Thanks to the original poster of this thread. It has made me think about my tractor and an upgrade.
I have a '99 4400 with about 800 hours. Syncreverser Trans, 430 loader, 48BH, 60" commercial MMM, assorted other attachments.
When I heard that the 20 series was coming out, my brain instantly started to think-trade, trade. Kind of like when the 10 series came out.
The first thing that I looked at was the e-powereverser. I only had the synchreverser. Wow, I wanted that. Then I looked at the horsepower-slighly less on the 10 series. Then I asked my dealer, and he kind of winced and said something to the effect that they were having a few troubles with that. Now they have went back to just the powereverser. Are they trying to tell me something?
All of the switches on the right fender. I wanted that, especially the 4X4 switch. Look at it now, back to a lever by the left foot, just like my 4400. Are they trying to tell me something?
Parking brake. On the 10s they went to I believe a lever pull below the dash. I thought that would be neat. Now I see that it is back on the left like my 4400. Are they trying to tell me something?
Tilt wheel. This needed improvement on my tractor. I have had to adjust it a couple of times. I think they probably have this figured out on the 20s, as I believe someone wrote they did not like it on their 10 series.
Engine-My 4400 has a 101 cu. in. (1.6L) direct inject. The comparable 3520 has a 91.5 cu. in. (1.49L) turbo. I will compare this to the Chevy PU line. My brother has a '98 chevy with a 350 cu. in. (5.7L) Vortec. Good heavy built truck with a good motor. Likes its fuel. Then Chevy said they could get more power out of a 327 cu. in. (5.3L) motor with better fuel economy. In the sales book, it said that it had more pull than the 350. What you had to look at was the RPMs. You had to rap them out to get the horses. Nobody puts them in neutral at a stop sign and revs them up to 4500 RPMs and then drops them into drive. So, put the same load behind both trucks and the '98 350 will smoke the newer truck.
The saying "there is no replacement for displacement" has stuck in my head since then. If you ask me, Chevy had it perfected in their '98, screwed it up in '99 and have been trying to get it back since then. My personal opinion. Does this translate into compact diesel tractors? I am not sure. My Dad has a stump grinder that will handle a 150 hp tractor that I put on my 4400. It is the 1st thing that I have attached that will make the tractor work. I would be interested in a comparison between the two. I would be willing to bet the differences would be minimal. Probably not enough to justify the price of the trade.
The loader connection points are a great improvement, the capacities are not significantly different in my opinion. Not enough to make me believe I have to trade.
I had already started to try to talk my Dad into a trade when I first learned of the 20 series. Three of us went together and bought consecutive serial number 4400s. Because it is Dad, I would not trade unless we could do that again. My brother owns a 4600 as well. I thought we could all trade at the same time and cut a deal. All of our tractors are paid off, and that is another good thing. I have found very little to justify the trade price. I would guess that it would take $10K to get it done, BH, options, etc.
Why did I write this? I am not sure-I guess the original post caught my attention, and I was really thinking trade. I am ready for all of the replies, should be interesting reading. Right now, just like Chevy, I will wait until John Deere works back to perfect again.
