7040 Questions

[ColoradoDan]

you're gonna love that m8540 when you get it! :thumbsup:

Funny you say that. I was really impressed with the 8540 that I drove today. In my opinion, the 12F/12R transmission is a HUGE difference. I think the 7040 is out of the question now. I am now comparing the JD 5083E with the Kubota M8540. These two are definitely the front runners now.

 

[hawkeye08]

Funny you say that. I was really impressed with the 8540 that I drove today. In my opinion, the 12F/12R transmission is a HUGE difference. I think the 7040 is out of the question now. I am now comparing the JD 5083E with the Kubota M8540. These two are definitely the front runners now.

I think you should buy the M8540 and start using it.

 

[TripleR]

Funny you say that. I was really impressed with the 8540 that I drove today. In my opinion, the 12F/12R transmission is a HUGE difference. I think the 7040 is out of the question now. I am now comparing the JD 5083E with the Kubota M8540. These two are definitely the front runners now.

A couple of years ago, my sons were going to start a business and spent a lot of time looking at all of the different brands in the 80 HP range and decided on the M8540. Finances kept them from getting one and they kept using the old tractor.

This summer after our CX80 went toes up AGAIN, I went looking and came to the same conclusion they did back then. The M7040 is a really nice tractor and the M9540 was tempting, but the M8540 was "just right", so we bought it. After using it for a few weeks, we all agree that this was the right tractor for us and we really like it. Well, my oldest son won't drive it until a few more scratches show up on it, but with me and my other son working on it, that won't take long. We really like this tractor.

 

[big bubba]

i do not make my living w/a tractor, but i've had my rugged mt. farm for 35+ yrs.& i count my lucky stars that i finally chose the m8540 that makes my place a playground rather than a mundane prison cell. lots of good choices out there...if you go with the K brand, consider no less than this model. remember look into the larger tire size, 12 sp, hyd shuttle & at least 2 remotes....btw a hyd top link adds icing to the cake.
.......best, bb

 

[ColoradoDan]

Today I was given a quote for the M8540 from another dealer. I am still waiting on my local dealer to give me his quote. That should happen tomorrow.

Kubota M8540 with cab, 4wd, 12F/12R hydraulic shuttle, FEL, cast rear wheels, 2 remotes, front skid attach, grille guard.

$46,000 delivered (out of state dealer)

Thoughts?

 

[MtnViewRanch]

Today I was given a quote for the M8540 from another dealer. I am still waiting on my local dealer to give me his quote. That should happen tomorrow.

Kubota M8540 with cab, 4wd, 12F/12R hydraulic shuttle, FEL, cast rear wheels, 2 remotes, front skid attach, grille guard.

$46,000 delivered (out of state dealer)

Thoughts?

Just my opinion , but I would add the 3rd rear remote, the hydraulic self leveling loader and a remote for the loader. Before you know it you will either want and probably need these things. It is only a little more $$$$ now and when you look at the big picture, it is really a small amount to have these conveniences within a hands grasp.

I know your thinking "what in the world do I need all these remotes for?" Well unless you are the only person on Earth that just happens to be getting younger, as you get older it sure is nice to not have to get down off of the tractor quite so often to fiddle with implements and such. If you put "TnT" on your tractor, (very highly recommend these, a must have for me) there's 2 remotes there and it is very easy to have an implement that needs another remote. Box blade, rear blade, snow blower chute for some examples.

Good luck with your decision process. :thumbsup:

 

[RFB]

MVR is absolutely correct.

When i bought the 5030 I figured I would never need those items.

FAIL!

I kick myself almost every time I think about that decision. It is more costly after the fact to add them.

 

[ColoradoDan]

Just my opinion , but I would add the 3rd rear remote, the hydraulic self leveling loader and a remote for the loader. Before you know it you will either want and probably need these things. It is only a little more $$$$ now and when you look at the big picture, it is really a small amount to have these conveniences within a hands grasp.

I know your thinking "what in the world do I need all these remotes for?" Well unless you are the only person on Earth that just happens to be getting younger, as you get older it sure is nice to not have to get down off of the tractor quite so often to fiddle with implements and such. If you put "TnT" on your tractor, (very highly recommend these, a must have for me) there's 2 remotes there and it is very easy to have an implement that needs another remote. Box blade, rear blade, snow blower chute for some examples.

Good luck with your decision process. :thumbsup:

Thank you for the insight. OK, please school me. You know a heck of a lot more than I do about this stuff. I'm trying to learn as much as possible before pulling the trigger. Don't want to make any mistakes

I understand the advantage of the hydraulic self leveling loader. Please expand on the reason for adding a remote for the loader. What applications would require this?

I would love to learn more about the need for the third remote. I am confused about TnT vs. hydraulic top link. I don't know much about either and why I would want one vs. the other. I also don't know the cost difference between the two.

Thanks again for your help. This site is a great resource.

 

[RFB]

Remote for the front end loader is sometimes called a third circuit remote for the FEL.

For example, I have a hydraulic grapple attachment on my bucket; it operates like a jaw to grab and pick up RR ties, logs, piles of brush, you name it.

I also have a 7.5 foot FEL mounted snowplow with power (hydraulic) left and right angle functions.

The third circuit (FEL remote) makes these functions available. Without the 3rd, all you get is lift and curl on the bucket.

I do not have TnT so I'll let someone else chime in.

 

[TripleR]

Take the time to determine the "nice to have" and "need to have" before you buy. The "nice to have" or "might need someday" can get expensive. Carefully consider your uses so you don't pay to have stuff you don't use. Talk to your dealer to determine the cost of these items by adding them prior to or after delivery.

I don't have a valve on any of my loader equipped tractors as I don't need one and can't see a time when I will. We had the self leveling feature on one of our tractors and didn't use it enough to get it on our new one. I have used TnT and while I like it, I did not get it and probably never will; my uses just don't justify it.

If money was no object, I would have all of this stuff, but in my world, money is always a consideration and plenty of other "needs" competing for money.

About the only thing I really miss on mine is the heavy duty bucket.

 

[CHDinCT]

TnT vs Hydraulic Top Link (HTL): TnT is short for top and tilt meaning you replace your manually adjustable top and side links on your 3PH with hydraulic cylinders allowing you to adjust the fore/aft angle of an implement via the top link (in/out) and your left/right angle via the hydraulic side link (up/down). HTL is one half of TnT being just the hydraulic top link piece. Two rear remotes would allow you to add TnT (2 circuits) where as having just a HTL takes one circuit.

Third function on the loader would allow you to add something like a grapple where you'd need the existing 2 circuits for the boom (lift/drop) and curl, then a 3rd function to open and close the grapple jaws. The other example given is putting a hydraulically angled plow on the front of your FEL, then using the 3rd function for left/right angling.

So as TripleR wisely proffers, consider your needs carefully. Adding these functions now is less expensive if you really will use them, otherwise, they're just "expensive options", the money for which might have been better spent on implements.

 

[gwdixon]

With the remote hydraulics to the front you have all of the options on the front QA that a skid steer can run. Post hole diggers, grapples (as stated), 4-way buckets, brushes, and too many others to remember. You do have to make sure that the gpm of the tractor will run the particular skid steer implement.

The TnT is invaluable for a box blade and any other kind of grading or smoothing attachment. If you plow it is a godsend. Is it absolutely necessary - no, but you'll thank yourself every use.

Maybe you can start a new thread since the M8540 is now at the top of your list and perhaps that will draw more interest from those owners.

 

[TripleR]

With the remote hydraulics to the front you have all of the options on the front QA that a skid steer can run. Post hole diggers, grapples (as stated), 4-way buckets, brushes, and too many others to remember. You do have to make sure that the gpm of the tractor will run the particular skid steer implement.

The TnT is invaluable for a box blade and any other kind of grading or smoothing attachment. If you plow it is a godsend. Is it absolutely necessary - no, but you'll thank yourself every use.

Maybe you can start a new thread since the M8540 is now at the top of your list and perhaps that will draw more interest from those owners.

That is why a person needs to know what they are going to do with the tractor. We have yet to put anything on our 3-point. We use a Woods DS1260 pull type rotary cutter. We have a 3-point Woods 121 we will probably use some day, but TnT won't help that. We do all of our road maintenance with a 10 foot pull type scraper. We may use or back blade some day, but it doesn't take long to adjust that.

We have a PHD that just gathers dust.

I do have a hydraulic top link on my L5030 which I consider a must have, but doubt I will ever put the "tilt" on; maybe, maybe not.

If possible all of these options should be tried before buying as that will help more than anything any of us can say.

 

[MtnViewRanch]

Thank you for the insight. OK, please school me. You know a heck of a lot more than I do about this stuff. I'm trying to learn as much as possible before pulling the trigger. Don't want to make any mistakes

I understand the advantage of the hydraulic self leveling loader. Please expand on the reason for adding a remote for the loader. What applications would require this?

I would love to learn more about the need for the third remote. I am confused about TnT vs. hydraulic top link. I don't know much about either and why I would want one vs. the other. I also don't know the cost difference between the two.

Thanks again for your help. This site is a great resource.

Dan, do you have an idea of what implements that you will need to complete the tasks that you are going to try and accomplish? If not, what are the tasks that you are wanting to accomplish?

I know that you have a some acreage and have about 3000' of road-driveway to take care of. Does your property have a lot of trees and or brush such that clean up is in the future? Perfect for using a grapple of some sort to help with that chore. Much more efficient than getting off of the tractor and hand stacking into a loader bucket and hoping nothing falls off as you transport the trash to your dumping area.

As far as your roads, the best single implement to have is questionable, sort of depends on the terrain the roads go through-over. But road maintenance is where Top and Tilt hydraulics shine. I maintain a little over 2 miles of roadways and have 4 different implements to do just that. While a person could get by with any of the 4, each one has a specific task that it is better at than the others.

I feel that a rear blade would be a must if you have ditches along side of your roads. When you are grading with a rear blade, it is very nice to be able to angle the blade using a rear remote vs stopping, getting off of the tractor and manually setting the angle and or offset of the blade. When you have hydraulic control of these functions, you find yourself making adjustments as you need them vs just getting by with whatever you have it set at as is very common with manual adjust implements.

A box blade is great when you have a high spot or area that needs to be shaved off. The box blade is great for moving material from one area to another providing that it is a reasonable distance of course. It is very nice to have hydraulic actuated rippers which is where that 3rd rear remote comes in.

I feel that the twin blade road grader blades are the single best implement to maintain the surface of our roads. Simple to use and is great for taking care of all the little imperfections that come along with most dirt roads.

I use a landscape rake the least of all, but when it is used it is mostly for final dressing-clean up of our roads. Roads always look great after using a landscape rake.

Something that you need to keep in mind is that with the size of tractor that you are looking at, all of your implements are going to need to be in the heavy duty range. I'm not saying that it is just rated heavy duty, I have seen a 500lb box blade that was 8' wide and rated heavy duty:laughing:, it is not. A heavy duty box blade for your tractor would be in excess of 1000lbs.

You should be able to get both hydraulics and hose sets for a complete "TnT" set for about $800 shipped to your door step. Hope that some of this can help, please ask any more questions that you might have. :thumbsup:

 

[ColoradoDan]

Brian, thanks for the help.

Please refer to the new thread titled "Kubota M8540" so we can continue the discussion. Thanks again.