What has happened to tractors? Help us choose another workhorse for our tree farm.

[boggen]

hard to debate with ya there oldpilgrim. take it a couple more steps...

taking a tad further. engine braking when going down hill, with a trailer behind you. and you are trying to reduce amount of speed you pick up going down the hill. so ya don't end up having a "run away machine and trailer".
HST or manual / geared tractor? HST = some internal leakage of hyd oil, resulting in less braking. vs a manual / geared tractor.

how many semi truck drivers when in the mountains / taking long steep slopes, down shift, to gain some engine braking? vs relying in regular brakes to keep the speed down?


================
overall "grunt power" and running in to high of a gear.
HST, when ya load them down (run out of torque and still have traction), the relief valves kick in. running the temperature up of the transmission oil, not many tractors that i am aware of, come with an actual temperature gauge just for the transmission oil. so ya do not boil the transmission oil / cause the oil to deteriorate much more quickly.
a manual / geared tractor, if ya load them down, a tall tell sign, is the engine will bog down, perhaps to point engine dieing.
a HST, you do not get any sort of warning lights, or singles, of relief valves opening up. and not letting you know that you need to pick another lower gear.

 

[oldpilgrim]

You're 'picking nits' Ryan.

I can reply to each of your latest points and also find all kinds of disadvantages to everything else compared to HST, but I won't here because it's all irreverent to the OP and the topic of this post.

I'll just leave it here: if the OP wants an HST, there is no reason not to get one based on your arguments.

Back to the topic on hand............................

 

[milkman636]

My thoughts are that the 5055e with the 9F/3R Synch Shuttle transmission would be really comparable to the 3930.

John Deere 5055E Utility Tractor 5E Series (45-75 hp) Utility Tractors JohnDeere.com

Taken from the feature page:

"Nine forward and three reverse speeds are achieved by using two platform-mounted levers for shift operation. The gear lever at the operator's right hand selects one of three forward gears and one reverse gear, as well as the integrated park position. The range lever at the operator's left hand selects collar-shift A, B, and C ranges.

Operators can easily switch directions without having to completely stop the tractor with synchronized, in-line, shuttle-shift capability between second and reverse gears in A, B, and C ranges.

A neutral start switch requires the gear-shift lever be in the neutral or park positions to start the engine.

A positive park pawl on the transmission provides positive park and eliminates the need for a hand brake. This also eliminates clutch service costs that occur when the park brake is accidentally left engaged."

 

[milkman636]

The John Deere 5x10 and 5x20 series would also be very comparable with Collar Shift and Synch Shuttle transmissions. There should be some lower hour used ones available out there.

 

[Verticaltrx]

We live in the mountains of southwest VA, the terrain that the OP is describing is very familiar to me. Between myself and my father we have a good selection of tractors, both HST and gear driven. There is nothing wrong with a HST on the hills, you rarely have to use the brakes for anything but parking, and they work fine for that. For some things on hills the HST is very nice, like backing up to a fence line running a post driver or digger, or any fine work on hills that would take a lot of clutch slipping on a standard transmission. That said, I don't think that is what the OP needs, as I said in my earlier post.

I think the JD 5E series would be a good option. We have a 5045e and the park on the transmission is indeed very nice on the hills. The only caveat is that all operators must stop the tractor completely before shifting to park (which should be obvious) otherwise your could tear up the park pawl. The 5045e is a bit underpowered on hills, I would look at a 5055e minimum, maybe even a 5065 or 5075e. The basic design and components are all very well proven, basically unchanged since the 5x00 series in 1992, but the quality control isn't as good as it used to be.

 

[square1]

Just up the coast a mile or two...

L K Ford 3930 Farm Tractor Four Wheel Drive Three Point in NJ | eBay

 

[sawtooth]

If you're happy with your 3930, I can't see a reason for trying something different. There's a nice 3930 available locally....under 650 hours for $11,998. There's even a guy here on TBN that hauls tractors on the side, and you could probably get someone to inspect it for you pre-purchase. Ford Tractor 3930 I'd take a look at this one in NC. Ford New Holland 3930 Nice one in SC that looks clean, and has all new tires: NewHolland 3930

He's needs 4x4 for hills though.

 

[japody]

Here's another NH 3930 in NC:

NEW HOLLAND 3930 TRACTOR

 

[sawtooth]

The Massey 2600 HD (heavy duty) series low profile version fits all your requirements as far as I can tell. http://www.masseyferguson.us/Library/upload/massey-ferguson-hd-2600-series-brochure-08-2012.pdf

Yes these are as close as you will find. I have the older version 461 mwfd and they are close to the old fords. Very heavy built but nothing fancy.

 

[sawtooth]

By the way you mention the brakes won't hold on your current 3930. Is it that the brakes themselves are wore out or just the locking mechanism. If it's only the lock and at only 5000 hours it should be then that's a cheap and easy fix. Thoughts?