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Faunsdale, AL | I think the reverser's worth the trouble ($). Ours have been very reliable. 5420 with over 10,000 hours on the meter now. Still going strong with only a few adjustments to the linkage to account for wear on the linkage/pins. The 25 is all electric, so that adds to the overall problems with mud/manure/corrosion etc. Did manage to burn out the reverser clutches on the 5320 mfwd. Lots of hours on it, over 5-6000 at least. Haven't fixed it yet $$.
The first one of these we had was a 5410 on a lease, had to replace the clutch before the 1200 hours were up, so got the 5420 with reverser. I figure that tractor would have had 4 to 8 clutches already by this time doing the kind of work we do cleaning the lots, so yes the reverser is great.
With all the trouble with front wheel bearings, we tried a MFWD 5320. Basically 4 x the cost to fix it when the bearings go out if you catch it when it's just bearings and seals. Much worse when the hub ond knuckle are damaged. Not much more reliable than the 2wd. We didn't need the pulling power and it takes an extra half acre to turn one around compared to the 2wd. The heavier front axle and bigger wheels would be an advantage for laoder work. The rims that come on them aren't much though. Really easy for our guys to fold them up if they 'curb' it. Not enough steel there in the beginning and then some rust..........! Finally welded 22.5 truck rims onto the centers. They've only managed to bend one of them once!
I really think I would skip the xx25 series and go for the 50xx unless there is a real big difference in price. The 5325 is a lot more tractor than the 5320 in many ways, but the increased electrics on it are not progress in my opinion. You may not have trouble with yours like we have, but the potential is there if you operate in any kind of situation like we do. One of my uncles was invited to go to JD's focus group for owners of these 50 series tractors for several years in NC? After our experiences, he "told it like it is" and yet the '25 series comes out with the electric panel in even a worse place than the earlier tractors.
I would get a bottle of electical connection grease and go over every fuse and relay on any of these tractors you purchase as soon as you get it....might head off some trouble.
Edited by ccjersey 1/16/2012 10:33
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5 cyl in John Deere 5325 any good?
