The John Deere 5 Series has always been the shy little brother to the 6 Series. Yep, it’s had some cool features and historically the 5020 and then 5M were great little all-rounders for both farmers and those in the hort sector, although the downfall was the sole option of the PowrReverser transmission.
Thankfully that’s all changed now with the new 5 Series. John Deere has realised that not everyone wants the bigger size and stature of the small- and extra-small frame 6M. Many want a small-frame chassis, less expensive, no-nonsense tractor that has a PowrQuad. Really, they were all just longing for a PowrQuad.
That’s because this transmission has been through many iterations but is fundamentally the same transmission that was released in the 6000 Series back in 1993. While it might not be the most automated transmission on the market, there really is a lot to like.
For those who don’t fancy knowing the ins and outs of each transmission option on the market (which I suspect is the lion’s share of the population), I’ll summarise. The PowrQuad has four ranges with four power shift gears. This gives 16 forward and 16 reverse gears – plenty of gears to cover a wide range of farming tasks. With a top speed of 40km/hr, it’s also perfect for those who require some road travel.
The engineers have gone one better though (in my opinion) and actually offer a nicer transmission than in the 6M Series. The new Powr8 offers up 32 speeds, four ranges, and eight power shifts on the go – you beauty.
This is a game changer for this size tractor and John Deere are hoping, and rightly so, that this will be an option many in the market for a sub 100hp tractor will gravitate towards, with the 5095M in particular (which was our chosen test subject for a recent review).
The 5 Series line up
The new John Deere 5 Series range has five models, but there are some nuances so let me run you through them really quickly. The smallest in the lineup is the 5075M. This is the only one in the series to have the 2.9L, three-cylinder engine. This has DOC and DPF, so gets around any after treatment and as such, has no AdBlue requirements. However, the remaining four models, 5095M, 5105M, 5120M and the 5130M all have the 4045 John Deere 4.5L, four-cylinder engine, which does have SCR (AdBlue) as an after-treatment requirement. The only other major factor worth noting is the 5075M can only be spec’d with the PowrReverser transmission, whereas the others all have the PowrQuad and Powr 8 (plus creeper) option, but the 5130M cannot be optioned with the Powr Reverser. Is that all as clear as mud? Good.
Operator station
In the cab, the six-pillar design has curved side windows and a narrow back window to give plenty of all around visibility. Control wise, the gear lever is down beside your leg, which can take a little bit to get used if you’re not familiar, as does the P on the lever being pushed forward as opposed to pulled back into Park on the consol mounted machines.
The loader joystick sits nicely to hand and offers a pushbutton third service. For stacking bales, I would love to have had the power shifts on the loader joystick as this would have made it perfect combined with the C range gear ratio – allowing carting bales around the paddock without having to do a range change.
Among the creature comforts that you can get in the new 5M (alongside dome machine parameters through the LCD display through buttons and a toggle located on the right-hand side of the dash), there is the option of straight line AutoTrac in the dash. This is a cool little feature that gives guidance without the need for an additional monitor. For this you just need the dome on the roof and it’s perfect for mowing and spreading etc and is rarely found as an option in this horsepower sector.
Hydraulics, Linkage, PTO
In the hydraulics department, 97L/min is the output from the open centre pump. While this may not be as considered as ‘good’ as a CCLS pump, that didn’t seem to slow the loader down or any of the hydraulic implements that we had on the back. Our test 5095M had three rear SCVs – all colour-coded and well laid out on the right-hand side. Only one of them had flow control and detent, however all did have float.
The rear linkage had the 3.5T lift capacity with additional lift cylinders, CAT II hook ends, swinging drawbar and a three speed PTO. Being fitted with the John Deere 543R self-levelling loader proved to be a perfect combination for this tractor. It had enough reach to keep the material away from the bonnet and plenty of lift height for us to load the high sided mixer wagon and it still felt well planted, even loading 900 KG bales. The sloped bonnet is a fantastic addition to the new 5 Series tractors and visibility down the side to the hitch makes implement attachment a breeze.
Summary
Overall, I found the 5095M had a high-quality build finish, was easy to operate, didn’t beep at you (which is a pet hate of mine), and felt more than capable with all of the tasks we threw at it on our dairy farm, where we tried to replicate ‘normal’ New Zealand dairy farming conditions. That said, the new 5M Series also has a lot to like for the hort and market garden sector to,o and would be equally at home in vineyard rows or with a forklift on the front.
If you’ve been turned away from a John Deere because of the size and stature of the larger 6 Series tractors, then the 5095M or one of its siblings in the lineup certainly deserves consideration.