Buying Advice 5065E, RX6010, 7040M, MF4608 Options

[slaken]

Started about 6 months ago looking for a tractor to help with my 100 acres on a mountain. Want to clear land, plow the 3/4 mile long driveway, put in fields and maintain land.

I really liked the Kioti RX6010, but the tractor had 35 hours on it and the dealer was selling it as new. I contacted 4 other dealers and none got back to me. If they don't want to sell tractors I can only imagine what happens if I have a problem. Kioti off the list.

I then found the John Deere 5065e and realized it was in my price range. Problem is JD has Tier4 production problems and no dealer knows when they are going to be in. Further, no one knows what the production problems are. JD 'E' series off the list.

Next went to Kubota 7040M, nice machine and it is in stock. Told me the 7060M is $3k more and needs to be idled every 20 hours to 'burn' off carbon emission. Clearly 7060M is off the list. The 7040M dealer wants to charge me tax to deliver to New Hampshire because I am a Mass resident and he doesn't know what the July incentives will be, if any. On the short list.

I really like my Massey dealer and initially rejected the MF4608 because of price. However, as you can see I am moving up the price scale so the 4608 is back in play. More tractor than the 7040M, but the price is the same.

Any thoughts between the MF4608 and the 7040M?

Thank you,
Steve

 

[minner]

I know I have several months late to the game but I was curious how you ended up and why. I am in the exact same situation except almost all the 7040s are gone. Pretty much all 7060s now. I have looked at the 4608 several times now and really like it, but there are few dealers around here with these tractors. There are several Kubota dealers though. I can get 7060 and 4608 within about 500 bucks of each other if I am willing to travel. (Unfortunately my two local kubota dealers won't come down off msrp very much.

I do like the fact the Kubota is lighter for trailering (I mow commercially),it's available with R4s, dealers all over for parts, Kubota insurance (it's awesome), and resale. I don't like the one rear remote std., and 8x8 transmission std. I don't like the regen cycle.
I like the fact the MF has two remotes standard, 12x12 transmission, and better loader visability.
I don't like its resale, dealership network.

 

[slaken]

I ended up going with the 4608. I went with it for a few reasons. First, I never liked the local Kubota dealer who told me repeatedly I needed hydrostatic and I shouldn't buy a 7060. I was warned about how the 7060 meets emission standards. Apparently it needs to burn off the carbon that builds up. This is not a problem if you are running at high RPMs, but if you are just tooling around you will need to stop and do this. With the cost of diesel and my time, I just don't think that is a viable solution. The second Kubota dealer never returned my call for prices despite the fact he said he had a lot of 7040s. I also ended up looking at the 5065e from John Deere and liked that. Two John Deere dealers said they can't get them and are having production problems. I don't want to be someones production problem.

I have put 50 hours on my machine. I have a 6' Bush Hog mower and a grapple. I pulled out 10 inch, blue spruce stumps using the grapple no problem and mowed a field of 6 foot high 'weed's' no problem. The only issue I have had with the machine is the integrated hydraulic control in the cabin was 'sticky'. Of course that is under warranty and is covered. I like the fact that the control was integrated on the FEL. I liked the dealer and was easy to work with. They also worked with me on financing. Ended up getting farm insurance which actually covers structures and the machine - so insurance wasn't a factor. Yes, the two remotes are standard and are nice. The 12x12 is nice and it has some go at high and really creeps nicely in low gear. The machine comes wired for a radio and you can pick up a cheap radio at a box store. Take a picture of the adapter, or I can send you one and they can give you the correct hook up for the stereo. I think it was $12 for the hook up. Pretty nice running the tunes, having the a/c and calling it work!

Good luck and please feel free to ask any other questions.

 

[minner]

I have gotten mixed instructions from kubota dealers on the tierIVs, neither of which have actually seen a regen first hand. One said if your running high rpms like bush hogging you will never know it. The other dealer said the rpms cycle a bit no matter what, which would be a PITA when bush hogging.
I can't see myself asking customers to pay for an extra 20 min because "my tractor had regen" while I was mowing. AND those filters are $3,500.

 

[slaken]

Both Kubota dealers told me if you were brush hogging and had high RPMs you wouldn't notice it. If you were tooling around the field moving things, you may need to pull over and take a 20 minute break. Not willing to 'experiment' to find out.

 

[minner]

Yeah, no doubt about that, seems MF has it figured out. This has me leaning toward the 4608 now. The Kubota dealer I visited yesterday who also sold compact MF (no larger ones) told me they had one or two 4600s in from the HWY Dept with front axle problems. I don't doubt it but #1 he could be slightly bias, #2 both brands have the beveled year design, #3 the HWY department are most likely rougher on equipment.
Have you heard any negatives? All the other MF dealers seem to be excited about the series.

 

[slaken]

Dealer is really excited about the line. I know he has sold some 4608, 4609 and 4610's to people. So far he hasn't said anything bad, but I doubt he would call me with that information.

 

[Dewbie]

Now that you've had the 4608 for a couple of years have you had any problems? I was about to pull the trigger on the 7060HD12 but I'm scared of the dpf filter because we've had nothing but problems out of dpf and def on big trucks. Decided to look around at other brands even though I really like kubota and seen mf doesn't have dpf and they're a little cheaper than kubota. Going Monday to meet with mf dealer.

 

[slaken]

I like the MF because it was TierIV without any extraneous urea, burn-off, etc. I didn't like the fact that I needed to buy urea and then needed to spend about 1 hour of every 20+ burning off.

So far I really like the MF. No problems, it has a ton of power. I'd make the same decision if I were to do it again.

 

[Dewbie]

Thanks. Nice to hear you haven't had any problems. From what I've seen so far MF is the only one that doesn't have dpf on their tractors. Hope it gives you many years of trouble free service