There were a few deal-breaking reasons that made me scratch the JD off my list when I was tractor shopping:
- ROPS doesn't fold (although it is about 7" shorter than the BX, so it would have cleared my garage door opening)
- Fuel tank capacity (this wouldn't matter to me now that I see how infrequently I have to fill up my tank)
- FEL raising and curling times appear to be excuciatingly slow.
Have you looked at the Massey Ferguson MF2310 at all? That's also a comparable machine.
I'm attaching a spreadsheet (had to zip it to post it) with some comparisons of the three models. This was mostly copied from a spreadsheet someone else put together and it has some useful specs. But like most will tell you, don't worry about what tractor is the best, because that all depends on your needs and also on your dealer.
I went to Prizers in South Coventry, PA to look at the Deere. The response I got was, "Oh, those tractors are really expensive..." and was basically dismissed because of being young, I suppose.
The closest MF dealer looked like an abandoned crack house and there was only one new tractor on the lot - just didn't get a good feeling.
I didn't buy my tractor from my closest Kubota dealer, because a certain member of this forum was able to give me a much better price. But I do frequent my local dealer and like the place very much. I especially like that the employees smoke behind the counter (I hate all the anti-smoking stuff) and there are four cats that live inside there and sleep on tractor seats.
