John Deere 770 vs Ford 1715

[Hoggfan]

To some of you guys in the know.
looking to buy a compact for light hogging and yard work.
1998 JD 770 or a 1997 Ford 1715 both have loaders and just over 1000 hrs and both very well maintained. Give me the good the bad and ugly on both!!!

 

[fried1765]

To some of you guys in the know.
looking to buy a compact for light hogging and yard work.
1998 JD 770 or a 1997 Ford 1715 both have loaders and just over 1000 hrs and both very well maintained. Give me the good the bad and ugly on both!!!

I know nothing about the JD, but my Ford 1920 is the bigger brother to the 1715, and is a wonderful small tractor.
I will never sell the 1920, though I do have a much larger/newer Kubota also.

 

[tlj87]

The JD is going to be a more refined machine in terms of user controls (like the loader control, gauges, etc.). The 1715 was the economy version of the 1720 and has user controls more similar to the xx10 series Ford/Shibaura machines of the 1980's.

 

[rScotty]

Sounds to me like you can't go wrong either way. As far as I know, both are well regarded for reliability. With only 1000 hrs they should last for decades needing little or nothing. We've had 20 plus years to see both tractors and both have a great reputation.

If either one has power steering, that would make a huge difference to me. You won't really appreciate PS until you try to drive somewhere with the FEL bucket full.

I am a fan of JD/Yanmar, but the Ford/Shibaura is a delightful engine as well.
The specs make the Ford sound capable of quite a bit more lift at the 3pt, but that was in the era of "advertising specs" and I doubt there is actually much difference since the tractors weight about the same. The lift specs are probably taken at different distances from the 3pt pivot.

 

[crashz]

Our 770 is reliable and simple. Probably the best piece of equipment I have ever owned. I gave it back to my father after I bought the Kubota as we won't let it leave the family.

 

[droptop]

I had two different 770s and both were great tractors. The thing that impressed me most about the 770 was how easy they started in the cold. Never used the grid heater above 30F, turn the key and they just started. Once the tractor was sitting outside covered with snow at 10F and I tried to start it without using the grid heater just to see if it would start. It did, only ran on one cylinder for a few seconds, but it started.

The other thing I really liked was how easy the loader frame came off on both the older model 70 and the newer 419 loaders. My new MF comes off, but not as easy as the JD loaders.