Another JD 4700 Owner!

[dmccarty]

Well, I did it. Last Monday, I bought a JD 4700, MX6 rotary cutter, FEL with 4n1 bucket, JD 48 backhoe, and a boxblade. The equipment was delivered on Friday and I spent all weekend working the tractor.

The equipment is AWESOME. I can't believe how much work I got done. Simply AWESOME.

I think the tractor already saved me $3,000. We need to build a 450 foot long driveway. I have figured it will cost me about $2,300 in culverts, ABC, and hauling. A contractor came out to bid on the septic system and thinks the driveway will cost $3,000 which is HALF what other bids have been. He saw the tractor and asked if I was going to build the driveway. I have every intention of doing so but if he can do it for 3K the job is his. He was talking about hauling in 180 tons of material which is the exact number I figured was needed to build a 12 foot wide driveway. His written bid will be interesting.

The tractor and equipment are going to allow me to work the property the way I want when I want. It just flat out does the job. Very Impressed. I got a good bit of driveway cleared, stumps dug up, stumps moved, timber moved, slash moved, cleaned up ditches and the timbering decking area. AWESOME equipment. I'm really impressed with how much work this stuff can do and how easy.

Thanks to everyone on the forum for answering my questions. This forum is an invaluable resource and has really made it easy to make an informed tractor purchse.

Thanks Again.
Dan OneBigHappyJD4700Owner McCarty

 

[glennmac]

Dan, congratulations. It seems you have bought all the right equipment. Enjoy.

 

[roysallis]

Dan,
Congratulation!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
If the 4700 had been available when I was looking I would have bought one instead of the 5210.
Happy tractoring!

 

[bpence]

Sounds to me like you invested in a terrific toy.....oopps, I mean piece of equipment.

I saw a 4700 a couple of weeks ago at the local JD dealer and it's one mean looking machine. Enjoy.

Bob Pence

 

[dmccarty]

I priced out a 5210 as well since the FEL on 5n05 series has lower performance the the JD 541 FEL. The 5210 was just a bit more tractor and price than I could justify or afford. The 4700 hit the correct spot on the price/perfomance curve.

The 4700 certainly has met and exceeded my expectations with 17 or so machine hours this weekend.

But there are other implements to buy and no bank account to backup the demand! I sure would like a tiller, trailer, finish mower, chipper, PTO generator, and post hole digger. The last two are purchases that will happen but I might have to take on another job or two to pay for them!

At least I'm adding a little more color to TractorByNet to offset those Kubota Red/Orange guys!

And as everyone has said about getting a tractor, the Dealer is a big part of the purchase. Mine has been excellent so far.

Later....
Dan The 4700 Man

 

[scruffy]

Dan, I must say a great big CONGRATULATIONS Sir!! Now the fun (as you've already figured out)begins! You forgot to mention a Digital camera to take and post photos of all your work and Tractor!

 

[dmccarty]

LOL! I must admit that Harv's pictures has put the digital camera bug in my head. But I do have a scanner at work so I might scan any prints I have made. I have been taking pictures of the property, mainly with Kodachrome slide film since it has the best archival quality that I know of. I guess I should go take some print pictures of what I'm doing before I get much more done....

Thanks.
Dan

 

[roysallis]

Dan, which transmission did you get and why? After re-reading your post I see that you got a backhoe too. I have been thinking about getting one for my 5210. How much trouble are they to connect/disconnect? I may even see about trading my 5210 for a 4700. It may be cheaper than getting a hydraulic top link and 3rd SCV to my 5210.

 

[dmccarty]

I got the PowerReverser tranny since it did not steal horsepower and works like my truck manual transmission. I really wanted a tranny that worked the same on the truck and tractor. And that has turned out to be a good idea. There is a lever on the tractor to take the tranny from forward, neutral or reverse. You DON'T have to clutch to switch from forware to reverse. BUT I still clutch anyway out of habit. I can't stop. To many years with a manual tranny I suppose.

The backhoe is the easiest implement to put on the back of the tractor. Its so dang easy its fun! There is a frame mount on the rear of the tractor for the backhoe. You have to remove the lower arms and the toplink which takes about 5 minutes or so. Once this is off, just back the tractor into the backhoe lining up the rocker arm pins to the "hooks" on the backhoe. You have to be aligned just like attaching a 3PH but it is not as critical. Once in position just lift the rocker arms, insert two L pins to hold the backhoe to the frame, and then turn off the tractor. Release the pressure from the hydoraulics, take the hoses from the back hoe and hook 'em up to the valves on the back of the tractor. Your done. All of this is done from the tractor's operator seat. Its very easy. I wish the 3PH implements went on this easy.

Getting the 3PH back on the tractor is a bit more work since the clearences on the lower arms are very tight. You have to angle the arms just so to get the lower arms on the pins under the tractor. But once you figure out that certain angle on it goes...

One of the reasons I bought the 4700 over the 5105/5205 is that the FEL is stronger. The 5000 Ten series FEL and backhoes are more powerful that the 4000/5n05 but MUCH more expensive. The JD48 backhoe for the 4700 was just shy of $7,000. Which was a big OUCH for me but it has been well worth the money so far. The best price for the backhoe for the 5000 series tractors was around $10,0000. Its a stronger backhoe but it was hard enough for me to justify $7,000 much less $10,000.

I have not gone after my 36 inch stumps yet. I toyed with one the first day with the tractor but this weekend, if the weather allows, I'm going some big stumps that are in the way of my driveway.

Hope this helps...
Dan

 

[roysallis]

Dan, thanks for the response, I am going to look into trading my 5210 and see if I can get a 4700 since I want MFWD. There is not much difference in hp, especially if I get the PowrReverser instead of the HST. I think the MFWD will be worth the sacrifice in hp. I have an MX6 cutter and it has never lugged the engine so hp should not be a problem. Don't know if my 521 FEL could be put on the 4700 or not but my 6 foot equipment (MX6, box blade, grader blade and disc) should be ok.

 

[Anonymous Poster]

I bought a 4700 a few months back and have about 80 hours on it already. It is extremely powerful for its size!! The loader is amazing! Altogether, my father and I have a 950 MFWD and 1070 MFWD with just about every attachment known to man. But...the 4700 blows them away. The PowerReverser transmission makes the others seem like a joke. I don't own a backhoe for this yet since I have one for the 950, but I'm sure that it would be a real joy. Now, I just need some rear lights, and weights, and...

 

[Anonymous Poster]

How come you don't like your 5210? Why would you want the 4700 over the 5210?

I just purchased a 5205 and love it. I've had Massey red all my life.

Just curious?

 

[roysallis]

John, I like my 5210 and have had no problems with it. It has all the power I need but there has been a few times when MFWD would have been useful. I would like the 4700 because I think I could get it for about what I paid for the 5210 and would have MFWD with about the same horsepower.
The 4700 is not as heavy as the 5210 but for my use the the 4700 will be big enough. I probably will keep the 5210 because it will probably cost more than I can afford to trade unless I can get more for the 5210 than I think. If I had the money I would go for the 5210 with MFWD but like I said I will probably have to stay with what I have.
Why did you go from the Massey to the Deere? My brother-in-law has a 65hp 4wd Massey and he loves it. It is a very heavy and powerful tractor. Me 5210 is my first tractor. I went with Deere because I liked the features, I got a good price, and myh wife's daddy always had a Deere so that is what she wanted.

 

[dmccarty]

Hi John,

I'll answer a question you did not ask.

When I was looking for a tractor, the JD's I looked at where the 4500-4700s, the 5n05's and the 5210.

I really wanted the 5105/5205 because of the HP and wieght. BUT from reading the sales literature the FEL capacities on the 5n05's was less than the 4700. Not by much but some. To get the full umph out of the FEL I would have to move up to the 5210. I also wanted a backhoe. The difference in the 5000's backhoe vs the JD48 was over $3,000. Almost 50% more for a backhoe to fit a 5000 series tractor over the 4700.

That price difference between the 5210 vs the 4700 and between the backhoes was just to much for this camel.

However this weekend, there was this one stump. A very determined stump that made me think I should have found the extra money for the 5210 and backhoe! I got Mr. Determined out of the ground it just took a bit longer than I would have liked. I'm sure the 5210 would have saved me some time. But I'm not sure it would have been worth the extra money.

To directly answer your question about the 4700 over the 5210, The 4700 give quite a good bang for the buck. You pay a bit more for the 5210. Whether the extra performance for the extra money is of value is for each person to decide.

Hope this helps...
Dan

 

[Thomas]

Roy,
By the sounds you cover all the basic when you purchase your tractor....smart man. /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

Thomas..NH /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

 

[cowboydoc]

Hi Dan,
I had the same problem as you when I bought this 25 acre parcel where we built on. I started out clearing it myself and it was taking forever. I had about the same amount of trees as yourself except mine was alot of hedge trees, oak, and elm that were big. I thought it would cost way too much to have it done. I had a guy come in with a D9 cat and a crane and he cleared that 25 acres in three days! He piled all the junk trees and left me some nice oak for firewood that will last me the next 20 years probably, took out all the stumps and burned it all. All I had to do was disc it up, harrow it and plant it. He had about 20 hours in the job and the bill was a little less than $2000 which was way more than worth my time. I spent 20 hours clearing less than an acre and all the wear and tear on the machinery. Just a thought for you.
Richard

 

[dmccarty]

Hello CowBoyDoc,

Welcome to the TBNBoard!

Right now I'm really fed up with contractors. The people I have been dealing with the last year have me ticked off for a variety of reasons. My neighbors just paid some YoYos $650 to move some down trees. To make a long story short they did not do the job correctly and ran helter skelter through there septic field. I'm watching what is happening with my friends house buidling and I'm not really impressed so far. The same YoYos put in a 15 inch colvert and have 3 inches of fill material covering the pipe. Everything I have read says put in 12 inches. I'm just not impressed.

I won't even get started on septic system installers!

The problem in my local market is that, as my father in law says, its a contractors market. They seem to get the price they ask for and can get away with some really sloppy work. If you don't like it fine, they will find some one who will pay. And they do.

My friends have a pile of timber that is at least 30 feet long 20 feet wide and 10 feet tall. They are going to burn this at some point. Glad its their problem and not mine. At least with my equipment I can make burn piles I can manage. The air quality laws in my state/area are pretty strict and I think my friends are going to get burned. Not pun intended.

I have taken out up to 36 inch oak and pine stumps. Its managable with my equipment. I won't get it done as fast as someone on a bull dozer but I'll get it done the way I want and for less money.

I'm not looking forward to building a house in this market.

If I could get the land cleared for a reasonable price I would do so but from what I have seen so far I'm not hopefull.... 8-(

You should hear some of my coworkers talk about the quality of the construction in their houses!

Welcome to the board and thanks for the info. It does help. I'm not usually this negative!

Thanks Again!
Dan McCarty

 

[cowboydoc]

I know what you mean Dan. The guy that I got was really good. He's an old boy that's been around forever and knows what he's doing. He only charged me for the hours on the machinery. He did all the piling and burning, cleaned it up beautifully, and did a good job of not tearing things up. I couldn't complain at all. I had my regular case backhoe that I was taking them out with so I can imagine how you must be taking them out with the add on hoe.

I built my own house so I didn't have to mess with contractors. I usually hire some high school or college kids to help with the grunt work and do the rest myself. No way I would trust hardly anyone to do work for me. I had some guys put in my windows and that was just a wreck. Wound up tearing them out and putting other ones in. So no way I would get anyone else to contract for me. My other place is 120 acres and I cleared all that with a small john deere bulldozer and that backhoe, but it wasn't nearly as timbered as this 25 was. It was solid trees.

Well gotta run. I'll talk at you later.

Richard

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Hi Dan & Roy...

I've ate, sleep, dreamt, and worked Massey's since I was a boy. I was clearing some of our property, sidehilling with my Massey Ferguson 165 Row crop...with the rears loaded with calcium about 8000+ lbs, my center of gravity was a bit high and was tough to go through the woods with the rears spread about 8' (so I wouldn't tip over...) Anyhow, when you're younger, somehow you're fearless... I just felt a little tipsy that high up (of course no rops either...)

This summer I was at the county fairs with the kids and saw a couple 5105 and 5205's. I thought someone made a mistake on the pricing..........! It was way too low for a John Deere. The rest is history, I traded in the Massey and bought the 5205 FWD, with loader. I went backwards in hp somewhat (53---> 48 PTO HP), but better hydraulics (17.4 gpm), independent pto( I had... it's mandatory!), lower profile, and of course from 2wd to 4wd. But 90% of the time it's in 2wd. I had a 18.5 gallon fuel tank and got a 22.4 gallon tank.

To tell you the truth, I had a tear in my eye trading my ole Massey girl in. That Perkins engine was a monster, with torque out of this world. (She'd probably rip that stump right of the ground for you Dan... just looking at it!)

The loader is only 2100 lbs lift, and breakout force about 3050 lbs, but you can change the position of the hydraulic cylinders for more ump (2500/3500). I mainly use the loader for brush hogging, knocking down the junk, saving the tractor body (can't say sheet metal, cause it's plastic composite which is nice, Look Ma... no rust!)

Anyhow, I was going to trade up to a Massey 62 Hp next year, but couldn't wait for them to install an independent PTO and Mr. John Deere caught my eye... and I'm glad he did!

I considered the 5310 w/ loader but another $8000. was pushing it out of my immediate reach. That's my story guys.

 

[dmccarty]

Now that is kinda interesting. My wife's family has an old MF 165 on the farm that is not really being used. We spent a lot of time deciding if we should buy the MF165 or get a new tractor.

Obviously we went knew and its the right decision but we thought long and hard on the 165. I spent many and hour one summer on a MF 135 while the Boss whizzed by me on a 165.



Later...
Dan