She is a 1958 Dexta that I've had for 6 or 7 years and is the main workhorse on the Croft doing all kinds of work. I guess a lot of older tractors mostly get used for lighter duties but ours still has to, occasionally, put in a shift of hard graft.
In the photo she is putting the finishing touches to a field I've spent the last few years trying to reclaim.
The Dexta mowed the rushes with a flail mower for several years until we could get in with a digger to put in drains. A contractor did the ploughing and lime spreading (I'm my experience hitting a 1/2 ton rock with a plough on a dexta you stop dead and try not to hit your face off the steering wheel whereas a 200hp tractor can pull the rock to the surface with only a little swearing from the driver). The Dexta disked, harrowed, sowed seed and rolled it and hopefully she will make hay on it next year.
I used a set of fergie discs and it was hard work, on the uphill the Dexta really laboured due to the heavy rough ground, there is no chance that a fergie (with 10hp less) would have managed. I guess these things were designed & matched for good ground not for rough land. Even with a fairly new radiator and recently flushed system I couldn't do more than 2 or 3 hours without risking overheating.
As with most tractors there is always a list of jobs that could be done to make things better but I've never had any major problems beyond the usual oil leaks and electrical niggles.
I'm hoping she lasts another 60 years for my sons to use.
