JD 990

[BenA]

I am just curious that there is little to no talk about the JD 990. Is this because it is too small for the farmers, and too big for the compact tractor shoppers? Kind of in no mans land. Just wondering...tried one out this week, and liked it, just as I did the 790. One thing that I liked alot was the wider track, which would make it more stable on hilly property. No big deal...just trying to generate conversation. Seems like it would be a horsey little tractor.

 

[AKfish]

I think it's a great tractor. I looked at that tractor longer than any other JD when I was in the market. If John Deere would slap a syncro into it -- they'd probably sell fewer of the other large CUT's and maybe cut some market share from Kubota and New Holland as well. Now that you can get the 300CX FEL with it only makes it a better small tractor option. My 3 cents.

 

[texastomtom]

I test drove a 990 and loved it..

I wasn't even in the market for a new tractor, but I took mine in to the dealer for a little work and against my wishes he brought out a 990 and left it while I was not around the house.

Well - I thought - what could it hurt to just drive it around.. It was a 990... Dang I thought that was the cats meow... I really had a blast even though the wife was glaring at me shaking her head no NO no NO...

Anyhow,,, I finally got tired of arguing about it and had them bring back my old tractor from the shop and pickup their shinny 990..

I absolutely could not get a new tractor our of my mind and after a month or so of window shopping while no one (wife) was looking I could resist no longer. I did wind up going bigger anyhow as I really am a sucker for all the fancy gadgets on the 4720's... Plus I could get hydro and justify it some to the wife that now she could drive it as the hydro was SO easy to drive.

It was kinda funny - I had let her try to drive my old gear tractor and her first question was ' How do I know when to shift gears once I get it going ' hehehhehe hheh She did not appreciate my laughter over her attempt to drive it like a sports car... Anyhow she almost managed to keep it in a striaght line ( NOT ) just playing driving down the road.

It didn't take long for her to stop and get off. Good thing she didn't run over me as she was basically going in circles ( not intentionally ) and all i could do was roll around on the ground... ahhhhh I hadn't laughed like that in years..

I had hoped she wouldn't even notice the difference in the tractors ( from 990 to 4720 ) i definitely underestimated her. Of course it is a huge difference in tractors but 'she's a girl' and I didn't think she would have looked twice really..

Well I"m gettin long winded about basically nothing, but you said you were trying to generate a discussion so ......

tom

point of all this - 990's rock....
just not as much as 4720's
The 990 would probably have really been a better fit for my place....


One of the big reasons for me was the bigger 4720 is SO much more tractor when it comes to loader work.... ( and everything else really )

 

[creeper]

I love the 990, just couldn't afford it. I used to see more post about it here. I wonder if people that get that high in price, just go a little more and step up to the fancier models ? I love the tractor and think they have plenty of power for what I do.
Go get ya one so we can talk about it. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[Crabgrass]

I really liked the 990 when I was shopping. Lots of power at a great price. And its old-school design has just got to be bedrock-reliable.

My only issue was that it can't take a belly mower. What's interesting is that the 790 can, but I didn't feel comfortable running a 6' bush hog (my other requirement) with the 790.

Anyway I ended up with a 4400 instead. It cost more but I think it was actually a better decision in hind-sight. The hydro tranny lets me mower quicker -- I can speed up on the straight portions and slow down for corners. When you mow with a gear drive you tend to just go slow all the time.

Anyway I think the 990 is a great tractor, as long as you don't want to belly mow.

 

[jrdellaratta]

Here, Here! I always troll for 990 posts and wish I saw more. I do think the unit is in a no-man's land.

But I've even heard of people claiming the model doesn't exist---I had a friend stop by a convenient JD dealer on the way to my place one Saturday to pick up a part. My frined said he needed a part, for my 990. The guy behind the service desk said, "He doesn't have a 990. There's no such thing as a 990." His manager stepped over and corrected him.

Also, I saw a JD coffee table book in Borders last week that claimed to have specs on every single JD ever produced, and neither the 790 or the 990 were featured.

 

[BGL990]

Me Too! I have a 990 and love it. Anything smaller would be too small for me. A little bigger would be OK but couldn't afford something like a 4710. I was drooling over the 4000 Ten series for a while, but now that I have it, the 990's basic, reliable as a rock simplicity really appeals to me.

No regrets at all buying it and I too wish there were more posts about it.

 

[JDNineNinety]

I have a two-wheel drive 990 that I enjoy very much. I do not need or want a loader (although I have the plumbing if I ever wanted one.) I do a lot of hogging and discing of my food plots. Also have a boom pole and set of 3-pt. pallet forks. It does anything I ask of it. Everyone has to suit his tractor to the jobs he will do. My 990 is a 2001 that I picked up used with only 69 hours on it. It had a John Deere MX5
shredder. The entire rig was just like new. I paid $8500 for
the rig. I'm tickled pink with it. Look at my user name!

 

[DPic105]

I am an owner of a 990, 4X4 w/430 loader. I have used it for just about anything that you can imagine, and it has yet to fail me. I think that its an excellent size, and has alot of HP for its size. One of the better points of the 990, is that I can drive on a customers lawn, and not tear it up do to weight, nor is the customer concerned about the size.
On the down side, I really would have liked another loader, maybe a 460? size. I think that the machine could handle it, but I'm not sure about this. I have not had any problems ,at all, and haven't read many probelms from other TBN users about the 990. I have a finish mower, a rotary mower, york rake, and a few other impliments.

 

[tomrscott]

When I got my 790, I really liked the 990, but it was just too much money for me. Heck the used 790 that we got was too much money, but we stretched. The dealer told me that they rarely sell a 990 because most people who have that much budget stretch a bit more and get a 4xxx something. The solution is obvious, JD obviously needs to drop about $3k off of the list price of the 790 and the 990! <grin>

This is stupid, but I REALLY liked the rugged planetary gear box of the 990. The 790 only had a spur gear drive.