15 listed · ranked by gross engine horsepower, highest first
Ranked by gross engine horsepower, biggest first. Engine horsepower is the number on the hood decal; the PTO figure on each card is the one an implement dealer will ask for, and the gap between the two is the drivetrain. If the job is a round baler, a 10-foot batwing, or a heavy disc, start here. First on the list is the Case IH Farmall 100C.
Notice how many machines in the lower half of this ranking stop at 74 or 74.3 hp. That is the EPA's 56 kW line. Under Tier 4 Final, an engine below 56 kW meets a combined hydrocarbon-plus-NOx limit of 4.7 g/kWh, while one from 56 to 130 kW has to hold NOx alone to 0.40 g/kWh, phased in from 2012 to 2014. Most engine families that clear the tighter limit do it with urea SCR, which means a second tank to fill with diesel exhaust fluid. John Deere's 5M changes for the 2015 model year show the split on one platform: the three-cylinder 5075M used an oxidation catalyst and particulate filter with no DEF, and the four-cylinder 5085M and up moved to DOC plus SCR running on DEF. DEF is now stocked by most fuel suppliers and ag dealers, so it is a running cost rather than a supply problem. Where an engine carries a particulate filter, on either side of the line, that filter is the bigger long-term item: it is a service part that will need cleaning or replacement during the tractor's life.
Horsepower in this class also changes the hitch. Category 1 three-point hitches are found on tractors of roughly 20 to 50 hp, Category 2 on 40 to 125 hp, and the pins grow with the class (a 1-inch top link pin and 1-1/8-inch lift arm pins on Category 2, against 3/4 and 7/8 inch on Category 1). Implements carried over from a compact will not pin straight onto a Category 2 hitch. Some utility tractors, the 5075M among them, ship Category 2 and convert down to Category 1, which is worth asking about before trading in a compact and keeping its box blade and cutter.
Sources: dieselnet.com, rurallifestyledealer.com, agproud.com, blog.koenigequipment.com, sloans.com
Case 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
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 notesMassey 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
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 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 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 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 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
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
John Deere
A genuine farm tractor rather than an oversized compact, running Deere's own 2.9L three-cylinder through a 12F/12R PowrReverser to 3,192 lb at the hitch. The 3-cylinder 5E needs no DPF, no DEF and no regen, which is a maintenance argument by itself.
Spec sheet & owner notes
John Deere
Biggest compact John Deere builds, and the only one that arrives with a cab as standard rather than an option. A charge-air-cooled 2.091 L Yanmar makes 74.3 hp, a heavy-duty front axle is base equipment, and eHydro is the only transmission offered.
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
New Holland
Three-cylinder FPT power with no DPF and no regeneration cycle, which is most of the pitch: 74 hp that never stops to clean itself. A 12x12 power shuttle and a 3,500 lb hitch, optionable to 4,000 lb, make it a working loader tractor rather than a large compact.
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 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