Well, I decided to get a John Deere 5420 with a MX8 cutter.
Why? I talked with several cane farmers and a pipeline maintenance company. The farmers use them mainly for ditching but stated that they were "light". The right-of-way company said that they got good service from them but the operators tended to like the JD tractor because of the ergonomics. The prices were very close. The Landini had dual PTO's. I also thought of resale and felt that the JD would be a better investment. I have cut about 17 acres until Tropical storm Matthew started dumping 8-9' of rain and so far have had few problems(idler pulley or drive pulley is not aligned, it torn the serpentine belt, the floor mats were starting to crack, the center input drive case showed signs of leakage on the cutter) The dealer was to pick it up Sat. but the rain would have made it too dangerous to load. They are to pick it up Monday, hopefully. GREAT MACHINE SO FAR. We will most probably add a FEL in Spring 2005.
SPP1