I looked at a JD Compact series... I forget the exact model..l - 30-35 HP range
It had a Yanmar engine and the hydraulics were situated where you could lift or tilt the bucket, but you could not do both at the same time. To me that just seemed awkward.
The hood was all plastic as well.
I like JD but the compact size I wanted just didn’t convince me to buy.

I will not bash anyone decision to buy whatever tractor they want. It’s a free country, but it just wasn’t for me.

For tractors under 75 HP they can use a DPF- Diesel Particulate Filter and a Regen system that periodically cleans the filter with high heat . The tractor does it automatically in most cases. Excessive idle time can cause it to regen more often
Anything larger has to use the SCR- Selective Catalytic Reduction, where DEF is injected into a catalytic chamber in the exhaust stream to eliminate NOX emissions.

I think my 50 HP Mahindra uses DOC. I think the larger Mahindras use SCR. My last truck was 6.4 gas Hemi, desiel is high enough without having to add DEF.

Sparky, I’m not in the market for a tractor right now, but I will sure remember the DEF avoidance that Mahindra has. Thanks for mentioning it.

I figured that some talented tractor engineer would figure out something better than DEF use. Now, if they can just do that for trucks.

All tractors under 75hp do not use DEF.. New Holland actually has the simplest emission system out there..

Congrats on the new tractor, I'm sure it will serve you well.
Newer tractors don't operate quite the same as the older ones, not to say they're less capable or more problematic.
If you run it & maintain it like it says to in the owners manual you'll eliminate about 95% of the problems people complain about with the newer tractors.

With a tractor that light weight & being used for loader / round bale work I'd suggest getting the rear tires filled (rim guard/beet juice, washer fluid, rv antifreeze) or iron rear wheel wheel weights for ballast.

The tractor brand / paint color wars are even funnier than pickup brand wars.
A really good dealer / service / parts is far more important that what color paint they use.

Bought a new 1533 Hydro (35 HP) last fall and it doesn't have any of the stuff on it either. That's why I went with it. All its got is a catalytic converter like the cars do. No monkey business or heat. I was down at the Kubota Place looking at buying a 35 horse Hydro when they told the guy they wanted $3200 to fix his 2017 model that went south. No way I'd have those. You idle them and sooner or later it's toast. Heck my tractors idle all the time.

That catalytic converter needs to be hot to work, or it will build up also. Hope it serves you well.

Yep but it ain't got all that other crap on it and it doesn't get as hot.

I believe Mahindra is the only Tier 4 tractor that doesn't do a regen or require DEF, but could be mistaken. Regardless, believe they still have a process for cleaning exhaust.

My 50 hp Kubota does not take DEF, but does go through a regen process every 45 hours or so, based on usage. Regen is really a non-event and I would not even notice if the indicator light didn't illuminate. Just keep working and it runs the process in about 15 minutes. Will say though that most of my work is done at least in the 60-70% hp range or closer to 90% with PTO usage - running it hotter is better and unlike older tractors, when not working, just shut down if going to idle for more that 4 or 5 minutes. Keeps the DPF cleaner and increases the time between regens.

From what I have learned on the Kubota forum, most of the problems with this were specific to one model of tractor - I think one of the <40 hp L series. Forced regens and limp mode after just a few hours. And even after repeated service calls not correcting the problem. I believe most dealers were pushing buyers to a slightly smaller tractor that did not have the same issues.