The Case 1390, made by David Brown of England is a very solid piece of machinery. I bought mine from a used equipment dealer who scouts auctions for basket case tractors, gets them barely running and sells them for as much as he can. I got this 1390 with a 56L loader for $7,500.
This one had issues when I bought it, to be sure, mostly oil leaks, neglected greasing and bad tires. Considering how badly it was abused and neglected before I got it, it has to be a pretty tough little tractor. The only places it's really weak are in the instrument panel lights, which are completely invisible in the daytime, and the layout of controls. When the gear range lever is all the way back, it gets in the way of the PTO clutch handle. Likewise with the sector control and remote.
On the plus side, brakes are excellent (can lock up rear tires easily). Clutch is smooth and controllable. Gearbox is hard to evaluate after years of abuse, but it's still reasonably easy to shift, despite some chewed-up looking gears under the cover. With 12 forward and 4 reverse, provides a great assortment of ranges.
Very economical on diesel. I can mow all day on a tank of fuel. With the 56L loader, it is very stable even with a 900 pound bale of hay on the front, more stable than you would expect for a 5,500 pound tractor (the loader adds another 1,200 pounds).
It has a combiner valve that allows putting all the 3-point hydraulic oil through the remote circuit (which includes the loader). This is great for speeding up the loader and for operating remote equipment that needs more volume.
Maneuverability is surprisingly good. I've gotten in trouble, in fact because it turns TOO tight (I hit my shredder with a rear tire). Mine has the Carraro MFWD front axle. The DB MFWD axle does not turn nearly so tight. I don't know anything about the 2WD axle.
