John, John, John,
Stay away from the Dark Side, come on over to the One True Tractor! And its GREEN!
Seriously, buying a tractor, as so many things are, is a price/performance issue AND how good is the dealer. If I had a Orange Dealer as good as my Green Guy Dealer I might have gone for another tractor.
I looked at the TC45s, K4610's and the JD 4700s. Well I looked at different tractors in different classes but these are in the same catagory. And for me the 4700 was a better bang for the buck BUT that is just so dependent on use and price.
For instance the 4700 has panels covering the engine compartment. I know the TC45 did not have panels. I don't remember the 4610 having panels either. So you have tractor s with engine compartment panels and those without. For ME I wanted panels since I'm going to be in the woods and I would rather tear up a panel than rip a fuel line, filters, etc. If the tractor was not going to be in the woods this just would not matter and a panel less tractor might even be better since you have easier/quicker access to the engine. So the panels might actually count against Green depending on the user.
The TC's really seem to have Green and Orange beat in the Human Factor/ergonomics areas. I think the moving seat on the TC is a real good thing. The view of the front of the tractor is must better on the TC45 than on Green and Orange. I think Green has Orange beat a little but not by much for the view.
My IMPRESSION, and it is only an impression, is that the FEL and backhoe are far easier to take off the JD than the Kubotas and New Hollands. I know that the my FEL comes off in five minutes. VERY easy. The backhoe is the same. Very easy to put on and take off. You spend more time taking off the 3PH to put on the backhoe.
But if you dont' need to take of the FEL and don't need a backhoe it just does not matter!
Pay attention to hydraulics as well. I wanted an FEL with 4n1 bucket and a hydraulic toplink. To use this all at the same time requires three control values. Or so I have been told!
And some brands could do this and others could not. I was looking at the Kubota M's as things got down to the wire and I could only get them with two values. So they were off the list.
'nuff rambling on my part. Just giving people ideas on what to look for. But besides the price/performance issues which only you can decide, as other people say and I'll repeat, its the dealer, Dealer, DEALER!
Good luck on buying a tractor and have fun doing it. Well, as much fun one can have spending this kind of money!
Dan