Advice on 35 PTO horse 4wd tractors

[Cargun]

35 PTO horse is the minimum... with most of the tractors I'm looking at right at 35 horse due to $$$ and manueverability concerns. Right now the front runner is the JD 990. I've also looked at the 4x20 series, Kubota L4400 and Grand L series, New Holland TC40A, Montanas, and Farmtracs.

Money no object, I'd get a JD 4520 or Kubota GL5030 GST. I'm not really sold on the hydramatics. Due to price my main contenders are the JD 990 and Kubota L4400. They seem like they'll do everything I need to due, they just lack all the luxury items and fancy transmissions. I'm also impressed with the TC40A, and it's priced between the budget tractors and the full featured ones, so it may be a good compromise. The Montana and Farmtrac were not not any cheaper than the established brands, so I've pretty much eliminated them unless I can be convinced they really are better machines.

I'll be using the tractor to maintain my 29 acres of land on a "mountain" in eastern OK. Loader is a must, and am 99% sure I'll get a root grapple or 4 in 1 bucket as well. I'd like to pull a 6' rotary cutter (or maybe flail mower?) to mow grass on ~10 acres and knock down weeds, brush, and saplings on another 5 acres or so. I plan on doing a lot of moving of downed trees and brush, as well as grading to maintain ponds, digging up rocks, moving boulders (up to around 1000 lbs). Oh, and probably pulling my truck out of the mud or off the rocks once in a while /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

I haven't gotten a quote on the JD 990 yet, but here are the quotes I have received:
Deere 4120 w/400CX $22,500
Kubota L4400 w/loader $19,500
NH TC40A w/16LA $20,500
Farmtrac 545DTC w/loader $19,000
Montana 4540 w/curved boom loader $19,900
Montana 4340 w/loader $22,300

Any feelings about one of these tractors having a design or features that make them particularily suited to the work I'm doing?

 

[SCDolphin]

That is an outstanding price on the JD. My choice would be between the Kubota and JD. If I looked at Kubota I would pick Grand L 4330 or higher so I could get the L854 loader.

Good luck

 

[kossetx]

Cargun, Here's my .02 on this. I just bought a tc40a. It is hard for me to get on my old tractor after having the visibility the sloped hood/loader offers. It has higher lift capacity on the fel than the 4400, the same on the 3pt and is 4 less hp. The joystick is more convenient for me, it has a bigger fuel tank, and it has a 12X12 shuttle. The Kubota is standard gear drive, if I remember right. The TC also has telescoping links on the 3pt, which I liked a lot. Those headlight reall light up the night too. The hood also opens MUCH eisier on the TC. I know this sounds like a NH commercial, but I like mine.

 

[CWP37]

Been trying to make the same decision for the last 6 months now. Here's a few things I've learned...

-JD will be most expensive, but not by a significant amount if you are going to finance.
-Kubota and CNH have more "standard" options (telescoping links, etc.) that you have to pay extra to get with JD.
-If you are looking at the JD990, you might consider a JD5103. Lots more tractor for the same or less money.
-JD 3720 and 4120 are going to be priced close enough that you are basically choosing between frame size.
-CNH will generally be about 5% less for the same HP tractor.
-Everyone loves THEIR brand. If you go with the "Big 3" (JD, Kubota, NH), you can't go wrong.
-The dealer seems to be the deciding factor for most.
-The other brands make great tractors, just not as much history or name recognition.
-It's hard to spend less than $25k by the time you get the tractor and attachments you want/need at the HP you are looking at.
-It's hard to compare brands of tractor because there is rarely an equal to each model in another color. Every model kind of stands alone.

Hope this helps. I'm leaning toward a JD4120 if I can afford it. The Kubota 4330 and NH TC40 are also still in the running.

 

[Oleozz]

Have you checked out the Kioti brand, maybe you don't have any dealers in your area? They make a DK 45 S that is 34 hp at the pto, and also a 55 and 65 series. They have a lot of nice features but my favorite is the lever in the back of the tractor that allows you to raise or lower your three point hitch without crawling back up on the tractor again. They also have a four year warranty.

 

[daTeacha]

I could be wrong here, but Case makes a D40 model which is a lot of machine for the money. The local Case guy kept wanting me to drive it, but it was just way too big for my needs. You don't hear much about it on here. It might be just 2 wheel drive, I don't remember for sure, but check into it and the NH equivalent.

Another thing to consider in addition to something borrowed or blue is something used. A full size (60+ hp) Ag tractor will give you power to spare and quite possibly have enough traction that 4 wd won't be needed. The stuff that's too big for "hobby" use is pretty cheap on the used market. Check the JD site or Ebay to get an idea of prices. I'm not suggesting that you buy from Ebay since there are so many scammers in the tractor section there, but give it a look to see what's around. You might find something close enough to warrant a drive to see it.

 

[Cargun]

Yeah, I do get the feeling the New Holland offers a lot more features for only $1000 more in price over the Kubota. But if I'm going to spend that much I'm really tempted to skip right over the TC40 and get a JD 4120. The main reason I'm not considering the 3720 is the hydro tranny and 300CX loader. If I'm paying that much I want the 400CX loader of the 4120.

I've looked at the JD '03 series, along with the '05's, but I'm really set on 4wd due to the amount of digging I'll be doing with the loader. The 05's were too pricey, I think 25,500 was the quote for a 5105 with 522 loader. And they're larger than I want and I don't think I "need" the horsepower (though I wouldn't complain about having it /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif ). I actually started by looking at the 5205's, but discovered the 4x20 series while at the dealer and decided it fit my needs a lot better. Then the whole shopping experience snowballed from there and now I have no clue what to get!

The main downsides I see to the JD 990 are loader capacity, it has the weakest loader out of all the units I'm looking at (300CX loader); transmission, though the Kubota is set up nearly identical, reverse gear on the Kubota is up by the seat, where the Deere requires reaching down under the steering wheel to back up; Control valves, with only 2 SCV's I'd have to use a diverter or electric pump to run a grapple.

The engine in the 990 seems to be the equal of the Kubota and NH engines, but I do love turbo-diesels, which the 4120 has. I'm thinking the Deere engine on the 990 is more fuel efficent than the indirect injection unit on the Kubota. I can't remember which setup the NH has. All else being equal I prefer the direct injection as it's much more efficient.

And the 990 is the only tractor I have yet to see in person, as the dealer I've visited only has the 790's on the lot.

 

[Cargun]

I haven't looked at the Kioti's yet... anyone know if there's a dealer in the Ft. Smith, Arkansas area?

I've looked at JD 4020's and 3020's, but they seem to run about $10k for a well used tractor with loader. I'm pretty convinced it's worth doubling that to get something new. I have a lot of wheel time behind a 4020, it being our main work tractor at my dad's place.

I've just learned a neighbor is selling his 1957 Allis Chalmers for $700. I'm not sure what model it is... but he says it's about 8' wide, so I assume at least 50-60 horse. I may pick that up so I don't feel so rushed to make a decision this summer.

 

[Bob_Skurka]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Cargun, Here's my .02 on this. I just bought a tc40a. It is hard for me to get on my old tractor after having the visibility the sloped hood/loader offers. . . I know this sounds like a NH commercial, but I like mine. )</font>

Well they say a picture is worth 1000 words so take a look at the photo of these two tractos in my driveway. Both are smaller than are being discussed here, but these are comparable tractors to each other, and htey illustrate the same point that you'd see on larger tractors.

Bear in mind that not all curved arm loaders provide the visibility that Case/New Holland curved arm loaders provide. Montana has some curved arm loaders but they start out well above the hood line and block your forward view.

Also be very careful when comparing specs on tractors. Some brands list their lift capacity at the front loader's PIVOT POINT while others list the capacity at 500mm (about 19" forward) of the pivot point. The honest measurement is the 500mm measurement because you don't carry your load at the pivot point, you carry it in the bucket. If you have a loader that is rated for 1250# at the pivot point, it will not lift 1250# in the bucket, in fact it will only lift about 875# in the bucket. The farther forward of the pivot points you measure the lower the capacity, so some companies inflate their capacity in the eyes of unsuspecting by measuring at the pivot point. There is a 30% DROP in capacity if you measure at the industry standard 500mm forward measurement point. So if you look at a brand that measures at the pivot point, multiply the stated capacity by 0.70 to get a more accurate estimate of how much load you can carry in the bucket.

 

[rogdan]

I have been looking off and on for a year and I have to agree with this summary. The only thing I could add is that Farmtrac is offering 48-60 months 0% interest and it may be the same with Montana if there's a dealer around.