In the past, I have seen some on eBay. Resin stuff, which needed work to cleanup and make it more presentable. What I need to keep in mind here, is age and injuries have made hand use on tiny objects very difficult at times. So I am hoping these days there is stuff of a bit better quality lurking out there. Such as a nice, IN SCALE tractor, which fits no later than the mid-1960s. (My modeled era cuts off about 1965-66.) A plow with maybe six bottoms. Items such as these. Thoughts?
https://www.hobbylinc.com/htm/oxd/oxdntrac002.htm https://www.hobbylinc.com/htm/oxd/oxdntrac001.htm https://www.hobbylinc.com/htm/oxd/oxdntea002.htm
Thanks, George. That green Fordson will work very well. Now to find other equipment to go with it. I saw the trailer, but it is out of stock.
If you can handle a kit, GHQ has a really nice 1954 Farm-all tractor. They have some other farm pieces, but I'd say all too new.
Possibly a bit old, but a good price and buy it now. ATHEARN-JOHN DEERE #10185-MODEL D TRACTOR-LOT A-N SCALE | eBay Oxford has some nice implements also......not cheap, but I picked some up a while back 3 for $20. Oxford NFARM003 Farm Tractor Hay Baler Trailer Bale Press N-Scale Fast Shipping | eBay Oxford # NFARM002 Farm Trailer - Assembled Gray N Scale MIB 5055530120082 | eBay
The hay trailer is due back in stock this month... https://www.hobbylinc.com/cgi-bin/s8.cgi?search_cat_s=&str_s=n+scale+hay+trailer The nice thing about it is that you can pop off the hay load and have a flatbed trailer...
They do have a hay baler in stock... https://www.hobbylinc.com/wiking-fa...nt-baler-n-scale-model-railroad-vehicle-95940 as well as a manure trailer... https://www.hobbylinc.com/htm/bus/bus8364.htm
N scale has a reasonably good selection of farm tractors. However, implements are few and far between. For "vintage" tractors, I really like the Artitec Ford 5000 (1965 to mid 1968) and Fordson Dexta (1958-61) shown below. There are quite a few farm trailer/wagons available, but the Busch "hay wagon" (as linked by ntntrainman) is one of my favorites, even though the hay looks more like straw. Another small tractor suitable for the 1960s is the Herpa IH/McCormick D326 (1962-65) shown on the left in the photo below. The tractor on the right is the GHQ IH Super M. Artitec also makes a 3 point mounted sprayer with folding spray booms. https://www.artitecshop.com/en/boom-sprayer-with-three-point-hitch.html Also, the Wiking hay baler can be painted red for use as a stand-in for an IH 435T. Carter
Yea it does look like straw. I did find out the hay(straw) load pops off pretty easy. A quick pass of rattle can green and it turns back into hay ! .
I forgot I had a list with photos of the farm tractors that have been marketed as 1:160 scale. If you join the N Scale Vehicle Association's Group.io, you can find the list here: https://groups.io/g/NScaleVehicleAssociation/files/Models for Your Era (Note: It's the last file on the page.) Carter
I would love to see someone come out with a three row corn picker and open cab combine in n scale. Also needed are some plows and disk and well as a planter. Even if you model more modern times, the older equipment is great for placing around an old barn or just leaving close to the edge of a field. I know my inlaws have some old equipment still around because when you purchased new you just hung on to old stuff because "you just might need it". Ralph
Ralph, The only "mass produced" N scale open platform combine is the Massey Ferguson 830 from Artitec. My neighbor has a similar Massey Ferguson combine that hasn't moved in the last 23 years. The primary difference between my neighbor's combine and the Artitec model is my neighbor's combine has a small grain tank on top behind the operator's platform. The Artitec model is based on a prototype that has a small platform on the left side of the combine in which the grain is put into sacks. I purchased the Artitec combine for placement on a farmstead as "junk" that I will eventually include on my layout. Carter
Carter, Thank you! I think I might have to invest in one of those (maybe someday). It's not "green" so I will have to hide it from my wife and her family, but that is exactly what I need to park out behind my Woodland Scenics Old Barn kit that I put together! That's awesome, thanks again! Ralph
You had me Ralph. I was about to ask "what's not 'green' about it?", with my mind wrapped up in today's political wars. Then I realized, it was the old "Ford vs. Chevy" debate, only in the rural sense. I grew up among that, where my township was all "red," but there were a few green outliers. I think they had the last laugh when IH went belly up a few years later.
Funny that where I grew up John Deere and IH was about it on the local farms, mostly JD with maybe one Gleaner combine. When I started dating my wife who was from southern Illinois, there I started seeing Oliver and Ford as well as New Holland and also more Gleaner combines, but JD and IH were still the majority. My uncle did have a Ferguson tractor. But it's amazing the brand loyalty that remains over the lifetime. My father inlaw even kept his very first tractor, a 1947 John Deere B which has now been restored. Ralph
You guys are making me LOOOOONG for a simpler time. While not a farmer, my step father was and I spent many hours on the farm. Plowing was a great way to spend fall days during weekends and HS fall break. I think we had a five bottom until my step-brother bought the 1566 and traded the plow in on a six bottom.
Remember when "bailing wire" was the modern "Duct tape"? It's amazing how modern tech has changed farming. I still love going to the antique farm shows and seeing all the older equipment that was "state of the art" when I was a kid. As for as modeling goes, even the older equipment can be kept around for even the most modern farms. One of my favorites on my layout is a Showcase Mimiatures F 750 Ford grain truck. I still see a few of these around, still in use, and even have on on my wife's family farm they have one on a GMC cab and chassis. I guess it goes to show that old farm equipment is like older locomotives, someone will always find a use for it. Ralph
