Bushhog, Yes I think the M is good for me as it will be well used and although more expensive it a small difference when amortized over 10 years. I was sorry to read about your poor experience with your 5085E and glad you have found something else that will work for you. Its unfortunate this happens. I have a 5065E and have had a totally positive experience. It has worked hard for many hundreds of hours and other than grease, oil, and filters it has been bullet proof. It has good brakes and has not displayed the soft brake problem that others on the forum have referenced. It is just a wonderful machine. And as a bonus the little guy dynoed out at the PTO at 58 Horsepower, which is way more than Deere advertised. I could not be happier. I can go through hood-tall grass and weeds at 5 mph on Economy PTO with an MX8 (8' wide cutter). I think I will keep this forever as a 2nd purpose tractor. I am not sure if I was just lucky or not but Deere definitely hit a home run on it.