15 listed · ranked by PTO horsepower, highest first
The utility class, ranked by PTO horsepower. This is the number that sizes a hay baler or a tiller, and it is where hydrostatic and gear machines separate: a hydrostatic drive gives up more of the engine's output on the way to the shaft. Engine horsepower is on each card for reference. First on the list is the Massey Ferguson 4710.
Implement makers size their equipment in PTO horsepower, and hay tools show how fine the steps are. Papé Machinery's guide to John Deere's round balers gives a 55 PTO hp minimum for the 450E, 450M and 550M, 65 hp for the 460M and 460R, and 75 hp for the 560M and 560R, and says the entry balers pair with Deere's 5 and 6 Series utility tractors. The MegaWide HC versions want 125 PTO hp, beyond anything here; Papé points those buyers to row-crop or four-wheel-drive tractors. Six machines on this list clear the 75 hp mark, and most of the rest clear 65.
The PTO figure on a spec sheet is the maker's own claim. The independent check is the Nebraska Tractor Test Laboratory, set up in 1920 under a 1919 state law passed to protect Nebraska farmers at a time when more than 150 companies were selling tractors. Its reports open with PTO performance at rated engine speed, at standard PTO speed and at maximum power, all at full load, and it is worth looking up whether a model on this list has been through it before treating a two- or three-horsepower gap as real.
Power that has to pull, rather than spin a shaft, also needs weight to put it on the ground. Iowa State University extension guidance for fieldwork is 115 to 135 lbs of total tractor weight per PTO horsepower on a two-wheel-drive tractor and 90 to 105 lbs on a four-wheel drive, with ballast set so the drive wheels slip 6 to 12 percent on firm ground. By that rule a 65 PTO hp two-wheel-drive tractor wants roughly 7,500 to 8,800 lbs before it can use its rating on a disc or a chisel plow, so check each tractor's listed weight alongside its horsepower.
Sources: agriculture.papemachinery.com, sagrainmag.co.za, crops.extension.iastate.edu
Massey Ferguson
Largest tractor Massey puts in the 4700 Global range and the top of what this catalog covers: 99 rated hp and 87 at the PTO from a 3.3-litre three-cylinder. Rated max power is 100 hp, so the whole range spans 70 to 100 hp on one chassis, one hitch and one hydraulic system.
Spec sheet & owner notes
LS Tractor
Biggest tractor LS sells in the US, and the only one in this catalog with a 24x24 power shuttle and an 8,378 lb hitch. Cab, heat and air conditioning are standard because there is no open-station version - and at 100.6 hp it sits right at the ceiling of what counts as a utility tractor here.
Spec sheet & owner notesCase IH
Same 10,240 lb Stage V chassis as the 90C with eleven more horsepower and a conventional 12 x 12 electronic power shuttle in place of the Hi-Lo. At 101 hp and 85 at the PTO it is the largest machine in this catalog's utility class.
Spec sheet & owner notes
John Deere
Ten more horsepower than the 5085M from the same 4.5 L PowerTech and the same chassis, weight and hitch. Eighty horsepower reaches the PTO, which is the practical dividing line for a mid-size round baler or a 10 ft disc mower.
Spec sheet & owner notesMassey Ferguson
A big step over the 4707 and not a larger engine: 77 hp at the PTO against 60, from the same 3.3-litre AGCO Power three-cylinder turned up rather than a larger engine. Hitch capacity of 4,850 lb is shared across the series, so the whole difference is power.
Spec sheet & owner notes
Kubota
Ninety-two horsepower and a 4,630 lb three-point put this at the bottom of Kubota's real farm-tractor range rather than the top of its compact range. At $78,563 base it costs more than twice an MX5400, and the hydraulic power shuttle is the reason.
Spec sheet & owner notesCase IH
Stage V medium utility built on a heavier chassis than its horsepower implies: 10,240 lb bare, a Class 1.5 heavy-duty front axle and 21.7 gpm of implement flow. It is sold with one transmission only, the 24 x 24 Hi-Lo, and that decides who it suits.
Spec sheet & owner notes
Kioti
Kioti's step into full utility-tractor territory and a different machine from everything below it: 3,833 cc, 10,230 lb, 32 gpm, an 8,002 lb Cat 2 hitch and a cab as standard rather than an option. At $77,728 it is more than twice the price of an RX7320.
Spec sheet & owner notes
John Deere
A different class of machine from the 5E that shares its badge: 4.5 L of PowerTech across four cylinders, a 16F/16R PowrReverser as standard, 5,150 lb of hitch and MFWD included in the base price rather than charged as an option.
Spec sheet & owner notes
TYM
Largest tractor TYM sells under 105 hp, and the one that carries the range's heaviest hitch at 5,115 lb. The Deutz TCD 2.9 delivers 67.1 hp to the PTO out of 74.3, and the cab and a 16 x 16 creeper-interlock box come as standard.
Spec sheet & owner notes
LS Tractor
7,827 lb, a 206.7 cu in four-cylinder and a 24x24 power shuttle at the bottom of LS's biggest chassis, sharing its frame and LL8100 loader with the 100 hp MT7101. Only 73.7 hp, so it is the cheap way into a tractor built two classes above its engine.
Spec sheet & owner notes
Case IH
FPT's 3.4-litre four with internal cooled EGR and no regeneration, dropped into Case IH's small utility frame. The 12x12 power shuttle and 3,664 lb hitch aim it at a Deere 5075E and at New Holland's Workmaster 75, which shares its CNH driveline in a different colour.
Spec sheet & owner notes
Yanmar
The one Yanmar tractor not powered by a Yanmar engine - a Deutz four drives it, paired with a power shuttle and a dual-entry climate cab as standard. At 5,115 lb of Category 2 hitch it is the heaviest-lifting machine the brand sells in North America.
Spec sheet & owner notesMassey Ferguson
Simpsons-built 2.6L three-cylinder with no DPF, an 8x8 synchro shuttle and 64 PTO hp: a deliberately plain utility tractor aimed at people who would rather fix it than diagnose it. The 2,755 lb hitch figure is quoted 24 inches behind, so it is an honest one.
Spec sheet & owner notesCase IH
The cheapest way into 64 PTO hp wearing a Case IH badge, on a 2.9-litre FPT three that avoids a particulate filter entirely. Sits directly beneath the Farmall 75C, which costs more and adds a power shuttle and a 3.4-litre four.
Spec sheet & owner notes