Great 855 Deere
Model Year: 1995
Just briefly, I bought my 855 brand new from the nearest Deere dealer about 35 mile away. I looked at Ford and Kubota, but I wanted planetary gear and wet brakes and hydro. Did not get FEL or other hydraulics and don't really regret it. I live on 2.5 acres of tough grass and sand and palm trees. With a riding lawn mower, it took me over 5.5 hours to cut the grass alone [MTD w/42" deck]. I ended up cutting grass in all my spare time. This 855 saved my life. It now takes a little over one hour to do all the cutting with a 4 foot rotary mower. And the 855 is never going to wear out in my life time. I'm on my second cutter now. The 855 has turf tires turned out wide, seven suitcase weight on the front. I went through several batteries until i installed an Optima four years ago. No problems since. The only problems I've had were when the wife was driving it. She has broken a sway chain and popped a rear tire off the rim! And destroyed the sunshade, but the smile on her face while SHE is cutting grass is worth it. I can dig four nice little holes trying to push down a tree without any leverage from a FEL--all the way to the frame. The 855 burns a little over one gallon an hour regardless of what I'm doing. I put biocide in the fuel along with a little Marvel MO. and it just keeps working. It will pull the neighbor's boat and a friend's diesel pusher motor home without breathing hard. With the 855, a post hole digger, a chain and a little engineering, the wife and I put up 1500 feet of field wire fence in about 4 weekends and a couple evenings. I think the one liter Yanmar motor is the greatest thing since canned beer and has been the picture of reliability. Sadly, I don't think there is an equivalent tractor in the Deere line anymore--but I'm not looking anymore. This forum is great, thanks for having me!
Pros: Size, capability, reliability.
Cons: Could use more power, more 3 pt. lift capability.