JD 5045E, MF 2615 or CaseIH Farmall 45A?

[gharms]

I am glad to hear that cold start aids are easily to install, and wonderful that it actually works out well for people living in similar climates than me. The 4000 series of JD is definitely more pricey than the 5045E, and that span can get me a loader or another implement. And I will need a rotary cutter, blade, wood splitter. It is good that the 5045E remains in the pool!
The closest dealership is a Kubota/Case-IH one, and also the JD and Massey dealerships are not too far off. New Holland did not make the mix as the dealership is too far away AND the Farmall 45A is really identical to the New Holland Workmaster. I still would love to hear more about how happy people are with their tractors. I just cannot find too many reviews of neither of those three yet, as they are fairly new models. I am looking to buy the tractor beginning of next year, as just buying my property left me without the cash for now.

 

[gharms]

I have a little update on how things are going. While mowing the sides of the driveway with my little Simplicity Regent 16hp and seeing how much it can do, I came to the conclusion that I can downsize my future tractor to the 35 to 40 hp range and still be fine. I hope to pull the trigger soon on either a Case-IH Farmall 40B, a Massey-Ferguson 1643, or a Kubota L3940. Open platform, manual shifter, independent PTO. All offer 0% financing right now, which is great! The Farmall is built by LS in South Korea, and the Kubota and MF are built in Japan. What I like about the Case is the fact that it is still a Tier III, but I am worried about the ergonomics. I read somewhere on this forum that the new Farmall B Series, or NH Boomer are tight quarters on the driver's seat for tall people, which maybe the deciding factor against it for me. Currently I am in talking with dealers about all three, and this Saturday I am going to give the Case a test drive. Hopefully the others will follow soon. Unfortunately my Case/Kubota dealer has only the simpler L series on his lot, but I am only interested in the Grand L40 because that offers independent PTO and front hitch for use with a front blade. The Case/Kubota dealer is really near by, and the MF dealer is about 15 miles away.

 

[Robert_in_NY]

I can't speak of any of the B series tractors but if you still consider looking at the 45A it is a nice tractor. I have been extremely pleased with mine so far. It is a very quiet tractor with a nice strong engine, great layout and very comfortable seat and platform. It is easy to access all the service points and filters (unlike my Kubota) and comes with plenty of nice standard features like telescopic stabilizers and lower lift links on the 3pt and one standard set of rear remotes. Definitely give them all a try and pay attention to how easy or difficult it is to service. My Kubota takes two hydraulic filters while every one of my other tractors only uses one. The two Kubota filters both cost the same as the one on all the other tractors so it costs me twice as much to buy the filters ($32 each I think). The little things are what you really want to pay attention to.