Looking for tractor advice

[BlacktailSlayer]

I am starting to look for a tractor to help clear some land (mainly small to medium cedars and small brush). Been looking at the Mahindra 4540 with a grapple. Mahindra seems to have better construction and warranty than the Kubota and Deere. Anyone ever have experience with any of these tractors? Do they handle the cedars pretty easily?

[2Lazy2P]

Nothing wrong with Mahindra. I’ve got a kubota mx4700 and a m5660. The 5660 has a grapple and it will make you lazy.

[HOOKNBULLET2]

I’m a Kubota fan. I own a MX5100HST that I bought new several years ago. My good friend has a Mahindra and he constantly chases hydraulic leaks. A couple different Mahindra dealers have tried to fix his and have had limited success.

[RifleBowPistol]

Kubotas are expensive, but worth the money. John Deere you have to do your research and figure out where the particular model you are considering is made. John Deere tractors are made all over the world. Some are very good, others not so good. Mahindra, I have heard nothing but bad about.

My mother bought one, after I told her I would look at other brands. But her husband knows better, so they got a Mahindra. They have had multiple problems with it. Went back to the dealer twice, in the first six months. I think it had a coolant leak into one of the cylinders. The first time around, they replaced some small part, said they fixed it. I told them that part was not the problem. Sure enough, a couple months later, it was back in the dealer. The second time the dealer decided it had a bad head gasket, if I remember correctly, the dealer told them there was a TSB for head gaskets on that model, or the dealer had seen multiple with leaking head gaskets. That tractor is only about three years old, if I remember correctly, maybe only 2 1/2 years old.

Then probably six months ago, the tractor, basically did a run away or what seemed like one. It took off revving very high, her husband could not shut it off. It started spraying oil out of the dip stick tube, ECT. He finally found in the owners manual, a fuel shut off, shut the fuel off and killed it. Had it been a run away, where a diesel engine sucks the oil out of the crank case and runs on that oil, shutting the fuel off, won't kill them, you have to shut the air off. He shut off the fuel and killed it. He eventually turned the fuel back on and got it started again, a few weeks later. Going off of what happened and that killing the fuel, killed the engine, it sounds to me like it had a injector pump problem. I would not think they would still have injector pumps on them. I guess the Asian tractors still have injector pumps. I have been trying to remember to go look at their tractor and see if it has a injector pump on it. About the only thing that makes sense for what happened to their tractor, is a injector pump, malfunctioning, that or a computer malfunction, depending on what type of system it has on it. I don't see all of the injectors malfunctioning at the same time, in the same way. Supposedly it has not done that since. Would be odd to have a problem that severe, then never have it again. That was a strange deal.

A buddy of mine, has done a bunch of reading on them, he told me Mahindra and all of the other Asian tractors are known for electrical problems. I found in my long search for a tractor, and all the stuff I read. That a lot of the Asian tractors, have weak axles, and transmission parts/ drivetrails. They don't seem to use good alloys or good heat treating. I found a lot of Asian, tractors with broken axle shafts, gears in the transmission and input shafts. I saw many dead Mahindras with engine problems in my tractor search. But I found you can buy complete engine kits, with crank, rods, pistons, bearings, gaskets, cylinder sleeves, pretty cheaply for Mahindras.

I also was told and read, that the newer tractors, of all brands, commonly have fuel system related problems and computer problems and that stuff gets expensive to fix.

Reading as much as you can, on whatever tractors you are considering, and talking to as many people as possible, is a very good idea. Then reading about other tractors of the same brand, with the same basic engine or engine design, fuel system, ECT.

My top choices were John Deere, Massey Ferguson and Kubota. I came close to buying multiple different John Deer tractors. Then did some research on them, and found they were made in India or Mexico. I think some were made in Pakistan. I know for sure the ones made in Mexico and India, are the ones you will find are cheaper priced. If you look up those models, typically you will see they have a lot more problems than the other John Deere tractors made in England or the US. I think the US made tractor are made in Ohio.

My buddy who did all the reading, before me on Asian tractors, asked me to go look at a Kubota tractor with him some time back. It had a locked up engine. The guy tried to claim it needed a new starter. We could not turn the engine over with a big breaker bar, with a pipe on the breaker bar. Then while looking at the engine, we noticed that the left side of the block had been epoxied and was leaking coolant again. Basically it had a cracked block and someone tried to use a epoxy to fix the crack. The guy who had that tractor, I don't think had much of any mechanical knowledge, we were pretty sure he just ran that tractor to death, over worked it and then let water get into the cylinders. It's possible to have serious problems with most any brand of tractor, more so when they are abused.

[wickll]

I like my Mahindra 6530, although I have a few "minor" issues. I believe it is a 2012 . If you are OK with used, I would try to find a tractor (regardless of brand) that is Pre-DEF.

One less thing to worry about (def system) and seems like the newer tractors are much lighter at a given horsepower. You need weight for traction and handling the FEL and grapple. I can push out some pretty large cedars.

Seems like the newer models also have more electrical problems.

The 6530 has had some issues for me. The steel tank has had some rust problems which can frequently plug the screen on the fuel outlet of the tank. I am hoping to put some sort of inline strainer between the tank and the filter to remedy this.

It is a 3 cylinder and is LOUD. I usually wear ear muffs when operating (no cab).

IF you can find a good used tractor at fair price, you will probably be able to sell it years down the road if you can keep in a barn and take reasonable care of it.

[RMW]

John Deere is top of the line

[twistedmidnite]

Iv got a Mahindra 4025 4x4, bought it new in 2013. No complaints here. Its done everything iv asked and more. However, if I had to do it over again I'd get atleast a 60hp.

[Walker]

Unless you just have to have a grapple, I'd look for a jd 4010 or 4020 with a fel. Look long enough and you should be able to find one in the $9000 to $11000 range. Tough dependable old tractors.

[BigCohiba]

I love my Mahindra. Zero issues in 3 years.

[Sackett]

Mahindra is a great tractor but has a huge problem with quality of their steel. It will rust and corrode around the drivetrain long before any other parts wear out.

[Old Goat1]

X2 on loud. Have a 6530 2012. Zero problems. More weight than other 65hp tractors at the time. All mechanical except the parking brake release and foot throttle. Nothing worst than having to split a tractor to repair a cable to a clutch. There are good ones and bad ones depending on the year model. Just like cars.

[Old Goat1]

X2 on loud. Have a 6530 2012. Zero problems. More weight than other 65hp tractors at the time. All mechanical except the parking brake release and foot throttle. Nothing worst than having to split a tractor to repair a cable to a clutch. There are good ones and bad ones depending on the year model. Just like cars. Paint isn't as good as a jd.

[Bowtech38]

Sent you a pm

[az2tx]

John Deere is top of the line

As long as you get the ones that are above 75 hp and built in US and not India like the smaller ones
Kubota are the best smaller HP, Case, New Holland and Mahindra are all built in India