5510 or 6210

[Vernon]

I've got about 60 acres of land I hay and about 200 acres of woodlot. I need a new loader tractor for my small beef and forestry opperation. I have the 6300 2wd with the cab and have had great luck with it. I'm trading a 2355 4wd with the 245 loader for my new tractor. What I want in my new tractor is 4wd, a cab, and a loader. I know the 6210 is heavier and has a bigger loader but the 5510 is smaller and more manuverable. I don't know what would be better sized for using my Farmi winch and hauling my Patu log trailer in the woods.
The chance just came up for me to expand my herd and hay land so I'm thinking about getting a 5410 2wd with the cab too. I need it for doing light utility work. I was thinking about the 6110 2wd open station with the canopy, but it would probably be more than I need.
Any help would be great.

 

[Anonymous Poster]

I would trade for a 350 or 450 JD with a winch for a forestry machine. I have a 2640 with a 245 loader and forks, it will log but I would never take a cab tractor into the woods, I just can't see what I am doing from the cab of the 6200 I have used. It is great for haying and bush-hogging in hot weather but limited for logging.

 

[ejb]

Vernon, never driven the 6210, but you might be able to save a little money with the 5510, it is a quite capable machine....I have a 5410, and maintain 175 acres with it (about 30 acres fields, rest woods). I don't hay with it, I bush hog), but I know it has plenty of power to handle square or round balers (and the 5510 has 10 more HP than my 5410). I also do small scale logging, for personal use, with my 5410 4wd, and have never felt like the need for more power lifting or pulling even very big logs. Manuverability in the woods is an important concern as well.

Good luck w/your decision.

 

[Vernon]

ejb, I think you are right about the 5510. It's probably the right tractor for me. I'm thinking about getting the open station with the canopy now,but were I live we have cold winters and I need it to move snow with so I want the cab too. Does your 5410 have the cab on it. If so what do you think. The cab on the 5010 series John Deeres doesn't have a flat floor does it? I think it's got a hump in it. Do you find that a nuisance? or does it not affect you at all?
Any one tried driving one of the M8200 Kubotas. I had a demo here but it seemed like it didn't have the power it should for around a 75 PTO horsepower tractor. The loader didn't seem to have enough strength. I was digging into my gravel pile and it just wouldn't lift from the bottom of the pile. I had to dig around the middle so it would work right.

 

[ejb]

I don't have a cab, and since I don't use my tractor to make a living, but instead sit behind a computer for a good chunk of every day, I enjoy being out in the elements when I am using it. I get cold winters and a lot of snow where I live, and I have a pretty long driveway, but I defintely would not want a cab (like I said if, I drove a tractor for a living I may change my tune fast). I also don't like not being able to hear what is going on outside the tractor (i.e. if I am bush-hogging my fields, I want to hear that I hit a rock as soon as possible).

I agree with you about the larger Kubotas, I know at least a few people on this forum are going to disagree with me strongly (to say the least), and no offense intended to anyone, but for me, I felt like their was no comparison between the larger deeres and the larger Kubotas...the deeres just felt more capable/powerful/heavier/sturdier to me...maybe its just a personal preference, I don't know. I went out to buy a Kubota 5400/6800, and ended up with a Deere 5410...I know others have gone out to buy a Deere 5410 (wen) and came home with a Kubota M6800 instead. Both of us are very happy with our machines.

Good luck with your decision.

 

[Vernon]

ejb, I know someone that had an M8200 just like the one I tried. Before they even bought it oil was coming out of the exhaust and was all over the engine because the dealer didn't take a plug out of a hose or something like that(it was to keep dirt out). This happened just about 10 hours after the got it. Then after that got fixed something else broke and the had to fix the turbo. Then a bolt that keeps the tire from hitting the frame went missing and the tire started to rub and wear the paint off the loader frame. If I had known this before i had my demo I wouldn't even have bothered. The only reason I did have it was because this dealer is closer than the Deere Dealer(the Deere dealer is about 75 minutes away, but I've only heard great things about them.

 

[ejb]

I had similiar situation, Kubota dealer 5 miles away, and really wanted to buy one, but ended up at the Deere place an hour away, partly because I liked the Deere better, but also cause I liked the deere dealer better.

 

[Vernon]

Great news. I called my Deere dealer today and they have both tractors. The 5510 with cab,4wd,and loader and the 6210 with cab,4wd,and loader. I'm going up on monday to check them out.
ejb, is your loader the 540 or the newer 541 mechanicl self leveling one. That's what my dealer has and that's just what I want. If you have either one, what do you think of it? You get more lift height, more lift capacity, and a greater breakout force do you not?

 

[ejb]

I have the 541, self-leveling. But don't be confused, the 541 is not a self-leveling version of the 540, it is an entirely new design. Both the 540 and the 541 are available with or without self-leveling (although I don't think the 540 is made anymore). In particular, the brackets where the loader mounts to the tractor are completed redesigned for the 541...I was talking to a Deere mechanic about the redesign, and he kind of joked that the rest of the guys at the shop was wondering how well those new brakcets were going to hold up. They are more streamlined than the 540 version, and leave less on the tractor if you remove the loader (better visibility)...because they are smaller and thinner, I think he was questioning their ability to hold up in the long haul...I am not particulalry worried about it, but try sitting on one of the machines a picture what would happen to the operator should one of those brackets fail while lifting a heavy load...pretty scarey..again, he offered no evidence whatsoever that there was a problem, just concerned that it was an unproven design.

The self -leveling loaders do give you more lift, but I am not sure why...I wasn't going to get the self-level model, but glad I did...makes it easy to use.

I have no complaints about my 541 self-leveling loader...no matter which one you get, have the dealer weld on a piece of steel (about 4 inches wide, 6 feet long and about 1/2 inch thick along the top of the bucket, and then have him weld on 3 big hooks, hooks pointing back towards the tractor....with those hooks and a few sets of chains, you'd be suprised how handy they are...my dealer threw that in for the asking...and even painted it up nice and shiny green for me.

 

[MChalkley]

ejb - I've had occasions where the self-leveling feature would sure have been nice.

And the hooks are very handy, too - I'll have to second that. When I got my pallet forks, it came with three hooks for the rod to fit in. The hooks are at least as useful as the forks.

Mark