Decisions decisions decisions

   / Decisions decisions decisions #1  

jmwilson

Bronze Member
Joined
Jan 16, 2011
Messages
86
Location
Camden, AR
Well, I am comparing tractors. At first, I was considering Kubota and New Holland. Now I have added Mahindra and John Deere.

On the Kubota, I have a 1860G with 58 hours on it. For the last three years, it has been in the shop every year. I took it to have it worked on in April, and my wife went on vacation last week. Well, I had to take it back to the shop. I am not really in a hurry, but it takes from three to four weeks to get it back. I got a price for a replacement on a new seat, and it was $208. Out of curiosity, I called the John Deere parts department and got a price for my daughter痴 lawn tractor. It was $78. I have scratched Kubota off my list.

Last weekend my wife and I looked at a Mahindra 8560 4WD Shuttle Cab. Man, that is built like a tank. A customer bought it, had a clutch problem, and they gave him a new one. Sounds like excellent service. Although I could not drive it, I wanted to see how smooth the engine was and how the AC worked. The AC did not work so I drove a new 7060 4WD Cab. It was smooth. I liked it, but the AC quit working. I set in another cab and although the AC worked, I had to hold my hand over the vent to feel if any air was coming out. After five minutes the cab never cooled off. Now the Mahindra is scratched off my list.

The next day I looked at a new John Deere 5083E. The AC would blow my hat off. Wow, what a difference.
More to come


Mike
 
   / Decisions decisions decisions #2  
The new 5083e's are very nice - they have the same cab's as the M's now. You are looking at some very large tractors, what do you plan on doing with it? I wouldn't give up on Mahindra or Kubota yet, haven't heard complaints about the AC in the Mahindra's and there are a lot of happy Kubota customers. Keep your mind open for now :thumbsup:
 
   / Decisions decisions decisions
  • Thread Starter
#3  
Martian, I finally decided on a 5065M open station, but I found out that, according the John Deere site, this tractor does not have the mid mount three SCV connector. I have to move up to a 5075M to get this option. I want to run a grapple and a front mounted hydraulic motor. Yes, the 5083E is way too large a tractor, but it is so much cheaper than the 5075M by about $10,000. Also the 5083 is the smallest hp in the E series that offers a cab.
Are the outside 3 pt hydraulic cylinders worth the extra cost? I know tractors have been using inside hydraulic operated lift arms forever.
Oh, last Saturday I watched a man cutting a large field with a bush hog type cutter, and he was constantly in a cloud of dust.

Mike
 
   / Decisions decisions decisions #4  
No doubt John Deere makes good tractors; have you considered a 4000 Series? Contrary to what some may tell you, you can go too big.

I am in the process of finishing up bush hogging and pushing brush on one of our farms using our L5740 HSTC, M8540 HDC with my son using a cabbed tracked skid loader. The dust and debris were so bad, we could not have done it with open station tractors. We had to clean our screens/filters every couple of hours of debris; glad that did not wind up in my lungs and eyes.

Any make tractor can have problems, we had to replace a blown engine on our John Deere, but still consider them as good machines.
 
   / Decisions decisions decisions #5  
Boy you guys get up early....I guess it takes a while to decide which hat to wear.:D decisions...decisions...
 
   / Decisions decisions decisions #6  
I haven't heard many complaints about chronic hvac problems on cab tractors in general. Most brands I can think of have good cabs today and are comfortable. I don't think I would buy a new 50 hp and up tractor without a cab today. There might be some special circumstances where an open station in needed but I can't think of any. Even clearing and thinning can be accomplished without damaging a cab if you have the right techniques. Long and short of it I recommend getting the cab version for the long term comfort and cleanliness.

As for the size tractor don't have a clue what you need but will say that I would go with my gut and get one that is equipped for your long term needs with the full hydraulics you want. I started buying equipment this way tractors and trucks and have been much more satisfied over the long haul and have less desire to trade up which costs more than getting it right the first time.
 
   / Decisions decisions decisions #7  
I also would not scratch Kabota just because you had trouble with a ridding lawn mower. Kubota tractors have been bullet prof for me since 1984...

It's also hard to understand what you want or need based on your posts here?
 
   / Decisions decisions decisions #8  
Martian, I finally decided on a 5065M open station, but I found out that, according the John Deere site, this tractor does not have the mid mount three SCV connector. I have to move up to a 5075M to get this option. I want to run a grapple and a front mounted hydraulic motor. Yes, the 5083E is way too large a tractor, but it is so much cheaper than the 5075M by about $10,000. Also the 5083 is the smallest hp in the E series that offers a cab.
Are the outside 3 pt hydraulic cylinders worth the extra cost? I know tractors have been using inside hydraulic operated lift arms forever.
Oh, last Saturday I watched a man cutting a large field with a bush hog type cutter, and he was constantly in a cloud of dust.

Mike

That's surprising to me. I would ask your dealer to see if it is available - I have a very hard time believing it's not!

The 5083e is the same size as the 5065M or 5075M, they just have different sized engines in them. You may take TripleR's advice and look at the large CUT's before deciding. Deere uses the same AC unit as in the 5000 series cabs in their smaller models - it's way overkill for the size of the cab, but was cheaper than redesigning the unit.

Do you mean the E-Hitch? I definitely think it's worth the money - and some fender remotes for hooking up 3pt attachments is awesome!
 
   / Decisions decisions decisions #9  
Well it sounds like you may have your mind made up, but may I suggest that you look at a LS tractor before putting out all your hard earned cash on JD. You could save enough to pay the difference in the cost of the cab.
LS has several models that may fit your needs and generally are 20% or more cheaper. Check out the happy owners of LS here on our forum.
 
   / Decisions decisions decisions
  • Thread Starter
#10  
TripleR, I cut a littler over $19,000 worth of billets using a two cord billet trailer and a 2WD ford 6610. At first I tried pulling the trailer with my 4WD pickup, but it could not handle it. I had no trouble pulling the loaded 10,000 to 12,000 trailer with the Ford.
I plan on getting a 1000 gallon water wagon to irrigate the pond levies. I do not think the 4000 series tractor will pull the 9000 pounds up the incline where the billet trailer was pulled from.

Oddball, at 60, my lungs are ate up with asbestos, my right leg needs a knee replacement, so I can sleep for about two hours at a time. The pain!
On the hat, my brother filed a law suit on me over the way my mother wrote her will. Imagine that! We finally settled after a year and a half. Now, we have the land to divide. If this goes to court, it could drag on for two to three years. So…I’ll have plenty of time to change hats (look at tractors).

Mike
 
 
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