Buying Advice Tractor choice? Share your wisdom!

[wolc123]

Unless you get a John Deere, you will always be left with regrets, and a feeling of wanting or “what might have been”. That said, I have owned several other brands, and still have a couple (a Ford and an IH). The best thing those other brands have and still give me, is more appreciation for John Deere.

 

[kneedeep]

I have owned John Deere , yellow & green, several Fords, Long (loved Perkins motor), IH, CaseIH and Mahindra.
I like the Mahindras as much as any of them. I bought them to do some work, and work they did.
Established dealership is very important as well.

 

[EddieWalker]

I have Deere, Case, New Holland, Century and Massey Ferguson. They all have their place, and none of them where bought based on what brand they are. I bought based on price, features, and what I needed to get done.

I like the 5065E Deere. It's 2wd, open station, manual transmission. I hate the gearing on it. Three speed with a three way splitter. None of the gears are right, it's either too low or too high. I leave it in mid range and use first or second gear the most, but neither is right. I do like the parking brake feature being in the gear box!!! I didn't think I would, but moving round bales around, it's really easy to lock it in Park when getting off to open and close gates. Having said that, I doubt that I would buy another Deere.

As mentioned before, the Massey is my newest tractor, and it's night and day nicer then anything else that I've seen out there. More features, bigger tractor, heavier and best of all, it cost less then the other big name brands.

Kubota is the brand that I've always thought of as number one in small tractors, but every time I go to the dealer, I walk away disappointed. I'm sure it's a great tractor, but there are other brands with more features for a lot less money with the same HP.

 

[hayden]

And that is no different than any other utility tractor. The SSQA robs lifting capacity from them all vs a direct pin on attachment.
That is one of the pluses of the JD QA, it robs less capacity. There is always a trade-off of some type, no matter what you choose. JD just gives you more choices.

I think there is a little more too this. I'm not an expert by any means, but I have been looking pretty hard at tractors in this range and a bit above.

My understanding is that Deere has 3 different loader attachments, or "carriers" as they call them.

On smaller tractors (I think 4000 series and smaller) they have a proprietary carrier as others have said. If you want SSQA, you have to get an intermediate adapter that pushes the attachment forward several inches and reduces load capacity.

On the 5000 series, the loaders are available with your choice of carrier, so you can get Deere proprietary, SSQA, or Euro/Global standard. Your choice doesn't impact the loader's capacity.

If you get into bigger loaders, I think they start to be available only in Euro/Global because that's the stongest mechanically so can be used with larger loaders. I'm not sure exactly where the transition point is for Deere's offerings. I have only looked closely at the 5000 series loaders.

Massey is similar for the 4700 models, offering your choice of SSQA or Euro coupler. However I discovered that the loader for the 5700 models is Euro only. If you want SSQA, you have to install a 4700 series loader at reduced capacity compared to the normal 5700 loader. This killed the 5700 for me.

 

[Milo]

I think there is a little more too this. I'm not an expert by any means, but I have been looking pretty hard at tractors in this range and a bit above.

My understanding is that Deere has 3 different loader attachments, or "carriers" as they call them.

On smaller tractors (I think 4000 series and smaller) they have a proprietary carrier as others have said. If you want SSQA, you have to get an intermediate adapter that pushes the attachment forward several inches and reduces load capacity.

Just to be clear that is not the case. If you want SSQA on a Deere 3 or 4 series (probably others too) you don't have to use an intermediate adapter, that is just one option. I considered that, but for the reasons you mention I chose the other option which was to fit mine with Deere SSQA carriers.

 

[Williy]

Just for your peace of mind I would sujest that you try out
a Yanmar Yt359C

• 58.9 horsepower
• 2,500 lbs front lift capacity
• Cab with heat & air
• the transmission is like two tranys in one
• 10 year warranty
• now have rebates

willy

 

[jyoutz]

Just for your peace of mind I would sujest that you try out
a Yanmar Yt359C


View attachment 1610023

• 58.9 horsepower
• 2,500 lbs front lift capacity
• Cab with heat & air
• the transmission is like two tranys in one
• 10 year warranty
• now have rebates

willy

Willy, the OP said that he had only JD and Kubota dealers in his area.

 

[wolc123]

Willy, the OP said that he had only JD and Kubota dealers in his area.

Well at least he will get a Yanmar engine if he goes with a small enough Deere.

 

[EddieWalker]

My 5065E Deere has the Deere type loader, my Massey and New Holland have the Quick Attach system.

The Deere has a bucket and hay spears, but the bucket is so small that I never use it. I just keep the hay spears on it since that's the main use for the tractor.

For the Massey and New Holland, I have buckets, hay spear, pallet forks and a grapple. So far, I haven't installed the parts needed to use the grapple on the Massey. I'm not sure if I will, it's just a matter of spending the money, but the loader on the New Holland is so much stronger then the others, that I don't see the need. Same with the bucket, the New Holland has the biggest bucket, so that's what I use when moving dirt.

Having both systems may seem odd, but since the tractors are for different uses, it's not an issue with what to attach to them.

The best thing is being able to remove what's on the loader when mowing. Not having anything on there is so much nicer when going through the woods, down trails, and even out in the open areas.