You don't really hear a great deal about Deutz and when I was researching tractors I hardly found anything on the internet about them, so I thought I would add a little to the knowledge base.
When I was looking for my first and only tractor for a 170 acre farm, I ruled out Chinese tractors pretty quickly as I wanted something with a local dealer network and above all reliability. That left New Holland, Kubota, and Deutz (I had also ruled out John Deere as I think they are overpriced and under featured for what they are).
The Kubota was the most expensive and the New Holland the cheapest with the spread about $15,000 between them. The Deutz was bang in the middle. What the Deutz had going for it above the others was a really excellent local dealer (William Adams Ag in Shepparton). Deutz are a minor player worldwide but there are quite a few of them here in northeastern Victoria Australia and its probably all down to the strength of the dealer.
Anyway, I bought it as a somewhat unknown quantity but with a strong dealer. Here are my thoughts in order of importance:
- The fuel economy is unreal! I can go 3-4 full days on the 140 liter tank. I precisely measured its usage over 10.5 hours of loading olive crates - 40 liters! I have no other tractor to compare to but this fuel usage leaves my trucks for dead - they would use 2-3 times as much over 10 hours. Really excellent and I couldn't be happier with this!
The 4 wheel diff lock is great and has gotten me out of a few muddy hell holes. Neither the New Holland nor the Kubota had this feature.
The 40 speed forward/reverse power shuttle is easy and idiot proof. It makes bucket and fork work a breeze.
The bucket itself is 1 ton and I wish it were a bit more. I think this is Deutz's weakest point - it should be a bit more I think for a 100 horsepower tractor. The New Holland was 1.3 and I think the Kubota also 1.3.
The 3PL is rated at some insane weight like 4 tonnes and has never cracked a sweat. The heaviest implement I have is a half ton flail mower and the tractor wouldn't know its even there.
Build quality is decent but some of the controls feel just a bit plasticy. The only issues I've had is the gas cylinder on one door working itself loose and the nuts on the power take-off shaft working loose. Fixed both myself.
The gear selector and range selector can both be very difficult to get in gear/range. It literally feels like you're moving gears and shafts around in there (which I guess you are) and sometimes they really don't want to go. Contrast this with the wet clutch power shuttle which moves like a dream and all I can say is I am so glad I paid the extra bucks for the power shuttle model (100GS, the 100G doesn't have it).
The engine feels a little breathless at times (it has a turbo but no intercooler) but is tough as nails. Deutz have a world class reputation as makers of engines and it does show.
Decent air conditioning and good Bluetooth stereo. What can I say, I like to be comfortable if I can!
Nothing has broken, degraded or fallen off. Exactly what I want in a tractor!
Would I buy one again? In a heartbeat! I will trade the sub par front-end loader capacity and plasticky interior for everything else being much better than I expected!
Hope this helps any prospective tractor buyers - if you have a Deutz dealer nearby I would definitely strongly consider one. I would also note that our dealer sells Kioti too but they sell a lot more Deutz even though they are bigger and cost more. That says something...