Dave Mowitz with Successful Farming here. I was thinking about your question and wanted to chime in that the IVT appears to have been operated in the field enough years to have proven its longevity (haven't heard of a melt down of those trannys after, lets say, 5,000 hours). That said, anytime you get into a major componet that involves high performance designs and parts . . .well, generally their repair cost is higher than tried-and-true components like that Deere powershift.
Cost is another consideration to weigh. 8 months ago I did a comparison of dealer asking prices for 2013 model year Deere 8335Rs equipped with powershifts vs. IVT. The average dealer asking price for the powershift 8335Rs was $257,657 compared to $271,169 for tractors with IVTs. By the way for the price range for IVT tractors was huge . . .$230,500 up to $345,000.
