Green, Blue, Orange.

[JATO_RaT]

Just received my John Deere video contrasting the three major manufactuers. John Deere did a very good job of pointing out its strengths. As one who generally thinks Kubota is best, there are certainly some things that John M Deere has the upper hand on. I am considering a Kubota L4610 HST. A comparable tractor would be a 4600 or 4700 JD. Having a mid PTO on all JD's 4000 series tractors is a bonus. Loader lift height, turning radius are big benefits as well. I did notice that JD's loaders look whimpy compared to the Kubota. (NH is hard to tell because of its odd radius arms.) Any thoughts about the loader ability of the 4600 and 4700? Rat...

 

[cowboydoc]

Rat,
If you ever had any question about the ability of a 46 or 4700 loader come spend a day with me. Mine routinely picks up round bales that weight 1500-2000 without a problem. I use it for digging, loading, hauling, you name it my loader has done it. I've said many times how impressed I am with it. Mine has almost four hundred hours now and not one lick of a problem.

 

[dmccarty]

Rat,

I pick up trees with my 4700 and 460 4n1 FEL. And I do mean trees. I have picked up downed trees 12-15 inches in diameter and 20-30 feet long or there abouts. I can't move 'em far for safety reasons and its hard to move something 20-30 feet long in the woods. You quickly look like one of the three stooges trying to get a 2x4 through a door the wrong way..... /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

I routinely pick up logs 24+ inches in diameter that are usually cut 8-10 feet long. No problem. I use the 4n1 FEL mainly in bulldoze mode and in May I made 6-7 good size burn piles by pushing timber slash. The 4n1 even allows me to grab some small stumps and pop them out of the ground. I use the FEL to the point that I'm going to start lubing at every 40 hours or so instead of 50 that the manual specifies. After 45 hours or so I'll start hearing squeeks because the greese is all but gone.

The 4700 and the 460 just flat out works. The FEL is real simple to put on and off if you follow the steps on the FEL. Its just plain easy.

The only "problems" I have had on the tractor and its equipment is one lost nut off the 4n1 controller, a busted bolt on the back hoe, another lost nut off the box blade, and a leak in a quick connect on the power beyond kit. The leak only happens when the backhoe is on the tractor. I'll pick up the part to fix the connecter the next time I'm at the dealer. I had an FEL setup problem when I bought the tractor but the dealer fixed that ASAP. The setup problem was due to a mechanic not doing his job and certainly does not reflect on JD's product. The dealer did what they needed to do to make me happy and in the long run the situation has worked out to my benefit.

I have a bit over 200 hours on the tractor since the end of October and losing/busting a few nuts and a bolt seem reasonable to me given what I'm doing with the equipment. The nut that fell off the 4n1 controller I temporarily fixed with duct tape. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif The bolt that broke on the backhoe was more problematic but I was at the end of the day so it did not keep me from getting anything done. At that point I'm sure I had dug up well over 200 stumps, mainly in the 6 inch range but a fair number where 15-24 inch and 4-6 in the 36 inch size. I can't complain about breaking a 20 cent bolt after all that work..../w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif I bought three bolts and nuts so when I break another bolt all I have to do is open up a tool box. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

For what I have to do, and what the 4700 and the 460 are DOING, JD had a better product. It beat the L4610 in alot of the specs, the price was competitive, and the dealer was The One. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif The 4700 and 460 certainly have exceeded my expectations and I had some pretty high expectations. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

The only problem that I have HEARD that has disturbed me is the guy having the problems with the 4700 HST. I have the PowerReverser so the problem does not appear to be something I worry about and I have certainly lugged the engine down. But I have not had his problem.

Hope this helps...
Dan McCarty

 

[JATO_RaT]

Dan, it does help to the extent that its always good to hear positive reports from people about their tractors. I did not doubt the ability of the loader on the JD 4700, if anything I was fishing for some fraction of a reason why some folks might be disatisfied with it. Thanks for the input. Between you and Richard, theres alot of positive mental attitude. Rat...

 

[dmccarty]

Rat,

"...I was fishing for some fraction of a reason why some folks might be disatisfied with it." said, the Rat Man.

"Hmmmm", said Dan.

Because of all the grease fittings on the 4n1 460 FEL as well as keeping the tractor under a tarp most of the time, I have grease all over the FEL and tractor. The tarps have a habit of getting into a bit of FEL grease and spreading it on the tractor. And eventually it spreads to me! /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

Thats my only disatisfiication with the 460. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif Was that a big enough bite for your fish'n expedition? /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

Later...
Dan WhoIsGoingToTheDealerToday McCarty

 

[dmccarty]

Rat,

For some reason I don't see the post that you made, I assume in this thread. I got the Reply you made to my earlier note but I just don't see the post. I've been looking for it all over and figured it out to be from this thread... Maybe I'm wrong....

Comparing the capacities of the FEL's, especially amoung different brands, I found to be as clear as mud. I never really trusted that the numbers given on the FEL capabilities were apple to apple comparisons...

Having said that, here are some numbers I pulled from Green and Orange brochures and web sites. The lift height, capacity at max height, and breakout force for the JD 460 FEL are 111.9", 2,325 pounds, and 3,863 pounds. From what I could tell only the Kubota LA 852 would work on the L4610 so I was comparing that FEL with the JD 460. The numbers on the LA 852 were 108", 2,470 pounds and 3,055 pounds. For me the most important number is the breakout force.

So the JD looked to be a bit better than the Kubota. But the are certainly very close to each other except in the breakout force. I would be curious as to what measurement the dealer provided and are they for the LA 852 FEL?

The JD FEL cylinders certainly do look small but they do the work so I can't complain. The only concern I have with the FEL cylinders is having the bucket extended down and running into something. I have heard of this bending/breaking FEL parts. But that would be true on any brand.

Later...
Dan


"Rat replied to your post at the site: .
http://www.tractorbynet.com/cgi-bin/compact/showthreaded.pl?Cat=&Board=otherjd&Number=51103

Dan, there was a 460 loader sitting on the lot at my local dealer. Asked about it. He said it was for a 4700 they just sold. I mentioned that the loader arms looked kinda thin and whimpy. He agreed. I know the loader can lift, but those "toothpicks" for arms scare me. He gave me a comparrison sheet that showed the lift capacitys of the 460 VS the loader on the 4610. The 4610 beats it by a decent amount. I'm definitely leaning towards the Kubota 4610 now. The arms on it are quite a bit larger then the 460. Rat..."

 

[JATO_RaT]

Dan, thanks for replying to my post. My local dealer sells both the Deere and Kubotas. Its great having both right there on ther lot. I have come to the conclusion that when the loader is off the tractor, it looks alot smaller. The lift capacity for the LA 851 is greater on the Kubota, albeit not by to much. The larger lift arms and quite a bit bigger torsion tubes makes the Kubota appear more stout. Break out force is an important figure, but lift ability is still the greatest test of a loaders ability. The bucket roll I believe is the same on both loaders. I'm back considering the 4700 for a variety of reasons. I believe my final decision may come down to cost.

P.S. Prior to the L4610 and the JD 4700, I was considering the Kubota L48 TL. Its great but pricey at $30,000. Rat...

 

[dmccarty]

Rat,

I think purchases like tractors are always a price/performance issue. When I was shopping, the price on Blue, Orange and Green was comparable at the dealers I went talked with. So that made it somewhat easy to settle down on which tractor and dealer was the best. The 4700 has a bit more of what I needed, HP, weight, size, etc., than the L4610. But if the price on the 4610 had been less I might have moved more in that direction. But what really sold the 4700 was the dealer. The salesman I had was honest and straight forward. He was helpfull prior to the sale and has been even more so since he made his money. The staff at the dealership are the same way. I just can't say enough good things about them.

I think the JD 4700, the L4610 and the NH45 are all good tractors. Its a question of which one fits ones particular needs the best. Price is a big part of that equation. The dealer is another.

Later...
Dan

 

[JATO_RaT]

Dan, thats pretty much how I feel as well. I would have no problem any of the three sitting in my yard. I like JD's color and the fact that I had a great uncle who worked for John M Deere company back in the early 1900's. My uncle sold MIG welders to JD back when they were still using arc welders and having to employ people to sand off the splatter. When they purchased the MIG units, JD was very impressed by the clean weld they left behind. Rat...

 

[Knight9]

Rat,

<font color=blue>"I would have no problem any of the three sitting in my yard." </font color=blue>

Now 'fess up Rat!!! Surely I'm not the only one who dreams about having one of each color sitting in my yard!! It will never happen....but a guy can dream!!!

Kevin