5203

[unreconstructed]

Thought I would add some to the ongoing discussion about the '03 series:

Got another 15 or so hours on my 5203 the past weekend--total of about 30 now. Was moving blow sand that had piled up for the last 15 years or so. I would round up the pile and then go in for a bucket load. The little tractor has plenty of power to get a heaping load. I am now getting so that I don't grind the gears as my mind was still back on that CAT 930 from years ago and was trying to shift on the roll back out of the pile. I also dug a small drainage ditch with the FEL and when I let my front wheels get in the ditch I had trouble getting out--yes I know the 4WD would have been nice. But I don't have ballast at this point and I assume that will help.

Anyhow, I am still happy with the little fella but would certainly want a shuttle shift or something if I was doing commercial work.

I have been reading the posts about the 5225 and think that if I had of wanted to spend the money, that looks to be a pretty versatile machine if I ever upgrade. But, like I said before, the 03 will get er done. My wheelbarrow and shovel are looking pretty jealous these days, but I don't care. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[deerefan]

Used mine this weekend to disc about 4 acres and it sure is nice to have a tractor that can pull the 7ft wide set of discs I own. The 8N used to pull them, but not without some struggle. I spent about 3 hours on the 5103 and am convinced it is perfect for my place (42 acres, 20 in pasture and open land). Well worth the money. I know what you mean about the gear grinding. I learned to make sure the tractor was at a complete stop before shifting. <font color="green"> </font>

 

[unreconstructed]

I got down to my Hill country place for three days and had a ball--its so much different than working in the Texas cotton country. I started digging out a tank, worked on my road a bit and pulled some caliche out of the pit and "wheelbarrowed" a lot of cactus to the burn pile. (I've been doing that with an oversized wheelbarrow) My wife said all she could see was this old buzzard grinning ear to ear buzzing by on the green machine. From a wheelbarrow to a 50 horse tractor, even if it ain't sync'd is quite a move up in the world /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif

Anyhow, I found I can slip it into 3rd just from 2d at low RPM on the move.

Life is good. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[deerefan]

I will say the tractor is easy to use. My wife was making fun of how dirty I let the tractor get this weekend. Then she laughed at me washing it! I left it in the front pasture overnight because I needed to finish discing and she laughed b/c I kept checking on it. I'll tell you this, when the sun was going down on Saturday and it hit that tractor just right with that big set of discs on the back, it brought a tear to my eye! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif My only problem and I think it will be easily solved when I put water in the rear tires is it runs out of traction long before it runs out of power. I feel that John Deere made the best bang for the buck with the 03 series.

 

[unreconstructed]

I will wash mine Saturday. Will get some JD paint to touch up the bucket. I painted my grubbing hoe and shovel yellow and green to match the tractor. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif