Hey Man, Did you have any idea that your thread would go this far? It sure helps me feel like I made a good choice while I wait for delivery on my 4310 for the next couple of weeks. No firm ship date from my dealer yet. My only concern now is that if delivery goes past July 7th I may miss out on the current financing offered through JD. Seems I am in a "sub club" of one going for the sync shift. If I had gone hydro I would have had to move up to the 4410 as the hp on the 4310 is minimal for the work I do. I think "bigblock" with the reverser trans is the only other person without hydro that has chimed in. I've been reading up on correct ballasting on the 4310 with an FEL and can't seem to find the info on the JD web site. I'm trying to figure if I'll need more than fluid in the R1s and a 450 pound grading blade or bush hog for correct balance. If I need the extra weight I will probably go with the EZ weight system and add an extra 200-300 pounds on the rear wheels. Don't want to get too rear heavy. Learned the hard way about that trying to run an 1000 pound disc up a steep hill with an IH Farmall 140. Had to steer with the brakes. Front wheels were four inches off the ground at the steepest part of the hill. The things I did when I was young, poor, and desperate to get a job done with the equipment available. I nicknamed that offset cultivating tractor "the widow maker" It was dangerous as hell on my mountain terrain. Maybe I should have named the operator, (me), "the complete tractor moron". Sorry, I digress into story telling.