Massey Ferguson 4710: One Tractor, Many Jobs

A small, diversified farm has to use a tractor like a Swiss Army knife. Bobby Edmondson, who with his brother, Charlie, runs a farm stand in southern Alabama, lists just a few of the countless tasks his tractor must complete: It pulls the transplanter for his tomatoes; it plows and levels the land; it sprays his crops with pesticide.

“We [needed] something small enough for our vegetable farm,” Bobby says, “but big enough that we can do some heavier work with it.”

So, when it came time for a new tractor, the Edmondsons needed something versatile. That made for an easy decision: the 100-HP Massey Ferguson 4710, the beefiest of the four models in the 4700 Series.

Sporting a 3-cylinder, 3.3-liter engine with an intercooled turbocharger and high-pressure common-rail direct fuel injection, the MF4710 offers power and fuel efficiency. Yet, it also carries some serious weight and, as a result, offers the stability of a much larger machine.

In addition, the tractor’s relatively small size, as compared to larger tractors with the same horsepower, allows it to get into narrow rows without tearing up the land or crops. “It can do the work of two tractors,” Bobby says.

He is especially pleased with how quickly he can switch front-end implements. In just a few minutes, a forklift is replaced by a heavy-duty loader. That’s a new tool for the Edmondsons, and a key one.

They used to have to carry bins full of produce by hand. “Now all we have to do is take the tractor, and pick ’em up and move ’em,” Bobby says. The ease of the electrohydraulic shuttle lever makes such delicate navigation simple.

The Edmondsons’ model has an open cab, which the brothers find extraordinarily comfortable. “The older we’re getting—the stiffer we get as we get older. That’s a real plus,” says Bobby.

The Edmondsons are a Massey Ferguson family: A grandson works down the road at Atlantic & Southern Equipment, in Dothan, Alabama, and helped the brothers navigate the sale. “It’s a beautiful dealership up there,” Bobby says. “We’ve had great communication, and everyone’s been so nice. We’ve only had to call for service once, and it turned out to be a minor issue. But they were so responsive—they came out the same day we called.”