MSRP, base build
Cheapest way into a cab-capable 4 Family machine. eHydro is standard here rather than optional, the 440R self-levelling loader replaces the 4M's 400E, and the 2.189 L Yanmar is the only naturally aspirated engine left in the 4R line.
0.79 PTO hp per $1,000 of list price
As published by the maker
On the price: The maker's own published starting figure for the base build. A dealer adds a loader, a deck and freight on top.
Lift figures are the maker's and are quoted at whichever point the maker chose; the about page explains why two loaders with the same number do not lift the same pallet.
Comes with
From owner discussion and long-term write-ups
Gathered from owner reports
Three separate owners describe the same buying story: they walked into the dealership looking at the 3-series and left with this instead, and all three name it as the right call. One had planned on a 3038R and found this was a lot more tractor for not much more money; another on four acres says the higher lift capacity was the best decision he made; a third on six acres admits going slightly overkill, says it is a bit big for places his old tractor suited perfectly, and still does not regret the weight or size because hay bales are now effortless. Owners rate the machine itself highly beyond capacity too - one who has driven a lot of tractors calls it streets ahead, singling out the loader control, and reports his flawless at 80 hours.
Implement behaviour is where the reports diverge usefully. One owner runs a flail mower with a 7-foot cut and says the tractor handles it easily; another bought a 6-foot rotary cutter and finds it works only sometimes, being very easy to overwhelm and stall unless he creeps along - and notes his tractor is itself 6 feet wide, so the cutter gives him no overhang for trimming edges. Anyone moving up to one with older implements should also check driveshaft lengths first: an owner who inherited six implements with his property found the bush hog's shaft would not reach the new tractor's PTO at all. The recurring anxiety among owners is electronic rather than mechanical. One who loves his lists the engine and body control modules and the sensors on the communications bus, genuinely values what they enable - crawling the tractor forward from the rear to line up three-point implements is his example - and is frankly worried about the diagnostic and repair bill when something in that system fails, contrasting it with an old Kioti that was mechanical throughout.
Summarised from public owner discussion, not from testing. Nothing here was measured by this site, and a report that recurs is not the same as a defect rate.
Cross-shopped against
Same brand or same size, nearest in price
John Deere
Fifty horsepower with a 12F/12R PowrReverser as standard equipment rather than an upcharge, and the 400E loader that lifts 2,396 lb at the pivot pin - nearly double what the 3 Series manages. The trade is the operator station: 4M is open-station only.
Spec sheet & owner notes
John Deere
The only Deere compact under 4 Family with a turbocharged, intercooled engine: 44.7 hp from 1.568 L, at the head of the 3 Series. eHydro is the sole transmission - the PowrReverser offered on the 3033R and 3039R is not on this model's order sheet.
Spec sheet & owner notes
John Deere
Same turbocharged 2.091 L Yanmar as the 4052M, moved into the 4R chassis: eHydro standard, the self-levelling 440R loader, and a premium ComfortGard cab on the order sheet. About $5,600 buys the cab option and the better loader, not more engine.
Spec sheet & owner notes