I don't know much about the updates for the 8900 and 7200 magnums, but I think they are slight ones. I test drove a 7100 series at the clay county fair, and decided when the price was right I would get one. They had Genesis, JD, Case IH and Agco White all at one site where you could drive them all. This was back in 1990's, not sure of exact year. The JD was not to my liking, too small of a cab and controls were not built for a large man such as myself. If I had a wife that operated equipment, the JD would probably have been best for her. The Genesis was probably the best, the IH number 2, but with cummins power which , for me, is a huge plus.
I ended up buying a 7140 with 3500 hrs, one owner, for $45,000 that was under five years old, and still use it. It now has over 9000 hrs on it, and I think I can still get about what I paid for it back. No problems to amount to anything, except a clutch plate, tires, waterpump, batteries...small stuff. I do think the motor had been reworked shortly before I bought it, though. Some of these had piston problems from the factory if I heard right. I know a mechanic told me the valve cover had been off of it . I had the valves checked for clearance about 100 hrs ago, and the mechanic said they were still within specs, after 5500 plus hrs of my use.
Everytime I talk trade with this tractor, all the non-Case IH dealers tell me they will trade in the 7140 in a heartbeat...they tell me this is a tractor that is "bullet proof" and are anxious to do the trade...which makes me not so quick to get rid of it. Hope this helps.
I did recently buy a Genesis, and outside of the motor, I still think this is a superior product. One hangup on the Magnums is the steering radius, and supersteer on the Genesis is great.
