Buying Advice New Holland WorkMaster 50

[blakbear69]

I would like to say thanks to all that post on this website forum. I was able to get a lot of good information before I made my decision. After lots of reading and some seat time, I made the right decision by purchasing a New Holland Workmaster 50 from Willards Equipment in West Branch MI. Dan provided a good price for this model as well as the workmaster 37. I went bigger for a few reasons. Dan showed me the Kubota and New Holland. I also looked at Deere. Willards is not the closest dealer to me but with 60 years of service, I would say they are going to stick around for a while.
I looked at the WM 50, WM 37 HST, WM 37, Boomer series, and the Kubota l3901 HST, l4701 HST and the manual transmissions. I also looked at the Deere 3039R and the 3038E.
My reasons came down to service, comfort and reliability... in that order. Service was good from Dan. Comfort was the difficult part since my comfort is different than others and I am so glad I took the time to try out a bunch of tractors. I have a weak knee but also wanted the manual trans. I was not happy about how the HST functions worked and how they were laid out. The WM37 also had the dash too close to the clutch for my body so I kept hitting it with my foot. The Kubota had a really hard clutch which had my knee hurting within a few minutes of driving it. The HST on Kubota had the brake on the same side as the foot pedal for forward and reverse. That doesn't seem to work well when you are using half brake turns in tight areas for my food plots.
All in all... I am extremely happy with my tractor and the dealer I chose. I also wouldn't have been able to make such a good choice without this forum. So thanks again for all of the great info! Glad to be a part of this forum now.

 

[Turbys_1700]

Did you get a FEL and 4WD? If you got the loader checking the oil is aggravating. The dipstick is located directly behind the loader mounting brackets. I serviced mine last week at 45 hours. So far no issues. The oil filler cap is difficult to access also. Other than those two design issues the tractor has performed fine.

 

[blakbear69]

Yes, I did get the 4WD and FEL. I actually read your posts about this model and that helped me pull the trigger. I only put 4 hours on it this weekend so I didn't get a chance to really dig into it but I saw your earlier post about the dipstick access.
If that is the only problem... I will be fine with those issues. I plan on following your posts to see if you have any issues in the future. Thanks for your posts about your tractor. they help green buyers like myself. I traded my 2600 ford in for this one and although the old tractor gave me some fond memories, I was extremely pleased to get into a bigger, newer tractor. I am just trying to get used to keeping the tractor running while getting off the seat. 3 neutrals, parking brake and PTO disengaged has made things difficult to do a simple task.

 

[Turbys_1700]

The seat switch cut off is the most aggravating...
Several times while mowing it has engaged cutting the tractor off...
I have a steep area that I have to back down and sometimes my weight shifts enough to activate the switch...
Some folks tape it down so that it is by passed...
I'm not recommending that just passing along information...
And make sure to set the parking brake...
It will beep you to death...

 

[blakbear69]

Yes - I thought about bypassing the switch but I will give it a shot since it is a nice safety feature. Just over the top a bit. My wife couldn't push the clutch and brake without the tractor shutting down. not sure if she was just nervous or what but I didn't have that problem. I do like to stand up to get a better view of what's going on in the front but I can't do that anymore. lol
Yes - that beeping may be a problem in the future. I was reading in the manual that you can turn beeps on and off but not sure if the parking brake beep was included in that list. I still have to read the rest of the manual too.
by the way... if you do have it shut down from the seat, you have to shut the key all the way off to restart it. if not... the alternator doesn't charge the battery. That makes no sense. but just something to get used to.

 

[Turbys_1700]

Yes - I thought about bypassing the switch but I will give it a shot since it is a nice safety feature. Just over the top a bit. My wife couldn't push the clutch and brake without the tractor shutting down. not sure if she was just nervous or what but I didn't have that problem. I do like to stand up to get a better view of what's going on in the front but I can't do that anymore. lol
Yes - that beeping may be a problem in the future. I was reading in the manual that you can turn beeps on and off but not sure if the parking brake beep was included in that list. I still have to read the rest of the manual too.
by the way... if you do have it shut down from the seat, you have to shut the key all the way off to restart it. if not... the alternator doesn't charge the battery. That makes no sense. but just something to get used to.

I fiddled with the display until I understood what the heck was going on. It is confusing at first. I keep a cheap paint brush with me when brush hogging. The inter-cooler and radiator can clog up with fine debris. I never ran it hot but she got warm in the 90+ degree weather. It was brutal conditions hogging 20+ acres that had been untouched for over a year. The seat switch I understand. Still hard to adjust when you grew up on non ROPS tractors with no safety switches. Like you I always stood up to see what was going on and to stretch. Eight hours of plowing will make you do that. It will take some adjustment for the size difference. The turning radius is much larger. It is not the best for finish mowing but the added capabilities of the tractor far outweigh that small inconvenience to me.