To CAB or NOT

[1 Old Man]

OP. You list having a NH TC-40. Keep it for working deep in the woods. Open station, and those
are great little tractors.
Follow Williy's advice: get the cab, don't eat dust, don't snort pollen/ragweed etc, work when it's
100+ in the summer, work when it's cold as a witches boob in the winter.
I suffered through many years with open station. Wife finally insisted I get a cab tractor...
(I love her like crazy)....mowing, moving, stacking, loading hay bales is SO much nicer in the A/C!
You could have the best of both worlds.
BTW, 46 is not old.

 

[redman135]

If or rather when you go for a cab get air con , heater,SEAT: Air AND 2 way (up/down AND fore/aft) seat ,note ,the fore/aft greatly reduces the shunting effect when towing trailers, hay balers and other heavy trailed impliments. Lastly some tractors are easier to get in and out of than others, ie buddy seat stabs your leg getting out, mirror wacks you in head.
Good luck, and we want pictures when you buy

 

[Thomas]

Lot good have been given,find tractor you like ask dealer if you can take spin in their yard.

 

[Rockbadchild]

I have a open station, mostly because of the price, I choose HP over comfort for the same price and yes during the hot summer or cold winter I wish id have a cab with AC or heat and music... but when doing certain task I like the open cab like being able to adjust the height of the 3 point or FEL from the ground without having to climb in the tractor.

 

[riptides]

Cab,

It's my wifes tractor. LOL. On the serious side, she actually uses the tractor more than I do and she enjoys the climate control. If we did not have a cab, I'd be doing it all myself. I am rather glad to have the help.

Climate and environmental controls are a big deal for us now. Especially those horse flies and hornets. No way we would go back to open.

 

[oosik]

I own 80 acres and live on it also. I have a mile long driveway. Straight as an arrow - right down the section line. Came down from Alaska in 1982 and have lived here ever since. I owned a Ford 1700 that I bought new in '82 and traded in for a new Kubota M6040 in 2009. Both were/are open station.

As I get older - 81 now - there are times I wish I had purchased a cabbed M6040. However - the time from early spring to late fall can not be bettered than here in the PNW.

The dirt work I do does not generate much dust. I - most likely - would have a different answer if I did a whole lot of brush hogging. However - I do none of that.

Then there is the idea of leaving this nice warm house and sitting on an ice cold tractor - plowing snow on my driveway at 15F or colder. I have opted for a canopy and down outer wear. I've made it OK so far. I will survive.

 

[deserteagle71]

The dirt work I do does not generate much dust. I - most likely - would have a different answer if I did a whole lot of brush hogging. However - I do none of that.

This is where I REALLY appreciate the cab on my M7060. During the summer when I'm mowing my desert acres the mower stirs up so much dust that at times I have to come to a stop because I absolutely cannot see. I have to clean the cab air filter (and the tractor's outer air filter) twice a day...but at least I'm not inhaling all that dirt.

 

[wolc123]

I love the bee argument. I’ve yet to see it not come up in these “cab or not” fights here, yet in 50 years of operating open station tractors (almost exclusively), I’m still waiting for my first bee sting.

 

[riptides]

I love the bee argument. I’ve yet to see it not come up in these “cab or not” fights here, yet in 50 years of operating open station tractors (almost exclusively), I’m still waiting for my first bee sting.

You seem like a lucky person. I usually get one or two a year. And my reaction to them seems to be getting progressively worse.

 

[WinterDeere]

I love the bee argument. I’ve yet to see it not come up in these “cab or not” fights here, yet in 50 years of operating open station tractors (almost exclusively), I’m still waiting for my first bee sting.

More an issue on zero-turn mowers than tractors, around here. I know a few who've mowed over yellowjacket nests in the ground, and been hit with the obligatory two-dozen stings, but don't know anyone first-hand who's had that happen on a tractor.

Very funny story: One buddy managed to park his running zero-turn on top of a yellowjacket nest, and when they came pouring out of the ground and stinging him, he got up off the running mower and ran. Trouble was, he had defeated the seat switch, so the mower just kept running, at full throttle.

So, he decides he'd better go back and rescue his mower, but the yellowjackets were on him and stinging already, as he tried to jump up onto it and release the brake. His boot lace or pants cuff caught on the lever the raises the mower deck, and caused him to lose balance, just as he was reaching forward to release the brake and pull the control lever. The mower started doing circles in reverse, dragging him on the ground in circles over the yellowjacket nest.

All hilarious, except he ended up in the hospital with something like 120 stings, and a severe allergy to yellowjackets afterward.

And yeah, I already know he's an idiot. But he's our idiot. I'd have just turned off the key switch and ran. The mower can be retrieved after dark.

 

[deserteagle71]

I love the bee argument. I’ve yet to see it not come up in these “cab or not” fights here, yet in 50 years of operating open station tractors (almost exclusively), I’m still waiting for my first bee sting.

Consider yourself lucky. You either work in an area with no bugs...or you have some kind of natural repellant!

Me...been bit by bees, wasps/hornets, black flies, gnats, horse flies...but most of all by leap hoppers. Before cab tractor days when mowing tall grass I'd get bitten by a leaf hopper every few minutes it seems like. I have a pic somewhere I took of the glass of my tractor cab just covered with hundreds of leaf hoppers.

 

[Ortimber]

I have both, but enjoy fresh air as much as anyone. The open station machine gets used less and less as I get older. 51 now, and recently developed an allergy to hornets.

 

[CliffordK]

You can guess which one of these dozers I like using better and so would anyone else. View attachment 856095

I just got a slightly used CAT. I haven't put it to use yet. Most of the cab windows are broken, and the two doors are missing. However, I'm pretty sure I'll like having a windshield between my face ad the diesel exhaust. And, of course, good ROPS.

A $500K CAT just isn't in the budget. However, I have seen that controls are evolving over time.

Nonetheless, there may not be a substitute for power, weight, and size.

 

[ruffdog]

I love the bee argument. I’ve yet to see it not come up in these “cab or not” fights here, yet in 50 years of operating open station tractors (almost exclusively), I’m still waiting for my first bee sting.

A bee attack may happen at the very worse time and may cause death.

UPDATE: Police suspect bee attack led to death of man operating bulldozer

 

[CliffordK]

The first tractor my parents got we decided to plow the field. Dad hit a yellow jacket nest on the corner. Put it in reverse to do a square corner and got a hundred stings. Jumped off the tractor and ran, then saw the tractor chugging across the field in reverse with a swarm of angry bees.
He was OK, but mom got worried enough to take him to the hospital.

 

[4570Man]

I just got a slightly used CAT. I haven't put it to use yet. Most of the cab windows are broken, and the two doors are missing. However, I'm pretty sure I'll like having a windshield between my face ad the diesel exhaust. And, of course, good ROPS.

A $500K CAT just isn't in the budget. However, I have seen that controls are evolving over time.

Nonetheless, there may not be a substitute for power, weight, and size.

I had one of those for about 2 weeks and I sold it. I found the dozers to be much easier to run.

 

[Texasmark]

Hello again,

As I get closer to purchasing a new tractor, I am still struggling with getting a Cab. I have always been in an open station and feel a little enclosed when testing tractors with a Cab. I am 46 and not getting any younger (starting to feel it more). I want this next tractor purchase to hopefully be my last and payed off by the time I am 50. I dont think prices are ever going back down and if I put it off for another 5 years, and finally decide I need the Cab, it will probably be 70K + for one. I do a lot of burning in the cold rain and snow and bush-hogging, tilling and grading in the summer with lots of dust. I am starting to get tired of eating dust and being dirty/wet from head to toe. Probably answering my own question here while typing this. LOL

Anyway, how many of you on here have gone through a simliar situation/buying experience at this stage of life? Did you choose a Cab or did you stay open-station? This is going to be a big purchase and I dont want to do it again. I know I could get a canopy but that will just keep some rain off of me.

I have mostly pines that are around 20 feet tall now. Currently 4 acres open and 12 wooded but I am still clearing with the excavator and burning lots of brush piles. Will probably end up with 8 open and 8 wooded. I guess the biggest concern I have and hear from folks is hitting tree limbs and such while in the Cab. I feel like I am pretty observant and careful with operating but mistakes happen.

Any opinions/experience/similiar situations welcome.

Thanks

I have 7 tractors, 2 of which are with cab. The cab units are for a reason why you want a cab. The others aren't. Your choice.

 

[Texasmark]

Thanks for the response. If I get a CAB, it will not be removable. I want a solid, deluxe CAB.

When I bought my Branson 6530C it was because it had all the "whistles and bells" I wanted in a new tractor. It is a 2007, bought new, and the cab has never been removed nor has it been returned to the dealer for any reason.

 

[mcmxi]

I ran a Kubota BX25D for five years up here in MT. I dressed appropriately for the cold, but you can never avoid getting blasted in the face when blowing snow (front mount), but it was bearable. I didn't do much mowing with the BX, maybe 1-1/2 acres, so other than the awful ride it was ok. I then bought an MX6000 open station and RCR1884 rotary cutter which was a way better setup for mowing, so I did a lot more and added a friend's 20 acres to the mix. However, after one spring/summer with terrible dust, bugs, heat, noise, etc., I realized that I wanted a cab. I sold the MX and ordered another MX6000 but the cabbed model. Then a short time after I bought the M6060 with a cab right off the lot. There is no way in hell I'd buy another open station tractor.

Many will find that they use a cabbed tractor a lot more than an open station. It doesn't matter if it's raining, freezing, hot, humid, mosquito season, or whatever. When you have a cab, all of the bad stuff goes away. Don't forget, on those lovely spring days when it's cool and bug free you can always open the rear window and side windows if you have them and you're almost an open station at that point.

The only two downsides of cabbed tractors in my opinion are the initial cost, and the chance of an expensive repair if you damage the cab.

 

[TractorTYMe]

Well howdy old Co-worker MCMXI! A cab is a 24-7-365 machine. Truly enjoy my machine more often.