Comparison ~60hp, case maxxfarm 60 vs iseki tg5570 vs yanmar ef685 (AUSTRALIA)

[hotgemini]

So looking at a new tractor for the farm, it's a weekend hobby farm of about 300 acres with 80 head of beef cattle, most of the farm is cleared gently rolling hills but with 40 acres of quality river flats mostly under lucerne for bailing (but all of the hay work is outsourced to a local contractor).

At the moment there are three tractors on the shortlist.

Case IH maxxfarm 60
Pros: Cheapest, good FEL specs, very nice work area, well optioned, cat 2 TPL, 3 speed PTO (540, 750, 1000), 16x16 gearbox.
Cons: New on the market so hard to gauge reliability, indian assembled, smaller (but turbo) engine.

Iseki TG5570
Pros: Japanese assembled, reasonably good reputation, power shuttle.
Cons: $1k more than the case, lightest tractor (worried about how solid it is), only 12x12 gearbox and 2 speed PTO.

Yanmar EF685
Pros: Japanese assembled (I think), biggest engine (3.3L), 20x20 gearbox with power shuttle, highest rated TPL (2200kg vs Case 1750 and Iseki 1780).
Cons: Salesman made my skin crawl, $6k more than Case, nearest dealer further from farm. I found the controls a bit more confusing.

Anyone got any opinions, thoughts, other options or suggestions on how to decide?

Thanks!
-Adam

 

[JoeinTX]

Hey, gem

Not in OZ by a longshot but thought I'd chime in. Iseki and Yanmar are primarily "grey market" brands here without much in the way of dealer network or support. Don't know that situation down south but this would be a concern for me.

The CIH looks good (searched online, don't market them here to my knowledge) but based upon built-in support and price as you report above I'd have to go with it.

 

[hotgemini]

Just an update on this...

A few too many negative reports regarding the maxxfarm for it to be coincidence, a willingness to negotiate on the part of the iseki dealer and an unwillingness to negotiate on the part of the yanmar dealer means that the end result is the iseki arrives around the 21st-28th of january.

 

[Storm56]

Best of luck! Iseki has been around for a while and makes solid products!

 

[gilbertmsg]

I know your Iseki will give you good service. My little TU 1700 is 25 years old and runs like a top. Good luck with your new purchase.

Eddie

 

[hotgemini]

After major flooding left the farm isolated for a bit over two weeks delaying delivery and then an overseas holiday, I finally got the tractor out in the field last week.

First impressions of the TG5570
Really nice dimensions for a 'utility' tractor, whilst comfortably seated I can lean sideways enough to see the outside edge of either rear tyre so accurate wheel placement and maneuvering is easy.

Great power for it's size, it feels 25% smaller than the Deutz it replaced but by the specs it only has 3hp less I think. In practice it feels like the iseki has more power, really good torque rise as you load it up regardless of revs. Did some FEL work to restack the bonfire heap and did 80% of it at zero throttle and had no issues.

Really nicely laid out controls. I won't lie, if money had been no object we would have had the Yanmar, but I suspect the father-in-law would have really struggled to understand it's controls (compared to his MF35 which he purchased new in ~1958) whereas the Iseki everything is clear and well laid out, although he is still getting his head around the control for the 4-in-1 bucket on the FEL.

I like the slide out TPL fittings, made hooking up the slasher a real pleasure. Tractor came with sleeves to adapt between cat 1 and cat 2 implements which was nice, although I was a bit disappointed that the rear remotes came without the couplings.

Only things I'd probably like is more implements (don't we all?), probably some wheel weights for doing FEL work and perhaps more storage cubbyholes, currently we've got a cheap plastic toolbox hooked over the back of the seat, something of that style but well integrated really should be factory-fitted.

-Adam.

 

[allenr]

A belated welcome to TBN Adam.

Good to hear you're impressed with your acquisition.

Do Iseki still come with Izuzu engines.?

I had a test drive of an SX65 many years ago - it really impressed with its well laid out and featherlight controls.

I was able to hook up my then airblast sprayer but found it lacking in torque even in comparison to the Ford 5000 it was replacing - really struggled in loose sand and up slight rises.

Coincidentally I ended up buying a Duetz DX 3.70 which I still have.

I assume from the mention of flooding you're either in QLD or VIC?

 

[hotgemini]

The specs call it an iseki engine, can't remember the engine code. Whether in reality it's just a rebadged isuzu (or some other 3rd party motor) I do not know.

In queensland, the brisbane valley to be precise. Farm is about 1km off the river proper and above the dams (so the water was moving fast), but the only road in crosses it by a low timber bridge and a concrete causeway, which were ~19 metres or so underwater. About a dozen farms on the 'wrong' side of that crossing were flooded in for about 2.5 weeks. The river itself is amazing to see, there's huge erosion in some places and then in others there's 500 metre long, 50 metre wide, 20+ metre high sandbanks that have been deposited by the floodwaters.

Took 3 days digging with three tractors with FELs to get down to the river on the 'flooded-in' side, and a bit over a day of digging with a bigger (~125hp) tractor to get down to the river on the 'flooded-out' side.

-Adam.