Workmaster 55??

[Jwhitehead23]

Newbie here. Last fall I finally bought a tractor. It's a Mahindra 4530. 11 months and 200 hrs later I'm still very happy with the tractor. My only beef with the tractor is the weight. 90% or better of the work I do is somewhere other than the house which means I'm hauling it a lot. I do a lot of brush hogging, I'm using a 7' landpride and it does a great job with it. If I just used it around the house it would be hard to beat, it's a hoss. But tractor, fel, and cutter is pushin 8500lbs and that gets old pullin it all over creation.

I'm lookin at the new holland workmaster 55 4x4 with fel. It comes in at close to a ton lighter which would be nice and it's more hp. I saw it decribed on here as a blue Mahindra which is fine since my only concern with the Mahindra is the weight. Is there a better option or is the wm55 gonna be s good choice?

Thanks

 

[tessiers]

Most people do all sorts of things to add weight to their tractor, I think you should re-consider a lighter tractor. Power with the exception of PTO comes down to the tire to the ground and you will lose traction way before you lose power in almost all tractors. The bush hog should not be a problem but any type of scraper blade will require weight for enough traction under any heavy draft load. If anything drop the loader when mowing. You will drop 1000lbs plus and save a lot of wear on the front end. It also helps with manuverability and visability, I drop at least the bucket every chance I get. This also keeps more weight on the rear tires and any tractor man knows thats where the bread and butter is.

Just my 2 cents, probably only worth a penny.

 

[charleyfarmall]

What size bushhog are you using? Do you need a 50 hp tractor? Do you mind the transmission on the workmaster?

Look in to the Kioti DK45 or 50 HST. Nothing wrong with the NH but I felt like the Kioti's were better tractors and you can't beat an HST for mowing.

 

[deere5105]

Second vote for reconsidering. I traded up on my first tractor to the one I have now due to traction issues. As stated above, most tractors today seem to lose traction before they run out of power. We have a couple of older tractors and I very seldom see them start spinning the tires. My new tractor however will break traction. I went with 4WD on the new one and it makes a world of difference. However, if all you are doing is mowing then you may get by with a lighter tractor and be happy.

 

[Jwhitehead23]

Hey thanks for the feedback I'll take all I can get. I understand the traction issues. The only issues I've had are when I'm skidding logs which I seldom do. If weight is such a big issue why don't other tractor companies make a heavier tractor like Mahindra? I'm not sure I'll make the switch, still have a lot of homework to do. I don't have any issues with the shuttle, if I do make a switch is it worth it to spend the extra for the hydro? Thanks.

 

[tessiers]

Hey thanks for the feedback I'll take all I can get. I understand the traction issues. The only issues I've had are when I'm skidding logs which I seldom do. If weight is such a big issue why don't other tractor companies make a heavier tractor like Mahindra? I'm not sure I'll make the switch, still have a lot of homework to do. I don't have any issues with the shuttle, if I do make a switch is it worth it to spend the extra for the hydro? Thanks.

Simple, weight costs money.

1940's John Deere R 45 hp 7400 lbs

1950's John Deere 70 45 hp 6500lbs

1960's John Deere 620 45 hp 5800lbs

1970's John Deere 1530 45 hp 4500lbs

2000's John Deere 5055 45 hp 4200lbs

See the trend

I can't comment on the hydro, I have never had hydro but we farm with our tractors and the hydro seams to be more popular in the lawncare/construction fields. I go several hours at times never shifting or using the clutch at all, guess hydro doesn't have many advantages for my type of work.

 

[Jwhitehead23]

I understand the cost factor, but all tractors on this horsepower range are made overseas so it just seems like they could do it cheaper. Again my only problem with the weight is that it spends a lot of time on a trailer. Tractor and fel come in at 7300lbs, plus the 7' brush hog.

 

[Elkins45]

Is the added weight really that much of an advantage when mowing other that perhaps weighted tires ? I can see how a 7500lb tractor is at a real advantage for using ground engagement implements but I rarely lose traction when mowing with my 2700lb Kubota.

Plowing? Forget it, it's close to worthless. But for mowing I actually prefer it to my Dad's MF 243 at twice the weight and HP because of the size and maneuverability.