mo1
Platinum Member
Trying to make sure I don’t overlook any 50-70 models in my search. Sold my dk35/ct335 and looking for a larger frame tractor, particularly more clearance in the woods and overall more pulling power, but nothing too big.
Open station or cab. Must have a hydro style reverser, 4x4 and loader optional.
I really got use to the open platform on the ct335, very easy on and off, don’t care much for tractors you sit in vs on.
~25k budget, give or take, obviously used.
Here my list I have going so far. I am Familiar with kubota and kioti as those are the two brands I’ve owned most recently, I really could use a hand with everything else.
kubota m5700 6800 5040 6040 7040
Kioti rx6620 7320
New Holland work master 55 ???
Deere ???
Mahindra ???
Massey ??
Other brands ???
thanks for the help
I think that you are right to look at full sized utility tractors such as the ones you listed as an upgrade from a medium-sized compact if you want a significant improvement in ground clearance and pulling power. If you also want to keep an easy to get on, easy to get off tractor, you will want to stay with an open station tractor. If it is mostly pulling power and ground clearance you are after, the lowest-powered unit in that frame size is going to be what you are looking for as adding more HP without adding size (weight) won't change your ground clearance or pulling power. You will want filled ag tires no matter what you get.
The stated requirement for a hydraulic reverser transmission certainly excludes a lot of machines, which it sounds like would otherwise fit the bill as you otherwise sound like you want a 50-70 HP open station utility tractor and don't care if it is 2WD or MFWD or has a loader. Every major domestic manufacturer and even some of the foreign ones have been making a 50-70 HP open station 2WD utility tractor since the 1950s or 1960s and there are a ton of them out there for way less than $25k. MFWD didn't really show up in much of any quantity until the mid to late 1990s and hydraulic reverser transmissions didn't really become very popular until about that time or a little later.
Generally you will only find hydraulic reverser transmissions on either cabbed or MFWD tractors as they were expensive options and in some cases only available with that setup. Open station 2WD tractors often were not optioned with, and in many cases weren't even available with a hydraulic reverser transmission. You can certainly find open station MFWD tractors with a hydraulic reverser out there for $25k. Deere 5200/5300/5400, 5210/5310, 5220/5320, 5225/5325, and the 2012-up 5045E-5075E models are available with this setup. The 5065M and 5075M were too but you probably won't find one for $25k set up like that. The 5x05, 5x03, 5D, and 2008-2011 5045-5075Es are not available with the hydraulic reverser (PowrReverser.) CaseIH/New Holland currently makes one suitable tractor, the Workmaster 75/Farmall 75C, it's an open station MFWD unit with a hydraulic reverser but costs far more than $25k. (The 55 and 65 are cab-only.) I think some of the older ones may have had one too but I am not as familiar with them as I am the Deeres. Kubota made units set up this way as you have noted above, but the newer ones are well over $25k. You probably won't be able to get a new unit for $25k, but you should be able to get a lightly used 50-60 HP unit for that money from Kubota, CaseIH/New Holland, or Deere.
I will give a suggestion that you may want to consider not getting a hydraulic reverser transmission. I have used hydraulic reverser transmissions with conventional synchronized gears, hydraulic reverser transmissions with electronically-powershifted gears, mechanical reverser transmissions (the ones where there is a forward/reverse lever on the dash but you have to completely stop to change direction), and conventional "reverse-is-on-the-gearshift" transmissions. I personally prefer transmissions with a dry clutch as there is no clutch feel with a wet clutch pack, the "clutch pedal" is simply a switch to tell the computer to engage/disengage the clutch pack. Your ability to feather the clutch is only as good as the computer's ability to tell you want to feather the clutch and the computer's ability to feather the clutch. Often you end up with the computer doing little better than just completely dumping the clutch. All of the units with a hydraulic reverser have a wet clutch pack for the reverser, so if you want a dry clutch, it has to be a conventional gear transmission (e.g. Deere's SyncShuttle/TSS transmission) or a mechanical reverser (such as what the New Holland Workmaster 50/60/70 or CaseIH Farmall 50A/60A/70A have.)
Also note that you can get a brand new 50 HP 2WD open station utility tractor with a regular synchronized gear transmission for well under $25k. The local Deere dealer has a running offer of a 50 HP 2WD open station 5045E with the regular synchronized gear transmission for $18k. You could probably get the MFWD version for pretty close to $25k. The MFWD unit will have a little more pulling power due to the MFWD and the extra weight it has but the 2WD unit will have a few more inches of ground clearance and a much better turning radius in this size of machine. You will find a massive increase in pulling power over your current machine even with a 2WD utility tractor, particularly if your current tractor doesn't have filled ag tires.