Hi, Joe Bly. Farming with a crawler has pluses and minuses. Track running gear is a lot more costly to replace when it wears out than a set of tractor tyres. Then there is the (usually very) occasional foray into steering clutches and brakes which can end up costing bulk dollars too. However, you will only need between 2/3 and 3/4 of the horsepower in a crawler to pull the same load that you are currently pulling with your wheel tractor. Add to this that you can usually get onto ground that would stop a wheel tractor dead and do your work more or less when you want to and you have a real big advantage. I seem to remember a poster at ACMOC saying that his father bought a new John Deere 7020 wheel tractor to replace a wide guage 5U series Cat D2 and the D2 pulled it backwards across the yard. The D2 was 38 horsepower. I think the JD was somewhere around double that. The previous posters mentioned wide tracks. These have a couple of things going for them. They allow you to work even wetter/softer ground than a normal crawler and they pack the ground even less than a normal crawler - way less than a wheel tractor that is capable of doing the same work. You may find that standard tracks will give you enough advantage over your wheel tractor 'cos the difference between wheels and tracks is almost like having 'Jesus boots'. Wide tracks are a step up again. They won't quite walk on water though. Agricultural work does not tend to wear tracks out as fast as construction and earthmoving 'cos most of your work is long straight runs where earthmoving usually involves a fair bit of short turning. If you can find one in reasonable condition within your price bracket, I'd recommend a Caterpillar crawler, D2 or D4 size depending on your needs and what is available for the dollars. After that, Komatsu make some good small crawlers as do/did John Deere and Case. I have no experience of the New Holland range but the Fiat crawlers that I worked seemed to do a good job. The Chinese imports seem to be 'money pits'. Dealer service needs to be considered too when looking at what make to buy. A lack of service and parts can be a killer. Hope this helps. You have a wonderful day. Best wishes. Deas Plant.
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