At 24.7 hp the 1626 is a compact tractor with a Mahindra 3-cylinder diesel and class-leading loader lift for the money, backed by a long warranty. It targets value buyers who want more loader muscle and coverage than the premium brands offer at the price.
0.83 PTO hp per $1,000 of list price
As published by the maker
On the price: The maker publishes one starting price for this series rather than a figure per model, and this is the cheapest model in it.
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
The most useful thing owners say about the 1626 is which Mahindra it is. Two of them point out that it is a Mitsubishi tractor underneath — engine, frame and all, built in Japan, with the loader made in Texas — and one who follows the range separates the line explicitly: the 1626 and the 4540 and 4550 are the Mahindras he considers solid, and the TYM-built models such as the 1635 and the 2600 series the ones he would avoid as lighter duty and higher maintenance. That matters because buyers in this evidence report being pushed hard toward Kubota by neighbours citing parts and service problems that do not distinguish between the two halves of Mahindra's range.
Owner experience splits sharply. On one side a two-year owner at eighty hours calls it one of the best purchases he has ever made, another is delighted at the price point with only the seat getting hot in the sun to complain about, and one bought new for about $21,000 with a free box blade and rear blade. On the other, one shuttle-shift owner's machine had an inoperative start switch, clutch and brakes, had sat at the dealer more than thirty days without even a repair plan, and he says he wishes he had bought a Deere. A used one leaked hydraulic oil out of the bell housing drain before it was off the trailer at delivery. Where the tractor is consistently frustrating is paperwork and fitment: one owner cannot find a parts list or a part number anywhere without buying a $100 manual, another cannot source mounting brackets for a backhoe bought secondhand, and a third found his lift arm pins about 23.25 inches apart against the roughly 27 inches a standard Category 1 quick hitch expects, so the hitch will not fit without welding new points onto the implement.
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
Mahindra
Middle rung of the 1600 series, and the point where Mahindra stops publishing a price: the series figure belongs to the 1626, so this one is priced off dealer books at about $25,659 for the 8F/8R synchro shuttle. A three-range HST runs roughly $2,500 more, and a heated cab is offered only on the HST.
Spec sheet & owner notes
Mahindra
Compact frame with a sub-25 hp engine, which is the point: 22.9 hp and no DPF, but a three-range HST, the 1,477 lb L21 loader and 1,760 lb of rear lift - more than double what the 1100 series manages on the same horsepower. Open station only.
Spec sheet & owner notes
Mahindra
A 2.7-litre mCRD engine with no DPF and a 2,646 lb hitch let this punch well past its 37 hp rating. Mahindra has retired the 2600 series in favour of the 2100, leaving the series brochure as the only maker document that still describes it.
Spec sheet & owner notes