Buying Advice Cab or no cab?

[Torvy]

Congrats on the choice of a T474, I have had mine for 3 years now. I have 396h with no issues on mine, I do all the services on it myself and have made a few toobe videos on this. Right now my TYM is tucked away 35 miles from home due to threat of forest fire 4 miles from my house.

I suppose you could rig a water reservoir on the 3 pt and a hose on the FEL and make yourself a nice red Fire Tractor.

In all seriousness, be safe. I usually think of good ideas like that after the fact.

 

[gmgm]

I confess I haven't read every single page, only the first and last 10 or so.

But it feels like you might benefit more from a small excavator, with a cab, than a tractor?

Tractors are great for dealing with big areas or mowing. But you originally asked for a "spare pair of hands", which is what an excavator excels at. Moving, clearing, lifting, tidying - without effort. Easy to get into tight woodland.

 

[rScotty]

I confess I haven't read every single page, only the first and last 10 or so.

But it feels like you might benefit more from a small excavator, with a cab, than a tractor?

Tractors are great for dealing with big areas or mowing. But you originally asked for a "spare pair of hands", which is what an excavator excels at. Moving, clearing, lifting, tidying - without effort. Easy to get into tight woodland.

Or a compromise machine: the Kubota B26 - built specifically to be a landscaping power wheelbarrow and strong spare pair of arms. Expensive, because it is built more toward construction quality. No-emissions. Many dealers won't have one on the floor, but know where they can bring one in from.
This is the 16th year for the B26 - and the model series goes back farther than that. They must be doing something right.

rScotty

 

[Rich_Z]

Not sure if I mentioned it here before, but yesterday I put a deposit down on a TYM T474HC, which is the cabbed version. After I have used it for a while, I guess I will then figure out whether or not it was a wise decision.

 

[tacticalturnip]

I'm sure you already know this, but like pictures. Congratulations on the new TYM!

 

[Rich_Z]

I'm sure you already know this, but like pictures. Congratulations on the new TYM!

Will likely be a week or three before I get it.

 

[2manyrocks]

Going from no tractor at all to a cab with AC in Florida is going to be awesome. We probably won't hear from you again because you'll be on your tractor all the time.

 

[tacticalturnip]

Going from no tractor at all to a cab with AC in Florida is going to be awesome. We probably won't hear from you again because you'll be on your tractor all the time.

This happens, a lot. Folks purchase their machine and we never hear from them again!

 

[K5lwq]

And another good reason for getting a cab! I might would die!

GRAPHIC: Hawk drops snake on woman; both animals attack her

The woman was mowing the back six acres of her home when a snake fell down on her from above.

www.kltv.com

 

[Rich_Z]

And another good reason for getting a cab! I might would die!

GRAPHIC: Hawk drops snake on woman; both animals attack her

The woman was mowing the back six acres of her home when a snake fell down on her from above.

www.kltv.com

Oh, it was just a snake. Likely a harmless rat snake. If the woman had just been still it would have crawled right off of her. SHE scared the crap out of that snake, too.

 

[Torvy]

I found the real solution to cab or no cab...

 

[wolc123]

A big part of a tractor purchase is the dealer support.

Maybe with the “lesser” brands. Other than stopping by the nearest dealer (4 miles away) for filters, when it’s time for an oil change, My 2004 John Deere 4120 (purchased new) hasn’t required any dealer support.

 

[arrow]

Maybe with the “lesser” brands. Other than stopping by the nearest dealer (4 miles away) for filters, when it’s time for an oil change, My 2004 John Deere 4120 (purchased new) hasn’t required any dealer support.
View attachment 817827

So you've gotten lucky.
"Lesser" brands do not have much to do w anything as far as repair but if something goes wrong with any brand tractor, would you want a dealer with their thumbs up you know where or one that is fully knowledgeable and close by to be able to "support" the breakdown?
Also, the word "dealer support" does not only apply to repair.
Some bring their tractors in for hourly servicing as well.
"Dealer support" can also encompass the purchasing of expendables or going there and talking with a rep or technician or a tech coming to your place for simple fixes.
Not everyone is handy with a tool in their hands.
Congrats on not having your tractor to be trailered back to the dealer where a delivery fee of $200 is not usurped by a dealer 200 miles away.
May you experience continued success but you do know you may have just haunted yourself

 

[arrow]

I found the real solution to cab or no cab...

View attachment 817805

I drove skidders that were not this hard to get in and out of.
But with all the obstacles for simple entry and egress, I would want this tractor to be remote controlled.
It is a safe machine for woods work. I guess once the driver is in this thing, he's in like a mummy in a sarcophagus .

 

[2manyrocks]

With age and use, tractors can start needing repairs. Hopefully, it's something simple that can be done without the dealer, but having the option to get a dealer to make the repair is a plus.

 

[2manyrocks]

I found the real solution to cab or no cab...

View attachment 817805

Interesting amount of work done to protect the cab.

What I'd like to see is the conversion of an open station tractor to a cab with HVAC that also would stand up to brush.

The factory cab models are nice if someone is operating in an open field, but they really aren't designed to deal with brush. I've wondered how the OP is going to fare with his cab in his woods?

 

[TractorTYMe]

If you're managing your very own property, use a pole saw and clear access roads and such and prepare it the way you like it. I think the cab in the wood problem is way overthinked.

 

[2manyrocks]

I think the shiny pretty cab would sell better than what I personally feel would be a more practical cab design.

 

[arrow]

If you're managing your very own property, use a pole saw and clear access roads and such and prepare it the way you like it. I think the cab in the wood problem is way overthinked.

Bringing a pole saw into the woods here in the North East is a big "overthink" for me.
and every skidder I operated had a cab....but no glass.

The discussion of cabbed or no cab as it applies to woods work, has everything to do with the density of said woods.
The op should do just fine in the open woods of Florida with his cabbed machine.
Then there is the operator themselves and how they are wired.
If one is careful and deliberate, just about anything would work. But if you're a bull in a mine field (me), you'd destroy that glass in a cab first time out in dense woods as we have here..

 

[2manyrocks]

I'm also leery of manufacturers placing hydraulic lines and filters under the tractor like these on my recently acquired MX. You can see where the vegetation has rubbed the paint off the hydraulic lines.

The Mahindra 3535's hydraulic filter and lines were mounted above the transmission casing.