This is excellent advice. I still struggle to force myself to run at higher RPMs than required to do a job. It just seems to go against everything inside of me.
I do too. We went from a JD 530 with the factory loader and lots of nice options to a Kubota
M59. They are very different tractors and I could talk all day about some differences that folks moving from a 1958 model to a 2008 model might never think about.... For instance, modern loaders are tucked up much closer to to the front of the tractor. That's handy, but you lose the reach. So we end up using the backhoe and thumb for doing the kinds of things we used to use a 3pt boom with the 530.
Another thing is the low RPM. We got lucky there and bought before the more modern post-2015 tractors that are designed to be run flat out at all times. Our 2008 Tier IV Interim engine doesn't have all the fancy emissions parts. It works fine at an idle. Frankly I wouldn't have one that had to be fun fast. I enjoy the work, but not if the engine was screaming when it didn't need to be.
The thing you notice about the new one is to get the same pulling/pushing power combined with cat II 3pt implement and decent traction and stability in a new tractor to match what we had in the older one we needed to go to 4wd and roughly twice the HP. But once we did that, something wonderful happened. HST plus transmission with 6 speeds forward and six in reverse - mostly I leave it in medium range and just use one finger to shift from high to low within medium range. Lo range for grunt work and hi for travel. Goodby to that gear shift lever and hand clutch on the 530.
Frankly we were so used to being beat up by the older tractor - stirring the gearbox and pushing the pedals and hand clutch and such that we never noticed how much work we were putting into a job until we got older and began to be bothered by muscle aches and arthritis at the end of the day. The new tractor doesn't do that. The controls are right at hand and take only a fraction of the effort to work. It's also closer to the ground and with a lot better visibility. I don't find myself standing up and leaning to the side as I used to do. I'm not always pumping the diff lock, and getting on and off is easier because it is closer to the ground. I can work the new tractor for hours and my body doesn't hurt.
Some things aren't as good. The new tractor doesn't have a sprung and damped seat like the old one, and maintenance is a true pain compared to the old JD where everything was right at hand. And so much of the the quality of the new one doesn't match the old... No more cast iron dashboard or hour meters that are works of art. No more beautifully curved and cast levers and such... But the new one does work better and easier. By far less effort to get things done.
We pull an 8 foot rear blade - a 1000 lb big Rhino - and used to come back from a session up and down the dirt road pulling that blade all worn out and sore neck for a week. With the new tractor I sometimes leave the blade back at the barn and just use the front loader bucket to smooth and move dirt and then level by backdragging. It's that controllable and easy.
Power steering is nicer on the new tractor, and the lights really work. An insulated canopy replaces my old yellow umbrella. Both tractors have decent hydraulics. Plenty of flow and psi for most jobs on both. The new one won't set the rear wheels out as far, and doesn't have power wheel width..... but then it doesn't need it for stability either.
enough for now,
rScotty
BTW, we are keeping both tractors. The old JD has a far better 3pt hitch. It's not even a contest.
