I literally grew up on John Deere two cylinders. The knowledge that I have of tractors comes from my father so I have deep knowledge of tractors from the 30s through 1959. That's when John Deere switched to modern engine design. My father didn't recognize the heresy of a four cylinder tractor, so my direct knowledge stops there. I can, however, describe in detail what it is like using an antique tractor as a work machine. I highly recommend buying something modern. I defer to Seahawk's judgement, as does any reasonable man, and he is right here as usual.
Antique tractors are beautiful, historic, romantic, and belong in parades and museums. Don't make life hard on yourself. By a reasonably new model that had reasonably new technology. Life is too short to torture yourself for the beauty of working on a romantic piece of machinery. Buy one for the parade ground if you want, but buy something modern for work.
Here's a link to a good explanation of live PTO. The one poster's description of a farmer trying to keep from clogging a rake or bailer with a regular PTO is spot-on. Tricky, but it can be done.
What is a "live" and "non live" pto? - SmokStak