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Best John Deere 80 acre “farm”

19K views 68 replies 22 participants last post by  Wethay 
#1 ·
Howdy haytalkers! My wife and I are about to close on an 80 acre farm which is half field and half forest. Western Mass, New England. I need a tractor. I need it to do it all, but don’t want an overkill nor something weak that if I spent $10k more I’d be happier. My entire family is from Ukraine and farming was their everything, except they had no machinery yet made a living. So I need my dad amazed. We’re going all out from crops to livestock so this tractor needs to be the workhorse on the farm. We’ll have horses too. I was looking at the 4066r but then all the 6 series make it look like a joke. Hit me with the best one to go for. ~$60,000 sounds good. I only want John Deere because they sing songs about them. Thank you in advance!
 
#6 ·
if it were me...and i am ruleing out subcompact tractors because they are extremely limited on lifting and field work

the first question you probably need to ask yourself is ........Hydro-stat or Gear tractor......the 4066r is the largest JD tractor with Hydro-stat

second thing to consider is .......4series is a large compact tractor and they are very good at doing chore work and reasonable loader work very nimble tractors ..........6series is a AG Farm Field tractor and will do just about anything AG related reasonably well ........you skipped the 5series which fits in the middle

in our area of the country a 5085x + tractor is very popular for small farms and ranches

consider most all tractors will pull some form of plow obviously bigger is faster etc

weight (you can add weight to any tractor) and tire type is a big consideration for field work and any ground engagement work

PTO hp is a critical item to consider as it affects size of mowers. balers...etc

i personally have a 4series size tractor for day to day chores ......and 5 series for more farm type work ....and others for heavy farm work 6 and 7 series .....day in and day out i get on the 4 series more than all the others.....but i sure dont hook it up to big mowers etc

from what you mentioned i would probably go with a 5085x thru 5115x or give up some field capability and step down to the 4066x

since your JD specfic you might want to visit greentractortalk.com and read up
 
#8 ·
Wanting a John Deere because they sing songs about them is no sillier that the reasons many of us have John Deeres! Your willingness to pay the "green paint tax" puts you in good company round here. (Disclosure: I have 3 of them.) 80 acres is enough land to do real tractor work, and it sounds like you want to. 4066 has power but is designed for yard chores rather than field work. It's nimble and handy round the yard, sure, but you would find youself looking for something better for heavier work. A 6000 series is overkill for your needs, unless you have deep pockets. So for you I think the "Goldilocks" option is the 5000 series. My neighbour has just bought a 5075E open station for his 40 acre block and he loves it, but he is not doing the range of work you are planning. I would suggest something like a 5090M, with cabin (for working in bad weather), front wheel assist (better for front loader work, plus traction in mud and snow), and the 16x16 transmission to give you plenty of gear options which you need for field work (and the reverser is good for front loader work). A tractor like that would do absolutely anything you might need: heavy cultivation, mower-conditioner, round or small square baler, front loader work, anything. And it wouldn't be too big and unwieldy for light jobs.

Roger
 
#10 ·
This here the exact reason I registered at the haytalk quarters cuz I know real farmers don’t hang out on Facebook groups and that’s where I’ve been doing most of my independent research. Surprisingly both have yielded the exact same conclusions and the 5 series seems to be the clear winner. Now I can’t bash Facebook too much, because I just learned the difference between row crops and field crops. Field crops is what we’re after and we ain’t doing this for a living nor commercially, just love some freedom with a pasture that my kids can ride horses on and stay far from iPads and the television in the future. Now my friend keeps trying to convince me to get an orange kubota and won’t stop sending me articles that I can’t keep up deleting from my inbox. What’s the main reason you guys tell your friends you went with a Deere? But then again, all my friends told me to get a Ford truck, but I went ahead and ordered a maxed out RAM 3500 Laramie Cummins fully with an 8’ bed. I don’t care, I know that I was born for this. I sincerely do thank you for steering me even closer to a 5 series.
 
#14 · (Edited)
if your go look at 5 series's i see no need to go below a 5075x.... i would size it to your future anticitapted PTO hp needs .......for example if you think you might want to run a 15' batwing mower in the future then you probably need a 5085x ...and so on...just depends on what you think you will need

you will find that price will change a lot based on the letter suffix you look at ...(X)...they offer 3 trim levels....E, M and R ......just like cars the higher you go the more it costs for bells n whistles and if your just a occasional user or made of $ i would choose more HP vs a higher Trim level depending on your budget and what they have available

from what you have mentioned i would probably opt for the 5085 for a bit more flexibility but the 5075 carcaju mentioned above would be a good option also ....hopefully you will get more opinions
 
#15 ·
I would get an early JD 5075M or 5085M, 2013 or earlier to avoid most of the emissions crud with the factory correct loader. Mine is a 2wd with 15-38 rears. Open station with factory canopy. Two remotes. Great chore tractor, handles an 8’ heavy blade in snow no problem. Runs heavy duty 10th bush hog
 
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#25 ·
In response to the OPs why do you have a deere- I have Deeres because I grew up with them on neighbors farms and we had allis. Nothing wrong with allis, just when you grew up listening to 2 cylinders plowing and disking under load that is music that is hard to remove from your permanent sound track. My dad had a 1010 and so did I but really did not like it. Luckily, it wasn't a 2010 (probably the biggest flop from JD ever, kind of like an edsel I suppose. Anyway, ran 3010s and 3020s for a farm one summer during high school and was sold. Always will be a green guy, and I am too old to try new things now. I do acknowledge that I have a kubby ztr and you could not give me a deere ztr and I don't fit in their gators so I have a Kubby RTV 500 which suits me to a T
 
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#29 ·
If someone told me that I’d be buying farmland and owning a tractor 10 years ago, laughing would be the most humble word I’d use. Coming from the tech world, this didn’t even cross my mind. But as we grow older, the young and dumb me have bumped to some undeserved blessings and I suddenly feel that I was born for this and it all makes sense now. From where my parents are from to every attraction I had to things like a Green John Deere, I’m sorry but I can’t go against my gut. It will have to be a John Deere. I don’t remember if I mentioned this already, but I don’t know squat about farming, but my parents do and they did it long before equipment was accessible in Ukraine. My dad will appreciate the best John Deere you folks recommend for this 80 acre corner. 5xxx? Please help me decide already. Winter is coming, barn blueprints are drafted and I’m about to settle on a builder. House will be remodeled, truck is ordered and we know what kind of fence we want. My classic cars will go into the old barn downstairs (will restore) and again - I need a tractor! Which John Deere?
 
#32 ·
A 2555 would be a decent choice if you could get a low hr one, like 3k. Good luck on that. The wire diagram is a classic German whizbo pain and if you go cab, the air can be as well. I loved that high-lo trans but never had one go out.

for your long term use, especially with a loader, I would not consider anything without a wet clutch and reverser,16 spd Trans. That’s what I have in the 5075M. I would stay away from the Es. I hated the 9 spd trans but that was a major pain with cutting and baling. The 5300, 5400 5500 series and successors were too lightweight in their clutches for me and some people had fuel system issues.

you might consider adding a mini ex to your list. You can get decent reasonable hr used bobcat models for 20k and if you have a buddy you trust with equipment, buy it in partnership and cut the cost of ownership in half. Hth
 
#33 ·
Hayman1
You're contradicting yourself when you state to get a JD 55 series utility tractor but be sure and get a tractor with a wet traction clutch!! JD 55 series utility tractors although normally are very good have a "dry traction clutch". If OP chooses a JD 55 series or older utility tractor they need to be sure hyd system operates correctly when engine is at operating temp because problems with closed-center hyd's can be troublesome.

I agree wiring schematic on JD 40-55 series utility tractors with a cab closely resembles a "spider web"?
 
#34 ·
It is the opinion of many that the 55 series were among the better tractors JD has ever built. I personally have no experience with them but have considered buying a 2555 or 2755 before.

Like Hayman said though, if my next tractor is another loader tractor, it's got to have a power reverser. I use to operate a 6420 with one and it makes doing loader work with anything else lacking a power reverser very frustrating.
 
#35 · (Edited)
JD 50 & 55 series utility have a very good history BUT if hyd problems happen to rear it's ugly head they can be ""very bad"". Utility models of this era with cabs are more difficult to repair due to cab sitting very close to rockshaft housing. Plus utility AC systems weren't as dependable as their Waterloo built counterparts.

I traded a Kubota tractor with sync shuttle for another Kubota tractor with hyd shuttle & wouldn't want to go back to requiring pushing clutch pedal when changing directions
 
#39 ·
I totally agree with Jim, no desire to have to clutch every time I reverse, hard on your knees, hard on your tractor clutch. I have a 2013 5075M which I ordered from Augusta. One of the last non tier 4 60hp tractors made by deere. I have to order some parts for it from the interim tier 4 model parts list so they must have changed over during the model year so be careful with 2013s. My only complaint is the fuel filter is really cranky, have to change in half factory interval and can not use off road or it plugs. Vagaries of the common rail fuel system. Tractor Data says they started making them in 2008. I don't think their predecessor the 5325 was as good as the M models-it was more like the 5400-5500 which was the predecessor of the 5325. Other than looking for a 5075M that is not tier 4 I would focus on lowest number of hours you can get and decent condition of the machine. I have 15-38 rears which I really like. Hate those silly 30 inch rears that they put on so many tractors of this hp range.
 
#42 ·
No, just a little hesitant to muck with system design. Am I being too cautious?
 
#44 ·
My knowledge of common-rail fuel systems is very limited & I plan on my not having any "hands on" experience. So I will not comment further on altering/substituting fuel filter.
Have you ever checked the fuel transfer pump pressure/flow?
Not sure but I am assuming (I know, bad) that the JD Tech did when he was diagnosing the issue once. Lord knows I paid enough for the service call.
 
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