Thinking about a 790

[Kevin_in_VA]

I have 7.5 acres, mostly open but rolling. About an acre of trees. Need to do some Bush hogging, grading, and light loader work (mostly loading horse manure, and snow removal if we get any). I am thinking that a 790 would be sufficient for this. Some things I am concerned with are the dry shoe brakes and the PTO gear drive. Am I being too overly concerned with these items, in light of my expected uses for this tractor? Any other items I should concern myself with? I don't mind gears.

The Deere dealer is very close by and has an excellent reputation for service. Their price with loader & box blade is right too. I already have a rotary mower.

Kevin

 

[Whiskey]

Kevin:

I own 3 acres and mow 5 acres, all is flat land without trees and my 790 does a great job. I also have a 3 bin compost system and the loader will pick up a wet load of the stuff easly.

For the money I don't think you can put your backside in a better "basic" tractor for small farms. Now what is it that you call "rolling" I'm not to sure about how sure footed it would be on hilly land.

The wet brakes and dry brakes have been nagged about on this site for a long time, I'll give you my outtake on it. Wet brakes last longer dry brakes wear out faster. Wet brakes I have to go to the dealer to fix, dry brakes I fix in the yard, oh and by the way.....my brakes are working just fine.

There is one little thing that pissed a couple of us new buyers off and it is the fact that when we shopped the tractor it was explained as a 30hp/25hp pto tractor and it's really a 27hp/24hp pto.

I gave 14,100 for mine with ind. tires / 419 loader / lx5 hog and yes I would buy another one in a heart beat.

Whiskey

 

[RobS]

Kevin, there are several of us out here with 790s. You're land sounds similar to mine. I've had my 790 for about two years now and love it. It has done all I've asked without problem. Not quite sure what your concern with the PTO drive is but I'm running a 5' bush hog quite often and don't have any issues. Dry brakes still work well (~180 hours), same as your car/truck. The only problem I've had is the battery cable corrosion that so many have had.

If you're happy with gears you'll be happy with a 790 /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[mountain_man]

Kevin - Have a 2000 JD 790 with about 300 hours. Original brakes still hold very well. Weight distribution and sensible operation on hills are important with any CUT. I use wheel weights and carry something on the 3pt. Have a 5' Howse Brush Hog and a HD PHD which the tractor handles easily. Only problems have been a small injector pump leak (fixed with a new gasket) and battery corrosion caught early (new connectors and sealed battery). Otherwise regular maintenance. Always starts reliably. My local JD dealer is great about getting parts, however I do all the maintenance/upgrades myself. The tractor is much easier to work on than most cars today. Not quite sure about your concerns with the PTO gear drive (it has a 2 stage clutch if this is what you're looking for). Hope this helps. Here's a "working" picture...

 

[Kevin_in_VA]

I guess my land is not really "rolling" but there is a steady grade toward the outer edges with a slight valley with a creek through the middle. Never had any problem mowing it with my old Belarus 2WD (will cost more to fix than what it is worth).

My concern with the PTO drive is that the 990 and other models use a planetary gear drive and the 790 uses a spur gear. Any inherent weaknesses with this design? From all the comments you guys have given me, there doesn't appear to be any. I was particularly concerned about the ability of the tractor to drive my 5 foot rotary mower, but if it will drive your LX5 it shouldn't be a problem either.

I guess I was overly concerned with the brakes too. I never considered fixing them myself, even though I am quite mechanically capable (I am a retired Navy Machinist Mate Chief Petty Officer).

Have been considering other makes (orange and blue), but don't want to pay more than I have to for a basic tractor. The dealer says $14,000 delivered, wheels filled, with FEL, and 5 foot box blade. Sounds like a good price to me compared with the B7800, and the TC30 for about a grand more each. Plus the dealer is local, which is a BIG plus. What do you think?

Kevin

 

[_RaT_]

Kevin, I drive my neighbors 790 every now and then, it's a powerful little tractor, the HP is fine, whatever it is rated, it works well for the tractor. Don't worry about dry brakes, there are folks with wetbrakes whose brakes don't work nearly as nice as the 790's. The chances of you wearing them out in your lifetime is very small. The biggest drawback to the 790 is I find the tractor very tight fittting for me, well, that and the manual shifting which I find exceptionally slow compared to shuttle or hydro. If you lived closer, I'm sure he would love to sell you his. It has R1's, loader, Bush Hog, a Gannon boxscraper and about 80 hours. Were out here in California though.

He wants to sell primarily because of the manual shifitng.

 

[NIXON]

Sounds like a good price to me compared with the B7800, and the TC30 for about a grand more each. Plus the dealer is local, which is a BIG plus. What do you think?

Kevin )</font>

If you like the dealer and the machine ... By all means do the deal . I'm sure you'll be happy with your choice of both ! John

 

[zuiko]

Might want to check out the 990 too, it is a lot more tractor for not a whole lot more money. I started out looking at the 790 also but then moved to the 990 pretty quickly.

 

[Kevin_in_VA]

Were out here in California

Funny. I'm originally from Southern California. Born in Riverside County, raised in Orange County.

Kevin

 

[mountain_man]

I'm certainly not a gearbox guru, but after looking at the pictures of the 790 vs. 990 rear PTO there doesn't seem to be a whole lot of difference (see attachment - 790 on left, 990 on right). Maybe someone can 'splain the difference...

I agree with Zuiko that the 990 is a more substantial work horse assuming the extra $'s are not a problem. However I prefer the smaller size for manuevability around the stable, and power for me is not an issue (even at 8000' where we lose 25-30% power for normally aspirated engines).