Most Reliably/Comfortable Tractor?

That's the theory.

Yeah, E/F has most of the market share so they're a lot more common. No real problems with them.

Overhead. Depends on the engine. Some have tighter clearances and need to have it done more often. It's not a big deal unless they forget and leave parts rattling around in there.

Yup.

Close to 800k you should be thinking about having it done and have money set aside to do it. Some engines can go quite a ways beyond that without any problems but it becomes more of a gamble the farther you push it.

Batteries are going to depend on what kind you get. Generics can easily last over a year. One guy said he had a full set of Optima red tops that were still going strong after 5 years. Shocks should last 3 or 4 years if you're not offroading a lot and take it easy on rough ground. Tires about a year.

Everything else you just keep an eye on and have the cash set aside when it goes out or preferably when you notice it's worn out. Better to have it done before it strands you somewhere.

 

Jason,
When I'm running, the setup I am in is a 2000 Pete 377 day cab with a C12 and super 10 trans. I believe it has 3.70 rears, but I'll have to look and make sure. I pull a 2007 42' Wilson Pacesetter and empty weight on the combo is right over 25K, depending on where I am with fuel. So if we assume the corn is weighing 60, I can haul about 915 bu. legally.

Sorry, I can't give you any fuel economy info on this. We always fuel on the farm, and the tank doesn't have a meter. We hardly ever run anyplace farther than about 20 miles and idle a lot, so it probably wouldn't mean much anyway.

 

The C12 does fine for what we do. There aren't too many hills here in central IL to worry about pulling. It gets in and out of the field fine in the fall, etc.

We use 66" side trailers too, as do the vast majority around here who haul grain exclusively. The taller hoppers would be very impractical for us. For somebody like you that may want to haul lighter commodities, it would give you more flexibility for sure to have a higher sided trailer. 900-950 bu. won't fill my trailer. If I beaded it front to rear, I could probably squeeze around 1100 bu. on. Haven't done that in a while

60 is a nice round number to figure your legal bushel capacity, but the corn's not going to weigh that good hardly ever, if at all. 57 or 58 is still pretty good, and much more likely test weight.

I work on a family farm.

 

2012 Volvo VNL 640, D-13, I-Shift, 475 hp

 

The thing about the motors now days is they are all expensive to rebuild !!!

It wont be 2 grand difference in a rebuild between the big three any more if you do the same thing to all of them !!!

Cat will get you any part for any motor they EVER made if you have the money and time that is straight for the dealer. Just time and money like anything LOL !!!

 

For what its worth, Id drive a 20 year old Volvo over a brand new International any day. And Im not even a Volvo fan.

 

Mack builds TRUCKS.

 

We have Macks with a 140mph speedometer.