sudden, hydraulic oil started spewing out from under the platform big time! Hydraulic oil was flowing everywhere. I shut it off, went inside and told the salesman it had a leak. Their mechanic came out and basicly asked me what I had done to it. I said, "nothing, it just started leaking"! He didn"t believe me...."acted like a jerk. He pretty much implied I had done something to it.

Was at an auction where they vice gripped a broken battery lug to get a truck started. Someone closed the hood and was driving it through the selling lane. As the last bid came in, the hood finished arcing through and she caught fire and stalled at the same time. 200 people watching this think burn 10 feet away.

Auctioneer quickly told the next vehicle to ram it and push it out of the building!

Well went to look at a 2-105 and it started right up,but then started missing and stopped.The owner and his mechanic put new filters in and bleed the air out and the same thing happened.i looked inthe tank and it wa full. They said no need to look they had just filled it.After inserting a stick i found it had 2 inches of fuel and the rest was frozen water,all the way to the bottem.That was back in 87 and its sitting in my barn now.

In about 1962 the Allis dealer about 15 miles from home, said I have a JD A some loggers bought and never paid for it is sitting on a farm real close to you, go look at it and make me an offer.

I stopped at the house and talked to the old retired farmer that owned the place he told me yeah those guys cut down all my Walnut trees even some that they were told not to. He said the tractor quit on them so they just left it set where it stopped. He went on to say that they never paid him a dime and never cleaned up the limbs and branches just took the big logs and disappeared.

I walked down to where the old man pointed to, the tractor was setting in a creek crossing with water up to the knees and one tire was completely flat I lost interest in that tractor in a hurry.

It was an old flywheel crank job and I wasn’t about to try getting it started in knee deep water. Called the dealer and told him he better bring a winch truck and get his tractor if he wanted it.

I just wasted a little bit of time so it didn't hurt me but it sure was a bad deal for the Old farmer and the Dealer.

Sounds similar to a story about a local farmer (now since deceased). Some fly by night loggers came to his place looking for timber. Cut down his trees (which they never paid for) and left a pair of Oliver 1755 tractors and a JD skidder. The way the farmer got his payment was by selling the tractors and the skidder. Forgot to mention this happened back when those machines were still new.

I was driving to look at a tractor and the engine in my Ford Taurus blew up. I had to wait two hours to be towed home and ended up scrapping the tired old thing.

One sale I was at someone bypassed the safety switch on a lawnmower. It was in gear when they started it. Missed running over a couple people by inches but left a nice big dent in someones truck. Another sale I was at a friend was selling a Farmall 300. The clutch was out so he would start it in gear and have to shut it off to stop. He went to start it up for people to hear it run and it was in reverse. He crashed through his fence around his sewer pond. He got it shut down before it became a brown bellied bottom feeder but it sure was funny watching him stomping on the clutch pedal to no avail with a look of shear terror of what was coming up quickly. He remember to hit the key just in time. I've learned to never stand in front of or behind any motorized vehicle at a sale.