I have one of the '09 Sioux Falls 140M AWD's, and have put about 3200 hours on the meter, and enjoying every minute of it. It's a good way to get into a "like new" machine. I'm guessing that the new crop is probably M2's, which I haven't operated(yet). If you ever get a chance to demo one of the M's, hopefully you will be able to spend some time with a dealers' demo/instruction person before, and while you are trying it out. If you didn't get a chance to use the simulator equipment, you may feel awkward with the joystick controls, especially if you have a large crowd of your co-workers watching, pointing, and laughing. Send them all home, and play with the machine for a few hours, and you may be surprised at how comfortable you get. Back in '08, I used a new JD772D to rebuild 4 miles of road. It was very productive, and I really enjoyed running it. I enjoy running the 140M AWD more, and I'm completely comfortable with the controls.
FYI...This winter I needed to blade and pack some gravel patches over some culvert cutouts, so I hung the rear-mounted packer on my machine, and decided to see how heavy it really was. 52,240 lbs. 140M AWD, dozer/lift, wing, ripper w/packer.
smoothoperator