I think you have to look deeper than some of these specs when buying a tractor. Having a 1600 lb tractor with a 1400 lb rear lift capacity doesn't really work. Most manufacturers can easily make their machines do this but know it isn't safe or practical. It looks good to readers who compare specification sheets and have little tractor experience. I would rather have a lift push the hydraulics into relief than to lift up a load too heavy for the machine and operators to safely use.
Of course you should look deeper than just a few select specs, nobody said otherwise. Still, specs are usually where the rubber meets the dirt, and curiously, it's usually the people or companies with lesser specs suggesting that the intangibles are what really matter.
You'd really rather have a machine with so little rear lift that it's running nearly 100% to use implements it can run with available PTO power?
There are bigger names/brands putting out similar products with no claims that they are unsafe. The Mahindra Max 25 only weighs 1,700lbs, but has 1,400lbs or 3pt lift. Probably one of the most referenced tractors around, the Kubota L3800 weighs just under 2,500lbs, and has 2,000lbs of 3pt lift.
An LS or Mahindra lifting 82% of their empty weight is no less safe than an L3800 lifting 80% of its empty weight. I have yet to hear anybody say that an L3800 can lift too much on the 3pt....that's just silly.
You've previously made your feelings about LS and few others pretty clear, and everybody is entitled to their opinions, but trying to skew the discussion to suggest that better specs create a potentially unsafe situation is unecessary. I like green tractors too, but that doesn't change the reality that you get less performance per dollar with many of them in the SCUT, CUT and Utility versions.
Regardless of tractor color, people still need to match their implements, and tasks, to the machine...and ask for help if they're uncertain.
