Is 4WD necessary?

[powerpace]

Tractors primarily were used for mainly farm work. Not tinkering with five or ten acres. Serious farm work. I grew up on Farms, Ranches and Dairys. Eight-hundred acres of row crops and orchards requires many different sizes of rolling stock. Crawler for clearing land, loaders for stacking produce totes on trucks, 2wd Tricycle for cultivatiing row crops on more or less level ground. 4wd for harvest time in wet fields and orchards or otherwise low traction areas. Maintaining gravel roads and pads requires 4wd. 4wd drive for all high traction needs like ground breaking and preparation.
My landscape business required 4wd as well my 10 acres currently owned. Hills and slick clay are not friendly to 2wd. I have been to several fatalities and injuries causes by loss of rear wheel traction with a FEL while on slopes and even on a gravel road. No brakes on the front you know. Dropping the loaded FEl can't be fast enough sometimes.
Get a 4WD. General all round use requires it. Using a tiller is much easier with 4wd.

 

[Cubbison]

I own an 1816HST and use it on 10 acres with a variation of terrain and 4WD is what makes it unstoppable on hillsides, creek bottoms, and pulling trees. However you're looking at larger tractors and depending on it's intended job it may not be nescessary, but if the difference in price is minimal I would go for the 4WD...It is the total package...I figure it'd be mighty tough trying to unstick a big heavy tractor and diminish confidence in your equipment...I couldn't do half of what I do without 4WD.

 

[cartod]

I try to stay in 2wd as much as possible because I am cheap or maybe Im afraid it will wear out..... Every time I take my tractor out, I end up using 4wd. Whether its for FEL use going down hill or muddy conditions, or having to back up a hill, or needing to push into that pile of dirt twice as hard, or.............you get the point.

 

[DavesTractor]

The 2wd Mahindra utility tractors are far heavier than the average tractor for it's HP. So with loaded rear tires, they do a fine job on relatively flat ground. Better than you would expect. On a lighter tractor with a loader, 4wd is nearly a must. But as the tractor gets heavier, you will find a 2wd still does a fine job. Having said that, the ability to flip a lever and go into 4wd would be on my list of important things to have.

If the PTO HP isn't critical, go with a 4025-4wd. Heavy, simple, strong, 41HP. If a higher HP fairly simple compact tractor works for you, the 5010 is a bargain. As far as a premium large frame compact, it is hard to beat the 5035, but the features come at a price. But hey, it's only money....

In our area, we have a lot of orchards. We never run the tractors in the orchards when the "floors' are wet. It just makes a mess that you have to fix. A 2wd works fine in these applications for mowing, spraying, harvesting, etc. If the principal use of the tractor is loader work and pushing brush and such, 4wd gets the nod.

 

[xlr82v2]

I agree with Dave above...

I've got a Mahindra 3525 2WD with FEL, and I have very little trouble doing all I need to do with it. My ground is flat in parts, quite hilly in others. I loaded the rears on mine with beet juice, and I have no trouble at all pulling up to a pile of rock or dirt and filling the bucket full with nothing on the back of the tractor. If I do find that I need a bit more traction, I'll put the box blade or the bushhog on the back, and go to work. In 6 years of ownership, I can only recall 3 or 4 projects or situations where I really wished I had 4WD... but I still got the job done with 2WD on all of them.

If you notice, most all the people pushing that 4WD is a MUST HAVE own smaller, "light weight for their horsepower" Compact Utility tractors that have a really difficult time putting the power to the ground... and I agree, for tractors like that, 4WD is a must have... they are literally helpless without it, especially with the big floaty R4 tires that are so en vogue. But when you climb out of the Compact Utility category, and up into the regular Utility category, the rules change a bit. Utility tractors (such as my 3525 or the 5525 (I think it was) that you were looking at) are MUCH heavier built, and have much greater traction than the lightweight CUT's. Obviously, a 4wd version of the same 2wd tractor will be more capable, but is spending the extra $7000 to buy extra capability that you won't really use a wise decision?

I'm planning on keeping my 2wd 3525 for quite a while... 4wd would be nice to have every once in a while, but I certainly don't NEED it.

 

[chin]

Chains on a 2x2 work wonders in snow but you may have to brake steer some times. Nice place.

2x2? Like a bike or something huh. Lol
Anyway, you don't need four wheel drive to run a loader. Some of the older case 580 backhoes came as 2 wheel drive models and worked great.

 

[GBOUTDOORS]

No 4wd is not necessary but as stated is nice to have and a must for sub comp units like mine. As a teenager many years ago I dug a foundation with my neighbor using a bulldozer. After a lot of work we had it done and someone came by and told us you can't dig a foundation hole with a dozer so we filled it in and rented an excavated to get the job done right. Us what you have or can afford. But have fun doing it.

 

[GBOUTDOORS]

No 4wd is not necessary but as stated is nice to have and a must for sub comp units like mine. As a teenager many years ago I dug a foundation with my neighbor using a bulldozer. After a lot of work we had it done and someone came by and told us you can't dig a foundation hole with a dozer so we filled it in and rented an excavated to get the job done right. Use what you have or can afford. But have fun doing it.

 

[cowsmowmygrass]

With my 6500 4wd, I was able to dig out my pond during the drought getting ready for the next rain. The 4wd was absolutely necessary to back up the grade with a full bucket. I think FEL work benefits from 4wd. Heavy uphill backing, like digging any big hole, will need 4wd.

 

[Jimmy Joe]

If you are keeping for the long term get 4x4, the older I got the less I enjoyed wrestling with putting on chains in the winter. I understand the money saving part but after four or five years you will be looking at the 4x4 and saying I should have bought it, just like me not buying a cab tractor. Good luck on whatever you decide.

JJ