That is not a valid way to check them out, because a small change in the lift cylinders, or hydraulic pressure can and will easily make up for the difference in length!
Well willy willy, the extra gears are very useful when you are trying to get a certain ground speed, at engine "pto" speed.
This is the part of buying a tractor nobody seems to understand and admittedly it took me too long to figure it out myself. There is no such thing as zero percent financing. When you figure out what the cash price is versus the finance price that's when you understand how much interest the manufacturer is really charging you to finance through them versus an outside lender. You are exactly right, at the end of the day it is exactly the same in most cases. You didn't really save any money buying the value brand other then getting more standard features. Not saying that isn't worth anything because it is but they come out about the same.
This was before financing costs were factored in unless you paid cash.
This ^ was enlightening.