Transmission speed choice

[maximus188]

I might be in the market for a Kubota M5-111 soon. My dealer has an 8 speed demo at a good price. Would the 12 or 24 speed be worth the extra money over the 8? The contract I'm buying it for will be mowed every 6 to 8 weeks. I was thinking the E pto could be nice since growth wouldn't be that bad over that time period. Does anyone have any experience with the fuel savings of the 540e over the regular 540? Any input is appreciated.

 

[Farmer495]

I might be in the market for a Kubota M5-111 soon. My dealer has an 8 speed demo at a good price. Would the 12 or 24 speed be worth the extra money over the 8? The contract I'm buying it for will be mowed every 6 to 8 weeks. I was thinking the E pto could be nice since growth wouldn't be that bad over that time period. Does anyone have any experience with the fuel savings of the 540e over the regular 540? Any input is appreciated.

I looked at what speeds each gear did when I was shopping. I do most of my field work at 5 MPH so I wanted a close to 5MPH at PTO RPM speed gear. If you are going to be mowing and you want say 4-6 MPH speeds, I'd see how many gears are in that range and if you can live with that selection.

While more gears are always better, doesn't mean you will use them all. I used to run 16, 18, 24 speed tractors and didn't use all the gears in the field, just the same ones over and over.

I run 8 speed tractors now, could I use a "faster" or "slower" gear "inbetween" once in a while? Sure, but the work still gets done!

 

[big bubba]

don't know anything about the particular model you are considering.

Question: does the 12/24 upgrade also include other upgraded features such as a higher 3ph lifting capacity?
this was the case on my M8540 12sp choice over the std 8. if other features are included in your case in addition to the extra speeds, may be worth considering. resale value would be another advantage

 

[LouNY]

I am a fan of power shifts, it sounds like the 24 speed has a single power shift,
I have absolutely no idea on the Kubota how well it works or how much of a gear change it makes.
When I'm mowing (hay) depending on the field and how rough it is quite often I will shift down 2-3 gears for my headland turns or if a field has rough spots,
with the power shift it is effortless depending on the tractor it's a button toggle up or down, or pull or push my gear selector.