"I have had the new supplied DF254 for 1.5 years now, it has the DF FEL-254 front loader and BK-6n backhoe on it. Some of the quality of the parts on the tractor are shocking, the grease nipples are made of chocolate and the fuel cap is the worst piece of Chinese crud I have ever seen outside a cheap Christmas cracker. There were several leaks in the hydraulics which I stopped through tightening up, re sealing and cleaning. The main thing I wished I HAD DONE WAS CHANGE ALL THE FLUIDS for decent quality stuff, although this was supposed to have been done by the UK importer I think they may have replaced the Chinese heavy oil hydraulic fluid with standard hydraulic fluid. This tractor has a combined hydraulic system/gearbox and requires a heavy oil NOT standard hydraulic fluid. When I changed the supplied oil to some decent shell heavy oil the difference was dramatic. I still think damage may have been done though, particularly to the hudraulic spool pumps. The backhoe was the worst offender for quality, with some factory idiot fitting in the side to side hydraulic actuator with a mallet- which then failed immediately on first use. Re fitting a new actuator was difficult as the mallet head had damaged the frame fittings with his/her efforts, but I managed to fix it up with a weld and some washers. The front FEL now droops over time if left up, others have experienced this problem, not sure what is causing this, but some say the seals inside the hydrailic arms are allowing a fluid bypass. The other experiences I have had was the one of the front wheel drive/suspension drain bolts working loose & dropping off emptying all the gear oil over my drive. These two drain bolts are right at the base of the suspension system and therefore prone to being caught and loosened by mud and soil etc. Which brings me to the fact every bolt on this tractor must be checked for tighness regularly, I have had several leaks and issues with loose bolts particularly when the tractor was new. So far this tractor has started every time and has done every job I have asked of it, including heavy digging and carrying a concrete well head. Where it excels is in mud, its a real mud plugger in 4WD, although it should have some proper shielding underneath to protect the vulnerable pipework, I will fit something one day before its to late. I probably should have bought a JCB for what I wanted the tractor to do, if I had to make the decision again I probably would go the JCB route. "