Buying Advice Cab or no cab?

Rich_Z · Jul 29, 2023

LouNY said:
Certainly, as are all of us. Also our dealers make farm calls for minor work we don't want to do. Even my Branson dealer had a man bring a power steering hose up to replace a leaking one under warranty on site.
Why take a tractor back to a dealer if it's not necessary.

I would imagine that such dealers are quite rare, and most likely don't find out about them (and the opposite category) until AFTER the buying decision has already been made.

arrow · Jul 29, 2023

Rich_Z said:
Sorry, seems kind of limiting to me to limit your choices of equipment based solely on the distance of the nearest dealer, regardless of brand. I do not share that philosophy. I want the best bang for my buck, with that "warm and fuzzy feeling" leading me to believe which one(s) will be most robust and reliable. If there were a study on which brands and models have proved to be most reliable and less likely to require warranty service, I would give such a study a LOT of weight in making a purchasing decision.

Which, in my opinion, forum based websites such as this are helpful in providing (hopefully) unbiased feedback and opinions. Will there be individual shining stars and bitter lemons in all brands? Probably. Does bad news travel faster and further than good news. Certainly. My friend tells me that he spoke to a tech at a tractor dealership dealing in several brand tractors. This tech told him that, by far, the most commonly seen tractors in that shop for repairs were Mahindras. The dealership we drove to the other day sells Kioti and Mahindra. ALL of the shop bays were filled with Mahindra tractors. No Kiotis in there at all. Circumstantial evidence? Certainly. They appeared to have more Mahindras for sale than Kiotis, so that could explain the ratio somewhat. But not totally, I would think.

But as I said, while I was there I did look at the Mahindras. And to me, and in my person opinion, they just looked cheesy and flimsy. Maybe it was just the particular models I was looking at. But an opinion is made up of individual data points rolled together to create an image. One thing I have learned for certain over the years is to not ignore my own "spider sense" opinions about such things.

Not to belittle anyone or any brand, but right here and right now, IMHO if it came to a choice of MY buying a Mahindra or MY buying nothing, I would choose nothing.

Am I opinionated? Certainly! And proud of it. No one with a real working brain can, nor should, be without them. I work hard at forming my opinions. But that being said, they are not hard set in concrete. There is always room for persuasive contrary facts and opinions that could change my opinion about anything.

And to bring this back on topic, from the data points accumulated from this thread, my OPINION is that I really SHOULD get a cabbed tractor. So everything else concerning a tractor I would consider buying has to be centered around that detail. Which, of course, may mean some compromises will be in order. But story of my life..............

Sorry to bust your bubble but l have seen Kubota bays filled in. Mahindra’s are some of the heaviest tractors in their class carrying higher than most lift capacity.
You can do all the research you want but it will mean next to nothing as it applies to what you buy.
You think you’re doing the right thing with “research” and if it gives you security then go for it. To be truthful l was much like you but have discovered whatever l thought was justifiable reasoning, really failed more times than being viable.
For you to say that you’d end up w nothing as opposed to owning a Mahindra does yourself a great disservice.
The Japanese made Mahindras have been exemplary in reliability. The Tyms second best and the older India made Mahindra being the most problematic.
The newer Mahindra will be entirely under Japanese (Mitsubishi) auspice.
I wish you blessings with whatever you end up with.

Rich_Z · Jul 30, 2023

arrow said:
Sorry to bust your bubble but l have seen Kubota bays filled in. Mahindra’s are some of the heaviest tractors in their class carrying higher than most lift capacity.
You can do all the research you want but it will mean next to nothing as it applies to what you buy.
You think you’re doing the right thing with “research” and if it gives you security then go for it. To be truthful l was much like you but have discovered whatever l thought was justifiable reasoning, really failed more times than being viable.
For you to say that you’d end up w nothing as opposed to owning a Mahindra does yourself a great disservice.
The Japanese made Mahindras have been exemplary in reliability. The Tyms second best and the older India made Mahindra being the most problematic.
The newer Mahindra will be entirely under Japanese (Mitsubishi) auspice.
I wish you blessings with whatever you end up with.

Interesting perspective concerning research, I have to say. I guess your experience differs greatly from mine. Sorry, but I just don't have a lot of faith in just flipping a coin or using arbitrary criteria to make major decisions for me.

But whatever floats your boat, I guess.

As for your comment about the differences between the India made and the Japanese made Mahindras, I will ask my friend the time frame of when he spoke to the service tech I mentioned above. You know, doing research and all.

LouNY · Jul 30, 2023

Rich_Z said:
I would imagine that such dealers are quite rare, and most likely don't find out about them (and the opposite category) until AFTER the buying decision has already been made.

I would guess that depends on the type of dealership, is it an ag type dealership or a lawnmower type dealership. All of our local (40 mile radius) ag dealers have service trucks and do on farm repair and service. Much of the time it's easier and less expensive to do on site work instead of hauling one back and forth.
The lawnmower type dealerships don't seem to be as focused on service as the ag dealers do. In my area Deere has two distinct types of dealers our ag dealer(s) who have been bought out and placed under a large multi location dealer instead of local independent dealers and then we have a large "small" equipment dealer he is limited in what tractors and equipment he can get from Deere I don't know what the limit is but it's around 75 HP or so, the only larger tractors he has are from trades or auctions.

jeff9366 · Jul 30, 2023

A grapple is definitely on the list of attachments I want to get.

Consider SSQA (Skid Steer Quick Attach) 36" pallet forks in lieu of a grapple.

Definitely cheaper, less complex and lighter.

2manyrocks · Jul 30, 2023

Fwiw, I own a mahindra 3525 which is made in India. Bull pinion seals appear to be leaking at 770 hours. Nearest dealer that sold it to me is 60 miles away. service dept too busy to answer phone. Doesnt return calls even after talking with the owner. the other mahindra dealer is also 60 miles away, but has mixed reviews. The entire bad experience of being ghosted by the dealer that sold me this tractor makes me not want to buy another Mahindra.

that being said, if you have a good dealer nearby, your experience could be different, but I would definitely give careful consideration to the dealer service department before buying. And having a dealer close at hand is much better than one 60 miles away.

Williy · Jul 30, 2023

I see where someone said visibility is bad in a cab however I can
see all 4 tires and the 3 pt hitch in my cab and with the temp in the
100's the a/c is great. Also I have a handle on the cab making it
very easy to enter and exit! Maybe said person is OLD & CRANKY???
I'm 83 with no problem with the cab and the BOSS said get a CAB!!!!!

willy

tacticalturnip · Jul 30, 2023

@Williy how did you just pop in this thread and not recommend OP check out Yanmar?!

EddieWalker · Jul 30, 2023

Between my cab tractor and my open station tractor, and with the temps in the low hundreds right now, the ability to climb off and on the open station tractor is more important then having AC for me while drilling post holes for my fence. Same with being able to see the auger when I back up to where I want to drill the hole. I have hay spears on both my cab tractor and my open station tractor. I use the open station tractor to put out hay bales because it's easier to climb off of the open station to open and close gates, and remove the net around the bale then dealing with the door of my cab tractor.

You have to decide what you are going to use the tractor for. If I'm going to be spending hours on the seat, and not getting on and off the tractor a lot, then the cab is the way to go. If you are doing stuff that requires a lot of moving around, getting off the tractor, and only driving it for short distances or periods of time, the cab becomes a hassle.

My cab tractor is a Massey Ferguson 4x4 70 hp 4707 Deluxe
My open station with a canopy tractor is a 2WD John Deere 5065E with 65 hp

Similar power, but very different in what they are best at doing.

Rich_Z · Jul 30, 2023

2manyrocks said:
Fwiw, I own a mahindra 3525 which is made in India. Bull pinion seals appear to be leaking at 770 hours. Nearest dealer that sold it to me is 60 miles away. service dept too busy to answer phone. Doesnt return calls even after talking with the owner. the other mahindra dealer is also 60 miles away, but has mixed reviews. The entire bad experience of being ghosted by the dealer that sold me this tractor makes me not want to buy another Mahindra.

that being said, if you have a good dealer nearby, your experience could be different, but I would definitely give careful consideration to the dealer service department before buying. And having a dealer close at hand is much better than one 60 miles away.

Good advice, but rarely does anyone have an opportunity to check out the service aspects of the dealership until AFTER they have already made the purchase. Seems like most places are very quick to pick up the phone when it is someone calling the sales department, but the service line, well, not so much.