Oliver1,
I had the same decision to make. I am a reliability engineer for a major chemical company and part of my job function is to evaluate a piece of equipment to guess how well it will last. A lot of what I look at is how well it is thought out and engineered.
I chose
M6800 for several reasons:
1. I want my tractor to last a vary long time. I once had a truck with a complcated shifter linkage that was a nightmare. I liked the simple shifter arrangement with the
M6800 and think it will last longer without problems. The JD shifter was on the right hand side and was not as smooth at the bota. With fully synchronized main transmission it sififts like a sports car.
2. Service on the
M6800 looked like it would be easier. Take the air filter element out of the JD and you will see what I mean. Not well though out.
3. Didn't like the way the JD loader valving worked. I think the tractor came with the valving, and plugging in the laoder required the loader hoses be run all the way to the back of the tractor. The loader valve also would not be useable for TNT if loader is installed.
4. Also liked the
M6800 8F x 8R transmission. I think the JD might be 9F x 3R.
Some of the JD come with economy PTO which runs the PTO at 540 with a lower engine RPM for low HP applications, such as spraying. Wish the
M6800 had this.
The
M6800 is available with hydraulic shuttle or standard shuttle. The hydraulic shuttle scared me. It can not really be feathered like a dry clutch. It would last longer, but much harder to control. I heard of an incident where the oil was cold and the clutch did not release when the peddle was pushed. As I remember, a man was backing up to an implement and almostran over his osn. Think real hard before you spend the extra $2500 for an
M6800 with hydraulic shuttle. The only reason I see to get it is if you plan on doing 80%+ loader work.
email me with any question you have.
jrpoux@wcnet.net. You won't be dissapointed with an
M6800. In this territory there is a lot of people that love JD. Both hold their valve.
JRPoux