The beauty of the pedal mode is when you let off the pedal it stops and it will set right there, no need for braking.  I've loaded trucks with my 545b on hills, terraces, even ditch sides and it is great, no clutch, no brake, just let of the pedal and sit right there.  The turbo clutch( I believe they call it) is great also when idol just hit the breaks and stop, no clutch or removing from gear.

Tbran, I believe the patent you speak of is the angle at which the hydraulic pump can run at?

The AGCO Fendt CVT is the only clutchless CVT/IVT on the market.  The Deere and all others use clutch packs.

The AGCO unit also has a seperate oil reservoir for the trans, and one for tractor hydraulics.

JD used a common reservoir, not sure if they wised up and added a trans only fluid tank.

Farmboy, I found life is way to short to pay any attention to those who have animosity toward you or someone else, envy and jealousy usually lead people to this.  I hope you succeed in finding more land and are able to farm full time if that is your goal in life, in fact I hope you become filthy rich doing so and everyone else that wants to succeed and become rich doing what ever their goal in life is achieve as well.  Farming is not a job it is a way of life,  there is no 8-5 it's just a matter of when something has to be done it doesn't matter what time or day or holiday it is,  it just has to be done!  Working a job and farming land is something to commend for everybody that does it, in fact that is how I started farming myself.  Over the years I have learned if your going to get where you want to go you have to take risks, and if buying a bigger tractor, renting land, or buying land is the risk you have to take then go for it.  You like me owe nothing to anybody for where you are and it is yours to loose if the risks don't pan out, so pay no attention to what anyone says it's your decision that matters.  One thing I've noticed is all the people that say I can't afford this or that, but if you say it long enough time and inflation pass you by and you will never afford anything in the end, so in farming or any business for that matter, you have to be willing to spend money to make money.  Yes borrowing money has it's risks but to get ahead you will never have a choice and in the end does it really matter? life is one big risk to start with.

Now that I'm at home on the old puter instead of my phone in the tractor let me get to the good, bad, ugly on a 240A, sorry for the rant.

The ugly first, I would call this the AGCO screwed the pooch category.  Before I start my 240A is a 2008 tier 3( last year they were made)

First off the A/C, which I have the whatever they call it(select your cab temp fancy option one) and while it is nice in the spring or early summer when temperatures are from 40 in morning to 85 in afternoon it is great just set it at 70 and you don't notice that anything every changed.  However when it's middle summer and you are getting a steady 8+ hours of 95-110 it leaves something to be desired.  You will have a fan that is blowing wide open and making more noise than you could every get out of a 7080 Allis  and when the sun breaks over and comes in the window it will just keep you from maybe not sweating.  During the summer I shut off the heater valve which has helped some, but it is still nothing like say a 1976 7080 that would freeze you out of the cab.  That being said I have a 545B Challenger that has the exact cab but the A/C is just like the older tractors, with the old crank up or down knob and it will flat freeze you out, the fan has 5 settings and the second one is as high as I have ever had to run it, so if I was looking at one I think I would want to find one without the auto-temp control for sure.

Next, is the cab suspension, it is a air system with the compressor shoved up under the cab floor that you have to take the wheels off and jack the side of the cab up to get to when it causes trouble, and it causes trouble believe me.  Mine was a late one that had the air filter from the factory that was to stop failing compressors and it doesn't matter went out 2 or 3 times in 5000 hours(unacceptable) However I found after the last time it quit that there is a simple solution just get air line compression fittings, air line, a tee, and a schrader valve and bypass all the compressor, accumulator, and other garbage and just put a little air in the bags a few times a year, forget the soft ride/hard ride crap as it will be expensive keeping it working just put what ever amount in your happy with and be done.

Then we get to the motor fan belt, I'm not sure if this is a tier 3 thing as some were tier 2 but the tension pulley spring is about half the tension that the belt needs.  They have a wide belt (8 grove I believe) but when you can literally pull the tension pulley off by hand there is no way it will every hold the belt from slipping the minute it has any wear, it's tight enough to run the fan but when the A/C kicks on and the fan clutch engages or you are running at night with lights you better have a new belt.  Agco knows this is a problem because they updated the belt, yep that's right made it slightly shorter but failed miserably because all it needed was a stouter spring on the tension pulley, and yes I changed the spring thinking it was bad, nope new one just as bad as the old, but Agco saved money not updating the spring.  Now as long as you change your fan belt every couple oil changes it will be fine but don't expect to get 1000 hrs out of a belt.

Next and this probably won't affect you but the screen on the hood is worthless when you are planting in no-till wheat stubble that is a year old.  That rotten grey fuzz gets right through and will plug the air to air cooler and cause the engine to derate when the intake temp is to high, no big you just shut down and clean the fuzz off and then back you go, but really for what this cost get the hood and screen tight so this doesn't happen,  if it plugs the screen you shut down and clean it, not open the hood move radiators around and such to get it out, come on Agco!  Oh, but I've gotten pretty good at this because the A/C works slightly worse than normal and that's the sign to shut down and clean fuzz before it derates.

Then there is the auto steer ready thingy,  I believe that 2008 maybe is the only year they put it in and it was when Agco was trying to play with Outback and to just shorten up here forget it if you got it, just get whatever you want, your only out a wheel angle sensor and steering valve.

Ok now the bad, I would classify this as problems that all tractors have but have happened to mine in 7000 hours, and I will just make a list here so:

A/C Compressor(yep damn A/C)

2- Starters

1- Alternator

Twice I replace transmission speed sensors(takes 2)  oh I must add here that the last time they went out I was going down the road at 33 mph with a 33' Lazer Plow and it wouldn't slow down, step in clutch did nothing, put shifter in neutral did nothing and I had a t-intersection with the highway a mile in front of me, the situation could have ended bad but in the calm minute I realized that I could drop her to a idol and hold the brake and she would stop, (thank you turbo clutch!) I actually made it in the field shut it off started it up and it took off normal and about 2 minutes into field work at 6mph I was locked into 6mph, I did the right thing and finished the field before I fixed the tractor.

Hydraulic Quick couplers(just one or 2 but freakish deal)

2 engine injectors

fan clutch

electric fuel pump

Both front planetary(seals went out, they told me it was because I had front duels, but that's bs it just happens to front wheel asssists)

Rear engine main seal(split tractor)

Left rear planetary seal

Bearing on output shaft from tranny going to front axle(split the tractor)

Water pump(be sure if you get one that weep hole is cleaned out or it will put water in your oil when it gets bad)

A/C Blower Fan motor(yep damn A/C crap again)

Maybe a handful of other sensors that I'm forgeting but other than that just pretty much general service items, setting overheads,  etc. and no I don't count fan belts as a general service item on this tractor, there is a engineer at Agco that needs kicked square in the, never mind.

I should add that for as bad as this all looks, splitting the tractor twice and the injectors were probably the worst, obviously.

Now the good or things you will like, no not the A/C

Obviously the transmission is second to none, and once you get used to how it works and all the extra functions it comes with you will never want another transmission in a tractor.

The engine management software will help fuel economy while tilling or any heavy load thanks to the unlimited speed range of the tranny.

The iso bus ready feature is excellent, you can just plug equipment into the tractor(planter, drill, baler, anything that needs a monitor) and the monitor will be displayed automatically on the tractor monitor, double tap the esc button and you can go back and forth from the tractor to the implement. No more dragging monitors around.

The engine is very quite and has plenty of power to respond when in hard pulling situations, and is pretty easy on fuel.  I would add here if you have a tier 3 engine plan on changing oil every 100-150 hours at the most as the emissions garbage makes the oil black instantly.  In all I'm very impressed with this engine, just run the overheads ever 2500 hours and make sure that the water pump weep hole is clean.

The headland management on this tractor is a great feature, when you get to the end of the field tap one button and let it do it's thing, then turn around and tap the button again and off you go, I absolutely love this feature. It seems overwhelming when you first try to figure out how to programm it but it is not.  For example I have a 8516 White planter, that is plugged into the tractor so it uses the iso bus, thats great, then I run the headland stuff.(don't need iso bus to use headland)  I have it programed so when I get to the end of the field I tap the button it starts by lifting the marker, then slows the tractor down, then raises the planter and after you make the turn you tap it again and it will lower planter, put the marker out(which I have it set so it switches to float so many seconds into it because it stops the jerking on the last section of the marker), then after a time delay to insure the planter is down the tractor takes back off at field speed.  This might have been the first tractor to have this but everyone else has followed suit, it is a great feature.

The turbo clutch(transmission again) makes moving close to things a easy task or hooking up implements.  At a idol with the tractor moving you can just simply press the brakes down and it stops then release and it will move again.

Front axle suspension is nice and does help the ride(a little) but I wouldn't hesitate if it only had a straight front axle, it's not that big of a deal.

The little joystick/ ball thingy for 2 hydraulics is excellent, I don't understand why this isn't still on the new tractors.  3rd function on it as well for a loader, just great on the loader tractors.

The monitor will accept a ag cam and can be set in several different modes for viewing.  (Ex.) I put NH3 on with my planter and it is a central fill planter so backing up to a tank that you can't see is a little dicey.  I mounted a camera and plugged it into the monitor and set it so whenever I put the tractor into reverse my monitor switches to the camera and I can see behind the seed tank to hook up a NH3 tank, just works slick.

The cruise controls are great.

The preset engine speeds are nice, the tractors actually have a throttle lever in them but I couldn't tell you if mine works, I'm not sure I ever used it.

All in all would I buy another one, well yes I probably would, I think the benefits of the tractor compared to what I had before out way the trouble I've had.  Of course that being said I will buy anything if the price is right.   Well I have to draw a line when it comes to a combine it's going to be a Gleaner price be damned, they are second to none in small grains.