Comparison A Question most of us ask when we're looking to buy a tractor,

[dougmac]

I was faced with that exact problem when I was building a shop. For my project a loader was a must. I had a excavator here for two days doing the initial foundation dig out and driveway cut in. Every other ounce of dirt for the project was moved with my 2WD Yanmar YM2200. I had a good sized weight for ballast. Without the weight, it did not work well. With the weight attached, I had no problem.

I did get stuck a couple of times but each time I was able to get it out using the bucket and never had to tow it out. The terrain was fairly mild. If it would have been rough terrain, I don't know that it would have fared so well.

As others have said, I think that you need to evaluate how you are going to use the tractor before you can make a good choice. I would not automatically dismiss 2WD tractors with loaders as others have suggested. For the job I was doing, I was completely satisfied with my 2WD tractor.

 

[k0ua]

When I lived on flatter land near Willard, Mo, I used a full sized Utility Tractor with 2wd and a Loader and got along well with it. It did a lot of mowing and a pretty fair amount of loader work. Including tearing down one complete hill, and building one heck of a nice shooting berm, and filling in one huge dip in the ground. Of course the the bare tractor was about 4400 lbs and had a loader that probably weighed 1600 lbs and huge loaded tires, not sure how much they weighed but it was a lot. Now here in Branson, a 2wd tractor would be at the bottom of the creek bed and that is where it would stay. It would be totally useless here at times. You would never make it up some of the slopes. It would work on some of the flat areas, but they are few and far between. I think this is why 2wd drive tractors are working for some people and not others.. it just depends on your land and usage. I have had both.. and sum it up this way. 2wd tractor=usefull 2wd with FEL= a heck of a lot more useful, and 4wd tractor with FEL takes the cake.. but if you have flat ground and have a larger 2wd tractor with Loader, have loaded tires/weight and ballast on the back, you can do a lot.

James K0UA

 

[Neat 1500]

JD are running some great deals in Australia ATM (not much use to you i know) you can buy a 35HP 4WD with shuttleshift and FEL Brand New for $20K drive away. if i had a few spare $ i would buy one.

 

[Ilikeurtractor]

I would give up fel. I lived without fel for a long time. I love my fel now that I have it. I wouldn't own another truck ,ATV ,tractor without 4wd. I'm sure others will have a different opinion

I agree. The first time you find yourself backing up a hill in 2wd you'll quickly gain an appreciation for the extra powered axle that has the weight on it. With that said, even at times 4wd can disappoint though and tracks would be nice

 

[GWKID]

I have a YM2210D 4x4 with FEL and 5' box scraper. It's used for road maintainence In So.Cal. sand and uneven terain. Even with water in the back tires 4x4 is mandatory in my situation.