Dan, in my opinion the problems with the 4000 series tractor simply relate to a rush to production before the design problems were resolved. Deere had a very suffessful line of compact tractors in the 755-955 series. These tractors were unmatched in terms of implement compatibility. The loaders were amazingly quick to attach (usually 3-4 minutes total) and you keep the midmount mower installed. You had separate control of the mid and rear PTOs so if you had a 15 minute tilling job you could attach the tiller and keep the mower on. The foot control two speed hydros were tough and generally problem free. These tractors were disigned and built in Horicon Wisconsin. None of the other manufacturers offered the features on the 55 series. These tractors were introduced in 1986. I ordered an 855 with mower, tiller and snowblower two hours after attending a field demonstration. I was impressed. As good as these tractors were Deere sat on the basic design for 12 years. The 955 arrived in 1991 but with the exception of some minor changes like exhaust and fuel tank movement the tractors were the same in 1986 as they were in 1998. Deere waited too long to give us a new tractor. I believe that Deere felt they owned the market for e hydro compact tractor and that they would sit back and enjoy the nice proffit margin. The strategy was working nicely until about 4 years ago when NewHolland introduced the Boomer series. The Supersteer MFWD axle offered the tightest turning radius in the industry and the operator controls were superior to Deere's. I believe that Deere failed to see that tractor coming. The 4000 series tractor may have been on the drawing board at the time the Boomer arrived but I believe they rushed the production prior to proper testing in order to have a tractor to compete. The 4000 series tractors are also built in the same factory as the 5000 series tractors. Deere was changing the 5000 series to the 5000 ten series and I believe that there may not have been enough resources to handle the changes in the 5000 series and the introduction of a the new 4000 series as the same time. I suspect that the Deere officials in Augusta, in retrospect, would like to have waited 6 months to a year before the production began. I also believe that Deere and other manufacturers make a common mistake. They fail to get the consumer involved in testing prior to production. Two minutes on a 4000 series tractor with the old MFWD axle on turf and I would have made it clear that this would not be acceptable. Potential buyers should be brought in to be given the opportunity to evaluate the product. Had this been done, and assuming Deere would have listened, the MFWD axle mess could have been avoided. A few extra months of a wait for the new tractor with the correct axle would have saved Deere a ton of money and grief.

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