TN65 for making hay

jimg · Feb 13, 2004

Hi,
Saw are really clean TN65 at my dealer today w/ only 200 hrs. on it. It has 2 rear remote, a NH loader (forget the mdl #) ans 4wd. It also appears to have some sort of shuttle type hydrostatic transmission as well. That is, there are 2 ranges plus a for/rev lever at the steer wheel. Anyone know what this is? Anyway the price was $23K. How does that sound pricewise? My interest in it is for making hay. How would it do on relatively flat fields w/ a small sq baler and sickle mower conditioner? How about a small round baler?

Woodbeef · Feb 13, 2004

Sounds like a good tractor and price. It has a hydraulic powershuttle from what you are describing. Did you happen to pick up a brochure for it while you were there? Is it a lease return?

Should work fine for haying. Neighbor used an IH 444 with a loader for years. Even pulled wagons behind the baler up and down hills. It should be able to run a 4x4 hard core round or some 4x5s ok.

twabscs · Feb 13, 2004

That is a pretty good price with 4wd and a loader. The standard loader (non-SS) is the LA32 on the TN series. Does that sound right? I'm looking for a TN for haying myself and would jump on that if I were you. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

47 PTO HP should handle most small balers and 4x4/4x5 round balers without any difficulty.

jimg · Feb 13, 2004

Woodbeef,
I think I understand but just to make sure...this transmission is little diff from a hydrostatic? Instead of for/rev on the floor its on the column (so to speak). Only two ranges strikes me as odd. I would have thought it would have had 3 or 4. No they didnt have any literature about it. According to the salesman it was owned by someone who didnt use it that much. The salesman said he traded it in on a bigger machine. Thanx for the inputs!

twabscs,
Yes, the LA32 sounds right.

Thanx again for your help!

Robert_in_NY · Feb 14, 2004

It is an 8x8 tranny. You have 8 forward and 8 reverse gears which is plenty for most applications. The shuttle is an electric hydraulic like what was said. There is no hydro trannys on any TN's, they are all manual which means you have to switch to the gear you want instead of pushing a pedal as I am sure you already know. That tractor should have the 1-4 gears on a stick to the right of the driver seat and the high and low range lever should be to the right of the driver seat but mounted down low towards the floor with a A and B range (B is the high range). The tranny is a very good tranny and there are two tranny options for the TN's, the 8x8 or a 16x16. The shuttle had two options, the manual shuttle which is mounted on a stick to the left of the seat and the electric hydraulic which is mounted on the column. The difference is the electric one has some heavy duty parts added to the tractor the the manual one doesn't. I don't remember them all but it does have the bigger hydraulic pump. The manual shuttle you have to clutch the tractor before you switch, the electric shuttle you don't. Just hit the lever and the tractor does all the work.

The TN's are very good tractors. The TN65 kicks out more hp then listed. Have the dealer throw in on the dyno for you and see but it should be kicking out 50 or more pto hp as NH listed the power numbers lower to fit it in a certain size (this case to replace the 3930 as the TN 55 replaced the 3430). You will be happy with this tractor as 200 hours is basicly brand new. Did this tractor have mid mount couplers for the loader or did the loader hydraulic lines work out of the rear remote. If they do (which the earlier TN's did) you will want to add a third remote for haying and any other work where you might need the remotes. Otherwise you are constantly removing the loader to free up the rear remotes.

jimg · Feb 14, 2004

Thanx for explaining that Robert. I didnt have much time to look the machine over and couldn't figure out where all the gear levers were. I did find the range but the usual place for the gears was empty. I must have mistaken the gear lever for a rear remote control. As for the elec shuttle do you have to come to a complete stop before shifting or can the tractor be moving?

As for hours yes, 200 is very little and the machine is very clean. It really surprised me when I looked at the hour meter.

The loader, I believe, had mid mounted remotes. At any rate thats something I should verify. Thanx for mentioning it.
The loader looks like its a quick remove type and I thought Id just take it off when haying. A loader is sort of in the way anyway when making turns in the field esp when you're up close to trees and fences and going thru narrow gates. I ran my friends Ford 3000 this past yr and it had a loader. I found it very inconvenient as it stuck well out in front of the tractor and was just another thing you needed to keep from banging into something.

Hey, thanx again for the post!!! jimg

AndyMA · Feb 14, 2004

I have the TN75D with the 16x16 hydro power shuttle. Other than 4 ranges instead of 2 it is the same tranny. You can flip from forward to reverse and vise versa at any speed. The tractor will smoothly slow down and then smoothly accelerate in the other direction. Perfect for loader use. All of the TN series loaders are Quick Mounts to the tractor. the difference betwen the 2 loaders available is that one has the bucket pinned on and the other uses the skid steer quick attach system. The one with the skid steer quick attach also is MSL -mechanically self leveling, which means that the bucket (more useful with forks) stays level at all positions.
You'll love the TN65 for haying.

Andy

jimg · Feb 16, 2004

Thanx Andy,
So your 16x16 just has more low end gears than the 8x8...right? To shift between gears or ranges you must stop and use the clutch?

Robert_in_NY · Feb 16, 2004

To shift gears you do not need to stop. All you need to do is push the clutch in and shift to the gear you want. The tractors motion will not affect the tranny like the old style trannys where you get a lot of grinding.

Phred · Feb 18, 2004

jimg,

I have a TN70D, similar tractor to what you are looking at, with a cab and a few more horses. This is a great hay tractor. And without the cab that TN65 will do about the same work as my 70 will.

In my opnion this is the perfect hay tractor for 4x5 round bales. Very reliable, tons of power, the right size. If your looking for larger rounds you need more power.

The 16x16 is nice but you can do just fine with the 8x8. I use the extra gears for ditch forming with a rear blade, otherwise I would rarely miss them.

You can also add up to two more remotes to that tractor if you decide to do so. The kits costs about $500/ remote.
I posted a link on this site of my upgrade process. Easy, but it takes a little time.
If you want to run the loader and a baler you may want the third remote.
Maybe use the 3rd remote install as a leaver with the dealer....
I also would have bargend better for a set of shop manuals.

Fred