Ready to pull the trigger on TC33

[BigE_]

Found a used TC33 today for $9700, so I think I'm ready to pull the trigger (finally -- only been looking for 8 months now).

Here's the specs:
2000 TC33D 33HP 4WD with HST, supersteer, R-4 tires. Also has 7308 loader with 5ft bucket. 1125 hours, and has a brand new paint job to boot. Yeah, I know, paint can hide a multitude of sins.... Only two things wrong I could find is the parking brake knob is missing completely (forgot to put it back on when done painting?) and key starter position has been replaced by a pushbutton switch (turn key to start, then push button). Oh, and tread on tires is maybe 40% left if I'm lucky, and they aren't filled, so that's another $180.

Got the trailer hooked up to the truck, ready to head out there tomorrow. Just need to figure out where I can pull an additional $1400 in cash same day transaction. Might be looking to the credit card (ouch!). Its either that or wait another week while the guy is out hunting, and I'm borrowing the trailer.

Pictures will be forthcoming when I pick it up.

 

[BTDT]

Good luck with your purchase. Sounds to me like with the key/pushbutton start modification they have bypassed the neutral safety switch. Might want to ask them about that, and try it to see if it will start in gear (or with pedal off of neutral).

 

[BigE_]

Good call -- I'll be sure to check that out today. I know the seat safety has been bypassed.

 

[BigE_]

Well, I was a depressed guy indeed on the 110 mile round trip drive yesterday. Well, honestly, the first 20 miles were great: I had the 16' trailer I borrowed all wired up and hooked up and everything was fine all the way in to work (had to do the day job, and it was on the way....). Got to work, got the $$ wired in to my bank, headed out at 1:45pm to pick up the cash and buy the tractor.

Got to the bank at 1:50pm. Now, I'm on the west coast, and my bank (credit union actually) is in Georgia, but they have this thing called shared branching where you can deposit and withdraw funds at any participating credit union. Went in to do the withdrawal, explained that they closed at 5pm east coast time, and I needed to get the cash. Also had to get some additional cash from the local credit union where I also have an account.

Long story short, the teller insisted on withdrawing the cash from the local credit union first, and in doing so went past the 2pm (5pm east coast) deadline. No cash, no tractor.

So, I took $300 in cash and drove the remaining 40 miles to the tractor, left that as a deposit. Guy was going hunting for a week, leaving yesterday, so now I'm going to pick it up next Thursday.

Another bit of disappointment: when I checked out the tractor on Wednesday, it was dark and hard to see. Flashlights only go so far. The guy said it had super steer, but on second check, he didn't know what super steer was, and this tractor doesn't have it. Wasn't a deal breaker, but it may mean that I'll be using this to get the big earth moving stuff done, then downgrading to a smaller tractor in a few years.

There was a bit of good news to all of this: on the drive home, I called my wife and said I'd be late because I had to return the trailer first. Her response was that maybe I should buy my own, and a new one would probably be so much better than some old used one....

So, now I'm looking for a new trailer, and I'll likely have to sell one of my older single axle ones. I've carried two tons on my 16' single axle (well, 2 yards of wet topsoil, however much that weighs), and the TC33D weighs in at 2500lbs plus loader, but I didn't want to push the limits with that much in cash riding on the back.

 

[schmism]

Im happy with mine.

go ahead and change and check all fluids before you put ANY time on it.

I was very surprised to find what i found in my used one.

 

[BigE_]

Im happy with mine.
go ahead and change and check all fluids before you put ANY time on it.
QUOTE]

Change the hydraulic fluids as well? Probably won't hurt to change out all the filters, but I was under the impression that hydraulic fluids should last quite a while (at least until 2000 hours).

 

[BigMac]

If you are in any way concerned about the servicing of the tractor, ask the owner for the operators manual. If he can't walk straight to it and hand it to you, then there's a good chance that he hasn't been servicing it. Unless of course he takes it to his local dealer for service.

 

[BigE_]

Getting excited again today! Trying to temper it due to what happened last time, but I now have the cash in hand!

Spent *all* day yesterday wiring in the new Prodigy brake controller. Man, what a pain! Truck was wired up for a 7-pin out the back, but the blue wire (electric brake) and red wire (I used for battery +) were just hanging loose in the engine compartment. Took a couple of hours to find those, and then another couple of hours to figure out that I really had to drill a hole in the firewall, and then another hour to drill the hole and thread the wires through. Actually hooking up the controller was cake. Oh, had to fabricate a metal bracket for the 7-pin connection on the back, then hook the bracket up as well. Well over 6 hours total, but it is done. (Now just hoping it works -- no way to really test it without the trailer).

My new trailer is being finished today, so I'm picking it up at 3pm, then heading over to pick up the tractor at 3:30pm. Finally, I have to fight rush hour traffic all the way home (joy).

Will post pictures when I get them.

 

[jbrumberg]

BigE:

Good luck and keep us posted . Jay

 

[BigE_]

Trade this

for this?

I think it's a good deal!

 

[BigE_]

Greetings!

Yesterday I went and picked up the trailer with no problems. I was very impressed with the welding job, and with the tor-flex suspension, the trailer sits *very* low to the ground, so that makes loading and unloading a little easier. No weight distributing hitch, but it does have an adjustable coupler to allow me to raiser / lower the tongue to help balance the load between the two axles. Four D-rings on the sides make tieing down the load easy, and there are 2x4 holders every couple of feet if I want to put on some sides. Came with very heavy duty 6' x 16" ramps.

The lights are LEDs, so I shouldn't ever have to worry about them burning out. I opted for the brakes on front and back axles ($100 extra), mainly because I'm currently towing this with a '99 TrailBlazer, and I was worried about stopping distance. (Came in handy a few times -- had to drive back in rush hour traffic, and more than one fool pulled in front of me and slammed on the brakes -- I barely knew I was towing something when I hit the brakes). I had the Prodigy all wired up correctly, and the lights and brakes all worked first shot, so I was happy with that.

The only negative I could find on the trailer was the paint job -- tons of paint in only 1-2 coats, so lots of places where there is sag. But, it is already dirty from the 75 mile trek it made yesterday, so I can overlook that part.

Pulled the trailer to where the tractor was, loaded her up, paid for her, and that was that! Only a slight issue with loading: no blocks under the rear of the trailer meant that the rear of the blazer was lifted up and the rig actually moved forward a few inches. I'm going to make up some 2x4s with pins that will go in the rear to add removable legs so this won't happen in the future.

OK, now for some pictures:

Got it hauled up the hill, parked in the driveway. 25 degree slope in places.
I should've put the rig in 4x4 lo, but pulled in 4x4hi instead. Floored in 1st
gear got down to 3mph in places. Only 1/4 mile driveway, though. Once I
get those tires filled, I think I'll have to drive the tractor up the driveway!
(Yeah, I know, I need a bigger rig).

Katie was enjoying herself!

Dominic gave it a thumbs up.

 

[BigE_]

I still need to replace all the fluids in the tractor, but of course I gave it the obligatory test drive around the place for 15 or so minutes. My observations:

1.) The TC33D is much bigger than the Sears LT4000. No where near as maneuverable, but it will go a lot of places I'd get the LT stuck in. OTOH, I mow sideways on a 25 degree slope with the LT, and the pucker factor kicks in well before that on the TC33D.

2.) I'll definitely be using 4WD mode quite a bit. Had a couple of places where even the differential lock wouldn't get me going, and that was on gravelly dirt. Filling the tires with beet juice should help.

3.) Loader can lift front end of tractor with curl, but not with just loader arms. There is a thread from a few years ago here that explains how to adjust the valve to allow the loader to lift the front end. Apparently, NH didn't bother adjusting these valves in the factory.
http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/owning-operating/24123-tweaked-fel-output.html

4.) Man, you guys make using the FEL look easy! I need a sand lot to play in for a while just to get the hang of it.

5.) Hard to remember that I don't need to shift any gears to go forward and reverse. Don't get me wrong, the HST is nice, just takes some getting used to. Also hard to remember to up the throttle -- HST pedal is NOT a gas pedal.

6.) Hour meter isn't working? It didn't budge during my test drive. This isn't a good sign! It was probably just disconnected, so it shouldn't be too hard to fix.

7.) Upon very close inspection, I see traces of green paint. I'm 80% certain that this was a rental tractor in a previous life. It was repainted and new decals were put on it. Paint job wasn't that good. But, I still think it'll hold up to the low hours I'll be putting on it.

8.) I bought the NH service manual on CD in PDF format. But, it is not compatible with Acrobat 8 due to the security. (Figured this out after trying it on 5 different computers.) Spent last night "fixing" the manual so I could use it on all of my computers. (Don't ask for details).

All in all, I'm happy with my purchase, and looking forward to the weekend where I can get more familiar with the fluid changing, and then finally, some good seat time!

 

[jbrumberg]

BigE:
Congratulations on your "new" tractor ! It looks in pretty good shape . Use it safely and well. Jay

 

[daTeacha]

Even without SS, you will find it easy to move around. Take the loader off and you will be surprized how small it is as a mowing machine if you get a belly mower for it.

The switch may be a reflection of some of the problems some posters have with the stock ignition switch rather than a bypass. Check that out before you go changing it out, unless you just buy a new switch.

 

[BigE_]

I did get the loader off it this last weekend, and it is definitely much easier to maneuver it with the loader off. The industrial tires do tear up the lawn a bit, and they aren't loaded yet, so I probably won't be getting a MMM for it. I need the industrials for when I'm working in the woods, and I'll be loading the tires for better traction with the BH.

I'm thinking that at some point in time I'll replace the LT with a little Kubota SCUT, but I'll get a BH for the TC33D first. In the meantime...

Neutral safety switch has definitely been bypassed, as I start the tractor in gear all the time. Is this bad? Doesn't seem to affect it at all, seeing as how it is HST. Might be why the battery seems dead, though!

-Steve

 

[daTeacha]

Kubota makes a low riding small TLB, I believe in the BX series. Maybe you should think about replacing the Sears LT with a Kubota SCUT, probably a BX configured as a TLB with a MMM and HST instead of getting a BH and RFM for the NH. Then, when you run out of letters, you end yo....

 

[BigE_]

LOL. BTW is that enough TLAs?

I checked out the BX24 before I got the TC33D, but I want the BH to help maneuver logs and large branches, and the BX24 BH just wasn't up to the task. The BX24 would've made a nice lawn mower, but I'll probably end up with a BX1500 or maybe a B7100 for a lawn mower, and maybe put a FEL on it for the heck of it.