Tractors

Looking at upgrading tractors for planter work and grain cart (small size farmer) 7800 or 7810 or possibly a 8100 all MFWD. Will be on 30" rows what is the best one for the job. And what are the good
and the bads.Right now I have a 7400 MFWD and like
it except it rides rough and were on wide row now.

Well the JD 7810 and the JD 8100 are just about the same in horsepower. It comes down to the features you want.

The JD 7810 will have 540/1000 PTO on all models. Just turn the PTO shaft around like your JD 7410. You also have the same manual hydraulic SCV controls similar to your JD 7410. You do have an electric controlled three point just like your JD 7410. So if you do 540 PTO work the JD 7810 would be a better choice. Also the JD 7810 is slightly lighter. This is a plus in some things but a draw back for heavy draw bar loads. So that would depend on your usage.

The JD 8100 has 1000 PTO as the base PTO. Some of the later ones could have the 540/1000 PTO. Now keep in mind that changing from 1000 PTO to 540 PTO on a JD 8000 series is not just changing the shaft like in the JD 7000 series. You have a Shear coupler and the mount/housing to change when you go to 540 PTO on a JD 8000 series. You also will need to slide the draw bar out even for the 540 because of the extra length the 540 PTO shear housing/assembly adds to the shaft.

The SCV controls are electronic and are just switches in the "COMMAND arm" on the side of the seat. You can adjust the flow and time all electronically on the SCV on the JD 8000 series. This is nice if you are pulling a planter that needs several SVCs doing different things. Also the JD 8100 came with 3 SCVs as base and the JD 7810 came with 2 SCVs in the base. You could buy more on either machine. The JD 8100 has more hydraulic flow per minute than the JD 7810. The JD 8100 is a heavier framed tractor.

Some guys I know have both and they say the JD 7810 will work just like the JD 8100 in field work because the extra weight that the JD 8100 has to carry around eats up the few extra horsepower it has.

One last thing. IF you find a JD 8100 and JD 7810 that are just about the same condition, the JD 7810 will cost you more money. The JD 7810 is the JD 4020 of this era tractors. Good ones are bringing much more than they sold for new. You can look on Tractorhouse and find less than 10 for sale in the entire US. Right now there are 4 listed and they all are in France. None in the US. There are 55 JD 8100s for sale.

For my farming the JD 7810 would be a better choice for a livestock operation. For a pure grain/row crop farm the JD 8100 is fine. The 1000 PTO kills the JD 8100 for most livestock farmers. They change PTOs and just do not want to fool with the time/effort to install the shear coupler housing every time. It does require installing four bolts. Also if you are not easy in turning on the PTO you can shear that coupler just starting out a PTO load.