Montana 5740C purchase?? Realibility

NetworkMD · Jun 1, 2007

Hello, I am considering purchasing a Montana 5740C Cab tractor primarly for mowing heavy grass with a 7Ft HD Bush hog. I would like your comments on your expirenance with Montana?, is this a good time to buy? and any other comments I should consider for the negotation. Thank you

I also have a Mahindra that I have been very pleased with, however I saw the Montana at the midwest dealer show and was impressed at first sight.

Unclebuck257 · Jun 1, 2007

I've had my 5740C since 05 and use an 8ft Brushhog HD type mower behind it. Great tractor and I'm real pleased with it. I will mention that it will use a little more diesel fuel than you might expect, but you can easily live with it.

Tul01 · Jun 2, 2007

Hi there, welcome to TBN. I followed this site for quite a while before I made our decision to get the Montana. I looked at JD, Kubota and Case as well(didn't drive a Case, but didn't like the dealer). We have had zero problems with reliability so far, although only 40hrs. We did put some fairly hard pto hours on it in the winter with an 84" snowblower without a hiccup. The tractor and loader seem to have lots of power and started very well in our cold weather up here, down to -10C without plugging in, colder by plugging in the recirc heater for a couple hours. The air cond is cold and the heater is hot in the winter.

We have never had a similiar sized tractor so I can't really comment on the fuel consumption, although so far for our use I like the size of fuel tank and that it is mounted low and easy to fill. There are periods of the year that fuel might sit for an extended period of time in the large tank on the JD(mounted much higher I believe) for us and our fuel is changed summer/winter twice a year obviously.

Brent

California_Kid · Jun 3, 2007

Welcome to TBN. I have a 5740C with 200 hours and so far ZERO problems. I have been very happy with the tractor. The cab is something I was glad I spent the extra dollars on.

I can't help you on the price because I am not sure what they are going for today.

My only complaint is the manual. Hope this helps and good luck!

jc7622 · Jun 3, 2007

5740C with 250 hours. I had an A/C fitting that broke twice when it was new, but nothing has gone wrong since then. I just made my last payment on it the other day so it is now paid off.

My biggest concern right now is that my three closest Montana dealers have quit selling Montana.

NetworkMD · Jun 3, 2007

Thank you all for the great feedback, I am talking to two dealers and getting closer to a deal. I agree there are two dealers in this area that have quit, however they were selling additional lines besides Montana so it seemed to not be directly Montana.

Do you feel Montana is a stable Company that will be here for the long term?

Thanks again, this is a great group of Tractor owners.

Jeff Stuart · Jun 5, 2007

Howdy,
I have a 5740C with 65 hours on it, and it is a good tractor alright but, please before you buy one, !!try out the PTO with mower on it and I mean at the dealer!! Do this before you take delivery on it to make sure that the PTO does not do what mine does. That is, make a 6 ft. mower jump and twist because it comes on so HARD. No matter how you engage the Montana PTO (auto or manual - low RPM no matter what) I have one that litterally will after a while tear up my mower and itself. I do not mow with it now (I borrow a ford 4000 from a neigbor). It is ok with little stuff like an auger abut not with a big old flywheel and heavy blades. And when it stops IT STOPS. Montana knows there is a problem on some of the PTOs and is waiting for the Koreans to fork over a "cushion valve" for a fix. I did'nt want to bring all of this out here but you asked. Otherwise I really like the Montana. Now if they could only come out with a service manual.

jc7622 · Jun 5, 2007

My PTO starts the same way on my 7' HD brush hog. WHAM! describes how quickly it puts power to the cutter. Could this lead to problems down the road?

Any tricks to lessen this shock?

Unclebuck257 · Jun 6, 2007

With my 5740C, while using my 8 foot Brushhog type mower, I put the PTO in "Independant" and do that while the motor is at regular speed. After I engage the PTO, with mower engaged, but PTO really slow, I then rev up the motor to the desired speed (540 and above) and go/mow from that point. When I didn't do it that way, engaging the mower at higher PTO speed broke the U joint for one side of my mower and it had to be replaced. Not a big problem at all, just a different way to do it than with my old Kubota.

Ron Henderson · Jun 6, 2007

I have started engaging my pto the same way as unclebuck257.
It works alot better that way.

At first I was using a 5 foot bushog, it was quite a shock when you engaged it.
Now with a 7 footer, it is pretty tame, I guess the larger mass make a difference.

Ron Henderson