First time tractor buyer needs help

[newdeal]

thanks for the info. I will definately go talk to both dealers. Another question I have about the 2610 is do you need to run it at 3000rpm when using the attatchments or can you run it at 2600rpm and treat it the same way as a 2410? Reason I ask is because I heard somewhere that to get the 2000rpms at the PTO the 2610 needs to be at 3000rpm and the 2410 at 2600rpm so obviously at 2600rpm the 2610 would be at less than 2000rpm on the PTO, does that make a differance?

 

[newdeal]

also I have pretty much decided on the R4 tires, I think it should be ok for my lawn I am not trying to win any lawn beauty pagents here I just want it to be shorter. I think the turf tires would be ok but I am worried because we do have some low lying areas that get a bit muddy at times so I would like to have some traction there at least.

 

[roger 4400]

also I have pretty much decided on the R4 tires, I think it should be ok for my lawn I am not trying to win any lawn beauty pagents here I just want it to be shorter. I think the turf tires would be ok but I am worried because we do have some low lying areas that get a bit muddy at times so I would like to have some traction there at least.

Hi Newdeal. Your R4 tires should not be hard on your lawn, your tractor is light (keep it on 2wd). They will be average in mud and R4 are a lot tougher than the turf tires. Concerning the 0% financing BEWARE.... I live in Quebec and just bought a new MF 1643 and there is a price to pay for your 0% financing.If you pay cash you could pay $1500 less or more. At a Kubota dealer the cash price was $4,500 less than the 0% financing.....so it is NOT a real 0% (it was the same at my MF dealer, the 0% price is higher than the cash price)). By the way I,m very proud to have my 1643, it is a very nice built tractor....and I use it for mowing also with R4 tires ( I had a 550 Oliver with used R1 tires and it was not hard on the turf so new R4 will be the same.) Have fun and be safe.Roger

 

[tsteahr]

The 2610 is a very nice tractor and there are a couple of advantages over the 2410. The extra horsepower is nice and the other advantage is the tractor hours are measured at a higher RPM so the warranty will last longer. For example if a 2410 and a 2610 were both running at 2000 RPM the hours display on the 2610 will move slower. Not a big advantage but if you use the tractor a lot your warranty will last longer on the 2610.

Bmarian,

Lots of good info in your post! About the hour meter on GC, I believe both models (and most current tractors) use a electronic hourmeter, not a mechanical (cable driven) hour meter. While the meter on the GC is analog (not a LCD), it is electrically driven. When the keyswitch is in the On position, the hour meter runs, regardless if the engine on actually running or not. Because the meter is electrically driven, I don't believe it receives any input (variable voltage) related to rpm, the hours accrue at the same rate regardless of engine speed.

I can add one other perspective on choosing between the 24x0 and the 26x0. Based on the manuals and my dealer, the two are virtually identical except for the engine speed at pto rpm. A perspective buyer needs to weigh the pros and cons of each before making a decision. Based on the GC manual the 24x0 is rated as 18.7hp@555pto rpm and the 26x0 is rated at 19.6hp@572pto rpm. The manual also specifies engine speed at 540 PTO rpm of 2532 vs 2829. This makes for about a 12% difference in engine speed for any given pto rpm.

So the trade off is the GC26x0 give you about 0.9 more pto hp but you will need to run a GC26x0 about 12% faster during any PTO operation to get a similar pto shaft speed as the GC24x0. The GC26x0 also provides about 9.5% more hydraulic flow (6.9gpm vs 6.3gpm) which might be useful if you every want to run something like a hydraulic log splitter with the Power Beyond.

One interesting point when I bought my machine. While the dealer recommended the GC2410 for my uses, he said if I ever needed the extra rpm of the 2600, he could change the 2400 to run at 2600 speed in about 10 minutes. He said the engines were identical except for the max speed at which they are set to.

For me the lower engine speed of the 2400 was worth the trade of 0.9pto hp. Since I run a pto backup generator, pto hp was a very important consideration, but it was not enough of a difference to overcome the higher rpms needed.

I agree with you 100%, either GC is a great machine. Buy one and be happy:thumbsup:

 

[newdeal]

Yes the finance price is higher due to the cost of the mower (if I get no financing the mower is free since it's a MF promotion). The problem is I don't have the cash in the bank to pay outright so either I put it on my line of credit which has 4.75% interest and try to pay it off before I paid more interest than the 0% financing cost me. It would probobly work out cheaper but with interest rates set to go up I can't be sure how high rates will be on my line of credit before I actually pay it off

 

[tsteahr]

thanks for the info. I will definately go talk to both dealers. Another question I have about the 2610 is do you need to run it at 3000rpm when using the attatchments or can you run it at 2600rpm and treat it the same way as a 2410? Reason I ask is because I heard somewhere that to get the 2000rpms at the PTO the 2610 needs to be at 3000rpm and the 2410 at 2600rpm so obviously at 2600rpm the 2610 would be at less than 2000rpm on the PTO, does that make a differance?

Hi Newdeal,

It can, it just depends. Take mowing for example. There can be times when you don't always need to mow at full power (rpm). If the grass it not to thick, if you aren't trying to go as fast as possible, the grass is bone dry etc. However you may need a certain amount of blade speed to get a decent cut. With the GC2400 you might be able to mow at say 2200 rpm while with the GC2600 you might need 2500rpm, not because you need power, but just to get the blade speed up.

I was faced with the same question when running the generator. The extra hp is nice to have, but it meant whenever I used the generator I had to run the tractor at the higher speed, the entire time. I have a suspicion fuel consumption may be a little lower at 2600 rpm as well, but I don't have any data.

On the other hand, the motor in the GC is very smooth and even at 2600rpm it feels like it has a lot more rpm in it. So it is not a problem to run it at the higher speed.

 

[Gale Hawkins]

Newdeal have you considered changing your name to Useddeal.

Not sure what used equipment sells for in your area but down here $4K would buy you an good used tractor, 5' bush hog/finish mower and a 5-6' box blade by doing a little shopping.

Depreciation should be about ZERO over the next 3-5 years so you could then get your money back and buy based on your learned needs.

Buying used the first time can permit one to learn his needs and not get hit by depreciation doing it. It is just not as cool. Best of luck.

 

[bmarian]

Hi Tsteahr,

My 2410 has a mechanical tachometer and hourmeter. On page 29 of the tractror manual under the Tachometer and Hourmeter section the note says: ' Hours are calculated at 1800 rpm average for GC2400/GC2410 and at 2330 rpm average for GC2600/GC2610." That is a huge difference of 29.4% higher rpm for 1 hour on the GC26xx!

I think the 1800 rpm figure is correct for the 2400 series but I am very surprised at the 2330 rpm number for the 2600 series. There must be different gearing for the PTO drive on the 2 series since the engine must be run faster to get to the 540 or 2000 rpm speed on the 2600's.

It seems to me that the 2400 is better suited for your 10kw PTO generator since the lower rpm should mean less fuel consumption. But my 2410 is really easy on fuel and the engine is not fully broken in yet.

I am wondering if your tractor has a electronic tachometer or hourmeter. Maybe Massey made a change since mine was made early in 2008?

Bruce

 

[tsteahr]

Hi Bruce,

You are 100% correct. I was wrong to state the tach was electronic! I was confused with another machine I had. I checked my manual and it is just the same as your's. I agree with your point 100% that it is a big difference on the accumulation of hours between the two. Very interesting the 26x0 hours are based on being closer to pto speed, about 82% of pto speed vs. 71% for the 24x0. So your point is very valid, when running at pto speed, the 24x0 will clock hours at about 1.4 hours per actual hour of operation while the 26x0 will a clock hours at about 1.2 hours per actual hour of operation.

Sadly, for the warranty I will reach the 2 years long before the hours. Not enough seat time...

Thanks again for clearing up my mistake and sorting out the confusion :thumbsup:.

Tom

 

[LBrown59]

also I have pretty much decided on the R4 tires, I think it should be ok for my lawn I am not trying to win any lawn beauty pagents here I just want it to be shorter. I think the turf tires would be ok but I am worried because we do have some low lying areas that get a bit muddy at times so I would like to have some traction there at least.

Turf AGs R4s and Bar tires will tear up wet soft ground.