Tres:
"Personally, where JD tractors are made is not an issue--but it is with some people who want to be ethnocentric.",
Actually it may be more National-centric, but you are correct. It seems some individuals do have some heartburn on where a product is made, even thought he heartburn should be directd at the American Execs who make those decisions not the Consumers who buy the products.
"5. the BX, even in 2WD mode has far more pulling power than the 455--it is true like it or not." Yes it is a lot heavier than the 455, from the start, thus it can definitely provide more traction, and I do think the BX series is a younger design than the 400 series (correct me if I am wrong), so they probably definitely benefitted from noting the observed shortcomings of the 400 series.
"My neighbors dad had some interesting tidbits when I spoke to him over the holidays--he is a JD dealer. He was over looking the BX over and my other new toy (shhhhhh--it is a secret) and was telling me that the new 400X and 500X updates are not intended to match the BX but that the new JD4010 will be a subcompact type machine with some user friendly features. According to him it will be slightly larger than the BX but smaller than the excellent 4100 (aka 4110) and will be an excellent entry in this new field."
I was told it would be very similar in size with a difference in the hood and other body parts making it appear smaller, but it actually wasn't, but if that size change is correct, then I hope they also reduce the price. Also there is a 4115 model that has more HP than the 4100 and 4110, which suppossedly have the same HP.
Yes it will be an intereting year for the "Tractor Wars"
nuru