Just ordered JM354 - thanks for the help

[JINMA224XR]

<font color="blue"> If you look around.. you can get 'most' of those options on a late 50's unit. The ford 66X and 86X had/could have PS.. rops/canopy, and live pto. However.. if you want 4wd.. that's where you hit a wall. not alot of 4wd antiques. </font>

Hey SoundGuy,

With your Tractor experience, you probably have had experience, using 4wd tractors. But if you haven't, and although, I drove tractors quiet a bit on the farm, in my youth, I didn't have any experience using a 4wd.

When I got my 1st Chinese Tractor, back in 1990, it was 4wd, and the extra pulling power that the front wheels provided, was amazing to me, especially in muddy and soft or sandy soil. 4WD, in my opinion is the only way to go for me, and I strongly recommend 4wd to anybody, unless, they are just going to be mowing grass, and even then in a soggy field, that can make a big difference as well.

On my current place, down in the Swampy/Bayou area, a 4wd is an absolute necessity for me to get the jobs done, otherwise, I would be trying to get my tractor unstuck, a lot of the time, or waitng till the soil was dry enough, and that just is not an option for me.

Don't get me wrong, I like the older tractors, and remember fondly, memories of the WD45, A & G John Deere. But Once I got my hands on my own modern 4wd tractor, there is just no turning back for me now.

Good Luck with your New Tractor purchase, whichever way, you choose to go.

Get Your Tractors Running &
Have a nice day,
Joe /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif

 

[Soundguy]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( you probably have had experience, using 4wd tractors. But if you haven't, and although )</font>

I had a NH1920, 4wd. I ended up trading it in on a large 2wd tractor. I found I rarely ever used 4wd. In fact.. i only use dit twice... Once while going to try to pull a stuck car out of a 'dry' pond, and once while discing. The time when discing, the 4wd came in hand, specifically when turning corners, due to the heavy draft. The time when pulling the car out.. neither 4wd nor diffy lock helped. Tractor sank down to its axles 30' away from the car /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif Took me and 2 guys about 4 hours to dig out the tires to slip ramps and timber under it, just so we could drag it back onto firm ground with a long tow rope and another truck. Took doing this twice.. digging and laying the timber, before we got it on firm enough ground for the tractor to back out. /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif


</font><font color="blue" class="small">( On my current place, down in the Swampy/Bayou area, a 4wd is an absolute necessity for me to get the jobs done, otherwise, I would be trying to get my tractor unstuck, a lot of the time, )</font>

In the end.. I've decided that more hp, and heavier, is a better way to go, ( for me ) than lighter and 4wd, for my main tractor anyway.

I'm still up in the air for the tractor for the wife that I'm looking for.... 4wd will be nice.. course.. she'll have to call me to ask how to engage it! /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif

Soundguy

 

[johnk]

It's just like buying a pickup truck. You can have all the HP in the world but if it snows or gets muddy you have to get the power to the pavement or dirt so to speak. I wouldn't be without 4 wheel drive either on my family vehicle or tractor. It's nice to know it's there if you need it. Just my opinion. I had a Ford 555 backhoe with loader try to get up a little grassy hill to dig some stumps out and he had to go in reverse using his backhoe to pull himself up. I was scooping wet dirt with the bucket going uphill and had no problem with my little 4 WD tractor. He wqas also quite impressed. No traction..... No go!!!!

 

[JINMA224XR]

<font color="blue"> I'm still up in the air for the tractor for the wife that I'm looking for.... 4wd will be nice.. course.. </font>

Hey SoundGuy,

I thought about going to a bigger 2WD tractor this go around, but then, it would have been so much more weight to transport. And also, I wanted a tractor that wasn't too big, to do all of my yard and landscaping needs. I intend to do the mowing with my little tractor, but it has enough power to do all of the other work, on my size place.

Then I came upon a fairly good Deal on the Jinma 25hp 2wd, But still I kept remembering how well my 1st 4wd pulled, even when it was muddy. The fellow that installed my septic system had a 2wd BackHoe, and he kept telling me that he wished that he had gotten a 4wd. About every 1/2 Hour. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

It was really an agonishing decision for me, but still I went with 4wd, and I Thank God, Every Day, that I did.

This place that I purchased about 2 years ago, was totally unemproved, and it was dozers and TrackHoe's from the getgo. When it came time to get the Phone line buried to my dwelling, They could not go through the mud, and I had to hook my little 224 to them and pull their machine through, while they were laying the phone line. When the Cable TV, man came with his machine, it was the same thing. Actually a little bit worse, and I was actually dragging his machine through the mud. The little Jinma almost bottomed out, but kept slowly going forward, while dragging his little 4wd cable laying machine. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif If I had been trying to do that with a 2wd, We would have had to call in a wrecker to get us both out. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Also something else to consider, When or If it ever comes time for resale, The 4WD, will be much easier to sell and may very well pay for the extra money's put out initially for the 4wd.

Still, it's just my opinion, and eveybody, should get the features on their tractor, that they want.

On My Little Jinma, the 4WD, is engaged or disengaged very easily with one lever, and I always come to a stop with the clutch disengaged, before engageing or disengageing the 4WD.

Get Your Tractors Running &
Have a Nice day,
Joe /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif

 

[Soundguy]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( It's nice to know it's there if you need it. Just my opinion. )</font>

I once heard someone say that 4wd will just get you stuck that much farther from your house... they are 100% correct /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( had no problem with my little 4 WD tractor )</font>

I think that was the issue... weight / ground pressure... Chances are good that big tractor may have still had a hard time going up even in 4wd, just due to weight and soil conditions.

On the larger tractors it's just as common to see dual rear's on a 2wd model as it is to see a 4wd model. The h is available.. and the dual rears not only add traction.. but add flotation. My guess would be.. that on a pull track.. if you stuck somethink like a big hulking heavy Ag tractor 2wd, and dual rears on a pull sled, and a utility 4wd tractor that the lighter tractor would not be able to use 100% of it's traction due to weight issues, not hp issues. Again.. that weight might cause problems in areas where ground stability issue.. in that case.. a lighter tractor would be needed..imho

Soundguy

 

[Soundguy]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( I thought about going to a bigger 2WD tractor this go around, but then, it would have been so much more weight to transport )</font>

Yep.. that's an issue. I can't trailer my latest tractor... I'd have to get a big gooseneck trailer to load it.. and tehn preferably a bigger tow vehicle.. still I don't do any 'for hire' work.. so my tractor just gets used on my property or on my pasture down the road. And the 'down the road' pasture is close enough to road my tractor to...

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( And also, I wanted a tractor that wasn't too big, to do all of my yard and landscaping needs. )</font>

Hey.. that's what multiple tractors are for... big ones for the big stuff.. little ones for the little stuff!

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( I intend to do the mowing with my little tractor )</font>

Wasn't an option for me to keep mowing with my little tractor.. simply took too long to mow with the 5' mower.


Still.. if I would have had the option to get my big tractor with 4wd.. I probably would have.. just because. Both my trucks are 4wd.. and due tot he road conditions around here.. they have to be ... for car/truck traffic anyway...

Soundguy

 

[johnk]

Dual rears and wide tires actually give terrible traction in certain situations. Going thru snow wouldn't be too easy with the back wheels plowing through or floating on top. Ag tires and 4WD will walk through. Same with mucky mud. 4 WD and narrow tires give thge best traction not wide surface areas. I have driven 4WD's for 40 years. Wide isn't always better unless on sand..Just my experience..

 

[Soundguy]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Going thru snow wouldn't be too easy with the back wheels plowing through )</font>

Fortunately the only snow we see in florida comes on a stick with candy flavors.

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( back wheels plowing through or floating on top.)</font>

Most of the big ag tractors I see with dual rears ar the big 90+hp and probably 8000# range.. probably not a lot of floating going on no matter what they run over..

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Same with mucky mud. 4 WD and narrow tires give thge best traction not wide surface areas )</font>

I have to absolutely 100% disagree. I work for a GC.. we have backhoes, draglines and dozers that have special wide paddles specifically for muck farm jobs.. they are ultra-low ground pressure units. the width spreads out the weight per unit surface area and makes the machine float rather than sink in.

The only times I've seen narrow tires perform good in muck was when the wheel was simply tall enough to cut thru the muck and find solid traction before the machine high-centered. An example of this would be a JD-A I saw, driving backwards, thru about 2.5' of muck on/in a dry pond. The axles were a few inches off the surface o f the muck.. but those huge tires were going deep enough to find some stiff clay under the much. The poor front end was just plowing a foot wide furrow and the fellow was using brakes to steer.. ..

I got stuck in that same pond a few weeks before.. using my 4wd compact 33hp diesel tractor.. I sank up to the operators platform in about a tenth of a second... had to dig the tractor out... 4wd didn't do much excpet sling mud on the hood...

Soundguy

 

[Harrygoodwrench]

Soundguy,
I have a friend that farms(rather large farm 2000+ acres) and he would debate your comment on 2wd vs 4wd. He swears that he can pull (plow) better with his 4wd units with lesser HP than his 2wd units with more HP.
We live in two entirely different climates(Northeast vs Southeast). Your preferences do not necessarily apply everywhere.
I am not trying to start an arguement its that they all have their own uses.

 

[bruce1966us]

I agree with your friend 100 percent with the plow issue.