JD 5320 vs M5700 vs TN65

   / JD 5320 vs M5700 vs TN65 #21  
"Normally, when you "upgrade"... you either go from 2-wd to MFWD or go up a sizeable jump in horsepower... "

MFWD, JD's way of describing what everyone else today calls 4WD. I'm not sure of the distinction other then I believe past JD's used hydraulic coupling to engage the front axle. It's kind of like power reverser vs shuttle shift, same thing, just a different spin. It's really more of a power forwarder and power reverser. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif Rat...
 
   / JD 5320 vs M5700 vs TN65 #22  
I think you are right rat. JDs old system was called front wheel assist. I sometimes see it on 4440s and stuff from the 80s at the JD store. Not to often though /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif.

Nick
990 4x4 turf, 272 RFM, 430 loader, 25A flail
 
   / JD 5320 vs M5700 vs TN65 #23  
<font color="blue">( everyone else today calls 4WD ) </font>

Hi Mark,

Actually... not to be technical... but a true 4-WD would have both front and rear tire sizes the same... /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

You mentioned the "hydraulic" FWA on older JD's..., I understand problems, big problems... I was told they don't free wheel too well when something goes wrong in the assembly... they go real cheap at any auction I've attended (like 75 PTO hp cab units for $5k!), maybe JackIL our TBN resident JD engineer can expand on that design... and the exact nature of the problems...
 
   / JD 5320 vs M5700 vs TN65 #24  
MFWD will also get you more tractor. The MFWD tractor will outperform a tractor that is a couple sizes bigger than it with only 2 wd. For loader work MFWD is invaluable. For these smaller tractors you just can't beat an MFWD tractor in my opinion.
 
   / JD 5320 vs M5700 vs TN65 #25  
Richard, 4WD just about killed the old Ford or Massey Skip Loaders that I drove many years ago. They were industrial loaders, but when you dropped the boxscraper on the ground, the traction and forward movement was over. My little tractor would absolutely drag one of those old beasts around although the old ones would still easily outlift my little tractor. I cannot imagine purchasing a tractor without 4WD, in fact, the other day I thought about posing a "what if" scenario here. The question would be, if you had to choose between 4WD on your vehicle or tractor, which would you pick to have it. I would pick my tractor and that's saying a lot because where I live, traveling up through the Sierras requires frequently installing tire chains on 2WD vehicles. We have a cabin up there that we frequent particularly in the winter.

John, thats strange, all the tires would have to be the same size to be technically 4WD, interesting.

Rat...
 
   / JD 5320 vs M5700 vs TN65 #26  
Yup,JM3 is correct. The tractors that are avaialable in 2wd and have a driven front axle added are called by many names such as mfwd,mfd,pfa,pfwa,DT,fwa,hfwa,in Europe quite often the tractors from Austria and Germany will only have an "a" added to the model number to denote that it has a driven front axle. No matter what it is called all of these tractors can be switched in and out of 2wd. But a true 4x4 is always in 4 wheel drive as the larger bend-in-the-middle tractors are.
 
   / JD 5320 vs M5700 vs TN65 #28  
I vote you go try them all out, talk it over the sales folks, see what incentives you can get and test each one for the qualities that appeal to you most. My limited experience in the ag tractors is that they are all quite nice. I use a JD 5500 for an orchard I work at on occasion, its a nice machine but noisy. I have yet to try the newer NH machines, there seem to be very few around. The Kubotas seem to be the all around quietess tractors.
 
   / JD 5320 vs M5700 vs TN65 #29  
As far as 4 wheel drive vs. mechanical front wheel assist/etc., what would you say my Belarus 420 was? It had larger tires in the rear than in the front (like a traditional tractor) but there was no way to engage/disengage the front axle. There was a viscous coupling in the transmission that was supposed to engage the front axle whenever the rear slipped too much. My experience with the system was very good, because in slick, muddy conditions (one time dragging a 12,000 lb. man-lift out of a muddy field) all four wheels (both front, both rear) turned. But still, there was no lever or button for engagement.

My old 75 Ford has the NP 203 full-time four wheel drive transfer case that shifts power back and forth from front to rear depending on slippage, but until it is shifted into "lock" it will not supply both power to front and rear axles simultaneously. I think that is called "all wheel drive" on a lot of cars and suvs equipped similarly, but they can't lock their 4 wheel drive in.

Of course, on the Belarus manufacturers literature (and on many other tractor literature flyers) I see the "4wd" alot more than I see MFWD or MFWA, etc. Maybe 4wd doesn't actually mean 4wd anymore.
 
   / JD 5320 vs M5700 vs TN65 #30  
I'd call your LTZ built tractor a mfd. It was in 2 wd drive most of the time from your description of it. It switched itself in and out of mfd from the sounds of things,without any input from you. Just because you could not control it,does not make it 4wd. The main criteria is always in 4wd.

As you say the word mfd might not be used that much anymore,especially in the tractor world,of CUTs. Do to the fact that it makes it easier for most people to equate them with their SUVs probably from a marketing point of view. Move up to the larger utility sized and above and you'll see mfd used.
 
 
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