Kubota or mahindra

[Cahaba Valley Farm]

It is always easier to spend someone else's money. The gear drive is cheaper and does not lose as much power to the PTO. The MX models are 600 pounds lighter than the M5660.
Note: when I say cheaper, I mean for what you get. The price of the MX6000 and the M5660 are basically the same. The MX is just a much lesser tractor in terms of weight and frame for your money. Learning to use the gear drive is well worth the inconvenience.

I based my statement on what I saw the guy and his son doing. From what I saw in that video he would have been more productive with a hydrostat utility tractor for that type of work. Just my two cents.

 

[LD1]

I personally think the guy in this video

would have been a lot better off with a MX5400/MX6000 HST then that gear drive M5660.

I agree. That type of work is where a hst shines

 

[Torvy]

Hard to say, for sure. At first, inflation may work to their advantage. As long as their note is not a variable rate, the payment will remain constant. The value of the asset will continue to rise (in raw dollar terms) and they could sell if for more than they owe. Prices move up, followed by wages in an inflationary cycle. So, if you have a $500 payment today and a year from now you still have a $500 payment, but your salary has increased 10% due to inflation, you will be better off with the asset....the problem is paying for fuel, food, etc. A little later, things could become dicey as unemployment will eventually follow as people stop buying new things. Much of the devil will be in the details. If you only have a year or so to pay, it would be a good thing. If you just bought something with a note and/or have a longer term or variable rate...things could get dicey. In any market condition, people can be in position to make money or lose money.

 

[5030]

It is always easier to spend someone else's money. The gear drive is cheaper and does not lose as much power to the PTO. The MX models are 600 pounds lighter than the M5660.
Note: when I say cheaper, I mean for what you get. The price of the MX6000 and the M5660 are basically the same. The MX is just a much lesser tractor in terms of weight and frame for your money. Learning to use the gear drive is well worth the inconvenience.

I don't care for the complexity of the HST either. Problem is a tractor with a dry clutch will be a major repair at some point in it's life as dry clutched tractors will always fail (clutch) at some point in their lives and a split to replace that consumable item is ALWAYS expensive.

The BIG issue that I can see is, people don't follow the recommended maintenance intervals plainly stated in their owners manuals or don't even both to read them at all or even worse, pay thousands of dollars for a piece of equipment and then cheap out on consumable items like oil or grease or filters.

Myself, I always use OEM consumables, no exception. The highly paid engineers the manufacturers employ know better than the end user what works and what don't.

People today rely on social media or You Tube video's to maintain their investments, I do neither. I read the owners manuals and follow that. There has to be more false information on YT and social media than anywhere when all the 'real' information you need is right there in the owners manual.

 

[5030]

I agree. That type of work is where a hst shines

I know one thing, those tire suck for dirt work. Any of you ever used a hydraulic shuttle gear drive tractor, I bet not.

 

[sea2summit]

Learning to use the gear drive is well worth the inconvenience.

Well, that and maintaining your man card.

 

[5030]

Well, that and maintaining your man card.

Huh???? At 71, my 'man card' expired years ago and really has nothing to do with the subject anyway. To me, it all has to do with the complexity of the drive system, the parasitic loss of power and the ultimate cost of fixing it when it fails (and it will eventually).

 

[Cahaba Valley Farm]

I know one thing, those tire suck for dirt work. Any of you ever used a hydraulic shuttle gear drive tractor, I bet not.

Gear drive tractors is all I have ever used. The gear drive makes more sense in certain applications like mowing big open fields or pulling plows but the problem is the OEM's are not offering gear drive transmissions that are worth considering most of the time. When the only choice is a unsynchronized gear drive or a hydrostat it becomes clear what the manufacturers are setting the customer up to choose.

 

[5030]

One thing I've noticed and that is, with most used equipment (powered implements and tractors) there is almost always no owners manual included with the unit. I always wonder where it went to in as much as the majority of original owners never bother to read it anyway. Those owners manuals always list recommended maintenance intervals, recommended lubricants and common issues that may arise.

I know that when I sell or trade any equipment, the owners manual or shop manual goes with that equipment plus a log sheet of all maintainence performed as well as all the parts I replaced along with the invoices for those parts. I feel that is just common courtesy toward the next owner. If I bought used (which I don't), I'd expect that documentation to be included and it if was absent, my offered price would reflect that absence.

 

[5030]

When the only choice is a unsynchronized gear drive or a hydrostat it becomes clear what the manufacturers are setting the customer up to choose.

Why I run what I run and have no intention of ever running anything else.