Pondering upgrading a M7040 to something bigger

[fast*st]

So a question, we have a 2009 M7040 comfort cab, 1153 loader, front remote, triple rear remote, custom skid plate, radio, front/rear work lights, kept well painted and in good shape, nothing bent or broken. R4 tires, 2100 hours, new front tires, fluids changed on time.

Would it be better to trade it in or go private sale it and then go find a new tractor. This tractor moves a fair bit of dirt along with pulling implements and pushing/blowing snow. Would like more loader force and a bit more horsepower.


Its been suggested to private sale it then go shopping as you can't really trade orange for green and vice versa. What's the consensus

 

[North Idaho Wolfman]

So I take it your not looking at a Bigger Kubota?

If not why if I might ask?

But if you are, see what kind of $$ they will give you for a trade in, Street value on it would be in the 25K to 35K range.

 

[fattball]

I like the m7040 I almost bought a used one in January for 35,000.00 with loader and 4 other implements. It had 500 hours it looked great, but I went home to think about it and it sold. I ended up with the mx5800hst.

 

[fast*st]

Oh, Kubota is on the menu, but I want to keep options open, I would imagine its like a car dealership, there's some wiggle room on the prices and cash makes the wiggle happen.

 

[85Hokie]

Oh, Kubota is on the menu, but I want to keep options open, I would imagine its like a car dealership, there's some wiggle room on the prices and cash makes the wiggle happen.

I would sell outright.......then go and look at what you want. You are right, cash talks and BS walks. A tractor trade in will be quick - but you will lose thousands on a tractor like that, but at the same time the market for that larger style tractor might be a little tighter than the SCUT end. You can always put it up for sale - see if someone wants it - then if it doesnt move quickly, go and work up a deal at the local dealer!!! I am curious what a trade in is on a machine like that !

 

[Bulldog]

I had my first M9000 for 2 yrs and went back to the same dealer I bought it from when I ordered my M9000 cab tractor. They gave me within $2K of what I paid on the first one when I traded. It may not ever happen again but I wouldn't rule out a trade in.

From my experience if you look at another color factor in that any of the others will burn 2 - 3 times the fuel that a kubota will doing the same task, JD being the worst. And in most cases they'll cost 10K - 15K more for the same hp and features. When I bought my first 9000 JD was 15K more, NH was 13.5K higher and IH was 12K more. Of course that was in 02 and back then Kubota seemed to be cheaper than what they are now.

 

[fast*st]

Well, hp and features aren't 100% of everything. We've had to make our fair share of mods to the M7040 such as skid plates to prevent breaking hydraulic lines and stabbing filters every week but that might apply to green too, Bucket made of buttery soft steel and just wearing right through it, Sure it was reinforced with some AR plate and has been fine for years, but there are a lot of niggly little things that would make me look at green. The steering column sheared off right near the bottom, tossing the tractor into reverse gear at a bad time. Took six hours to get it all apart, repaired and the four springs put on in the right order.

Green may suffer from some of the same problems but I've run a 6300 for a few thousand hours without a hitch save for the block heater plug burning up.

 

[Bulldog]

Sounds like you need a bulldozer instead of a tractor, lol...

Just curious what part of the bucket wore thru? What kind of material are you moving?

Other than getting a tractor with the "woods package" I don't know of any brand that has the protection it sounds like you require.

Remember this on the new JD tractors, from 90 hp down they are made by Yanmar.

 

[fast*st]

Heya Bulldog, thanks for the info, I'd heard that the whole unit was built by Yanmar, Mostly mainaining a mile and a half of roadway for the club, 70 percent of the material moved is sand, maybe 10% bank run gravel, 10% graded base and 10 3/4 stone. The cutting edge wore down to the base and the heel of the bucket also wore through to the core. Tractor came with R4's, brush grapple and front remote and grille guard. I ended up fabbing up a belly plate that's solved all the broken line/filter problems, most of this from dragging trees and brush, small 1" sticks would stab into the line, twist and wrench the fitting apart from below. I fixed the cutting edge, plasma cutting off the remains of the original and welding on a 2 piece commercial edge. The heel of the bucket got a piece of 5/8 thick steel from a 9' cutting edge, it hasn't worn down at all. Yes this tractor does duty as a dozer, skidder, road grader, snowplow, field and brush mower.

so the lowest point of the tractor was the hydraulic line for the front remote, not sure why it angled down like that but it was always in danger.

 

[Tallahassee Kubota Man]

Sounds like you need a bulldozer instead of a tractor, lol...

Just curious what part of the bucket wore thru? What kind of material are you moving?

Other than getting a tractor with the "woods package" I don't know of any brand that has the protection it sounds like you require.

Remember this on the new JD tractors, from 90 hp down they are made by Yanmar.

Bulldog, the JD 5000 e series 75hp and below are made in India. Yanmar have facilities in India?

 

[Bulldog]

Bulldog, the JD 5000 e series 75hp and below are made in India. Yanmar have facilities in India?

All I can say for sure is my local Kubota / JD dealer told me after I questioned him that 90 hp down was built by Yanmay and then JD colors applied. Above 90 hp is true JD. Although that doesn't mean much any more. A friend of mine bought a new 7230R (230 hp) and it didn't make it all the way around the first field and the engine turned loose.

 

[Dave_eng]

It sounds like you need a real backhoe not a farm tractor.
Today's farm tractors weight a fraction of what tractors from the 60's and 70's did and weight is traction which appears like power.
I have a M7040 4x4 with Ultra cab & FEL. I moved up from a Nuffield 465 with FEL.

Both have about the same hp but the Nuffield was like a tank moving ground and it was 2wd. The 4x4 on the Kubota is of little use pushing into a pile as the front wheels raise up off the ground and do nothing.

I am very happy with my M7040 but when I need serious dirt work done I hire a guy with a backhoe. He does it minutes jobs that take me hours with a lot of strain on the tractor.

Having a bucket which will curl back so that the bucket is like a trough is not what the Nuffield would do BUT the Kubota owner's manual cautions about tipping the bucket forward and using the cutting edge like a grader. All the linkage which make the back tipping far back a feature is not designed for the strain of grading.

It used to be that farmers in my areas bought old Case 580 backhoes to use around the farm. Now they are buying tracked excavators.

You never have enough power!

Dave M7040

 

[fast*st]

Yeah, someone folded up the curl piston rods hooking something and pulling backwards. I have a CK580 and yes, its a lot heavier and will push hard into a pile and its only 2wd. How does the weight between green and orange compare? haven't looked yet.

 

[Tallahassee Kubota Man]

It's interesting how things have changed in manufacturing. Vehicles of all types have parts made in different parts of the world. The diesel engine in my Chevy has parts from Japan, Germany and the US. JD has factories in India, Augusta (GA), Brazil, Mexico and China. I like the idea that Kubota makes most of it's equipment in one place. FEL's and BH's I understand are made in GA.

Packing a lot of hp into lighter machines seems to be another change. My M5140 (52 hp) weighs 4550 lbs, my MF 255 (55 hp) comes in around 7000 lbs. I see huge batwing mowers along the highways being pulled by what looks like small tractors. Upon closer observation the tractors are 90+ hp. Last year when I was shopping for a new 50+ hp tractor I compared the M5140 to the JD 5055e. In the 50 to 70 hp range I noticed some general things about the Kubota and JD. The JD was a little heavier, had a little bigger engine (displacement wise), was a little noisier and vibrated a little more and was quoted $2,500 higher. To me the Kubota felt more refined and comfortable.

I like my Chevy's and Kubotas, but like to compare every time I'm in the market for a new one.

 

[fast*st]

Right, if I remember older tractors weren't rated in hp but drawbar pull

 

[Bulldog]

Another thing to think about when comparing old iron to the new stuff. Most of the old tractors were "row crop" real sure enough ag tractors. Most of us now have "utility" tractor which will never spec out beside a row crop tractor.

Even on the new stuff there's a big difference. Look at a M9540 specs and a M95s. Both have the same hp but the 95s weighs 1200 -1500 more. I figure that's about like going from a B series up to a L series. May not have a big jump in power but the heavier tractor can put more of the power to work.

 

[Tallahassee Kubota Man]

Agree Bulldog, hp ain't everything!

 

[fast*st]

I'll have to research some brochures and spec sheets, one big issue would be changing track widths, would have to get another snow blower but the rear blade, road blade and york rake are 9' so that'd be fine.