M7040 performance?

[manitouofthehatchie]

I'm thinking of buying an M7040 w/ loader and spear to move round bales of hay and doe maintenence work around my cattle farm. Been using an old '67 JD4020 but want to upgrade to a cab model. Any input on the 7040's working capacity would be appreciated greatly. I just want to be sure it's enough tractor as it is about 30 hp less than the old 4020.

 

[big bubba]

will this be a back up tractor or the primary tractor for the hay operation? what's the pto hp requirement of your baler? (7040 pto is 62). it should work fine for moving bales, but I'd strongly look at the 85/9540 for anything more. lots of 95's around doing hay. the jump in equipment & capabilities from 70 to 85/9540 is considerable. in any case load the rear tires (or cast) and definitely get the hydraulic shuttle over the dry clutch for your kind of work. the 12 sp. hd tranny in the 85/9540 also increases the 3 pt. hitch to 7600 # best of luck bb

 

[gwdixon]

My 7040 works quite well, thank you very much.

You might want to go to the Kubota website and do a side-by-side comparison of the 7040, 8540, and 9540. There is quite a price hike when going to the 8540/9540.

If the JD4020 was doing the job the M7040 should be no problem. The difference between the HP of a well-used '67 JD may not be that noticeable with a new tractor. Be sure to try one out at a dealer if one is nearby.

 

[manitouofthehatchie]

Thanx for your reply- won't be baling though- just moving it. I have it bailed on the halves. Dealer said it would haul one front and back but I wasn't so sure.

 

[manitouofthehatchie]

Ah! An owner! Great! Has your unit had any major issues? No problems handling and hauling weight?

 

[big bubba]

having owned the 7040 and now 85, the 70 by all means should work great. if however there's even a small possibility that you might do your own hay or expand one day, I'd look at the bigger model. as it stands, you'll be well satisfied with the 70....wise choice with the m series. all the best bb

 

[gwdixon]

Ah! An owner! Great! Has your unit had any major issues? No problems handling and hauling weight?

No problems at all with the M7040. The FEL is quite strong. The LA1153 is rated to lift 2535 pounds to the top of the lift but I have lifted a 4000 pound (estimated) stump about two feet off of the ground with the forks before the hydraulics stalled. With loaded tires and a 1000 pound counterweight the rears would just scratch the ground with that load. 4WD solved that problem. The auto locking front differential helps quite a bit as well.

The 3PT will lift 3307 pounds. Having a bale on the rear should provide a counterweight for the FEL. The most I've had on the rear is a 2000 pound disc so have never reached the limit.

The turning radius is amazingly short for a tractor that size and runs circles around my old L3650DT-7. The hydroshuttle syncro transmission is nice for loader work but I haven't completely mastered it yet enough to use it confidently.

 

[Hugenpoet]

I've had my M7040HD for 2 years next month (just got my post card from Kubota trying to sell me an extended warranty) and haven't had a single maintenance issue-other than my doing the routine scheduled service as required. Got iron rims and filled tires. Don't run it a lot-only 180 hours so far, but spend a fair amount of time aggressively using the bucket and a Woods 7200 in heavy brush around the edge of our meadow trying to reclaim some extra land. Also move a lot of dirt and gravel and quite a bit of stone. Pulled some pretty good sized log lengths out of the woods, hauled a lot of firewood, pulled the box scraper with ease even when full of gravel-BUT, I never hauled any hay.

 

[manitouofthehatchie]

Much obliged bb! Also found a 2001 M9000 at what I think is a decent price, about half of the new 7040 w/ more hp andfairly low hours, three remotes.Any thoughts?

 

[manitouofthehatchie]

Many thanks guys. I feel better now. Will repost when I decide which way to go!