M7060 8 speed versus 12 speed

[Sportsman762]

If your baling hay I find more gears really handy. It is nice to be able to find just the right gear to keep the baler happy. Round balers are more forgiving than small square balers. If your using it to feed with and as a general chore tractor I think 8 speeds would be fine. But when baling hay it is really nice having all the gears.

Looking at speed chart the two travel speeds I'd use the most mowing hay I'd shift between are L6 to H1 so two lever throws, unless I run 540E then the shift is H1 to H2 . My current 8 speed tractor is H1 to H2, as is the 7060 8 speed.

I think that the 12 speed would be worth it.

 

[dieselscout80]

The shifting between ranges while trying to bake would kind of suck (having to come to a full stop to shift).

 

[Farmer495]

If your baling hay I find more gears really handy. It is nice to be able to find just the right gear to keep the baler happy. Round balers are more forgiving than small square balers. If your using it to feed with and as a general chore tractor I think 8 speeds would be fine. But when baling hay it is really nice having all the gears.

I think that the 12 speed would be worth it.

I round bale and generally just stay in one gear, when I square baled I shifted a lot and I see the 12 speed gives a better spread at those speeds.

Tractor will be doing mainly field work and haulage so the 12 speed is quite appealing. I will likely get a loader on it, but loader would be off the tractor most of the time as I plan to keep the existing 8 speed loader tractor for feeding and yard/barn work.

 

[WVH1977]

Get the 12 speed and dont look back. If you go with the 8 you will always wonder if you should gone 12. Also, the 12 speed has EPTO.

 

[Farmer495]

The shifting between ranges while trying to bake would kind of suck (having to come to a full stop to shift).

That was something I was concerned with, but I currently run L4 baling which is close to L5 on the 6-speed on full 540 vs 540E so a gear faster without range change.

I am "overpowered" on PTO HP for my small hay gear so 540E might be the main thing to consider. Looks like all 12 speeds are 540E and it's an option on 8 speed.

 

[Farmer495]

Get the 12 speed and dont look back. If you go with the 8 you will always wonder if you should gone 12. Also, the 12 speed has EPTO.

That is my worry, save some $$$ and always wonder if I should have got it. EPTO should help on the fuel savings. I have heard the DPF tractors use a little more fuel than the non DPF like I have now.

 

[Jrasband]

I wish mine was the 12 speed, not because of the extra gears. I wish I had the 12 speed because of the parking brake feature, for the increased hydraulic pressure. and it has the creep range which is really nice for hooking up to implements..

The 12 speed also has hydraulic brakes instead of manual, doesn't seem like that would be as big of as a advantage because of the parking brake.

The manual parking is not the best on slopes. You have to push it very hard and if the brake pedals aren't locked together it will not stay still.

 

[LHF2019]

I round bale and generally just stay in one gear, when I square baled I shifted a lot and I see the 12 speed gives a better spread at those speeds.

Tractor will be doing mainly field work and haulage so the 12 speed is quite appealing. I will likely get a loader on it, but loader would be off the tractor most of the time as I plan to keep the existing 8 speed loader tractor for feeding and yard/barn work.

Didn't know your background. Knowing you are doing agricultural work absolutely the 12 speed. You only stay in 1 gear round baling? I'm 2 and if thinner 3. Not familiar at all with Kubota. You have to stop to shift ranges?

 

[Farmer495]

Didn't know your background. Knowing you are doing agricultural work absolutely the 12 speed. You only stay in 1 gear round baling? I'm 2 and if thinner 3. Not familiar at all with Kubota. You have to stop to shift ranges?

I do smaller fields and the crop is usually consistent, or raked so the windrows are consistent, so one speed works. I used to shift up and down a lot, but after I started wrapping everything I opted to go a little slower to make as tight of bales as possible.

Range change is a full stop on these models.

 

[EddieWalker]

Unless you are driving on paved roads, and you need to run through all the gears to get up to speed, in all reality, you only need about three different gears. That's all I've used in the last 20 years with the four different tractors that I have. Usually I'm always in the same gear for everything I'm using that tractor for, but sometimes I want to go as slow as possible, other times, I want to go just a little faster to get where I'm going to be working.

I think that the most important thing when comparing different tractors and gearing is which one has the lowest gear ration. When you get into a pucker situation, there is no such thing as TOO SLOW!!!!

My newest tractor has 12 speeds. I have never used the high range gears, and probably never will. That means I only use the lower six gears, and that's more then enough for working on my land.