Buying Advice M7040 SUD or SUHD??

[John Kennedy]

I'm looking into purchasing my first tractor. I built my house on a small farm a few years back and my father-in-law kept some cattle on it to keep the property up. Well, he's sick now so the entire property is my problem now. His tractors are becoming too costly now because of constant repair so I thought I may as well go ahead and buy a new tractor to last. I've decided on a M7040 because I don't want something too big and at the same time too small.

So my question is this...which version of the M7040 is recommended? Plus, is the 70 HP 63 PTO HP enough for a small hay operation?

Thanks in advance.

 

[TripleR]

My choice would be the M7040 SUHD and especially so if you will be using a FEL.

We use an M8540 HDC which replaced a Case CX80 with Synchronized Shuttle Shift and the Hydraulic Shuttle Shift is a real improvement.

I prefer the control layout of the M7040 SUHD also with an open platform etc.

Now if you are just going to be pulling stuff around with little to no real big difference.

There is a member who owns a M7040 SU, but I can't remember his name.

Either tractor should work for you, but one of the real farmers on here can give you a more definitive answer on that.

 

[big bubba]

john: can't go wrong with the 7040. if you have hay in mind, i would look at the specfic pto requirements of the hay baler you'll be using, with a possible future baler upgrade or running something bigger (for neighbors, etc). you might even post a new thread about hay requirements & the 7040. my uneducated guess is that you definitely would not want anything less.....problem in going to the 8540 is the steep price hike....... good luck.