Anyone know what the difference between a European and US version is? I hear conflicting storys from different JD dealers. One says it's the same tractor and another says it's different and complete junk. I know there are differences but how many and what exactly.

50 and 55 series as in the compact utility's I assume?

If its the CUT's you're talking about (655/650, 755/750, 855/850 955/950) The 55's and 50's are very different. The 55's have a hydrostatic tranny, hydraulic-clutch engaged selectable mid/rear PTO. The loader for the 55's is quick tatch. Hood is different, rops is different, instrument panel is different. The engines and chassis between the two are similar, just the packaging and features are a bit different. Similar to the GMT-800 to GMT-900 HD evolution.

The 55 series was a more civilized version with more creature comforts and stuff that would appeal to the home owner who wanted something more than a garden tractor.

So basically, the 50 series is the one for you. You'd hate the 55 series. Everything is way too automatic and easy/nice to operate. :D :p:

55 DOES have a solid front axle tho. ):h

FWIW, I LOVE the 55 series. Best compact utility JD ever made. Still had steel body panels, but the engine was all fully enclosed, great looks, hydrostatic tranny (revolutionary in the compact utility tractor segment when the 55 series came out in the late 80's, it was unheard of before that), selectable rear/mid PTO's, PTO's engaged by hydroelectric clutches, mid PTO so you can run a belly deck, loader is quick tatch (dont even have to get off the seat), very solid powertrain of the yanmar 3 cyl diesel and kanzaki hydrostatic transaxle, 4x4 (or I guess if you want to be with john deere lingo, MFWD), power steering, cat 1 3PH, nice seat, etc...

or maybe im just being completey stupid and said all that for nothing becuase you are talking about the 55 series bulldozers????

ben

Nice bit of info there Ben but I'm refering to the
4050,4250,4450 in the 50 series and 4055,4255,and 4455 in the 55 series.
105-145HP tractors :D.
I'd say you're the man to talk to about compact tractors :cool:but I don't think they will handle our 28' Crustbuster minimum till drill,24' tandem disc or handle a loader that will load my 5000lbs tire tanks :eek:.

I could use a 955 probaby for my mom to cut our 5 acres of lawn with though. Hydro Drive isn't my thing though.

Nice bit of info there Ben but I'm refering to the
4050,4250,4450 in the 50 series and 4055,4255,and 4455 in the 55 series.
105-145HP tractors :D.
I'd say you're the man to talk to about compact tractors :cool:but I don't think they will handle our 28' Crustbuster minimum till drill,24' tandem disc or handle a loader that will load my 5000lbs tire tanks :eek:.

I could use a 955 probaby for my mom to cut our 5 acres of lawn with though. Hydro Drive isn't my thing though.

Kyle, a good friend of mine has a 4455 that came out of Canada, I believe. The only difference between his and ours is his had a few more warning lights on it. Weights were a bit different up front, but other than that, it's the same tractor. Canadian may be different than what they have in Europe, but he's had good luck with his.

Does it have flange axles or regular hub axles that will accept duals?
I had heard that they have different R&P gears also but wasn't sure if it was so or not.

Kyle, a good friend of mine has a 4455 that came out of Canada, I believe. The only difference between his and ours is his had a few more warning lights on it. Weights were a bit different up front, but other than that, it's the same tractor. Canadian may be different than what they have in Europe, but he's had good luck with his.

Does it have flange axles or regular hub axles that will accept duals?
I had heard that they have different R&P gears also but wasn't sure if it was so or not.

That I don't know for sure. i can check though. It's a loader tractor so it never gets duals put on it. Not sure about gearing either, but it's got the same powershift transmisson as ours. I'll look at it tonight if I can and let you know.

Thanks Travis :cool:.

That I don't know for sure. i can check though. It's a loader tractor so it never gets duals put on it. Not sure about gearing either, but it's got the same powershift transmisson as ours. I'll look at it tonight if I can and let you know.

I was at Deere factories last spring and the new ones had 35 and 50kph top speed for Europe. also only had wide singles w/ flange axles so you'd have to use snap-on duals.

don't know if that also went to the older series or not.

50 and 55 series from the about '83 through '09 or so (end of the 55 series) were built at the Waterloo IA factory. Now, occasionally you will stumble across a European spec model. If it were me, that thing I'd avoid just from the standpoint of service.

Ran a 4450 from 4000 hours to 8500 hrs. Only issues were the front end (mfwd) seals and kingpins. Later models had an improved front end housing. Currently running a 1984 4250 2wd with about 10500 hours. Still in pretty good order. The 466 is a strong, long-life engine. My 4250 has never had the pump "fiddled" with, and makes near 180 HP; not bad for a 120 HP rated tractor! It's main uses are back-up loader for feeding, pulling round baler, and what-not.

I'm going to dig this back up so we have more to discuss :D.

Been looking for a 4250/4255 MFWD and there seem to be very few with long axles for axle mount duals. Only seen one that I can recal. Any one else notice this? Also does anyone know how many lengths of axles they offered and if only the longest setup works with axle duals?

Often, axle-mounted duals won't work with short axles as there's not enough room to set the wheel to the inside. How often would you need duals? Would the "clip-on" duals that mount to the inside wheel with long hook-bolts be an option? Dad and I ran a 4450 for several years with 16.9R28's in front and 20.8R38 singles in back. Only VERY rarely had traction issues in field, and I only recall 1 time leaving tracks when pulling the disc drill- he plowed down some sudan grass in the fall and got a little carried away with the depth. A dry spring compounded the situation.

Clamp-On duals may be OK. I'd prefer axle mount duals but I guess once I have enough money to buy I'll have to decide. I guess if I found a clean tractor without long axles I may buy one and run Clamp-On's.

If your looking to get duals after/seperate from the tractor, axel mounts are going to cost you! If your set on axel mounts, it is probally going to be cheaper, in the long run to find one with them already. Go to tractor house, I got a 6400 open station outta Kansass last summer.

I shop TractorHouse 3 times a day :D. Thanks for the referal though.
I'd heard axle mount duals were pricy. How expensive are they?

axle mount duals are better than rail mount in my opinoin. around here, if you're getting late sidedressing corn with duals on the tractor you can snap off corn with the rail duals before the axle mounts. plus the likely hood of losing a dual with the clamp system is fairly high compared to the axle mounts.

as far as the 50/55 series, i was under the impression that the 55 series was just the next series in line. we had a 4450 and it was 10x better than the 4640 we had at the time.