Buying Advice Kubota vs JD...newbie with 80 acres

[terryknight]

the mx5100 rides on larger tires than the rest and is physically larger than both your friends kubota and the LS, the massey is slightly longer and slightly more narrow. the mx weighs less than your cabbed tractor and slightly more than the LS or a non cabbed Massey. but your are correct the mx is very close to compact size

 

[wmonroe]

The mx5100 is essentially the same as my 5240 with fewer bells and whistles. I looked very closely at them when I bought but ended up going with the extra options, the tires are the same size, the grand L weighs a little more and has better 3 point lift.

 

[TSO]

the mx5100 rides on larger tires than the rest and is physically larger than both your friends kubota and the LS, the massey is slightly longer and slightly more narrow. the mx weighs less than your cabbed tractor and slightly more than the LS or a non cabbed Massey. but your are correct the mx is very close to compact size

Industrial tire size is the same as my LS: R=17.5Lx24 , F=12x16.5... my Massey has 14.9x24 rears (actually about an inch taller than the 17.5L's) and slightly smaller fronts @ 10x16.5.

Published weight for mx5100 4x4 is 3770... looks like that is for a gear model, but that is almost identical to the LS and the Massey. Be careful on the numbers you post for the width, as they are published differently for different measurements ... for example, the width they give usually means the outside tire width:, but I could be with industrial or R1 tires, which will b a different number... and it also include the adjustable rim width characteristics as well.

The hydraulic output to the implements is:

MX5100: 9.5 GPM
R4047: 8.2 GPM
MF 1648: 11.8 GPM

The 3pt lift of the MX5100 (2310 @ 24") is also almost 800lbs less than the Massey 1648.

.....

I'm not pointing all of this out to say one is better than the other, I'm just trying to show that the MX is as much a compact tractor as all the others that are listed. Top of the compact class, but still a compact.

 

[bdog]

I think you are looking way too small. I mess with 20 acres and wish my 95hp was bigger. What seems like fun at first quickly becomes tedious. Especially if you are going to do any tillage you are going to want a bigger tractor as 40 acres will take a long time to cover 6' at a time.

Just yesterday I plowed up about five acres with a moldboard. I was only covering six foot or so per pass and was moving slow and it seemed like it took an eternity. Small implements in many cases don't work that good. Little discs for example don't seem to do near the job that big ones do. I would look at an older ag tractor something like a 4440 for example. It will cost about the same or less than what you are looking at and will be a lot more capable.

Many will probably disagree with me but based on my experience with tractors over the past ten years or so I think bigger is better unless you have a bunch of trees to manuever around or something like that.

 

[arlen4720]

Are you wanting hydrostatic or gear transmission? For 40-80 acres, I would think you would want to go larger than the MX5100 size tractor. The only reason I would stay in a tractor that size is if you want to keep the HST trans. In that case, I would recommend getting the highest horsepower HST available.... which would put you up in the Kubota 5740, or Mahindra 6010 range... I believe those are the two highest horsepower hydrostats available.If you can live without HST, then your options will increase dramatically.

At 66 engine horsepower and 58+ at the PTO, the John Deere 4720 has them both beat.

 

[terryknight]

i will concede it is a large compact. the loader is very comparable to the 1648 in weight and height and to the 4047 in weight.

looking over my notes the 1648 lifts more at the ends on the 3PH than the massey utility 2615, 3483 vs 3195

 

[TSO]

At 66 engine horsepower and 58+ at the PTO, the John Deere 4720 has them both beat.

Is that a hydrostat? I've never seen an HST with only a 12% HP loss. Usually closer to 20%

 

[trook]

I'm in the process of buying my 3rd tractor in 6 years. Trust me.....buy the largest cab 4x4 you can afford....and get it over with!

 

[mdjohn1427]

I'm in the process of buying my 3rd tractor in 6 years. Trust me.....buy the largest cab 4x4 you can afford....and get it over with!

ok...I've decided to set a budget of 33K. What then?

 

[mfridenmaker]

MDJOHN, I have a Kubota L4600, I have 150 hours on it and have been very happy with it. I have 140 acres with 40 of that being hay/fields and the rest being woodlands. At times I wish I had gotten the MX5100 or maybe even bigger like the M5640, but for my use, the L4600 is a great choice. It is a good trade off between power and size. It is more nimble in the woods and on trails than bigger tractors, but obviously this means not as heavy and powerful which means slower in the field. If you will not use your tractor in the woods and will only be using it in the field, by all means bigger is always better. If you plan on using the tractor in both arenas, then it muddies the water up a little. For bush hogging, either the L4600 or the MX5100 will do well with your acreage with the MX5100 having the slight edge on HP. For minor tillage like for game crops or large gardens, either one would do well with the MX5100 being heavier and pulling a little better. If you're working the dirt in all 40 acres, the L4600 and MX5100 aren't big enough to be an efficient use of your time and you should take other's advice and go bigger. I can't speak much for haying, but it is my experience this would be at the upper level of what these 2 tractors can do with the obvious edge to the MX5100 based on size, weight, and PTO HP.

Take this for what it's worth, the L4600 was my first tractor because I am a newbie as well. There are a lot of people on this forum that have forgotten more about tractors than I could ever hope to know. I went Kubota over JD based on reviews, recommendations of some good friends, as well as the deals Kubota was and JD WASN'T making. Comparable tractors for me 2 years ago were $4,000+ more for the JD plus Kubota had (and still has) 0% financing. Obviously, both brands are great and you would be getting a great tractor whichever one you choose. If you would like more information on the L4600 or the MX5100, private message me and I would be happy to share what I know.

Good luck.