Specifics on the tractor:
John Deere 5101E Limited
101 engine HP and 82 PTO HP (4.5L Powertech)
MFWD
12F/12R with PowrReverser
553 Loader
Specifics on me:
I've got a lot of seat time on tractors, but am certainly no expert. Most of my experience is with my 1974 Ford 3000 and a mid 90's Ford 7740. I have some limited time with a small (read too small, but I can't recall the model #) JD. I have quite a bit of time on a backhoe as well. Most of my use is cutting grass, moving round bales of hay, seeding pastures (disc harrow, spreader, seeder/aerator, etc.), and maintaining about 1500' of gravel drive. Again, I don't claim to be an expert by any means, so this is just an opinion of a semi-knowledgable land owner on his first new tractor.
I bought the tractor last week. We were looking for something with a cab, MFWD, and loader in the 75 HP range. We were looking at the 5083 which is basically the same tractor with 83 engine HP. The dealer had this one (5101) in stock used with just 100.7 hours (I posted 200 hours in another post, I was mistaken, it wass 100) and only two months old. We talked the dealer down some and felt like this tractor was the better deal. We wanted the extra HP as I intend to purchase a larger mower, possibly batwing, in the future. I am using the tractor on my 110 acres. Of which about 25 acres are pasture. At the moment, I have an old Fred Cain 5' rotary, a John Deere 25A flail (used most often), 5' box blade, 6' disc harrow, boom, and a few others that rarely get used.
First week impressions:
Very, very comfortable cab. Keep in mind this is my first cab tractor, so likely any cab would be comfortable, but the AC is very cold, the seat has plenty of travel and, when adjusted correctly, absorbs the feral hog damage to the fields quite well.
One of the best features of the machine is the economy setting on the PTO. Most of my work will not require the full 82 HP of the PTO, so the economy setting is perfect for most of my applications. In the first 10.7 hours I put on the tractor, most of which were in the economy setting, I averaged 1.4 gallons per hour of fuel usage. I don't know what comparable tractors get, but that was much better than I expected, so I am pleased. For those that don't know, the economy setting allows full 540 PTO rpm at 1700 engine rpm vs. 2400 engine rpm in the standard setting.
Engine power has been excellent, although I haven't really taxed it yet. For my use, I can't imagine ever needing more power out of this machine.
I was a little worried about the 553 loader as my experience with loaders on anything other than a backhoe has been less than favorable. I've gotten so used to a backhoe loader that all others seem way underpowered and practically useless. I have been very pleasantly surprised with this loader, though. So far, only about 2 hours of use on it, but it has proven to be quite capable. With the bale spear attached it lifted a 1600# round bale out of the back of my truck with ease. Even at idle engine speed, it didn't hesitate in the least. Moving dirt, plucking up small brush and trees out of a food plot, it has been excellent. It's not as fast as a backhoe, nor as powerful, but it will serve my needs perfectly.
I have used the MFWD some to make sure I didn't dig any ruts in a wet cotton field, but it probably wasn't necessary. Worked fine, but we'll really review this later when I get in a bind as I'm sure will happen. I have a lot of water on my property, so I will definitely need this soon. My only complaint here is that it can be somewhat finicky to get it to engage. It's very possible that this is operator error, however. I'll have to get used to it.
My only real complaint is that it only has one rear remote. Two more can be added and I will likely do so in the future. Along the same lines, the rockshaft position control lever and the remote lever are way too close together. I'll post a picture of this later. My hand often finds the remote lever when it's looking for the rockshaft lever. Maybe I'll get used to it, but it could have been better thought out. Both of these controls are a little further back than I would have put them as well.
One other positive seems to be the accessibility. All the maintenance items seem quite easy to reach even with the loader attached. Sight glass at the rear for hydraulics, fuel water separator easy to reach, fuel filter and cabin filters are relatively easy, etc.. We'll learn more about this as I service it later (the 100 hour service was performed by the dealer before I took delivery).
All in all, I'm very pleased so far. I'll post some pictures either tonight or tomorrow and I'll update this thread as I put more hours on it. Maybe it will be helpful to some. If anyone has any questions at all, I'll do my best to give an honest answer.