What buy 2wd vs 4wd

[Dargo]

I'd have to say that a 2wd tractor has a lot of applications where it is sufficient. However, if you plan on doing much FEL work at all, I'd positively never buy a 2wd tractor. I had exactly one 2wd tractor with a FEL and it was completely and totally worthless if I picked up a load of any size in the bucket and tried to back up. If I had to back up any incline with a load in the bucket, it was a sad joke. Unless you're just moving light material around with a 2wd tractor in it's FEL, it has no use to me. Heck, being that I have run across some ruts, needed to backup some inclines and gone down wet grassy hills when mowing I'd still say that I'd never buy a 2wd tractor even for mowing. As I said, I've had one 2wd tractor and that's all I'll ever own in my lifetime.

 

[Kyle_in_Tex]

A 2WD tractor would maybe be a 2nd or 3rd tractor in my stable for pulling mowing, plows, disks, etc...but I'd never own one unless I had a 4WD to pull it out when I got it stuck.

I know that really large 2wd ag tractors can get a lot done without getting stuck, but most are not used for routine chores. Yes, a 100hp ag tractor with a Koyker FEL will easily lift your hay bales, but not worth a flip for trying to dig unmolested dirt.

 

[Diamondpilot]

I have a 28 HP 4 wheel drive tractor with R1's that will do more pulling than my neighbors 2 wheel drive 50 HP 2 wheel drive tractor. Then again a 50 HP dozer will out pull a 200 HP tractor. It all comes down to if you need the pto HP or traction. For your type of work I would want 4 wheel drive.

Chris

 

[Treemonkey1000]

Tossing in my 2 cents worth I have a medium sized Kubota L3750. When I bought it used about a year ago they tossed in a basically new 60" box blade with it. Using the box blade to tear up lawn and dirt I couldn't have done it very well with 2WD. Putting it in 4WD kept me from trashing the lawn. This is all on flat ground. If I don't want to tear up the lawn just driving around carry things in the FEL I leave it in 2WD. Scooping wood chips or pulling the BB it is in 4WD.

 

[john_bud]

The NH may have more HP, but if you can't use it, what good is it? For front loader work where the weight is moved to the front axle and off of the rear axle, 4wd is about 2:1 or maybe 3:1 more important than hp. Let me further explain. I have a ford backhoe that has loaded rear tires and a 3100 pound 14' hoe on the back and a 3000# lift FEL on the front. The whole sheebang is about 9000#. It's also 2wd. I also have a 4wd kubota L3410 hst that with loaded tire and a 900# boxblade on the back and the 1000# lift FEL on the front weighs about 6000 pounds. There is about 56 hp in the ford and 34 in the bota. Got the picture? The ford is 2wd and 50% larger with 3x the rear counter weight and that weight is 2x farther behind the tractor.

So what? Well, the ford will hit a spoils pile and spin the rear tires and only get a 1/2 bucket. The little bota will move the pile back and get a heaping bucket full. It also moves MUCH faster in the short range. 10-100 ft. The bota will get 2.5 to 3 loads in the same time as the ford gets 1 FEL load. The ford also can't back out of an excavation pit as the rear tires unload and have no traction. The bota don't care.

I would get the 4wd as a first priority. I would put the HST as a second priority. 50 hours of rental use is about nothing. It's harder to abuse / damage an HST than a DT transmission. That said, get the 4wd hst bota and enjoy.

jb

 

[Soundguy]

A 2WD tractor would maybe be a 2nd or 3rd tractor in my stable for pulling mowing, plows, disks, etc...but I'd never own one unless I had a 4WD to pull it out when I got it stuck.

I know that really large 2wd ag tractors can get a lot done without getting stuck, but most are not used for routine chores. Yes, a 100hp ag tractor with a Koyker FEL will easily lift your hay bales, but not worth a flip for trying to dig unmolested dirt.

FEL's aren't great for digging anyway.. they are great for scooping stockpiled material. Backhoes are what you use to dig.

soundguy

 

[Soundguy]

I'd have to say that a 2wd tractor has a lot of applications where it is sufficient. However, if you plan on doing much FEL work at all, I'd positively never buy a 2wd tractor. I had exactly one 2wd tractor with a FEL and it was completely and totally worthless if I picked up a load of any size in the bucket and tried to back up. If I had to back up any incline with a load in the bucket, it was a sad joke. Unless you're just moving light material around with a 2wd tractor in it's FEL, it has no use to me. Heck, being that I have run across some ruts, needed to backup some inclines and gone down wet grassy hills when mowing I'd still say that I'd never buy a 2wd tractor even for mowing. As I said, I've had one 2wd tractor and that's all I'll ever own in my lifetime.

We are of course, all responding to this as how it relates to our own usage.

If you live in a hille wet area like Dargo.. and have alot of need for backing up inclines.. then 4wd would be a clear choice.

However.. on my pancake flat florida land.. 2wd and a fewl get alot of work done.. at quite a cost savings.

to the original poster.. you need to identify your uses, future uses, and match that to the topography and then make your choice with your wallet..

soundguy

 

[Brahmus]

Well my south Louisiana terrain is similar to your FL backyard. I can do more on my L4240 4wd kubota w/FEL than I can with my father's 2wd 55hp Mahindra W/FEL. Both will get the job done, but the Kubota is faster and more efficent. Infact when I compare the 55hp mahindra to my father's other Mahindra (45hp w/o FEL) I perfer the 45hp. The weight on the front of the 2wd kills it with no front wheels pulling. Besides, a 4wd or FWD setup is much beefier for hauling more weight on the front than a 2wd. For all around versitility 4wd is the only way to go. The 2wd is better suited to a particularly simple task. IMO

 

[Dargo]

But you forget, Chris is big enough that he just gets off the tractor and picks it up out of any mud and carries it to terra firma. I heard that one time he got so angry that he threw the NH in his picture up onto the top of his barn!

My old days of competitive lifting are long since gone. Heck, I even broke down a few years ago and bought a forklift. No more acting like a human forklift for me. I think that ended about 2 or 3 surgeries ago.

 

[mlauk]

I'd go for the 2WD, more horsepower. I've never needed 4WD on a tractor, but I've needed more HP. I also think the bigger tractor would be better for moving hay.