i had my first tractor for right around 22 years - open station and it was great, though working on it in the winter was really miserable, especially when it was sleeting down on you and you had to be on it. i sprung for the extra to get a cab this time as a long term purchase and so far it's great. here's my pros and cons - some may apply to yo, and some may not:
a cab heater in the winter turns snow moving into a sweatshirt job, though the heaters are at roof level, and my feet sometimes get a little cold - mainly because i almost always wear steel toe shoes and the heat doesn't get down to foot level well.
air conditioning in the summer is the bomb when you're mowing a field. last july, 90 degrees and really humid and i'm mowing in comfort. i'm sure someone makes one, but all the aftermarket cabs i have seen are heat only with no air. I would not spend money on a cab with no air unless i was willing to take it on & off every year - and i'm not. also, 70 degrees and sunny outside was unbearable in a cab without air.
newer tractors are electronic everything. my old one was manual everything. this is totally assumption, but i'm thinking that a cab will offer more longevity when exposed to the elements than an open station. just a guess though.
you can no longer slide under branches. it will be costly if you try. i'm in the process of increasing the clearance under all the trees on the property i need to get close to.
truck mounted snow plows are expensive. ballpark $5k & up. i'm figuring i may have another 4 trucks in my life so that could add up to a lot of plow purchase costs. i spent about $5k extra to get my tractor in the cab version (i bought it used - was more like 8k option new) hopefully the tractor will last me out and i've saved in the long run over snow plows.
it is tedious getting in & out for that type of work, but when you are in a big field it's nice.
probably other considerations went through my head to, but this is what comes to mind right now.
a cab heater in the winter turns snow moving into a sweatshirt job, though the heaters are at roof level, and my feet sometimes get a little cold - mainly because i almost always wear steel toe shoes and the heat doesn't get down to foot level well.
air conditioning in the summer is the bomb when you're mowing a field. last july, 90 degrees and really humid and i'm mowing in comfort. i'm sure someone makes one, but all the aftermarket cabs i have seen are heat only with no air. I would not spend money on a cab with no air unless i was willing to take it on & off every year - and i'm not. also, 70 degrees and sunny outside was unbearable in a cab without air.
newer tractors are electronic everything. my old one was manual everything. this is totally assumption, but i'm thinking that a cab will offer more longevity when exposed to the elements than an open station. just a guess though.
you can no longer slide under branches. it will be costly if you try. i'm in the process of increasing the clearance under all the trees on the property i need to get close to.
truck mounted snow plows are expensive. ballpark $5k & up. i'm figuring i may have another 4 trucks in my life so that could add up to a lot of plow purchase costs. i spent about $5k extra to get my tractor in the cab version (i bought it used - was more like 8k option new) hopefully the tractor will last me out and i've saved in the long run over snow plows.
it is tedious getting in & out for that type of work, but when you are in a big field it's nice.
probably other considerations went through my head to, but this is what comes to mind right now.
