2WD or 4WD??

[mstewart44]

What size tire would you guys recommend for the 2wd 5103 to help not get bogged down and not have to pay for the 4WD?? Don't know if I can swing the extra $$ for the 4WD and the financing incentives are for the 03 series only (0% for 60 months). Payment would probably be too high.

 

[unreconstructed]

This has nothing to do with the 2wd/4wd deal, but I gotta tell you Chip (you will think I am nuts) I live in Midland, haul the 5203 75 miles north to Dawson county to take care of some pasture that lies in my cotton land (I rent the cotton acreage out) and haul the thing down to Menard county--about 200 miles to work on that place--moving rock/grubbing pear/pulling up old fence line/shredding/you name it. Your comment about enjoying the tractor is right on--and it sure beats using a shovel and wheel barrow.

I bet I have moved a good 75 yards of prickly pear with the 5203 and oversize bucket--that would be a killer the way I started out with the wheel barrow.

 

[RobJ]

If I was going to buy a bigger utility tractor I most likely would only buy a 2 wd.

Wow this is a great comment. Smaller lighter tractors need it more that heavier ones.

Only gotten my 2wd stuck twice. Same thing happened, going through a ditch and the BB got hung up on the up side of the ditch. Couldn't raise the 3pt enough. Second was about the same thing but mud caused the BH to get stuck on the hill. Both cases I don't think 4wd would have helped much, maybe yes on the first case, the fronts were on the pavement. Both were easy to recover. I wouldn't mind 4wd because of the power steering.

 

[RollTideRam]

To me 4wd is like insurance. It is better to have it and not need it, than to need it and not have it. How much more does it cost? How many years do you plan to use the tractor? Figure it that way and see what it cost. JC

 

[Greyfields]

If you don't get 4WD you will forever regret it. Always sticking there in the back of your mind will be the thought "I would have been able to get out of this jam if I'd gotten 4WD". If you're dropping that much money on a tractor, I'd say the 4WD is the only serious option.

 

[texasjohn]

On acreage with lots of variety, you ask your tractor to do all sorts of jobs. In my opinion, the more different kinds of tasks a tractor does, the more likely you are to benefit from 4WD. I all depends on how often you want to NOT attempt a task, or require extra thought and effort, or seek assistance because you do not have 4WD. Nobody on this thread has mentioned significant negatives to 4wd, only how to get around not having it. Whenever I put my tractor in 2wd, it isn't 30 minutes before I'm spinning tires doing something and wondering why... then remember and put it back in 4wd and get back to doing real work.

To me, a tractor comes in 4 functional parts
engine/transmission
3ph
FEL
4WD

I consider all parts to be mandatory for the kinds of work people do on smaller acreage typical to TBN members because of the vast diversity of tasks that the tractor is tasked with. Leave any one of these off, and it becomes an unpleasant struggle, if not unsafe, to get things done.. I know... I've owned 2 2wd tractors, no FEL before I understood the usefulness of everything working in four part harmony.

 

[unreconstructed]

And its like CWP37 said, if its what you want, then get it.

 

[CWP37]

All that said, 0% for 60 months is a GREAT deal on an old model 5103. If you get the wider rear tires (I think 16.9") you might be very happy and have a lot of money left over for implements.

Of course, you might end up like me and have a lot of cool implements and be looking for a 4WD 9 months from now.

 

[Grrrr]

We have used 2wd's on the farm for years and we have pretty slopy land. But we have recently started to get 4wd's and they are taking us places we have never been before and should probably never go again

I think that getting 4wd is probably worth it especially if you have any sort of hills as it will help to keep you one the hill.

If it was just mowing on flat land I would go for 2wd because of less tire damage and much tighter turning radius.

 

[Bob_Young]

I guess it depends upon your circumstances, mstewart. Getting unstuck after getting stuck is going to take time, help and another vehicle/tractor. If you've got the time for this, someone to help and another tractor handy then 2WD may be viable. After a few episodes, getting stuck won't be an issue anyway because you'll have learned what you can get away with and what you can't.

But what WILL continue to be an issue is the "work-arounds" you adopt to avoid getting stuck. Taking the long way to a remote field, avoiding a slippery slope, circumventing a soft spot, putting lots of weight on the rears. These all take their toll in terms of time, fuel and/or lost opportunity. If you can afford to do these things over the long term, 2WD should be fine.

But most don't have that luxury. Time is short and, even if we're retired gentlemen farmers, we can find ourselves under the gun due to approaching bad weather, gathering darkness, or the need to be somewhere else. MFWD is on your side when you just need to "Git 'er done".

It's true, 2WD was adequate for farming for decades. It was all the farmers had. But for the acreage, there was more help on farms then and more tractors; help wasn't far away. Now, with huge acreages worked by relatively few people, MFWD can often be a necessity. Help may be a mile or more away.

When new equipment appears on neighboring farms these days, it's seldom 2WD. These are folks that know both 2WD and 4WD, the value of a $, and what's needed to stay productive. When we work by ourselves on our own plot of land it really isn't that much different.
FWIW
Bob