Buying Advice Cab or no cab?

[yooperdave]

I am selling my newer 42 hp 4 cylinder Cab tractor.

It is too hard to get into and out of for me with my larger size and in my physical condition.

I love my 25hp LG. No cab to get in my way. Had a bigger step fabricated to help me on & off.

Good Luck

Yooper Dave

 

[kohog]

If you can afford the extra $, go for the cab with a/c and as much HP as your wallet allows (up to 45-60hp) plus a front loader. Like you said, although it'll be your first tractor purchase, it'll likely be your last, too, so to avoid regret be as sure as you can to get it right first time. Your post makes it appear you think you're spoiling yourself by even thinking of buying something mechanical to assist in what is very heavy duty work - taking care of 50 acres of wooded land in 90-100° FL heat at 73/yrs old. I think you've already proved it to yourself you NEED a tractor by asking your friend next door to help with his, so I hope you won't be upset if I suggest you're aiming too low. Also, once you get your tractor, you, like most people on this forum, will find it useful in helping you with myriad other tasks you hadn't even thought of before buying it. My wife & I manage almost 30 acres of Loblolly pines in the NW FL Panhandle. I maintained our trails with a DR Mower 30" brush cutter and a pole chain saw and I thought I was spoiling myself. The DR had some teething problems that were covered under warranty but once working properly, that machine really kicked a$$. But, at 70/yrs young, it was also quite a wrestling match to manhandle that thing over terrain that is anything but smooth and flat, and a LOT of walking. Also, the Yupon Holly is so thick in places the cutting deck just rides up the stems (trunks) lacking the weight to knock them over. It ended up taking either a long day to finish all my trails or, usually, two separate over half-days as the work totally drained me. We had the $ for a tractor so at my wife's insistance we paid a visit to our closest dealer who happened to sell Kubotas. It was the height of the COVID pandemic and dealers everywhere had difficulty getting units and parts but the Kubota dealer's lot looked a lot healthier than his JD competitor's. They were closer to my house, too. Ended up with an L6060 Grand Cab although it took almost a year to get it delivered due to various delays. Yes, it wasn't cheap, but like you, I thought of uncovering wasp nests (where do you go if you have no cab?), the 90-100° heat, the dust & flying debris from brush cutting, the bugs and mosquitos, etc. The $12k extra for the cab was (is) worth every penny and towing a 72", PTO-driven LandPride brush cutter behind gets all the trails done in half a day. Branches ARE a problem. I have mirrors (which I could remove or fold forward) which the branches at times slam into my door windows when I'm not paying attention (nothing broken yet.) I go up and down all our trails with the pole saw and a hedge cutter a few times. Once the branches are off, that's it, they're not coming back, it's a one-time job. I also have the TB Two which is a brush cutter I can mount on the front loader and trim back brush growing from the trail sides like a hedge trimmer. I could also use it on tree branches but although more work, a pole saw is neater & quicker. I opted for AG tires as our soil is sandy & soft and when using the loader I appreciate the extra grip. They are liquid filled for extra ballast as we have a few areas with 15° slopes. Good luck with your choice...

 

[remco]

OK, so this will be my first tractor, IF I do buy one. Maybe my last one, too, as I turned 73 recently and don't imagine this will be a periodic thing for me to do over my remaining years.

BTW, my apologies if this is posted in the wrong place. I looked for a section for newbie style questions, but didn't find one.

I am located in north Florida. 50 acres of mostly heavily wooded land. Getting to where doing minor clearing manually is no longer as much fun as it used to be. I had a heart attack last year. Wife has diagnosed with stage 4 ovarian cancer last year. Yeah 2022 REALLY sucked. So, things are stacking against us to be doing a lot of (any?) heavy lifting. I don't know how much and for how long I will have my wife's help when I just need an extra pair of hands. And the hands and arms I have just ain't what they used to be, neither. A couple of weeks ago when I wanted to move a concrete bird bath across the yard, that got me to REALLY thinking that something to help me with the lifting would have been nice to have. Something like an engine hoist on wheels, even.

So I believe I need motorized help. Friend of mine has a tractor and has come over several times to help me with some things. He would just shake his head and tell me he doesn't understand why I haven't bought a tractor a long time ago. "Good exercise" I would tell him, doing this all manually. But things have changed. Of course he says he will always be here to help me, but he has his own medical problems and I can't expect to keep leaning on him for tractor help.

Here in north Florida, we have a few seasons where riding an open tractor into the woods might not be a pleasant experience. Yellow fly season, mosquito season, hot and humid season, and the fall ground nesting habits of yellow jackets are always an unpleasant surprise. Oh yeah, and those large spiders forming webs at unexpected places between the trees. Not keen on getting those webs wrapped around my face. All seem to point to having a cab on a tractor so I could keep on tractoring, regardless of those environmental hurtles and unpleasant surprises.

But I have some doubts. I want a smaller tractor, likely one of the less than 25 horsepower models. My plan is to clear AROUND most of the trees, not try to knock them over or dig them up. So small size would help with that. Now, I know air conditioning robs horsepower from any engine it is attached to. How much would the air conditioning in a cab on a 25 horsepower tractor impact the usefulness of the thing? Wouldn't make much sense to have to choose between using the AC or running a flail mower when needed, if the tractor didn't have the power to run both simultaneously, now would it? So is there a MINIMUM horsepower rating for a tractor engine below which having a cab with AC is just pure folly?

And there is the issue of driving through woods with the cab. Are they designed to take some arguments with tree branches and not get damaged excessively? The way I am thinking about it, I WILL have tree branches to contend with. But it is not too bad. Mostly small saplings that I would want to take out anyway. Pine trees tend to put their branches up high around here. I guess I would rather have those branches scraping and slapping at the cab rather than my head and upper body. And I suppose the ROP guard would likely catch many of them anyway, just hopefully not bending them forward and down to knock my hat off. I guess I could take the time with a polesaw to take out many of the lower branches, but that puts me back in the environmental concerns that had me thinking about getting the cab in the first place. Walking through the woods with a pole saw would not be any more fun than driving through the woods at those above mentioned challenging seasons.

Are the doors and windows of these cabs field replaceable repairs? And are they made of actual glass (perhaps impact resistant?) or just some plastic that would get scratched all to hell from the branches?

Just a silly idea wanting to get a small tractor with a cab anyway? Suck it up, buttercup, face the elements and take the scars? Or just sell the place and go live in a condo on the beach and forget about the whole thing?

Yeah, I know. Expecting answers mostly beginning with "Well, it depends......."

I recommend cab. I'm 79. Bought my tractor in 2010. Debated same question. Heat/cold didn't bother me. So I bought regular tractor. Bought age 74, extreme Temps got uncomfortable. Texas can have 30 days of 100 plus. I'm presently looking for a used cab tractor. I've missed a lot of days because of the heat. I can work in it, but not as long. Once I go inside to cool off, I stay.
So, that is my experience & opinion.

 

[remco]

I am selling my newer 42 hp 4 cylinder Cab tractor.

It is too hard to get into and out of for me with my larger size and in my physical condition.

I love my 25hp LG. No cab to get in my way. Had a bigger step fabricated to help me on & off.

Good Luck

Yooper Dave

Where are you? If close enough, interested in your cab tractor.

 

[lucky13]

OK, so this will be my first tractor, IF I do buy one. Maybe my last one, too, as I turned 73 recently and don't imagine this will be a periodic thing for me to do over my remaining years.

BTW, my apologies if this is posted in the wrong place. I looked for a section for newbie style questions, but didn't find one.

I am located in north Florida. 50 acres of mostly heavily wooded land. Getting to where doing minor clearing manually is no longer as much fun as it used to be. I had a heart attack last year. Wife has diagnosed with stage 4 ovarian cancer last year. Yeah 2022 REALLY sucked. So, things are stacking against us to be doing a lot of (any?) heavy lifting. I don't know how much and for how long I will have my wife's help when I just need an extra pair of hands. And the hands and arms I have just ain't what they used to be, neither. A couple of weeks ago when I wanted to move a concrete bird bath across the yard, that got me to REALLY thinking that something to help me with the lifting would have been nice to have. Something like an engine hoist on wheels, even.

So I believe I need motorized help. Friend of mine has a tractor and has come over several times to help me with some things. He would just shake his head and tell me he doesn't understand why I haven't bought a tractor a long time ago. "Good exercise" I would tell him, doing this all manually. But things have changed. Of course he says he will always be here to help me, but he has his own medical problems and I can't expect to keep leaning on him for tractor help.

Here in north Florida, we have a few seasons where riding an open tractor into the woods might not be a pleasant experience. Yellow fly season, mosquito season, hot and humid season, and the fall ground nesting habits of yellow jackets are always an unpleasant surprise. Oh yeah, and those large spiders forming webs at unexpected places between the trees. Not keen on getting those webs wrapped around my face. All seem to point to having a cab on a tractor so I could keep on tractoring, regardless of those environmental hurtles and unpleasant surprises.

But I have some doubts. I want a smaller tractor, likely one of the less than 25 horsepower models. My plan is to clear AROUND most of the trees, not try to knock them over or dig them up. So small size would help with that. Now, I know air conditioning robs horsepower from any engine it is attached to. How much would the air conditioning in a cab on a 25 horsepower tractor impact the usefulness of the thing? Wouldn't make much sense to have to choose between using the AC or running a flail mower when needed, if the tractor didn't have the power to run both simultaneously, now would it? So is there a MINIMUM horsepower rating for a tractor engine below which having a cab with AC is just pure folly?

And there is the issue of driving through woods with the cab. Are they designed to take some arguments with tree branches and not get damaged excessively? The way I am thinking about it, I WILL have tree branches to contend with. But it is not too bad. Mostly small saplings that I would want to take out anyway. Pine trees tend to put their branches up high around here. I guess I would rather have those branches scraping and slapping at the cab rather than my head and upper body. And I suppose the ROP guard would likely catch many of them anyway, just hopefully not bending them forward and down to knock my hat off. I guess I could take the time with a polesaw to take out many of the lower branches, but that puts me back in the environmental concerns that had me thinking about getting the cab in the first place. Walking through the woods with a pole saw would not be any more fun than driving through the woods at those above mentioned challenging seasons.

Are the doors and windows of these cabs field replaceable repairs? And are they made of actual glass (perhaps impact resistant?) or just some plastic that would get scratched all to hell from the branches?

Just a silly idea wanting to get a small tractor with a cab anyway? Suck it up, buttercup, face the elements and take the scars? Or just sell the place and go live in a condo on the beach and forget about the whole thing?

Yeah, I know. Expecting answers mostly beginning with "Well, it depends......."

I’m a youngi,only 68, work 13 acres mostly woods with 1/4 acre veggie garden. In central Ohio so plow snow and yellow jackets and mosquitoes abound next to creek. Ive had 6 or 7 tractors over the years and a skid steer, currently have Kubota LX3210 with cab and am quite pleased. Attachments are bucket, 42” forks, auger (10”), 48” tiller, 4 ft. Bush hog and chipper. I navigate a lot of steep grades and narrow passes between trees so needed to stay smaller, I’ve had larger tractors but can’t fit in between trees and hangs up over ditches. Work is more fun when cool in summer and warm in the winter.

 

[Jeep addict]

I'm 61 and used tractors since my teens. I would always pick a Cab tractor for comfort, if the A/C and heat work. A Cab costs about the same as a New Flail mower, or more. Sometimes a Cab will block your view from time to time, but if attachments are throwing up sand and debris you have some protection. You are smart to pass around trees because we had someone who liked to drive into and under trees and the branches eventually tore the mirrors and lights off the 90HP machine. Your 20 HP tractor would not stand a chance against tree branches.
You might be able to use a 20HP tractor as a engine hoist, but look at the horsepower needed for Bush and Flail mowers.
Tractors are pretty cheap to rent from Building centers, or dealers will often rent machines that were traded in. I suggest you rent a machine to see if it is what you want. I rented a 30HP loader tractor when I had to clear a property, as well as a 45HP TLB when I rebuilt a foundation, and learned a lot about what options would suit my mission.
Good Luck.

 

[m7040]

The air suspension seat on the Kubota tractor is a good option to get. It lets me float over bumps

 

[rrrancher51]

I turn 72 in a few days. I bought a John Deere 3038e 12 years ago, with a loader, but no cab. We live on a 70 acre tract that is mostly a tree farm. I bought the 3038e because it is one of the higher horsepower five foot wide tractors, and I wanted a five footer so I could mow and get around trees easier than a wider, longer tractor. And let me say, it does a wonderful job of it. I considered a cab, at the time, but after reading and talking to others, I decided that the cab would probably not fare well. I'm in east Texas, and the pines here have limbs sticking out from the ground up, until they get established good and start shooting up more. Then, most of the lower branches will die out. But even then, many of the dead, lower branches are in the way, if you want to make a path for the tractor and/or four-wheeler. Lots of lopping and chain-sawing goes on around here. We love nature, and have about 3 miles of trails crisscrossing the property, so mowing alongside the trees is what I spend a lot of time doing. I can almost assure you that I would have already destroyed at least one window on a cab by now.

But if you are having medical problems, I would think you would be better off with the comfort of the cab, and it may allow you to use the tractor more years of your life, especially if you have more issues with heat as you age. I know I can't take the heat near as well nowadays as when we bought this place 13 years ago. I use the tractor much more now than when I got it, and there are many days when I sure wish I had AC or heat. But I have just learned to plan most of my tractor work for more pleasant times. Like today, I need to go do some mowing, but my weather station says it's 106 F with the heat index at 116 F. To be honest, I wouldn't even run my tractor on a day like today, even if it had a cab, unless it was a piddlin' little job.

I can't speak to what engine size you need for AC as I have never had that luxury. But I will tell you that I am a very happy owner of this little 38 HP JD. I have put it through the wringer over the years and it has performed, and still performs very well. In fact, we just purchased the same thing again last week, in a 2023 model, and expect delivery soon. Again, no matter how much I want it, no cab. My situational awareness is not near as good as it was, and dead branches and other things tend to sneak up on me a lot more. So again, the cab would probably not like what I accidently do to it.

Good luck to you sir, and I hope you enjoy whatever you get as much as I have mine. Without pushing them hard, it is amazing to me how much these little compacts will do. Once you have one, you won't want to live without it.

 

[yooperdave]

Where are you? If close enough, interested in your cab tractor.

Marinette, WI 54143 Far NE corner of WI.

 

[BEAGLES]

I just turned 72 myself. I am about as far away from Florida as a person can be and still be in the lower 48. I Live in desert country. If the temperatures are mild I prefer the open station, but being desert, there are fewer nasty little bugs. When it is blistering hot and dusty or freezing cold with wind and snow, the Cab tractor is the one I use. In Florida, I can't think of any reason to not choose the cab tractor.
For 50 acres, I think you might be looking at too small of a tractor. The one in my icon is 50 hp and I am on 20 acres. Between mowing, grading roads and in particular, clearing snow (not your problem, I know) the 50hp is about right. For 50 acres in Florida, I think something in the 35 to 45 hp range might be better. I really don't notice the AC drawing away noticeable power.
The glass in the doors in particular, are going to be a bit much for single handed field repair. Mine are fairly thick tempered glass and I wouldn't want to have to buy them. I believe I read where it cost one member around $1000 for the door glass. Keep the doors closed when moving and don't roll the tractor, and I don't think replacing door glass will be a problem.
My recommendation would be a 40ish or more horsepower cab tractor with a hydrostat transmission, a loader, weighing in the 3500 pound range. My recommended color in alphabetical order would be blue, green, orange, red. In other words, check them all out for features, comfort and price.
You might want to check Hank Hamilton's YouTube channel. He is in the Florida panhandle area. Also check out Tracto Time with Tim on YouTube. He does a lot of work with his John Deere 1025R.
Words that are almost never heard in the tractor world: "I wish I had gotten a less horsepower tractor."

The post from

OK, so this will be my first tractor, IF I do buy one. Maybe my last one, too, as I turned 73 recently and don't imagine this will be a periodic thing for me to do over my remaining years.

BTW, my apologies if this is posted in the wrong place. I looked for a section for newbie style questions, but didn't find one.

I am located in north Florida. 50 acres of mostly heavily wooded land. Getting to where doing minor clearing manually is no longer as much fun as it used to be. I had a heart attack last year. Wife has diagnosed with stage 4 ovarian cancer last year. Yeah 2022 REALLY sucked. So, things are stacking against us to be doing a lot of (any?) heavy lifting. I don't know how much and for how long I will have my wife's help when I just need an extra pair of hands. And the hands and arms I have just ain't what they used to be, neither. A couple of weeks ago when I wanted to move a concrete bird bath across the yard, that got me to REALLY thinking that something to help me with the lifting would have been nice to have. Something like an engine hoist on wheels, even.

So I believe I need motorized help. Friend of mine has a tractor and has come over several times to help me with some things. He would just shake his head and tell me he doesn't understand why I haven't bought a tractor a long time ago. "Good exercise" I would tell him, doing this all manually. But things have changed. Of course he says he will always be here to help me, but he has his own medical problems and I can't expect to keep leaning on him for tractor help.

Here in north Florida, we have a few seasons where riding an open tractor into the woods might not be a pleasant experience. Yellow fly season, mosquito season, hot and humid season, and the fall ground nesting habits of yellow jackets are always an unpleasant surprise. Oh yeah, and those large spiders forming webs at unexpected places between the trees. Not keen on getting those webs wrapped around my face. All seem to point to having a cab on a tractor so I could keep on tractoring, regardless of those environmental hurtles and unpleasant surprises.

But I have some doubts. I want a smaller tractor, likely one of the less than 25 horsepower models. My plan is to clear AROUND most of the trees, not try to knock them over or dig them up. So small size would help with that. Now, I know air conditioning robs horsepower from any engine it is attached to. How much would the air conditioning in a cab on a 25 horsepower tractor impact the usefulness of the thing? Wouldn't make much sense to have to choose between using the AC or running a flail mower when needed, if the tractor didn't have the power to run both simultaneously, now would it? So is there a MINIMUM horsepower rating for a tractor engine below which having a cab with AC is just pure folly?

And there is the issue of driving through woods with the cab. Are they designed to take some arguments with tree branches and not get damaged excessively? The way I am thinking about it, I WILL have tree branches to contend with. But it is not too bad. Mostly small saplings that I would want to take out anyway. Pine trees tend to put their branches up high around here. I guess I would rather have those branches scraping and slapping at the cab rather than my head and upper body. And I suppose the ROP guard would likely catch many of them anyway, just hopefully not bending them forward and down to knock my hat off. I guess I could take the time with a polesaw to take out many of the lower branches, but that puts me back in the environmental concerns that had me thinking about getting the cab in the first place. Walking through the woods with a pole saw would not be any more fun than driving through the woods at those above mentioned challenging seasons.

Are the doors and windows of these cabs field replaceable repairs? And are they made of actual glass (perhaps impact resistant?) or just some plastic that would get scratched all to hell from the branches?

Just a silly idea wanting to get a small tractor with a cab anyway? Suck it up, buttercup, face the elements and take the scars? Or just sell the place and go live in a condo on the beach and forget about the whole thing?

Yeah, I know. Expecting answers mostly beginning with "Well, it depends......."

The post from 3 horse ranch says it all imho. The only thing that I could possibly disagree with is the order in colors(that is a debate for another date)LOL. Quite a lot of wisdom in his response. Read it over and make your decision.

 

[JLinOK]

I have an old JD 5310. 62 hp and a little over 50 at the PTO. I paid around 22k for it 10 years ago and it is probably worth that now. No emissions. I love not having a cab except when I don't. Today, in 100 degree heat, a/c would have been nice but I was doing dirt work in the trees and a cab would have been problematic. Pluses and cons like everything else.

 

[TrainsByDeere]

OK, so this will be my first tractor, IF I do buy one. Maybe my last one, too, as I turned 73 recently and don't imagine this will be a periodic thing for me to do over my remaining years.

BTW, my apologies if this is posted in the wrong place. I looked for a section for newbie style questions, but didn't find one.

I am located in north Florida. 50 acres of mostly heavily wooded land. Getting to where doing minor clearing manually is no longer as much fun as it used to be. I had a heart attack last year. Wife has diagnosed with stage 4 ovarian cancer last year. Yeah 2022 REALLY sucked. So, things are stacking against us to be doing a lot of (any?) heavy lifting. I don't know how much and for how long I will have my wife's help when I just need an extra pair of hands. And the hands and arms I have just ain't what they used to be, neither. A couple of weeks ago when I wanted to move a concrete bird bath across the yard, that got me to REALLY thinking that something to help me with the lifting would have been nice to have. Something like an engine hoist on wheels, even.

So I believe I need motorized help. Friend of mine has a tractor and has come over several times to help me with some things. He would just shake his head and tell me he doesn't understand why I haven't bought a tractor a long time ago. "Good exercise" I would tell him, doing this all manually. But things have changed. Of course he says he will always be here to help me, but he has his own medical problems and I can't expect to keep leaning on him for tractor help.

Here in north Florida, we have a few seasons where riding an open tractor into the woods might not be a pleasant experience. Yellow fly season, mosquito season, hot and humid season, and the fall ground nesting habits of yellow jackets are always an unpleasant surprise. Oh yeah, and those large spiders forming webs at unexpected places between the trees. Not keen on getting those webs wrapped around my face. All seem to point to having a cab on a tractor so I could keep on tractoring, regardless of those environmental hurtles and unpleasant surprises.

But I have some doubts. I want a smaller tractor, likely one of the less than 25 horsepower models. My plan is to clear AROUND most of the trees, not try to knock them over or dig them up. So small size would help with that. Now, I know air conditioning robs horsepower from any engine it is attached to. How much would the air conditioning in a cab on a 25 horsepower tractor impact the usefulness of the thing? Wouldn't make much sense to have to choose between using the AC or running a flail mower when needed, if the tractor didn't have the power to run both simultaneously, now would it? So is there a MINIMUM horsepower rating for a tractor engine below which having a cab with AC is just pure folly?

And there is the issue of driving through woods with the cab. Are they designed to take some arguments with tree branches and not get damaged excessively? The way I am thinking about it, I WILL have tree branches to contend with. But it is not too bad. Mostly small saplings that I would want to take out anyway. Pine trees tend to put their branches up high around here. I guess I would rather have those branches scraping and slapping at the cab rather than my head and upper body. And I suppose the ROP guard would likely catch many of them anyway, just hopefully not bending them forward and down to knock my hat off. I guess I could take the time with a polesaw to take out many of the lower branches, but that puts me back in the environmental concerns that had me thinking about getting the cab in the first place. Walking through the woods with a pole saw would not be any more fun than driving through the woods at those above mentioned challenging seasons.

Are the doors and windows of these cabs field replaceable repairs? And are they made of actual glass (perhaps impact resistant?) or just some plastic that would get scratched all to hell from the branches?

Just a silly idea wanting to get a small tractor with a cab anyway? Suck it up, buttercup, face the elements and take the scars? Or just sell the place and go live in a condo on the beach and forget about the whole thing?

Yeah, I know. Expecting answers mostly beginning with "Well, it depends......."

Dude. All you had to write was, “I’m 73 and live in north Florida. Do I need a tractor with air conditioning?” YES unless you like dying of heat stroke and bee stings.

A 24 HP “tractor” is a lawn implement. Not a tractor. Get something that will move a bucket rapidly (hydraulic pump with a set a balls) and lift a ton in one gulp. 38-50 HP at least! Get a John Deere, the rest are crap and everyone here will defend their ****show $1500 Walmart grass cutter.

I bought a ‘79 JD 950 (yes it’s a garden tractor) for $4K and put another $4.5K into it. Love it in St Louis.

 

[7010P]

OK, so this will be my first tractor, IF I do buy one. Maybe my last one, too, as I turned 73 recently and don't imagine this will be a periodic thing for me to do over my remaining years.

BTW, my apologies if this is posted in the wrong place. I looked for a section for newbie style questions, but didn't find one.

I am located in north Florida. 50 acres of mostly heavily wooded land. Getting to where doing minor clearing manually is no longer as much fun as it used to be. I had a heart attack last year. Wife has diagnosed with stage 4 ovarian cancer last year. Yeah 2022 REALLY sucked. So, things are stacking against us to be doing a lot of (any?) heavy lifting. I don't know how much and for how long I will have my wife's help when I just need an extra pair of hands. And the hands and arms I have just ain't what they used to be, neither. A couple of weeks ago when I wanted to move a concrete bird bath across the yard, that got me to REALLY thinking that something to help me with the lifting would have been nice to have. Something like an engine hoist on wheels, even.

So I believe I need motorized help. Friend of mine has a tractor and has come over several times to help me with some things. He would just shake his head and tell me he doesn't understand why I haven't bought a tractor a long time ago. "Good exercise" I would tell him, doing this all manually. But things have changed. Of course he says he will always be here to help me, but he has his own medical problems and I can't expect to keep leaning on him for tractor help.

Here in north Florida, we have a few seasons where riding an open tractor into the woods might not be a pleasant experience. Yellow fly season, mosquito season, hot and humid season, and the fall ground nesting habits of yellow jackets are always an unpleasant surprise. Oh yeah, and those large spiders forming webs at unexpected places between the trees. Not keen on getting those webs wrapped around my face. All seem to point to having a cab on a tractor so I could keep on tractoring, regardless of those environmental hurtles and unpleasant surprises.

But I have some doubts. I want a smaller tractor, likely one of the less than 25 horsepower models. My plan is to clear AROUND most of the trees, not try to knock them over or dig them up. So small size would help with that. Now, I know air conditioning robs horsepower from any engine it is attached to. How much would the air conditioning in a cab on a 25 horsepower tractor impact the usefulness of the thing? Wouldn't make much sense to have to choose between using the AC or running a flail mower when needed, if the tractor didn't have the power to run both simultaneously, now would it? So is there a MINIMUM horsepower rating for a tractor engine below which having a cab with AC is just pure folly?

And there is the issue of driving through woods with the cab. Are they designed to take some arguments with tree branches and not get damaged excessively? The way I am thinking about it, I WILL have tree branches to contend with. But it is not too bad. Mostly small saplings that I would want to take out anyway. Pine trees tend to put their branches up high around here. I guess I would rather have those branches scraping and slapping at the cab rather than my head and upper body. And I suppose the ROP guard would likely catch many of them anyway, just hopefully not bending them forward and down to knock my hat off. I guess I could take the time with a polesaw to take out many of the lower branches, but that puts me back in the environmental concerns that had me thinking about getting the cab in the first place. Walking through the woods with a pole saw would not be any more fun than driving through the woods at those above mentioned challenging seasons.

Are the doors and windows of these cabs field replaceable repairs? And are they made of actual glass (perhaps impact resistant?) or just some plastic that would get scratched all to hell from the branches?

Just a silly idea wanting to get a small tractor with a cab anyway? Suck it up, buttercup, face the elements and take the scars? Or just sell the place and go live in a condo on the beach and forget about the whole thing?

Yeah, I know. Expecting answers mostly beginning with "Well, it depends......."

At your age, a few years older than I, get the cab! Cool when you need it in the summer and warm in the winter. you will be able to use it more. I purchased a used tractor with a cab and haven't regretted that decision (been about 4 years now)! Good Luck in your search for the right tractor!

 

[Bob_Young]

In a way, I envy you. You can at least think about a cab. I cannot, way too many trees. My old Dad was a bug on planting trees and now they're grown and all over the place (52 acres). Most are pines and firs with low branches. Cleanup will take the rest of my life (78 now) and probably more.

But I can say this; once you get a cab, the AC becomes a no-go item. If it gets weak or fails the tractor is nearly useless. A cab tractor without AC in FL is a sauna. I've operated cabbed Ag tractors here in NY that were a real problem when the AC got weak. If you opened the door you got dust and bugs; if you closed the door you melted.

You'll see from my sig that I have a few Kubotas. The L3902 was just recently purchased. I think with a cab and HST it would be about what you're looking for with a few extra ponies. It does have a drawback in that the gears are noisy. Mine has already started to quiet down, but it will be worse in a cab.

 

[Kansas Terri]

Where I live the summertime lows are usually in the 60's and 70's. I do not have a cab but that is fine for me: when I want to do tractor work I simply do it either early or near sun down. But, FLORIDA??????? I would MELT!

My tractor is a 25 HP. Because I live on heavy clay soil it is not quite strong enough to plow a furrow when the soil is dry and hard. In August, in Eastern Kansas, that can matter. If your soil is sandy, however, you might not care.

I cannot say if 25 HP is strong enough for a front end loader because I do not have one. I WILL say that I am gt the tractor. I am 68 and it does make it easier to garden.

 

[Rich_Z]

Heck, I was quite surprised this thread was still ongoing.

Anyway, the wife told me this morning (08/03) she wanted to take me to the TYM dealer to look at tractors. She was feeling better, and was even willing to brave the heat. So that is what we did.

Seems like there is really only the one guy there that handles everything to do with the TYM tractors, and we got to talk with him quite a bit. I have been tossing him questions via email all along, and he has been changing the estimate as needed to go along with any changes I could come up with.

We got a real good feel talking with the guy. Seemed very down home, and obviously a tractor guy who knew his product. I wanted to make sure that the TYM T474 wasn't just TOO big for me. I had been watching a lot of videos, and some of those guys in them, if they were quite beefy, would have meant that the tractor was also quite large. But after climbing up into the seat and taking a look around from that perch, it's not TOO big at all.

So I believe I am going to be buying that TYM T474 HST CAB after all. Just need to get some details ironed out first. For instance, what options I have for tires.

Options I want to get, both factory installed and dealer installed are:

• 3rd function up front.
• second hydraulics (already has one) in back.
• hydraulic top link

Comes with loader and bucket, of course.

Attachments I want to get immediately, or at least pretty soon are:

• pallet forks
• root grapple
• front mounted stump or root bucket
• hammer style flail mower

This TYM dealer is about 20 minutes from me. He says he will deliver the tractor to me when it comes in. And when I need periodic maintenance or repair service, he will pick up the tractor, do the work, then deliver it to me when finished. All at no charge for the pickup and return. Now if he isn't lying his ass off to get the sale, that seems like a pretty good deal. I sure didn't get my spider sense tingling talking to him, though, so I feel he is on the up and up.

Been looking for reviews, both text posts and videos about this tractor, and so far haven't found much in the way of a discouraging word about the brand and model. It is 48.3 horsepower with a 4 cylinder engine. He mentioned the manufacture name of the engine, which I think is Kukje. Has bells and whistles like tilt steering wheel, seat arm rests, etc. But I guess the cab with heat and AC is a big enough bell and whistle as it is.

Not that I know all that much about tractors, but it seems to have nearly everything I have heard people say a *good* tractor should have. Things like a remote control arm in the back to work the elevation of the 3 point lift.

So perhaps I will be placing the order today (Friday, 08/04). The guy's name is Will and he says he just wants a $1,500 deposit to place the order. I will use a credit card for the deposit, but get a cashier's check for the balance upon delivery in 2 to 3 weeks.

Now I have to figure out the logistics of keeping a supply of needed fluids handy. My wife is already talking about putting up another building to keep all of the tractor stuff in.

 

[redleg105]

OK, so this will be my first tractor, IF I do buy one. Maybe my last one, too, as I turned 73 recently and don't imagine this will be a periodic thing for me to do over my remaining years.

BTW, my apologies if this is posted in the wrong place. I looked for a section for newbie style questions, but didn't find one.

I am located in north Florida. 50 acres of mostly heavily wooded land. Getting to where doing minor clearing manually is no longer as much fun as it used to be. I had a heart attack last year. Wife has diagnosed with stage 4 ovarian cancer last year. Yeah 2022 REALLY sucked. So, things are stacking against us to be doing a lot of (any?) heavy lifting. I don't know how much and for how long I will have my wife's help when I just need an extra pair of hands. And the hands and arms I have just ain't what they used to be, neither. A couple of weeks ago when I wanted to move a concrete bird bath across the yard, that got me to REALLY thinking that something to help me with the lifting would have been nice to have. Something like an engine hoist on wheels, even.

So I believe I need motorized help. Friend of mine has a tractor and has come over several times to help me with some things. He would just shake his head and tell me he doesn't understand why I haven't bought a tractor a long time ago. "Good exercise" I would tell him, doing this all manually. But things have changed. Of course he says he will always be here to help me, but he has his own medical problems and I can't expect to keep leaning on him for tractor help.

Here in north Florida, we have a few seasons where riding an open tractor into the woods might not be a pleasant experience. Yellow fly season, mosquito season, hot and humid season, and the fall ground nesting habits of yellow jackets are always an unpleasant surprise. Oh yeah, and those large spiders forming webs at unexpected places between the trees. Not keen on getting those webs wrapped around my face. All seem to point to having a cab on a tractor so I could keep on tractoring, regardless of those environmental hurtles and unpleasant surprises.

But I have some doubts. I want a smaller tractor, likely one of the less than 25 horsepower models. My plan is to clear AROUND most of the trees, not try to knock them over or dig them up. So small size would help with that. Now, I know air conditioning robs horsepower from any engine it is attached to. How much would the air conditioning in a cab on a 25 horsepower tractor impact the usefulness of the thing? Wouldn't make much sense to have to choose between using the AC or running a flail mower when needed, if the tractor didn't have the power to run both simultaneously, now would it? So is there a MINIMUM horsepower rating for a tractor engine below which having a cab with AC is just pure folly?

And there is the issue of driving through woods with the cab. Are they designed to take some arguments with tree branches and not get damaged excessively? The way I am thinking about it, I WILL have tree branches to contend with. But it is not too bad. Mostly small saplings that I would want to take out anyway. Pine trees tend to put their branches up high around here. I guess I would rather have those branches scraping and slapping at the cab rather than my head and upper body. And I suppose the ROP guard would likely catch many of them anyway, just hopefully not bending them forward and down to knock my hat off. I guess I could take the time with a polesaw to take out many of the lower branches, but that puts me back in the environmental concerns that had me thinking about getting the cab in the first place. Walking through the woods with a pole saw would not be any more fun than driving through the woods at those above mentioned challenging seasons.

Are the doors and windows of these cabs field replaceable repairs? And are they made of actual glass (perhaps impact resistant?) or just some plastic that would get scratched all to hell from the branches?

Just a silly idea wanting to get a small tractor with a cab anyway? Suck it up, buttercup, face the elements and take the scars? Or just sell the place and go live in a condo on the beach and forget about the whole thing?

Yeah, I know. Expecting answers mostly beginning with "Well, it depends......."

I have a Kubota 2650 with a cab as I'm in New England and need a cab. My driveway is 1200 ft long so I have a front mount snowblower I'm 77 and the cab in the summer is good because it has AC too. Great tractor for what I do around here

 

[Tassie Oil Burner]

Hey Rich_Z,

I was going to reply to this thread a little sooner but perhaps I'm not too late on parade to offer some thoughts. I seems that you've undertaken a considerable amount of research regarding your options and I think have arrived at a good decision.

My first tractor was a non-cab Daedong DK45. It was a terrific machine and did everything I asked of it. I used it for fencing, landscaping, log skidding, rock moving, mulching, slashing (or what you might refer to as 'brush hogging') and many other tasks. The non-cab platform offered excellent accessibility from both sides of the tractor (could hop off and on at will without too much in the way except for the FEL joystick). The foldable ROPS frame meant that I could sneak under low roof clearances (quite common on our property). But there were some down sides, particularly sustained dusty jobs and rapidly changing weather conditions. In the spring/summer time I spend quite some time slashing private blocks of land, and I remember times when I would return from a 7-hour day looking like Lawrence of Arabia. Not exactly a healthy occupation. There were also some near misses with European wasps... Also I recall a few miserable experiences with getting caught out in sudden showers, which happens regularly here in Tasmania. These experiences ended up setting off a desire for a cab tractor, which thankfully happened in early 2021.

I settled on a Case Farmall 60B (a rebranded LS Mtron U60). I could go on about all of the benefits of this tractor over the DK45, but regarding the cab I don't regret the decision. Dusty work is now not a problem, along with those pesky rain showers. Visibility is very good, although I will say that keeping the windows clean is essential if you'll be doing lots of precision loader work. Dirty window glass and sun glare is quite frustrating, particularly when the sun is low on the horizon. Of course the windscreen wipers help out but they only cover so much of the windows... The ability to control the temperature in side the cab is great, especially on those cold frosty mornings (maybe not a problem in Florida but it certainly is here!). Bear in mind, that with a cab tractor you are basically sitting inside a glass house, so even in the winter I find that it can get quite warm inside. The A/C is essential in hot and/or humid weather. Not getting sunbaked to a crisp is of course another advantage.

If driving through the bush then, yes, extra care will have to be taken with regards to low-hanging branches, etc, to avoid damaging the cab roof (which in my Case is FRP), mirrors, lights, etc. I haven't had any problems yet, but generally I take the time to clear a reasonably wide track with the 4 in 1 bucket before squeezing past any trees. This is perhaps one thing I miss about the old DK45, that I didn't really have to take such precautions when working in the bush (expect for getting the ROPS frame caught up in low branches, which is actually an excellent way of flipping the tractor). Maybe a cab tractor is safer in this situation, as it 'forces' you to be more aware of your surroundings!

The noise insulating properties of the cab are also a great benefit, as opposed to always having to wear earmuffs on the DK45.

Anyway, those are my experiences so far. I'm sure I've missed a couple of points but certainly those are the main ones.

If the loader on your prospective tractor doesn't have 3rd function (or more commonly a diverter valve), then make sure to get one fitted. My tractor came with the loader and 4 in 1 bucket from the dealer, so I didn't have to request anything there. I definitely recommend a hydraulic top link - that was the first accessory I bought and fitted.

I certainly hope you will be happy with your new machine and that it serves you well for what you intend to do with it.

 

[Slowpoke Slim]

Heck, I was quite surprised this thread was still ongoing.

Anyway, the wife told me this morning (08/03) she wanted to take me to the TYM dealer to look at tractors. She was feeling better, and was even willing to brave the heat. So that is what we did.

Seems like there is really only the one guy there that handles everything to do with the TYM tractors, and we got to talk with him quite a bit. I have been tossing him questions via email all along, and he has been changing the estimate as needed to go along with any changes I could come up with.

We got a real good feel talking with the guy. Seemed very down home, and obviously a tractor guy who knew his product. I wanted to make sure that the TYM T474 wasn't just TOO big for me. I had been watching a lot of videos, and some of those guys in them, if they were quite beefy, would have meant that the tractor was also quite large. But after climbing up into the seat and taking a look around from that perch, it's not TOO big at all.

So I believe I am going to be buying that TYM T474 HST CAB after all. Just need to get some details ironed out first. For instance, what options I have for tires.

Options I want to get, both factory installed and dealer installed are:

• 3rd function up front.
• second hydraulics (already has one) in back.
• hydraulic top link

Comes with loader and bucket, of course.

Attachments I want to get immediately, or at least pretty soon are:
[/list]
[*] pallet forks
[*] root grapple
[*] front mounted stump or root bucket
[*] hammer style flail mower
[/list]

This TYM dealer is about 20 minutes from me. He says he will deliver the tractor to me when it comes in. And when I need periodic maintenance or repair service, he will pick up the tractor, do the work, then deliver it to me when finished. All at no charge for the pickup and return. Now if he isn't lying his ass off to get the sale, that seems like a pretty good deal. I sure didn't get my spider sense tingling talking to him, though, so I feel he is on the up and up.

Been looking for reviews, both text posts and videos about this tractor, and so far haven't found much in the way of a discouraging word about the brand and model. It is 48.3 horsepower with a 4 cylinder engine. He mentioned the manufacture name of the engine, which I think is Kukje. Has bells and whistles like tilt steering wheel, seat arm rests, etc. But I guess the cab with heat and AC is a big enough bell and whistle as it is.

Not that I know all that much about tractors, but it seems to have nearly everything I have heard people say a *good* tractor should have. Things like a remote control arm in the back to work the elevation of the 3 point lift.

So perhaps I will be placing the order today (Friday, 08/04). The guy's name is Will and he says he just wants a $1,500 deposit to place the order. I will use a credit card for the deposit, but get a cashier's check for the balance upon delivery in 2 to 3 weeks.

Now I have to figure out the logistics of keeping a supply of needed fluids handy. My wife is already talking about putting up another building to keep all of the tractor stuff in.

Sounds great to me. Congrats on your choice.

Post pictures when it gets delivered. We like tractor pics.

 

[2manyrocks]

I would want to understand how the dealer is going to add the third function. I'm not sure but think the TYM third function is added by changing a valve in the loader valve block near the cab and then adding the necessary metal loader lines to the loader arms.

One former Branson dealer however seemed to want to add a third function kit by attaching the solenoid valve to the front crosstube of the loader. That would expose the loader valve to potential damage from brush.