Comparison Whats the best non turbo 40Hp tractor for small farming?

[hornett22]

Having trouble finding a dealer, looks like some of the tractor dealers will sell the Kioti tractor, but dont seem to have much more than that. The closest one I found was Thompson Tractor Company Since 1994 | Sales & Repair

Not sure where you are. Larry Stovesand in nashville tn delivers about everywhere

 

[mo1]

I am fixing up my JD 790 with FEL and Backhoe for future replacement, and either sell or trade in if I get what its worth on the market, and would look for at least a 40 Hp tractor, non turbo, Gear driven, and with dealer support.

What is the best one out there for a reasonable price, something in the price range of what it would take to replace my truck, I would not be prone to buy, if it goes beyond a 2022 4 door Tacoma.

Very few new tractors are naturally aspirated. Deere makes the 4044M/4044R which are naturally aspirated 44 HP MFWD tractors and available with a gear (hydraulic reverser) transmission. I believe that is their most powerful tractor they sell without a turbocharger. Kubota used to make the MX4800, which was as well, but its replacement, the MX5000, is turbocharged. Anything larger or more powerful that is naturally aspirated would need to be a Tier 2 or older unit as most engines became turbocharged with the Tier 2 -> Tier 3 (75+ HP) or Tier 2 -> Tier 4 (26-74 HP) emissions mandates.

I would not be afraid of a turbocharger. They have been on diesel engines for decades and are overall quite reliable. The turbochargers on the tractors of the size you are looking at are extremely simple devices with only one or two moving parts. If you are worried about a turbocharger giving you problems, definitely do not get a Tier 4 tractor with the particulate filter, and also you might want to skip the MFWD as the front axle drivetrain has a lot more moving parts than a turbocharger does, and they break and leak with far more frequency than a turbo does.

I am not as familiar with blue/red or orange tractors, but any of the Deere 5000 units with the naturally aspirated 2.9 three or 4.5 four and the TSS/SyncShuttle or unsynchronized Collar Shift transmission should be right up your alley- 5200, 5300, 5210, 5410, 5220, 5420, 5103, 5203, 5045D, 5055D. If you are game for an older tractor than the early 1990s, few utility tractors of the '70s and '80s were turbocharged and almost nothing before then was.

 

[CADplans]

I would not be afraid of a turbocharger.
They have been on diesel engines for decades and are overall quite reliable. The turbochargers on the tractors of the size you are looking at are extremely simple devices with only one or two moving parts.
If you are game for an older tractor than the early 1990s, few utility tractors of the '70s and '80s were turbocharged and almost nothing before then was.

I vowed to never have a turbo,, then I found a VERY abused 3 year old JD 4105 at a dealer.
YES, it has a turbo,, but, I think my turbo is proof of reliability.
In 3 years, the PO put about 1,800 hours on the tractor,,
The dealer did sell it to me for "A SONG",,, so I had to buy it..

The first thing I did was spend over 2 hours washing manure off of the tractor.

In five years of use, mostly mowing, and other "yard work" type chores, I have put about 200 more hours on it.

The tractor still runs perfect.

This tractor weighs about 4,000 pounds,,

the ONLY way I even believe there is a turbo,,
is that there is no way a 1.5 liter diesel could pull this machine and mower without the turbo.

I mow a LOT of hills,, that is proof (to me) of the power.

 

[rScotty]

Having trouble finding a dealer, looks like some of the tractor dealers will sell the Kioti tractor, but dont seem to have much more than that. The closest one I found was Thompson Tractor Company Since 1994 | Sales & Repair

OK I went to that Thompson Tractor Company site and liked it. What tractor do they recommend? Have you asked?

That TTC dealer seems to have figured out that a lot of people buy new because they don't want to wrench on their tractor themselves.
It is sure nice to see such emphasis on service and repair. Years ago I owned a motorcycle dealership with a repair shop, and I can tell you for sure that it costs much more time, effort, and money to build a decent service facility compared to just selling new machines.

As for your special requirements, it's nice to see that you have a list of what you want. I'm curious, do you consider the power shift or shuttle shift to be gear type? I would; similar reliability. BTW, that goes for turbos too, in my opinion. Turbo systems are extremely reliable. Far more reliable than the Tier IV emissions systems and computer electronic injection that you can't avoid on accepting on any new 40 hp tractor.
We've probably had a dozen tractors over the last 50 years. Some turbo & some not

It it were me - and it's not - it wouldn't make sense to accept new troublesome systems and not acccept the older proven ones. But that's why I ask.
Thanks for listening,
rScotty

 

[ptsg]

Branson 4215 - 42 HP 4 cylinder naturally aspired 2 liter Kukje/Cummins engine. Good old mechanically injected engine, no ECU to worry about. A tractor that the owner can actually fix himself if needed. Yes it does have a DPF and a Datalogger, but being a mechanically injected engine, it's easy to "fix" if it actually becomes an issue.

I wouldn't worry about a turbo either. Here in Europe, turbos are literally everywhere, cars, trucks, machines, etc, and it's very rare to hear about turbo failures, unless it has been tampered with, like remaps and so on.

 

[Reddogs]

I vowed to never have a turbo,, then I found a VERY abused 3 year old JD 4105 at a dealer.
YES, it has a turbo,, but, I think my turbo is proof of reliability.
In 3 years, the PO put about 1,800 hours on the tractor,,
The dealer did sell it to me for "A SONG",,, so I had to buy it..

The first thing I did was spend over 2 hours washing manure off of the tractor.

In five years of use, mostly mowing, and other "yard work" type chores, I have put about 200 more hours on it.

The tractor still runs perfect.

This tractor weighs about 4,000 pounds,,

the ONLY way I even believe there is a turbo,,
is that there is no way a 1.5 liter diesel could pull this machine and mower without the turbo.

I mow a LOT of hills,, that is proof (to me) of the power.

The issue is that a Turbo on a Diesel adds another level of complexity to deal with. I remember all the things I had to remember and do on my Datsun 280ZX Turbo to keep from burning it up, and I would not go through that again..

 

[mo1]

The issue is that a Turbo on a Diesel adds another level of complexity to deal with. I remember all the things I had to remember and do on my Datsun 280ZX Turbo to keep from burning it up, and I would not go through that again..

A turbocharged gasoline engine is a much different animal than a turbocharged diesel, and if it's not a direct injected engine, much more finicky animal than a turbocharged diesel. Gasoline engines are quite sensitive to air-fuel ratios and also any non-direct-injected gasoline engine can easily suffer from detonation if ignition timing, cam timing, cam duration, temperature, and boost are not closely controlled. Diesels are quite insensitive to air-fuel ratios (particular lean ratios) and combustion conditions causing detonation in a gasoline engine are required for a diesel to operate.

This is why turbocharged gasoline engines were rare until the wide-scale commercial development of gasoline direct injection, while nearly all on-road and many off-road diesel engines have been turbocharged for decades.

 

[Reddogs]

A turbocharged gasoline engine is a much different animal than a turbocharged diesel, and if it's not a direct injected engine, much more finicky animal than a turbocharged diesel. Gasoline engines are quite sensitive to air-fuel ratios and also any non-direct-injected gasoline engine can easily suffer from detonation if ignition timing, cam timing, cam duration, temperature, and boost are not closely controlled. Diesels are quite insensitive to air-fuel ratios (particular lean ratios) and combustion conditions causing detonation in a gasoline engine are required for a diesel to operate.

This is why turbocharged gasoline engines were rare until the wide-scale commercial development of gasoline direct injection, while nearly all on-road and many off-road diesel engines have been turbocharged for decades.

Well, I could fix my 280ZX non turbo without much issue or take it to the dealer if I couldnt figure it out. But the 280ZX Turbo was a different 'animal' as you say, it began having mind numbing issues when the turbo would kick in or not, during acceleration, that even the dealer couldnt deal with, and had no answer. I like things that I can take apart and fix myself, and turbo even in diesel can get tricky and then expensive to deal with, so I go by the rule of thumb on that one, 'once bitten, twice shy'...

 

[DK35vince]

Wouldn't concern me to buy a diesel tractor with a turbo.
Been running turbo diesels trucks/equipment nearly every day for decades (probably tens of thousands of hours over the years)
Rarely see a turbo failure

 

[4570Man]

I currently have 5 pieces of equipment with turbos. The closest thing to a turbo problem I’ve had is a coolant leak that wasn’t even directly on the turbo. There’s literally millions of turbos out there and they’re reliable.

 

[finn1]

I wouldn’t base judgment on turbo Diesel engines on experience with a forty year old gasoline sports car.

Of the same animal at all.

 

[plastikosmd]

I understand

I went nonturbo also back in the day. I don’t know if my avoidance made good sense at the time but it has worked out.

There were 4 models of the 3 series Deere that I had settled on. I can’t remember one but the others were 3320/3520/3720
The 3320 had a bit bigger if a motor and nonturbo. The other 3 shared a motor but had different turbos 3520/3720 and ??. iirc

I went with the slightly bigger motor sans turbo (I was on a bit of a cubic inch kick at the time after bumping my f250 460 up to a 557ci motor!)

very happy but not sure it mattered

 

[5030]

40 horses naturally aspirated = pretty small farming.

 

[LittleBittyBigJohn]

RE: Turbo

I'm also in the don't worry about it group. We have a turbo VW Jetta. No problems at all. Technology has come a long way since the late 70's

 

[Reddogs]

I currently have 5 pieces of equipment with turbos. The closest thing to a turbo problem I’ve had is a coolant leak that wasn’t even directly on the turbo. There’s literally millions of turbos out there and they’re reliable.

Hmm, will talk to my tractor guy, and see what he thinks, especially on reliability and durability as I am use to 'bullet proof' after 20 years on my 790..to say nothing of my Tacoma...

 

[Farmer495]

I'd be more worried about a naturally aspirated computer controlled diesel with emissions than a mechanical pump with turbo.

 

[Hay Dude]

40 horses naturally aspirated = pretty small farming.

Yeah, right ”big farmer”. lol
Give it a break, you’re a tiny farmer.

 

[Reddogs]

I wouldn’t base judgment on turbo Diesel engines on experience with a forty year old gasoline sports car.

Of the same animal at all.

Well, many people say they wont buy a gear tractor for much the same reasons, and you have to admit that having a 'turbo' adds another level of cost and complexity for any brand of tractor, or model.

 

[rScotty]

Well, many people say they wont buy a gear tractor for much the same reasons, and you have to admit that having a 'turbo' adds another level of cost and complexity for any brand of tractor, or model.

Sure it does. I was just thinking that the same goes for power steering. It used to be that power steering on tractors gave no end of problems. And even when it wasn't giving problems power steering tended to whine and leak constantly. But it got figured out and now they are reliable.

 

[Cranblue]

I am fixing up my JD 790 with FEL and Backhoe for future replacement, and either sell or trade in if I get what its worth on the market, and would look for at least a 40 Hp tractor, non turbo, Gear driven, and with dealer support.

What is the best one out there for a reasonable price, something in the price range of what it would take to replace my truck, I would not be prone to buy, if it goes beyond a 2022 4 door Tacoma.

Kubota L4701 has a non turbo 4 cylinder engine that’s rated 45 hp. Tractor is a work horse for its size 38 at Pto with HST transmission. Will handle 6ft implements with ease with QH on 3pt you can get Cat II implements. You will obviously half to figure out the size implements you will use and what Pto and FEL capabilities you will need ????