WOW! What a great thread!
Before I go further in what will be a lengthy post, I want to offer strong complements for this being a thread full of debate, but it was completely civil. I have been on discussion forums of all types for the last ten years and I've seen fights break out that literally came to a point of wanting to meet somewhere and slug it out. This says alot for the members of the forum. The savvy and experience of the members of this forum is equally impressive.
Someone along the way said they felt sorry for the OP due to the topic straying. I just now picked up what I hadn't already read and read it all the way to the end. I don't see that it went off topic at all. Although the original subject applied to an FEL, the subject had everything to do with 2WD vs. 4WD.
Now, let me explain more about my own situation. The last time I bought a tractor other than lawn mowers was 23 years ago. At the time I had a Farmall 560(I think that was the model, my memory is going away with age) and then bought a Ford 3000. I stopped doing my own haying about five years later and sold the Farmall. I have used, or more correctly used up, the Ford 3000. I overhauled it once about 12 years ago and have gotten a lot of service out of it since then.
In this time I have been oblivious to the changes in tractor selection. I noticed lots of 4WD as more and more people began considering an FEL as part of a tractor as opposed to an option for a tractor. As it turns out the compact tractors began being very common and my old fashioned way of thinking of tractors based on horsepower rating threw me a curve ball. Little did I know that these small tractors were so light that this was a driving force in the necessity for 4WD on the small ones.
I figured that a 40 or so horse tractor would be what I needed to replace my 40 or so horse tractor. When I started looking I found 40 or so horse tractors that weighed less than a Volkswagen. If you're going to put an FEL on a Volkswagen, yeah, I think 4WD would be mandatory. So, that's what led to my starting this thread.
Me being an old geezer, I was shocked at all the doo dads and rigging on these small, expen$ive tractors. They've got more rigging than a two loop calf roping horse, and more gadgets than a new Mercedes Benz. In my old fashioned mind, a tractor is supposed to have a clutch pedal and a throttle lever near the steering wheel.
SOoo.... my solution was to buy a new version of the old tractors I'm familiar with. I bought a JD 5045D with an FEL. To begin with it's much heavier than the Volkswagens and it is simple, with a gear selector, a clutch pedal and as an improvement that I can really make use of, a gas pedal which will be good for inching around with an FEL.
I live on relatively level land and will be using the FEL for moving gravel and timber around. I plan on retiring in about 5 or 6 years at which time I will take back my pastures and meadow from the renter and start messing with cattle again. When I do, THEN I will be using the FEL for feeding.
I learned a LOT from this thread and it made me think of things that I hadn't thought much about. I thank everyone for the information as well as the entertainment.
TBN is an IMPRESSIVE community.
