[Equipment guy]

Hey guys, I’ve been involved with garden tractors for a long time. Never had the opportunity to own a Speedex. Came close a couple times, but missed out.
I’m curious to know your opinion of the 2032 model… I found one, not close by, but on a route I need to travel soon.

 

[MiCarl]

I have a late 1631 with hydraulic hitch which should be pretty similar to the 2032. I believe a 2032 came out very near the end of the Speedex company but continued for a short period as the Strongland 2032 after the business was acquired by Armstrong Manufacturing. The Strongland brand failed pretty quickly and I don't believe they produced many tractors.

I love my 1631. They were essentially built in a blacksmith shop so many of the parts can be bought at a hardware store or easily fabricated. The 2032 probably has more elaborate sheet metal than my 1631 though.

I only have 2 complaints about the 1631:
1) The chain drive from the transmission to the final drive is too light for what the rest of the tractor will do. I went to a plow day with farm tractors and kept up pulling a 12" plow but wore out a brand new chain and transmission sprocket in a single day.

2) The 3 point lift arms are fixed width and not height adjustable. This means the hitch can only be used with implements that exactly match the Cat 0 specification and you cannot adjust to level an implement side to side. Some of the very late tractors had swinging, adjustable lift arms so that might not be a concern with the 2032 you're contemplating.

One other thing to watch for: Allegedly the reason Strongland failed is they put large mower decks on the tractors causing engine heat to build up to where the plastic fuel tanks could melt and the resulting lawsuits put them out of business. If this tractor has a mower deck that is larger than 48" you might not want to work it hard mowing.

 

[Equipment guy]

Thank you so much for this info. I read as much as I could find, which wasn’t a whole lot last night. This adds a lot more that I wouldn’t know to look for. I’ve been looking for different features in the pictures posted.
The tractor appears to be pretty straight, and just different. I’ve never seen one in person. That is one of the things I like most…
This tractor has the Briggs vanguard in it. Appears to have power steering, and independent braking, with 2 master cylinders. Also 3 point, and rear remotes. I can’t tell if the 3 point arms are fixed or not…
Been trying to do my homework before I call, and your input has been very helpful.
Thanks, Ryan

 

[MiCarl]

Independent braking was an option on some earlier xx32 tractors but may have been standard later.

Never heard of any Speedex having power steering or rear remotes.

If you can post the pictures I might be able to help you with the 3 point.

 

[Equipment guy]

Granted, the remotes have been tapped in, and I don’t know the pump flow, but it makes for an interesting set up…

 

[MiCarl]

Late body style for sure.

Lots of amateur welding on that 3 point. The lift arms aren't from an original rigid hitch (the rigid hitches were similar to a quick hitch where the implement dropped in from the top). The lift links look to be either homemade or heavily repaired.

The hydraulic remotes are clearly added. The stock pump would have been rather low flow.

What I can see of the power steering doesn't look home made. Sure not added by whoever did the hitch.

Brakes are original. All the others I've seen had the reservoirs and master cylinders right at the pedals. This is clearly a different set up.

I think it's a pretty rare version of 1632 and the body styling is like the Strongland tractor that followed. It looks like it might have had a hard life and the paint fade looks like it spent some time in the sun. Personally, if he were at $1,000 or more I wouldn't cross the street for it. At $500 I'd probably give it a good hard look.

 

[MiCarl]

Here is a video of a Strongland 1872. Pretty much the same tractor in 18HP and hydrostatic transmission. For some reason the video won't start until the whole file downloads so be patient. About 1:18 you can see what I expected the 3 point hitch to be.

STROINGLAND 1872 ON YOUTUBE

 

[Equipment guy]

Yea, I noticed the welds were sub par, I’m not a welder by trade, but I am in the collision repair business, and I am I-car certified, so I can certainly clean that mess up.
i see it as a fairly complete machine that I haven’t ran across before. His asking price out of the gate is 1,000. So I am tempted, but, then again, I’m only going by pictures. It’s 600 miles away from me, and I need to head out there anyway. I will bring the trailer, and see what it looks like in person… I do like the fact that it seems kinda unique.

 

[glgrumpy]

I'm seeing this is old thread. I had one of these at one time. That is right 3pt, they had loose arms and ball on these. Might have even been Cat 1 ball, can't remember. That is the steering cylinder, no other linkage involved. Mine had no brakes. I built a pulling rockshaft up by gear case and it had a disc brake there that I connected things to. I also had a weight set on front by grill. It was a big tractor. Rode nice and really pulled. I should have kept it. On Speedex page are a couple pix near end of later models.