My understanding of Fendt in the AGCO line would be like Lexus vs Toyota. Or Maybach vs Mercedes. If that makes any sense.
Since we now have a tractor for range maintenance, it made sense to swing down to Louisville, only a few hours away, to get educated about what’s possible.
I know some of you folks really like the tractor stuff. So here are few pics of the stops I made:
Kioti
When we were shopping for a range tractor, a number of you suggested Kioti. They had a decent presence at the show. Here was the largest Kioti tractor I have ever seen.
John Deere
Obligatory John Deere booth.
Large tractors, but expensive.
Popular child’s tractor pull ride at JD booth.
Ultimately we didn’t go with Deere because of supply issues, service drama on top of price.
Massey Ferguson
The largest booth was probably AGCO (Massey-Ferguson, Fendt, Etc)
MF 5711. Same frame and size as our 4707, just larger engine and features.
5711 also has a VERY much upgraded transmission. Everybody in MF world wants a Dyna-2 or Dyna-4.
MF 5S, 6S, etc. These S series are the MF top of the line units. They have ALL the bells & whistles. Notice the slopped hood for easier loader view. Wanted to see if these were worth upgrading to at John1911. While they are very nice (and expensive) the cab footprint, size etc doesn’t do anything for use the 4700 Global series doesn’t.
MF 5S 145hp tractor. Our 4700 series maxes out at 110. The John1911 4707 is a 70-75HP tractor.
Inside of the Massey 5S series. The jump seat is upgraded, but not significantly. And actually I can’t really tell if the cabs are bigger or smaller than the 4700-5700 Global series MF.
Fendt
AGCO also owns Fendt.
My understanding of Fendt in the AGCO line would be like Lexus vs Toyota. Or Maybach vs Mercedes. If that makes any sense.
Since I like nice things, of course I wanted to see Fendt. This unit I think was close to $300,000. While I am not opposed to buying one in the future, we don’t have a Fendt dealer closer than maybe 200-300 miles. And that is including Luke Bryan’s popcorn farm!
Case
The CASE booth.
CNH = Case – IH (International Harvester) – NH (New Holland)
They had a huge booth.
Without a doubt, the Case line was the biggest, most unexpected surprise for me at the show. When shopping for a tractor, we had seen A LOT of drama and reliability issues with Case and New Holland. Basically they are identical tractors just different colors. At least at the lower utility end.
This is a grown woman. Maybe 5’7 sitting in jump seat. While the cab isn’t bigger than the MF, the seats are super upgraded.
Different, smaller Case. But look at that jump seat. There is a CASE dealer north west of us maybe 50+ miles away. Never visited them. But in the future if we change tractors, we will absolutely take a look at CASE.
Kubota
Kubota booth.
When initially looking at Kubota, this model was our minimum size.
Now the M5 Kubota’s seem small.
This M7 would be our minimum Kubota but honestly we have moved on. Kubota is likely not ever in the cards for use, which is odd because they started at #1. The primary reason back then was availability. And apparently that is still an issue. Heard a Kubota sales guy telling someone they had been waiting 6 months for a gas-tank for a customer. Look. Kubota is cool to us. And we have at least 3 separate dealers around us. But the inventory support is terrible and their tractors are kind of light weight.
Accessories – Implements
Ironcraft (used to be one of the Titans) was at the show. They are the company to made all of our tractor implements, minus the Lane Shark.
This is the two-spindle deck John1911 currently runs.
We need a grapple, but all the floor samples were sold out.
Here is Ironcraft’s batwing. In theory we could use one. But unless we start purchasing neighboring farms to expand, it’s not “needed”. The 8 foot deck does just fine.
Here’s why. MSRP 17k. Show sales price 13k. Most of what we cut are trails, not that many fields. The extra 2 feet isn’t worth it to us. Better to spend that on the Lane Shark, grapple, etc.
This is the obligatory Woods booth. John1911 Chief Political Correspondent Danny swears by Woods decks. Said he ran the same Woods deck for 28 years at The State with no issues. Gotta admit, that’s impressive. But the cost vs return on the John1911 range just isn’t there.
