Regret a cab tractor?

[ROUSTABOUT]

In my experience, most people have confirmation bias when it comes to their choices. Comparing the comfort of a cab to the discomfort of an open station is hard if you are in the cab. What would you do with the extra money?

In my case, the cab would mean having to settle for less tractor as the budget is somewhat fixed.

So you'd have to get one of those little tractors with a big cab.

 

[MHarryE]

My first tractor was open platform - what we felt we could afford. Eleven years later wife had no objection to trading for a cab. I have used open platform tractors owned by my nephew over the past years since I got my cab and after using them, have no regrets at all going cab. I now have 3 cab and 1 open - our GR2120 21HP diesel lawnmower. For that - open platform definitely right.

 

[Doughknob]

... With 4WD I believe I will use the tractor year round instead of storing it during the winter like I do with the JD 2020....

I will suggest you store the 2020 because it is 'old', 'not 4wd,' 'not easy to change implements,' 'maybe hard to start,' 'controls not super easy,' etc. In other words, it is Not the fact that it does not have a cab. I mean, how long do you actually sit on any tractor in the winter for any task?

And that leads me to next point - I am constantly on/off mine unless brush hogging maybe. I do not want to get in/out a cab continuously. BUT, if you do indeed plan to spend long hours in the seat at a time, sure - get the cab version.

 

[gejandsons]

It depends on the type of work. If you blow snow or bale hay or use a rotary cutter mostly a cab will be great. Intricate grading dirt or crop tillage where you need to see , the cab isn’t so good.

 

[SGreene]

A cabbed NX6010 was $9,500 more than the open station model. That can buy a lot of implements. I don't mind the cold or snow and the summers here are usually 80's to low 90's. So I just use a canopy and I wired in a 12v plug for a seat heater. I'll wire in a fan next year.

 

[Farmer495]

Next one will have a cab....for stay in seat jobs.....but I am keeping the open stations.

May or may not get a loader on a cab tractor either. Most jobs I use loader for an open station is far more convenient and visibility is better. Only loader work I do that a cab would be nice is snow removal, but I do 99% of that with 3pt blower anyways.

Doing jobs you are on and off a lot the cab is in the way...and leaving the door open is just damage waiting to happen.

 

[PeteN]

I will suggest you store the 2020 because it is 'old', 'not 4wd,' 'not easy to change implements,' 'maybe hard to start,' 'controls not super easy,' etc. In other words, it is Not the fact that it does not have a cab. I mean, how long do you actually sit on any tractor in the winter for any task?

And that leads me to next point - I am constantly on/off mine unless brush hogging maybe. I do not want to get in/out a cab continuously. BUT, if you do indeed plan to spend long hours in the seat at a time, sure - get the cab version.

You must have had or driven a 2020 since you hit every problem it has. But it is green.

 

[RickB]

You must have had or driven a 2020 since you hit every problem it has. But it is green.

Compare a 2020 to a Ford 5000 or an IH 674 and it looks a lot better than comparing it to something 50 years newer.

 

[wolc123]

My neighbor was regretting it during hay season this summer when the AC was giving him trouble on his relatively new cab tractor. I saw it parked, on the hottest days, and his father in law’s 1960 something, open station JD 3020 pressed into service on the baler.

That old JD has a nice big sun shade on it and I suppose was pretty comfortable, as the tractor was moving at a good clip, under the hot sun. He said it was almost unbearble in the glass hot box on his much newer, cabbed red tractor, even with the doors and windows all open.

His auto mechanic buddy tried charging the AC system for him, but that fix only lasted a couple hours. His regrets increased sharply then and continue to escalate when the nearest tractor dealer mentioned how much a service call would cost.

A salesman would have his work cut out for him to get that guy to buy another cabbed tractor.

 

[Oz_Kioti]

To go along with the pole saw comments, I would add check your shed clearance if you want to store it inside. I upgraded my little 755 John Deere to a New Holland TC40 with an after-market sunshade bolted to the roll bar. I didn't check the clearance until the tractor was parked in front of the shed. Now the sunshade sits against the shed wall and the roll bar is flipped down so the tractor can be parked in the shed. If it had a cab, it would be parked outside all the time. This does give me an excuse to build a bigger shed...

Two of the "musts" for me with the new tractor were (1) a cab, and (2) that it would fit in the shed.

Reference (1), with summer mowing/slashing for 30 or so acres of pasture, it's nice to climb in to the cab on a hot and humid day, crank up the (excellent) aircon, and get the job done in comfort.

With (2), there's not a lot of margin regarding the height - maybe 100mm (4"). Fortunately the roof slopes down a little at the front, so the Trimble satellite antenna mounts nicely without adding to the height. Interestingly, the ROPS version is 75mm higher.