HoyeTractor
Gold Member, Approved Advertiser
Ok... we are going to have to keep this between us. As an advertiser over at the Yanmar forum I have spent about 15 years saying how much I love the little YM Yanmars and how those were the best tractors ever made. I don't want to get accused of being a sellout for being over here on the Mahindra forum but I did just buy a new 5010 and I love it. 
Now, in case there are any Yanmar lurkers over here, I want to say that I do still love the little Yanmars and they are still the best tractors made and I decided to get the Mahindra for 2 very good reasons:
1)- I'm starting to become more of a wuss and I really wanted a cab. It gets hot here in Texas and I'm tired of my eyeballs being packed full of dirt and pollen at the end of the day. Plus, I have 3 kids and a cab tractor just seems like it would be moderately safer than a ROPS?? Maybe not... I don't really know... but that's what I told my wife and now I have a cab tractor.
2)- I have several acres of land that need to be mowed now since it started raining again here and I really wanted something to pull a bigger shredder (8'-10'). Yanmar does have some older tractors in that HP range but the parts availability is not very good on them and very few have cabs.
I know when I was shopping for a tractor I read every review I could find so I thought I'd take a few minutes to write a review myself and pay it back a little.
Just to be clear... I am an advertiser on TBN but I don't sell Mahindra tractors. I actually don't sell tractors at all... just Yanmar parts. This is not an advertisement. This is just my honest review about a tractor that I bought for myself.
Anyway... after about 150,000 +/- hours of research I decided on the 5010 gear with a cab and loader. The price per feature ratio was much better than any of the other tractors I was looking at by a long-shot. It sort of seems like a no-brainer now looking back. The final debate came down to gear and HST and I chose the gear based on previous experience with HST, the extra PTO horsepower, and I really just feel more comfortable with a clutch pedal in case things get weird and even for more precise movements. The spec sheet shows the HST at just a few PTO hp lower than the gear but I have to wonder in what conditions that is measured? The HST can almost stall the engine in some of the tractors I have driven. Is that rating at a complete stop, going up a hill, how fast, in what gear, soft ground??? I think there are a lot of variables that would make a HST use up considerably more HP than the spec sheet shows.
Before I go much farther... a little bit about me. I grew up on a farm and have pretty much operated just about every piece of machinery made. From the eight wheeled tractors, maintainers, combines, choppers, and swathers, to the giant three wheeled monster truck fertilizer spreaders, front loaders, dozers, and combines. Tens of thousands of hours spent in equipment singing along to the radio and making strange faces at myself in the rear-view mirror. I think I have a pretty good grasp of what works and what doesn't. We did all of our own maintenance and repairs and I can pretty much look at something and tell if is going to be a problem down the road. Anyway... back to the tractor!
I have put about 45 minutes on the 5010 so far (just got delivered yesterday) so I figured I'd write a review of my initial observations.
Looking over the exterior of the tractor you can really see that the wires and hoses and cables have been very well thought out. Hoses are not rubbing on stuff, wires are all in loom and routed like there was a plan. I had an opportunity to check out a YTO tractor a few years ago and the first thing I noticed was all of the hoses and wires running all over the place. Hoses were rubbing on sharp edges, wires were stretched banjo tight to reach sensors, wires were rubbing on sharp sheet metal and hot exhaust components. That thing was going to be a maintenance nightmare in no time. The 5010 is very well thought out.
The 5010's doors shut nicely with a solid thud. You do have to slam them a little harder than I feel comfortable slamming a 100% glass door but I'm sure it is fine. Once the weatherstripping has a chance to wear a little it will probably get easier. I am nervous about opening the door on a windy day though. We had a Deutz that had an all glass door and it got broke two days in a row when it was windy. I think it was about a $500 door if I remember right. The 5010's door's damper does seem adequate so it might not be a problem. Time will tell.
The grille guard is nicely designed to pivot forward to open the hood. No tools required either. I have having to unbolt a grille guard to open a hood! Once the hood is open the air filter is right there easy to get to which is nice. The battery is easily accessible too.
The seat appears very well made. The suspension mechanism, once adjusted correctly, is really just for the bigger bumps. Don't expect an air ride style cushion. Visibility is great! Lots of curved glass that I'm sure will me cost a fortune to replace when my 8 year old tries to shoot a bird off the cab with his BB gun.
The A/C is very cold. It was 100 degrees today when I started it and the cab cooled down very quickly. I did not ever turn the A/C down but I never wished it was a little cooler either.
The plastic parts are the nice high quality durable feeling plastic- not that shiny cheap brittle looking junk. Even things like the plastic fuel cap are surprisingly heavy and very solid. The fuel tank includes a built in removable screen which is nice.
The engine starts up instantly. No smoke and the engine runs very smooth.
The operation manual says there is an automatic PTO switch that mine does not have. The PTO is either on or off. No way to have it automatically disengage when the clutch is depressed which would have been nice. The PTO button is not in the ideal position for the "Oh crap I just mowed over a 50,000 foot roll of bale twine" type panic stops. I might either move the button up on the right fender or make a second e-stop style switch for easier access. Or... I might just get used to it where it is.
I spent a few miles in road gear getting back to the house. The tractor is not fast by any means but I got there in a reasonable amount of time. I think the spec sheet says 17mph but I didn't push it that hard. I kept the tractor below 2,000rpm because of what I thought was gear noise but it ended up being the plastic dash panel vibrating against the windshield frame. A little foam rubber tape will fix that easily. Once I stopped that vibration there was no other rattles or strange noises. The cab is fairly loud at full rpm in high gear though. Not so loud that you can't carry on a conversation but loud enough that I really didn't feel like listening to the radio. The tractor came with a Kenwood stereo with CD (they still make those??) . The sound is not great buy hey.. it is a tractor. The tiny speakers line right up with your ears and that no-bass sound hurts your brain after a while.
The steering is tight and perfect. Not too light and not too hard and no free travel to speak of. In road gear it tracks nice and straight. You don't have to work to keep it between the lines. In the field it turns with very little effort.
The transmission shifts like butter. No problems there. The clutch is light and engages just like you'd expect. There was never any of those times when you though " I'm going to have to get used to this". Everything works just like it should.
The loader joystick has a fair amount of play before anything moves but is very smooth and controlling the loader was very easy. I like the built in bucket level indicator. I've never had one that worked and this one works very nice and is not in the way.
Overall I'm really liking the tractor and think I made the right choice. My only real problem so far (I know... its only been 45 minutes) is a rear axle seal that is very slowly dripping. My hope is that once it starts getting used it will soften up and seal again.
Anyway... maybe someone shopping for a 5010 will read this someday and find something useful in it. I will post another review as I get some more seat time.
Now, in case there are any Yanmar lurkers over here, I want to say that I do still love the little Yanmars and they are still the best tractors made and I decided to get the Mahindra for 2 very good reasons:1)- I'm starting to become more of a wuss and I really wanted a cab. It gets hot here in Texas and I'm tired of my eyeballs being packed full of dirt and pollen at the end of the day. Plus, I have 3 kids and a cab tractor just seems like it would be moderately safer than a ROPS?? Maybe not... I don't really know... but that's what I told my wife and now I have a cab tractor.
2)- I have several acres of land that need to be mowed now since it started raining again here and I really wanted something to pull a bigger shredder (8'-10'). Yanmar does have some older tractors in that HP range but the parts availability is not very good on them and very few have cabs.
I know when I was shopping for a tractor I read every review I could find so I thought I'd take a few minutes to write a review myself and pay it back a little.
Just to be clear... I am an advertiser on TBN but I don't sell Mahindra tractors. I actually don't sell tractors at all... just Yanmar parts. This is not an advertisement. This is just my honest review about a tractor that I bought for myself.
Anyway... after about 150,000 +/- hours of research I decided on the 5010 gear with a cab and loader. The price per feature ratio was much better than any of the other tractors I was looking at by a long-shot. It sort of seems like a no-brainer now looking back. The final debate came down to gear and HST and I chose the gear based on previous experience with HST, the extra PTO horsepower, and I really just feel more comfortable with a clutch pedal in case things get weird and even for more precise movements. The spec sheet shows the HST at just a few PTO hp lower than the gear but I have to wonder in what conditions that is measured? The HST can almost stall the engine in some of the tractors I have driven. Is that rating at a complete stop, going up a hill, how fast, in what gear, soft ground??? I think there are a lot of variables that would make a HST use up considerably more HP than the spec sheet shows.
Before I go much farther... a little bit about me. I grew up on a farm and have pretty much operated just about every piece of machinery made. From the eight wheeled tractors, maintainers, combines, choppers, and swathers, to the giant three wheeled monster truck fertilizer spreaders, front loaders, dozers, and combines. Tens of thousands of hours spent in equipment singing along to the radio and making strange faces at myself in the rear-view mirror. I think I have a pretty good grasp of what works and what doesn't. We did all of our own maintenance and repairs and I can pretty much look at something and tell if is going to be a problem down the road. Anyway... back to the tractor!
I have put about 45 minutes on the 5010 so far (just got delivered yesterday) so I figured I'd write a review of my initial observations.
Looking over the exterior of the tractor you can really see that the wires and hoses and cables have been very well thought out. Hoses are not rubbing on stuff, wires are all in loom and routed like there was a plan. I had an opportunity to check out a YTO tractor a few years ago and the first thing I noticed was all of the hoses and wires running all over the place. Hoses were rubbing on sharp edges, wires were stretched banjo tight to reach sensors, wires were rubbing on sharp sheet metal and hot exhaust components. That thing was going to be a maintenance nightmare in no time. The 5010 is very well thought out.
The 5010's doors shut nicely with a solid thud. You do have to slam them a little harder than I feel comfortable slamming a 100% glass door but I'm sure it is fine. Once the weatherstripping has a chance to wear a little it will probably get easier. I am nervous about opening the door on a windy day though. We had a Deutz that had an all glass door and it got broke two days in a row when it was windy. I think it was about a $500 door if I remember right. The 5010's door's damper does seem adequate so it might not be a problem. Time will tell.
The grille guard is nicely designed to pivot forward to open the hood. No tools required either. I have having to unbolt a grille guard to open a hood! Once the hood is open the air filter is right there easy to get to which is nice. The battery is easily accessible too.
The seat appears very well made. The suspension mechanism, once adjusted correctly, is really just for the bigger bumps. Don't expect an air ride style cushion. Visibility is great! Lots of curved glass that I'm sure will me cost a fortune to replace when my 8 year old tries to shoot a bird off the cab with his BB gun.
The A/C is very cold. It was 100 degrees today when I started it and the cab cooled down very quickly. I did not ever turn the A/C down but I never wished it was a little cooler either.
The plastic parts are the nice high quality durable feeling plastic- not that shiny cheap brittle looking junk. Even things like the plastic fuel cap are surprisingly heavy and very solid. The fuel tank includes a built in removable screen which is nice.
The engine starts up instantly. No smoke and the engine runs very smooth.
The operation manual says there is an automatic PTO switch that mine does not have. The PTO is either on or off. No way to have it automatically disengage when the clutch is depressed which would have been nice. The PTO button is not in the ideal position for the "Oh crap I just mowed over a 50,000 foot roll of bale twine" type panic stops. I might either move the button up on the right fender or make a second e-stop style switch for easier access. Or... I might just get used to it where it is.
I spent a few miles in road gear getting back to the house. The tractor is not fast by any means but I got there in a reasonable amount of time. I think the spec sheet says 17mph but I didn't push it that hard. I kept the tractor below 2,000rpm because of what I thought was gear noise but it ended up being the plastic dash panel vibrating against the windshield frame. A little foam rubber tape will fix that easily. Once I stopped that vibration there was no other rattles or strange noises. The cab is fairly loud at full rpm in high gear though. Not so loud that you can't carry on a conversation but loud enough that I really didn't feel like listening to the radio. The tractor came with a Kenwood stereo with CD (they still make those??) . The sound is not great buy hey.. it is a tractor. The tiny speakers line right up with your ears and that no-bass sound hurts your brain after a while.
The steering is tight and perfect. Not too light and not too hard and no free travel to speak of. In road gear it tracks nice and straight. You don't have to work to keep it between the lines. In the field it turns with very little effort.
The transmission shifts like butter. No problems there. The clutch is light and engages just like you'd expect. There was never any of those times when you though " I'm going to have to get used to this". Everything works just like it should.
The loader joystick has a fair amount of play before anything moves but is very smooth and controlling the loader was very easy. I like the built in bucket level indicator. I've never had one that worked and this one works very nice and is not in the way.
Overall I'm really liking the tractor and think I made the right choice. My only real problem so far (I know... its only been 45 minutes) is a rear axle seal that is very slowly dripping. My hope is that once it starts getting used it will soften up and seal again.
Anyway... maybe someone shopping for a 5010 will read this someday and find something useful in it. I will post another review as I get some more seat time.
