M4700 transmission ratios/speeds

Jchonline · Jul 5, 2023

You dont really have a tractor built for field work. My M7060 has 12 forward and reverse gears..so its really easy to find the right speed for mowing, haying, seeding, spraying, etc. Machines like my L6060 or your M4700 are a compromise at best....these arent "field" tractors. Just dont have the fine tuned gearing. Sooo you can either buy the correct tractor or you can suffer with the rest of us! I have mowed 20 acres with a brush hog a few times....no fun at all. I also cant imagine going across the field in high gear...talk about a bumpy ride. I guess the airfield is a bit smoother.

Farmer495 · Jul 5, 2023

rv7charlie said:
but it seems nonsensical for tractor mfgrs to devote two top gears for highway use, when (at least with this tractor) it's quite capable of getting under way in high 4th. It would seem logical that high 3rd has no use at all, if it's not for something like mowing.

I do a lot of road travel. I use every gear in high range pulling wagons and implements etc on the road. My travel includes upgrades where I have to downshift to keep moving. I'd use high 3rd plenty on an M4700 if I farmed with one.

Farmer495 · Jul 5, 2023

Jchonline said:
You dont really have a tractor built for field work. My M7060 has 12 forward and reverse gears..so its really easy to find the right speed for mowing, haying, seeding, spraying, etc. Machines like my L6060 or your M4700 are a compromise at best....these arent "field" tractors. Just dont have the fine tuned gearing. Sooo you can either buy the correct tractor or you can suffer with the rest of us! I have mowed 20 acres with a brush hog a few times....no fun at all. I also cant imagine going across the field in high gear...talk about a bumpy ride. I guess the airfield is a bit smoother.

M4700 is really the same premise as almost every farm tractor in that HP class built in the 60/70/80/90s. I farm only with 8-speed tractors at the moment, work gets done fine, more gears are better though.

rv7charlie · Jul 5, 2023

The ride isn't an issue. If it's smooth enough for 13" tall aircraft tires and 7" tailwheels on 1500 lb gross aircraft at 70+ mph, a tractor in 3rd gear handles it pretty well. ;-)

There are seven or eight tractors on the field now, and two are Kubota hydrostat drive & the rest are similar (another M4700, a larger Kubota manual trans, a ~40-50 hp JD, a big MF). There have been up to 9 or 10 in the past (pilots all like having their own toys), and I don't think any of them have ever been anything other than 6 or 8 speed or hydros. The ones that haven't gone to 5' zero turns are using 6' or 7' cut 3ph mowers. A couple seem to enjoy sitting in the sun for most of a day and mow in 2nd or use zero turns; the rest of us mow in 3rd.

Jchonline · Jul 6, 2023

Farmer495 said:
M4700 is really the same premise as almost every farm tractor in that HP class built in the 60/70/80/90s. I farm only with 8-speed tractors at the moment, work gets done fine, more gears are better though.

I looked you could actually have purchased the M4700 with a 12 speed creeper (if tractordata is correct)!