Should I cab or not. Getting ready to buy

[wolc123]

Cabs have their issues for sure. I just left a neighbor's place and we discussed one of them over a few beers. He always had open station tractors, but the last one he bought (approx 110 hp, 2015 Case-IH) has a cab.

He had a tough day yesterday. We are in the midst of a late spring heat wave. His first bad break was when his AC quit around noon, as he was about half way thru plowing a field. He said it was almost unbearable in that heat box.

Maybe he wasnt thinking clearly, due to the heat, because he got that 4wd loader-equipped tractor deeply burried in a mud hole. He had the forks on, rather than the bucket, so he was not able to use that and pull himself out.

He has two other tractors (open station) that may have been able to yank it out, but one had a flat tire and the other a dead battery. He ended up calling a friend with a dozer.

Odds are, he would have had a much better day with a canopy-equipped open station tractor. Is 6 years and 2000 hours about average for a cab AC unit ?

 

[5030]

My M9000 FWA is a 2004 with 3300 meter hours on it and I just had the ac recharged last spring on a farm call. Other than keeping the ac and heater heat exchangers clean (a PITA even with a cab roof filter), I've had no issues at all. Will freeze you out. Kubota's are known for not having good ac to begin with.

Just thinking about it quitting while farming, gives me cause for concern. Like sitting in a large aquarium with no water inside.

 

[K5lwq]

Obviously the less options on a tractor, car, truck or anything else is going have less things fail. Stuff happens.

Back when we were farming for a living I remember a conversation we were having one day at church with our preacher and his wife. The wife said she did not understand why farmers all want A/C on their tractors and then complain about how expensive it was to farm. If they did not buy such expensive equipment they would have more money.

I asked her if she had A/C in her car and if she would do away with it? She said A/C in her car was a necessity. She said it gets too hot to be without it. I said so you spend maybe 2 or 3 hours in your car a week and we spend 10 to 14 hours a day in our tractors so why shouldn't we have the same comforts as you?

If the A/C goes out in my house, I fix or replace the unit. If it quits working in my truck, I will fix or replace it.

Why would I not do the same for my tractor? I guess I don't understand why people think spending a couple thousand to replace a A/C unit, if it can not be repaired, is too expensive to fix. But they will spend a couple thousand on a grapple or other implement to make life a little easier without complaint.

A cab makes life just a little easier. Well worth it for me.

 

[wolc123]

My M9000 FWA is a 2004 with 3300 meter hours on it and I just had the ac recharged last spring on a farm call. Other than keeping the ac and heater heat exchangers clean (a PITA even with a cab roof filter), I've had no issues at all. Will freeze you out. Kubota's are known for not having good ac to begin with.

Just thinking about it quitting while farming, gives me cause for concern. Like sitting in a large aquarium with no water inside.

He said that he had the AC recharged last week when it first gave him trouble. It only worked for about an hour after that so there must be a leak somewhere.

The difference between "needing" AC on a car or on a tractor is the ground speed at which they operate. Most tractor operation is at lower speeds such that a nice, reasonable velocity "breeze" is present during most operations. That makes a canopy a good alternative to a cab. That dont work out so well at highway speeds in an automobile.

 

[5030]

He said that he had the AC recharged last week when it first gave him trouble. It only worked for about an hour after that so there must be a leak somewhere.

The difference between "needing" AC on a car or on a tractor is the ground speed at which they operate. Most tractor operation is at lower speeds such that a nice, reasonable velocity "breeze" is present during most operations. That makes a canopy a good alternative to a cab. That dont work out so well at highway speeds in an automobile.

Pretty easy to tell if the ac has a leak in the system. Kubota very conveniently puts the sight glass on top of the dryer / receiver in plain sight and if there are lots of bubbles in the refrigerant that means the system is low. Also, if the compressor clutch isn't engaging, that also means the system is low on refrigerant. All systems loose refrigerant over time, some quicker, some slower. You need to keep in mind that tractors with no suspension are prone to harder shock loads than say a car and the shock loads will cause a system to 'drop' refrigerant faster. In my case I went from 2004 to last year without needing a recharge and it still had refrigerant in it, just not enough.

Tractors, for the most part have fixed pitch cooling fans that pull the ambient air through the various HX's at low ground speeds so you have sufficient air flow at lower operating RPM. It's still imperative to keep the various heat exchangers clean and free from air blocking chaff, unlike a car that isn't prone to collecting chaff, they collect bugs instead. My M9, because it's intercooled has an extra HX in the air flow between the rad fan and the grill so to enhance the air flow at low engine rpm, I added a 12 volt cooling fan in front of the ac HX to aid air flow. I have it wired to the ac compressor clutch via a relay so when the ac compressor is energized, the auxiliary cooling fan is also running which means I have sufficient air flow through the ac HX even when the engine is idling.

SOP for me is blowing the accumulated chaff out of all the heat exchangers every day when I get back to the farm. Do that when I check the fluid levels before I put them away and I check the tire pressure and look for loose lug nuts weekly as well.

One thing that seems to be an inherent issue with Kubota tractors in general and that is how far the in front of the radiator the heat exchangers are mounted. Unlike a car, where the ac and transmission heat exchangers are mounted tight against the radiator, with Kubota's (and I assume other tractors as well), the heat exchangers are mounted, spaced off from the radiator which causes turbulence in the air flow and loss of heat exchange power, why I added a cooling fan in the first place.

With my tractor, even with the engine idling, it will freeze you out, literally.

 

[Williy]

Any that complains about damaging a cab tractor
in the woods something is wrong with your thinking! In the first place if your going to drive your tractor in the woods you need a clear path for your tractor just common sense as you want to keep your investment in good shape not all beat up! Just as you would not drive you car or truck in a flooded road just common sense. The same way with your driveway you keep
it in good shape so you drive safely and the same
goes for the trails in the woods. The ones with the
damaged tractors don't keep their trails up

willy

 

[Buchanan]

I am very close to buying my first tractor. One of the last decisions I need to make is if I should get the cab version or not. I currently live in FL and the endless summer is brutal and the AC seems inviting. Problem is I am moving to middle TN and not sure if the cab is needed as much there. I know it gets colder and I know there are seasons and it is something I have not experienced in 30 years.

I am a little worried about the cab height and how it might limit the places the tractor can go. I also know most of the time will be spent with the rotary cutter in the open areas. I don't think I will be crashing through the woods with the tractor but I don't want to limit to much where I can go. I guess I am in kinda a chicken / egg situation. I need a tractor but I am not sure exactly what I will be doing yet except mowing the open spaces. I would love to hear opinion

I am very close to buying my first tractor. One of the last decisions I need to make is if I should get the cab version or not. I currently live in FL and the endless summer is brutal and the AC seems inviting. Problem is I am moving to middle TN and not sure if the cab is needed as much there. I know it gets colder and I know there are seasons and it is something I have not experienced in 30 years.

I am a little worried about the cab height and how it might limit the places the tractor can go. I also know most of the time will be spent with the rotary cutter in the open areas. I don't think I will be crashing through the woods with the tractor but I don't want to limit to much where I can go. I guess I am in kinda a chicken / egg situation. I need a tractor but I am not sure exactly what I will be doing yet except mowing the open spaces. I would love to hear opinions.

If you can afford the cab, I'd get it. In FL, the a/c, radio and cab air filter will make it bearable between June to October. You will lose very little with the cab option on resale.
Since I can't afford the cab, only the canopy, my redneck remedy will to add a 6,000btu A/C window unit mounted onto the ROPS and a 1,200w generator supported on top of my box blade. Cheap, portable and will chill the back of my head during the FL summers. Gotta have a canopy as a minimum in FL. 10 years ago I mounted a A/C on my 72" Hustler, it worked well.

 

[grsthegreat]

Any that complains about damaging a cab tractor
in the woods something is wrong with your thinking! In the first place if your going to drive your tractor in the woods you need a clear path for your tractor just common sense as you want to keep your investment in good shape not all beat up! Just as you would not drive you car or truck in a flooded road just common sense. The same way with your driveway you keep
it in good shape so you drive safely and the same
goes for the trails in the woods. The ones with the
damaged tractors don't keep their trails up

willy

agree 100%. heres a picture of me chipping and cutting slash . i just took picture today. even if i had an open cab you cant just drive it thru the trees and shrubs. id puncture the tires at best, rip out hydraulic lines at worse case. i drive my trails, haul wood to tractor and chip placed on trails. i now have about 1.2-1.4 miles of trails,

 

[RickB]

Cabs have their issues for sure. I just left a neighbor's place and we discussed one of them over a few beers. He always had open station tractors, but the last one he bought (approx 110 hp, 2015 Case-IH) has a cab.

He had a tough day yesterday. We are in the midst of a late sting heat wave. His first bad break was when his AC quit around noon, as he was about half way thru plowing a field. He said it was almost unbearable in that heat box.

Maybe he wasnt thinking clearly, due to the heat, because he got that 4wd loader-equipped tractor deeply burried in a mud hole. He had the forks on, rather than the bucket, so he was not able to use that and pull himself out.

He has two other tractors (open station) but one had a flat tire and the other a dead battery. He ended up calling a friend with a dozer to yank him out.

Odds are, he would have had a much better day with a canopy-equipped open station tractor. Is 6 years and 2000 hours about average for a cab AC unit ?

Sounds more like chronically poor maintenance of his entire fleet. Odds are when you have two out of three tractors out of service and the third has problems it's because you ignored their needs.

 

[Williy]

I think I will cover up the outside air vents so the
system will stay clean. Cheap way to keep air vents
clear as I don't want outside air in the cab! Too much
blowing dust etc. Besides I'm old 81 and don't need
something else to clean.
As for something to help keep the sun out will be
putting the sunscreen like they put on car/truck windows on the out side of the windows

willy