This might be a stupid B3030 trade-in scenario

[dodge man]

A cab? I'm sorry, I didn't get your name, was it Sally? Put some warm cloths on and man up!

I'm 48 and it doesn't sound silly to me to want a cab. We don't get a lot of snow here usually, but I know at 6:00 in the morning when I'm clearing my drive, with a rear blade, it gets old in a hurry. My driveway is about 600' long, and I imagine if you have more clearing to do and use a blower, a cab would almost be a must have if you can afford it.

 

[medicshawn]

I ran into the same thing. I bought a tractor 2 years ago and stopped by the local big dealer and got a price. I did like everyone here and emailed Barlows. He beat the local price by 4K 2K on the trade and 2K on the new L3940. So needless to say I bought from Barlows 400 miles away. A couple months ago I needed to downsize and started to shop again for a BX1860. I got a Barlows price to work with and gave one of the local guys another chance. One of the local guys gave me a price that was a little high and when I asked him to come down some he acted like I was asking him to take off 5K. The other guy met Barlows price but got really crappy to deal with like he doing me a big favor. Eventually I found a local guy that was selling Kioti when I bought the L3940. Easy to deal with and a great bunch of guys. He was within a couple hundred of Barlows so I bought local. When it's time to upgrade again I'll shop for a reasonable price from someone who's easy to deal with.

 

[AJL]

Ahhh..to cab it or not to cab it, that is the question.

I can appreciate the debate. Did it in "07 when I bought the 3030, and again last spring when a cute little B26 south of the border caught my eye. At least it seems they have eliminated the backhoe or no backhoe component of the debate with the new BH77, which is exciting news to me and my B3030 with cab.

What I can suggest to you, having owned a B2400 with the deluxe Laurin hard cab with heat and wipers, and now owning a B3030 with factory cab is that the aftermarket cabs do not compare to factory...period. Fit and finish are superior, it's not as top heavy, it's way quieter, looks better and will bring better resale. If you go for the cab, go factory..you'll be glad you did.

This is not to knock the Laurin/aftermarket cabs. The one I had on my
B2400 was well built, very rugged and did a great job, it's just not the same as a factory made unit on my B3030.

My $0.02.

 

[bandit67]

Good to know about the Laurin cab. Price on that is pretty steep, but way cheaper than buying a new machine locally.

It looks like the going rate from the local dealers is coming out to $12k more than what I spent on the B3030 open station TLB in spring of '08. Can't imagine Kubota prices have climbed that much in 2.5 years.

I am not spending $12k for the factory cab, a curved backhoe boom, and a mechanical thumb, which is all I'm getting added over what I now have.

 

[bandit67]

Well, 2 out-of-state dealers have told me that the BH77 backhoe will NOT work on the B3030 cab model, only on the new B3000 cab model. One of them that told me has more B3030 cabs coming in this month, and would love to sell me one of them, so I tend to believe him, since he has no idea when he'll see a B3000 cab model.

Either the 2 local dealers didn't bother to look into it fully, or they're planning on trying to pull a bait-n-switch move, getting me to sign purchase papers, then come back later and tell me sorry, it won't work, you've got to buy the more expensive newer model and possibly miss out on the finance rates. Of course, that would legally blow up the deal, but I could see them holding me to the loader and backhoe portion of it and things turning into a huge mess.

It really annoys me that I'm the one that has to do all the research, and some of these dealers can't be bothered and/or don't know what they're talking about.

 

[crbr]

Call Messiick's and Barlow's and get their straight skinny on it. Those two seem to be the more reliable resources here on the forum.

I'd not sign or deposit one copper percent on a bozo's opinion and whim. Your patients will prevail.

I have never seen a sales person in the shop installing a backhoe. Get to the proper source. If you stick with sales, you'll be sold.

Call the man.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rHTnTcwmwI8


.

 

[bandit67]

Steve Barlow is one of the dealers that told me the BH77 wouldn't work with the 3030 cab. I bought my current B3030 from them, after the 2 local dealers p###ed me off with similar garbage.

 

[crbr]

Steve Barlow is one of the dealers that told me the BH77 wouldn't work with the 3030 cab. I bought my current B3030 from them, after the 2 local dealers p###ed me off with similar garbage.

There's one expert's report.

Now if John Thomes can tell us about one of his 5000 tractor's he's owned, surely one of them had a cab setup like you're looking for.

I'd have to believe that Barlow's and Msssick's would serve as an authority on information.

Here's what I'd do, me being an ****-retentivie individual; Draw up your own contract that says what you expect, have them order you a tractor as such, they give you a deposit to wait on them to deliver what you ordered (for the risk of you going elsewhere to shop), and if it's not what you want, the deposit is non-refundable. Just sayin'... It's the goose and gander theory...

 

[Don87]

If you like your machine, and you can use basic tools..........why not just build yourself a removable cab for winter use?
Lot's of build threads here on TBN.

 

[bandit67]

I've thought about building a cab, but I don't weld. And being the **** retentive guy that I am, I'd want it to look like it was made by a professional, especially if I end up at a customer's jobsite working with it. I've seen a couple of beautiful homemade cabs on TBN, and that's what I'd want mine to look like. I am handy, and do nice work, but I know my limits and know when I can't do something that will look and be top notch. Hence, my only real option is to buy a cab.