JD 5055E vs Kubota MX 5100

[RollingsFarms]

I didn't mean to say I was happy w/ the 4310 overall. I am OK with it's capabilities with a full FEL and non-loaded tires. If I seemed overly-enthusiastic about the 4310 it was because so many folks think tires need to be loaded with an FEL. I don't agree with that based on empirical evidence. And on engineering & design possibilities.

I'm thinking about trading the 4310 for a larger tractor - large enough to run a 7' bush hog. I bought the 4310 w/ a backhoe when I was working on our houses in town and doing some custom work - it's an exact fit in my dump trailer. I no longer have those properties and don't really need a lightweight tractor.

The 4310 is a compact tractor which to me means it lacks a strong frame. I'm not sure how long a compact will hold up in rougher farm use. Most of them seem to have turf tires and mid-mount mowers - a good suburban tractor for casual but not regular/ heavy utility work.

JD has 4000- and 5000-series tractors w/ HP in the mid-40s. The 4000s are compacts; the 5000s are utilities with a full frame. There would be no point in getting a 4000-series as it's just a newer version of what I have,

A 5045 would be fine for me but the 5055 is on sale.

I take your point about stepping back and taking a fresh look. If the newer JD and Kub tractors need loaded tires to run an FEL, that's a point for keeping the 4310. One option is to just get an additional tractor - a 40-50 HP older one. I had a Massey 240 a few years ago and that was about perfect. But they are hard to find with good hours.

Thanks again for the comments.

how old are you wanting to go? i see a good many 40-50hp utility tractors with not alot of hours on them for what seems like pretty good bargains. check out tractorhouse, machinefinder. etc. even your dealer can let you know when something comes in he thinks you might like. that's what happened to me. my dealer had a guy looking for an older 30ish hp tractor that was in good shape. i happened to have just such a tractor i was wanting to trade-in at the time and the dealer knew he had an instant sale if he could woo me out of my tractor. he ended up giving me a VERY good trade in value to make sure he got it, turned around in a week and sold it to the other guy. i was happy with my new tractor, my dealer was happy he made 2 sales, and the other guy was happy he found what he was looking for. i'm suprised the 5055E is on sale, usually the 5045E is what i see advertised around here alot. is it 2wd or 4wd?

 

[jfh0jfh]

how old are you wanting to go? i see a good many 40-50hp utility tractors with not alot of hours on them for what seems like pretty good bargains. check out tractorhouse, machinefinder. etc. even your dealer can let you know when something comes in he thinks you might like. that's what happened to me. my dealer had a guy looking for an older 30ish hp tractor that was in good shape. i happened to have just such a tractor i was wanting to trade-in at the time and the dealer knew he had an instant sale if he could woo me out of my tractor. he ended up giving me a VERY good trade in value to make sure he got it, turned around in a week and sold it to the other guy. i was happy with my new tractor, my dealer was happy he made 2 sales, and the other guy was happy he found what he was looking for. i'm suprised the 5055E is on sale, usually the 5045E is what i see advertised around here alot. is it 2wd or 4wd?

I've been looking off and on (tractorhouse, craigslist etc) for a couple of years and just haven't found anything. There have been some deals at consignment auctions but that's a tricky place to buy - dealers send things they can't sell; others will send units with known problems. No, not always. But often enough.

In JD, the 5Es are 4WD and the 5Ds are 2WD.

I've lucked out a couple of times like that - finding a dealer looking for what I had.

I think what's on sale depends on what the dealer has in stock which depends on the manufacturer to some extent. This dealer ordered a bunch of 5055Es, put some out at farm shows, .... so they were a good deal.

I started looking around because I feel there should be great deals in this economy. So far I'm not seeing "great". My 4310 won't depreciate a lot between now and the winter so I'll see what they have then. If I have to keep it, that's fine too.

 

[jfh0jfh]

At the beginning of the thread you mentioned you were looking at about a 50 HP utility tractor, have you considered the M5040, perhaps it has the ergonomics and balance that you would like?

Next, you mentioned that you don't want to load tires because of problems that loaded tires will cause when mowing and causing the tires to sink down into the soil. If the Kubota is lighter to start with perhaps adding some fluid to the rears will not cause these problems and you will get the right balance?

On my kubota I have fluid in the rears and I remove my FEL if I'm going to do a lot of mowing and that setup works out well for me.

Good luck which ever way you go.

I did look at the M5040 but I think it was a lot more money. The kubs do have the ergonomics I like. Maybe I'll research the 5040 some more.

I've mowed with two tractors with loaded tires. Our local expression is "beat you to death". And I have to go slower.

If I HAD to load my tires, I'd deal with it. But I've had utility tractors working well without it.

 

[acsteve]

I just thought I would chime in on the Kubota 5100. Have had one for 6 months after looking at the local dealers, kioti 55(price was the same as the kubota), Case(too much plastic) and the Kubota. I was much more impressed with the Kubota at first glance, and have been really happy with it. It has enought weight(loaded with fluid), construction tires to easily fill the bucket with my very heavy, rocky dirt. Having grown up using varrious old Allis Chalmers, I am quite happy with the mechanical shuttle on the Kubota, but can see were some would want the Hydrostat. I decided the extra lift capacity and weight of the 5100 was more important than 4000 series Kubota's with the hydro. Besides the wife cant drive this one. The dealer I purchased from tried hard to tempt me with a 70xx sized kubota which was not too much more money, more tractor, but, it would not fit in my barn so I passed. The deere dealer is also close, but I just couldnt own a green tractor, and I am not too concerned about resale value, a battle which the Deere will win hands down over all other makes.

 

[NTC]

The MX 5100 is what I call a tweener tractor. It is larger than a compact but smaller than a utility tractor. The Deere 5055E is a full sized utility tractor hence the weight difference. My advice would be to buy the one you like the best from the dealer you like best....after all it is your money and the most important thing is that you are happy and you get what YOU want. Not what anyone else says you need! Just make sure you buy the size and configuration that will best meet your needs! Both tractors will perform well for what they are designed to do. Everyone here will have different opinions and rightly so, but only you are going to be using the unit for what you need to use it for.

 

[art]

Nope, all mounted mowers are mfg in house. This is in direct relation to the tractor frame durability. Please understand I am not referring directly to a tractors ability to take ballast.

I know how manufacturing of add on products go and it depends on demand and what helps on one is excess baggage for another. I've seen other makes with warnings as well as getting them from the sales staff while pricing.

There are mower companies that have no issues with putting boom mowers on Kubotas!

 

[pitt_md]

I just thought I would chime in on the Kubota 5100. Have had one for 6 months after looking at the local dealers, kioti 55(price was the same as the kubota), Case(too much plastic) and the Kubota. I was much more impressed with the Kubota at first glance, and have been really happy with it. It has enought weight(loaded with fluid), construction tires to easily fill the bucket with my very heavy, rocky dirt. Having grown up using varrious old Allis Chalmers, I am quite happy with the mechanical shuttle on the Kubota, but can see were some would want the Hydrostat. I decided the extra lift capacity and weight of the 5100 was more important than 4000 series Kubota's with the hydro. Besides the wife cant drive this one. The dealer I purchased from tried hard to tempt me with a 70xx sized kubota which was not too much more money, more tractor, but, it would not fit in my barn so I passed. The deere dealer is also close, but I just couldnt own a green tractor, and I am not too concerned about resale value, a battle which the Deere will win hands down over all other makes.

Um maybe you want to rethink that part about the wife can't drive it. I came home last week and found my wife had used my MX5000 to move around some half whisky barrels full of dirt/flowers. Very pround of herself too!

 

[oldtractors]

Don't worry about the durability of any of the India built tractors. Those tractors are used a lot harder then India than you ever will. Here are some videos of Deere's 5055E equivalent used in India. That loader is commonly used to load gravel trucks in quarries.


http://www.pakistan.tv/videos-john-deere-with-loader-[Ez_u_yYfLYQ].cfm
YouTube - 05082009
YouTube - John Deere 55 HP Front End Loader - by Poonam Dumper

This shortliner makes some of the equipment for India.
They use that tractor and dozer in the same applications that we would use a D4 CAT.
http://www.bullindia.com/application_back.html