"I purchased new 5055E tractor that has had more hours in the shop than in actual use. The problems include unresolved issues with fuel and filters, heating and air condition, power and pull, tires and drive bounce,hydraulic and lifts. "

"I ordered my tractor in August and got it in October. We unloaded it off the trailer, hooked it up to a 7-foot bush hog, drove it out into the field. Then, after 30 minutes in, my machine acted like it was loosing fuel, then shut off on me. I thought it was me with a new machine and maybe not used to what it can handle. I was bush hogging some hilly land at low RPM with economy power take-off. So, I tried again, shut it off, and let it sit for 30 minutes while i was chewing out the dealer. It ran again for 30 minutes, then had the same problem. The very next day after receiving the tractor, I watched as it was hauled back to the dealer where it has been for 2 weeks and the John Deere techs have no answer for what's wrong with it. I am at about wits end. I guess I'm going to have to either demand a new machine or my down payment back and go with another brand."

"Air conditioning - After 47 hours the air conditioning quit working properly. The dealership picked the tractor up (free), replaced all filters (not free), and said nothing was wrong with the air conditioning. After 23 more hours, the air conditioning quit working. It would work first thing and then start blowing warm air. I am working with the dealership now. Steering - When the John Deere sits for more than 3 weeks, the steering sticks. You must jerk the steering wheel to free it up. The dealership could find nothing wrong. It still does it. MX6 John Deere Shredder- I purchased this on 8/2/14 and it worked well with my old John Deere tractor. The new John Deere tractor bolt on the center 3-point keeps breaking. The dealership tried to fix it. After 20 hours I had to put in a new one again. "

"I have to say that I love this tractor. That said, if you're buying a tractor for creature comforts and many of the more "modern" upgrades and features, you're going to end up sorely disappointed. This isn't a Lexus, by far. I compared it to the Kubota M5140, which made me feel as though I was in the cockpit of a fighter jet, but, the 5140, while it felt extremely nice, was a very delicate tractor. The 3029 motor, in the 505X series of JD's is a John Deere industrial motor designed for continuous use. The rest of the tractor is built on those same principles, from the 100HP driveline on a 55HP tractor, to the extremely solid/heavy castings on front/rear axles. I have a 6" power take-off driven wood chipper/shredder that I use the tractor with, an eight foot blade that I use on my driveway, an Armstrong Ag DBG7, a seven foot box blade and several other odds and ends. The DBG7 is a seven foot, dual-blade, high-sided land plane which is spec'd at 10 horsepower per foot which should require 70 horsepower to pull. The 5055E pulls it with no problem right up to gear C-2. The "drawback" to this tractor is that it is designed for long-time use, meaning it's not for the weekend warrior that might start it and drive it for 15-minutes every 2nd or 3rd weekend. If you do that, you're going to find that all the seals on the motor seep fluid and collect dust because they dry out and contract and allow the fluids to seep, the check-valve in the 3-point hitch will, eventually, collect water, corrode and stick. When it does that the 3-point either won't lower, lowers extremely slowly and/or it builds up extreme heat from the reduced orifice size and high fluid pressures which can/will, eventually, melt your fuel tank... so, at least once a week start the tractor and exercise the 3-point hitch 5-10 times. Other than that, if you need to work, this thing digs in and takes it. The 4-wheel drive, with those larger front wheels, adds a tremendous amount of pulling torque to the tractor. It doesn't matter what I throw at this thing, it just takes it. I upgraded from a 4500 a few years back. The tractor has 300 hours on it and, recently, I had the head off the unit. The cylinder walls still had the factory hone marks in them... I use this thing hard and, at 300-hours, the motor is just starting to break-in. That's pretty cool and very tough. Usable life, with continuous load, at full-rated power, is 8,000 hours. If you run it like a normal tractor and maintain it well, you can end up with 12-15,000 hours of useful life in the tractor. "

"Bought mine new. No big issues so far. Got a front end loader too. It's nice having the power this thing has. I mostly use it with a Rhino 6' brush hog. It does everything I need it to do. Glad I got the 4 wheel drive too -have used that more than I thought I would. "

"Has anyone experienced the middle of the tractor between your feet being to hot to touch when in use. Dealer verified my temp. is running at 165 degrees and that you can't put your hand on it for more then 3-5 seconds. Can't stand to put your feet anywhere near it. Please give feedback."

"Tractor ergonomic design is as bad as any tractor I have ever driven. Knee hits front loader control, and it is in the way for right brake. 3-point handle makes you lean over to go all the way down, plus your knuckles hit the fender all the time.They needed a flat floor or at least a solid floor to keep a little dust off. no room for anything here, unless you put it on fender. Noisy and vibrates a lot, sure need a good 4 cylinder engine instead of 3. Pulls well, but transmission makes noise under load. When you turn it off it makes same sound as my 1957 JD 620. Really wish I had not bought this tractor."

"We use this on 21 acre horse ranch for general use mowing pasture, spray weed control, aerator, arena dragging."

"I have 190 hours on my 5055E and so far it is an pretty good tractor but not up to JD's of the past. First of all, the Yanmar engine is NOISY---loudest tractor I have ever driven that actually had all parts in place. The 3 cylinder vibrates and has a resonance to it. Ear muffs are needed and I wear ear plugs with the muffs. Ergonomics are horrible on this model.The 3-point handle makes you bend forward to lower all the way, plus your knuckles hit the fender. Front loader control is in the way of the right brake pedal. There is no floor board, so all the dirt blows up in your face. No storage space except on fenders. The tractor is impressive in 4WD, disengage the 4WD and it does not pull well. Hydraulics are slow when using FEL but usable. It is a heavy machine and hopefully will last a long time. I considered a Kubota but went with JD due to past history of John Deere. I am disappointed with this tractor on usability, but it does the job well. Uses 2-3 gallons per hour if you work it hard. About 1 GPH for loader work."

"I grew up driving "big iron" from the 1940's, 1950's, 1960's and 1970's. A combination of Ford (40's), McCormick, Allis Chalmers, International, Massey Ferguson. Those tractors, in that time range, were virtually indestructible. The 5055E replaced my VERY destructable John Deere 4500, which I was able to burn up the clutch in, and sheer a rear axle. The 5055E was a replacement for the 4500. A mere 15HP extra, and a ton of extra weight, the 5055E is a substantial upgrade from the 4500. The turbo, albeit a tiny thing, improves the flatness of the torque curve to the point where, what I do every day, doesn't load the engine, on this one, like it did the 4500. Overall, I use this thing to maintain my 1/3 mile gravel drive (most frequently). This involves the use of an 8 foot blade to pull the loose gravel from the drive edges to a pile in the middle. Along 1/3 mile the drive also rises nearly 200 feet in several steep, stepped, hills. So I often find myself pulling large piles of gravel uphill with the tractor, which is does, very nicely. My second pass, on the drive is with a "land plane" that's 7 feet wide. Again, the tractor just pulls this thing at a rate fast enough to keep an even flow of gravel out the back of the plane. My final pass is with an 8 foot box blade to level out any high spots in the drive. Again, the tractor just pulls this stuff along with no issue. Secondarily, I also use the bucket on a frequent basis and there's more than enough power, in any soil conditions to dig and move material. All-in-all, this tractor is "just right" in terms of the balance between weight, horsepower and workload. JD makes the 45HP, 65HP and 75HP models, in this series. All of them have the same engine/frame/transmission. The 45HP is a bit under powered for this size/weight, the 65 and 75HP (unless you need it at the PTO) are too much motor for normal pulling/bucket jobs. This 55HP just seems the right balance in the mix of options. I love the heavy duty construction all around the tractor. It seems that JD went for more heavy/strength, in this series, than in their utility tractors. The 3029 engine is quite nice. A few complaints about this thing revolve around the transmission and gearing pattern. 2/R and 3/1 is largely counter intuitive and makes for some struggle, once in a while, when I get into my "standard shift pattern" mode---ha! My other "beef" is the fact that the JD designers used the high gear (3rd) in every range for reverse. Thus, in "C" range, you can back up at speeds upwards of 17MPH, which is useless. In fact, if you're working in "C" range, and you go to reverse it takes nearly all the engine power to actually get the tractor started. JD should have used the "1" gear, in every range, for reverse. That would have made "B" reverse the near perfect backup speed to get to implements. "A" range would be great for backing a shredder/mower into/under/around trees. It's just plain too fast in "A" range, reverse, to do that when it's in the equivalent of "A3." Other than that, the tractor is easy to work on and maintain. It's a bare bones, no frills, hunk of machinery and, every day, that's what I love. Having radar-based, digital speedometers really doesn't get work done... this thing just does. "