compacts

1. Someone said new JD's are all plastic and electronics. I agree. I have a 1988 JD CUT, and it's been absolutely dead reliable. I've driven a couple newer (4XXX) JD's and they look and feel MUCH cheaper, and have way too much stuff to go wrong.

2. Older JD CUT's were mostly all Yanmars with JD paint and bodywork. Therefor, if I were in the market again, I'd have to look REAL hard at Yanmars. Much as I like my Deere, you can't argue with the saying "Nothing costs like a Deere."

3. Someone said "You can do little jobs with big tractors but not...etc." True, as far as it goes, but big tractors are harder to trailer, harder to get into tight spaces and more likely to tear up the turf when turning or when things are soft.

4. My JD is a 1988 750, 18 HP diesel. In 17 years I've put one battery and one rockshaft seal kit in it. Period. I've run a 5 foot bushhog through 2" alders, dug trenches, ditches and foundation holes with a Woods 650 backhoe, graded drives, moved snow, tilled gardens and done a host of other tasks. Not as fast as I might have with a 50 horse tractor, but still just as done. I've gotten several jobs the big boys couldn't do because they couldn't get at it without cutting down trees or tearing up a lawn.

My point: Bigger ain't always better, and neither is newer.

Yesterday was up at the Deere guy's place pickin up some stuff, and asked what the deal was on that 4520 that'd been settin out there for a month or so. He asked me if I wanted a loader put on it, and I said no, had loaders already. Then he flipped some pages and said I could have it for either $24K or $27K. I about died. They were nice in their heyday (hay day), but this thing was about 70% on the fronts, 20% on the rears, and had been well used. Was still nice (has potential), but needs a lot of work. I told the guy I fugured was about a '70, and wasn't worth anywhere near that. He called the boss over whom cleared it up. The sales guy was talking some new or newer compact out on the lot somewhere, and I was talking about that sun faded, well worked field beef settin up by the road. The boss said not putting anymore money into it, $5K. That surprised me. They closed while I was out looking it over, but we'll be talkin again.

There are some surprises out there. Not often, but some.

Mark

NH, Case, Kubota, & JD are all good, pick whichever fits your rear & your wallet, find a good dealer. Can't go wrong.

Cheaper is something from India or Korea, good value for the $$$. Little harder finding a dealer or parts, but good base machine.

The 'off' brands from Japan are also pretty good value, harder to find parts, but low price, fairly well built. Yanmar, Kubota grey-market machines, etc.

Don't buy anything from China, poorly cast, poor hydraulics & controls, poor everything, no one will buy it from you for more than scrap price. Parts can be a nightmare. These things are sold from every mail-order, low-budget supplier, off the back of traveling semis, etc. under every name brand under the sun. Total junk.

--->Paul

I've been involved in maintenance in general and electronics in particular all my working life, going on 35 years now, and it has been consistently proven to me that unnecessary complexity ALWAYS leads to increased breakdowns.

Electronically controlled HST's and electronically controlled throttles just don't make any sense to me. It ain't required to get the job done, so why complicate things? I don't think it contributes enough to fuel efficiency at the CUT level to be worth the investment and the hassle.

Also, i don't like the electric "everything" either. In time i bet you it will NOT proove as reliable as the manual systems.

I kinda like it when "i move this, and i see that move" At least i don't have to have an electrical degree to figure it all out!!

Robert

I lived in Alaska for a long time, i was in Northway when it was -62F, and i didn't see any cast iron breaking???? Over the years there i heard all kinds of stories, yet in 25 years of liveing there i never experenced even one of them!!

The reason plastic is used so much today is because it's CHEAP to use, just injection mould the part, and sent it to the mfg..

Robert

Yeah, I agree, JD can build some good stuff, and we all have our favorites, but my brother told me something similar to this 5 years ago when I bought a Farmall 460 and an 8N and he bought a new "Big 3" tractor. His is currently sitting , waiting for the cash to repair it (out of warranty), while mine are still chugging along. Cheap price doesn't always mean cheap quality, just as high price doesn't always mean high quality. Not picking on ya, just relating a story.

Let that one soak in for minute or three. Then, after you go spend your money, that bit of wisdom will come back and haunt you if you err on the side of 'too small'.

I visit here most every day, don't claim to be an expert and have come to recognize the 'experts' from their comments on everything from weevils to widgets.

Allow me to say this; JD has been in business long before most of these companies were even a figment of some man's imagination. They are here for the long haul and will probably be around when we're all dead and gone. I'm not going to knock Kubota, they make a good machine.

I'm 47 years old and started with my backside planted in the seat of a 1946 Oliver RC 60, 40 years ago....yeah, either folks were stupid then or figured kids had more sense than now. Since that time, I've had several tractors and everytime I trade, I get a bigger one....that ought to tell you something, as my place isn't getting any bigger.

I mow my 2 acre yard with a finish mower, bushhog a few more acres and have a big truck garden. My latest tractor is a JD 5320 4 wd with a 541 loader. It isn't too big for mowing the yard.....you'd be surprised at how nimble it is. It handles an 8' bushhog and pulls 2 16" plows like they're not back there. The tractor is heavy enough that the nose stays where it belongs instead of looking for the stars when bushhogging on a hill side and loader will move most anything you put in it.

You don't have to go buy a new outfit, but while you're buying, get enough machine and buy something that is built to last and has a good dealer behind it.

A lot of folks don't think outside the box they make for themselves.....until they're knee deep in hock with a machine that fails to meet their expectations. They then either trade up, or try to make do.

I've always owned used tractors until this last one, nothing wrong with a used machine as long as somebody hasn't gutted it before you buy it. Most tractors used in real farm operations get the crapola ran out of them and when they decide to let them go, they're generally used up. Why buy something to work on? I want something to work 'with'.

I have neighbors who run honest to god farms and they are hard on tractors. They are businessmen in overalls and a tractor is no different to them than a copier to a suit and tie guy. When the copier or tractor lays down....out it goes and a new(er) one replaces it. Moral is: avoid these machines unless you just enjoy working on machinery and spending lots of dollars ressurecting the dead. You just have to decide what you want and of course, can afford.

I couldn't afford a cab or a power reverser, so I had to satisfy myself with something less. It's a luxury to me to have a canopy and a synch-shuttle tranny. 4 WD is great, but this is the first time I ever had it on a tractor.....it isn't a 'must have'. My current tractor has something like 55 pto horses....not a big machine, but enough for most jobs. I have no use whatsoever for a 80 horse tractor but if I did, that's what I'd buy. Makes no difference what I paid for mine or what you'll pay for yours. However, try to just spend your money once and be done with it. Size does matter....hehe!

Thing is, not everyone needs the strength of the ag tractor, so you need to decide what will work for you.

Robert

We bought a Kubota L5030 wiht cab loader and hydrostatic. It is big for a compact at 50 hp and 6500 lbs with the loaded tires. For logging, it is so nibble and compact for zipping around the woods it is great.

The 4wd really helps getting us around the yard, frequently the 2wd utility can"t go anywhere due to having some rain or whatnot.

The loader valve is so much improved over the IH2250 it isn"t funny.

Lastly, the biggest make fun of point, the hydrostatic tranny, has been incredible. Yeah, it is 2500$ for a new drop in unit if it dies but the machine becomes an extension of you! We moved 80 yards of crushed rock the other weekend with it in a few hours, placing it all in trenches lined with filter fabric. Despite the sloped site you could put the rock with 1" of where you wanted with no roll back of the machine, and no knocking the sides in on the trenches. I couldn"t have done this with the utility tractor without a lot of trouble.

I hope to put it to use this summer on the square baler and haybine. I know of a gentleman in Michigan putting up 4 cuts a year off 80 acres on the same machine after using bigger utilitys. He pulls a 13 ft haybine, a 5x4 round baler and a square baler with kicker wagons.

My only complaint so far? The really short wheel base makes for a rough ride. Steers on a dime but rough ride.

The L series is not an farm tractor, and if used for one like baleing small squares and it breaks, Kubota will NOT cover it under warr..

I've seen (2) "L" series get the PTO knocked out when baleing, and Kubota would NOT cover either one. Kubota says that's why they make the "M" series, for farm work.

Robert

Thanks,
Steve