John Deere 7800 or 7810

I am posting for a friend. He is looking at a John Deere 7800 and a 7810. Both have about 6000 hours. The 7800 is powershift and the 7810 has quad range. Both have 4wd. Would anyone have any advice for him. The guy wants around $43000 for the 7800.

I've operated both. Seems like the 7810 had a shorter turning radius, not sure though. My in laws had a 7800 they bought new. They just traded it. Had around 11,000 hours on it. Was quite trouble free. The engine did take a crap on it around 2000 hours. That was before I was around. Dont know what caused it. Engine number 2 has been fine.The transmission was a power quad and it took a beating without major issues. They even had a blade on it for the silage pits.

Well the JD 7810 will have a POWER Quad not a Quad Range. BIG difference. The Power Quad has FOUR power shifts in each range and the ranges are synchronized so you can shift them while moving if you clutch the tractor.

You did not mention the price of the JD 7810. If it is less than $20K more than the JD 7800 by the JD 7810. They just are a smoother tractor. Also the 496 (8.1L) motor is a step up form the 466 in the JD 7800.

The biggest issue on the JD 7800 with a 19 speed PS transmission is they will shift HARD when the oil is cold and I DO MEAN HARD!!!! Had many complaints in the shop when guys traded in JD 4455 with a 15 sp. PS and bought a JD 7800 with a 19 sp. PS the guys hated how they shifted cold. You can help reduce the hard shift by feathering the clutch pedal while it is shifting. That makes the shift controller soften the shift.

When I said hard shifting here is a true story on that. We had a customer that was a BIG fellow. Around 6'8" tall and just a large fellow. So he always drove with the seat slid all the way back. He came in one winter day MADDER than I had ever seen him. HE had just bought a JD 7800 PS maybe a month before. It had less then 20 hours on it. He wanted to move some corn while the ground was frozen. So he had started the tractor and let it run a while. He took off out his lane with the tractor engine running at about 18-1900 RPM. Not full speed but where the engine had some guts. When he shifted from 13th to 14th ( it could have been 14th to 15th I can't remember which one of those shifts was a hard one) it shifted HARD. It threw him back in the seat hard enough he broke the back window with his head. So I do mean it when I say they SHIFT HARD!!!!

Letting them run at a fast idle when it is cold WILL NOT warm the oil up enough to stop them shifting hard. You need to block the radiator off with cardboard to get them to warm up enough to help.

The only big advantage the 19sp PS has over the 16 sp. PQ is the top road speed. The PS will run 23-24 MPH depending on the tire size. The 16 sp. PQ will only go 18-19 MPH. Now the later 20 sp. PQ trans missions would run just as fast as the PS ones.

If it helps any I saw a 7800 2WD with cab and in good shape bring $38,000 a couple weeks ago.