To CAB or NOT

[AirOpsMgr]

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 went through this a year ago as I moved back out to the country to 20 acres, about 6 of it heavily wooded and needed a new tractor. I grew up on OS tractors and a cab every once in a while working the family farm. I now live in middle GA and mowing 14 acres of grass in the summer swayed my decision to cab.

Over the past year, I've been cutting trails through the woods & cutting back brush on the tree lines with the tractor, woods are 2/3rds pine and the other 1/3rd hardwoods; I've yet to sustain any damage to the cab with regular woods-work. Worst I've done is had branches push a side-view mirror in towards the cab a few times, no damage.

If you're paying attention, I don't see an issue ... would be no different if I was on an OS and got smacked in the face with a branch if not paying attention.

Sure, I've had lots of branches brush the cab, but they don't just jump out at you and smash the glass or the roof and wreck the cab.

It's all about your application and equally, your care / skill as an operator to not put yourself or your equipment in harms way.

Perhaps I'm just lucky, or maybe my conditions are just right for my application ... either way, I see many more benefits of a Cab than an OS & wouldn't change a thing.

Lastly, I sweat in the shower, so mowing with my ZRT (with a canopy and fan) when it's 95° with 100% humidity leaves me wearing layers of sweat & dust / clippings, with the cabbed tractor pulling an 84" mower, I'm MUCH more comfortable and don't require a change of clothes after the 1st hour, lol

 

[CliffordK]

From time to time I find myself pushing branches from around me. Watch the ones that get stuck on the ROPS or loader that they don't snap hard.

 

[mcmxi]

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

Hvordan går det? I'm not old!!

 

[wolc123]

If, for some reason, I was forced to live south off about mid PA, then I would surely get a tractor with an air conditioned cab. I would only do that at gunpoint though, because I can’t stand the heat.

Just got back from a work trip to central VA. It sure feels good to be back home again and breath that cool air. I feel sorry for those poor folks stuck down there with global warming and getting hotter every year.

 

[jjeff]

Went through this internal debate of cab vs no cab technically I own both. Both are pretty old. Seems from reading this forum folks have more mechanical and rodent problems with cab tractors. Yeah it would be nice hogging in ac comfort, plowing in heated warmth, until the comfort devices quit working. I enjoy working, doing stuff in the outdoors in most conditions so I'll stick to o.s or a old cabbed tractor missing a door and windows able to be opened not to mention a pretty significant difference in price between new os and cabbed tractors.

 

[dieselscout80]

I know it’s nicer in a cab tractor , but there are definitely downside.

Cons: expensive, top heavy in off camber situation, AC takes more power to run, AC requires repairs and the big issue is repairs to the cab itself if damage.

My neighbor bumped his JD cab into a limb and the repair was more than $9,000.00, but he had it insured so he just paid the deductible.

For me if I had to cut more than say 20 acres and it was open fields I would want a cab.

I have run a few cab tractors over the years and they are nice, but for my budget and purposes I’m not running a cab tractor.

 

[mcmxi]

How often do you hear of someone upgrading from an open station to a cab as compared to going the other way? I bet that's a one-way street for most, just as it was for me.

 

[Indian Man]

I upgraded to a cab tractor shortly after I hit 50. My tolerance for being out in the elements really tanked, particularly while plowing snow. After a 2 day 36" blizzard and plowing 15 long rural driveways, I was done with open station tractors.
Now at 62 I enjoy AC, heat, and music while I'm out on the tractor.

I had a great Kubota open station for ten years. I too enjoy AC, heat and music also; 79 years old now.

 

[Gale Hawkins]

At 73 with replacement hips not getting knocked off backwards when Bush hogging is one reason I would like a cab I realized last summer after a close call.

 

[mike69440]

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

Get one with flat glass

 

[Looking4new]

Having run two OS tractors plowing snow and freezing my butt off, when I had the chance and coin I went for a cabbed Kioti. I got the cab w/heat but no A/C. It sure is nice to plow snow in a T-shirt. I had a front mount snow blower and took it off after three seasons of running it. I do better with the bucket and rear blade. Waited until after it was all paid for and the warranty was off then changed the exhaust to a stack. The tunes I listen to are the exhaust note. At 77 I will NEVER go back to an OS.

 

[CliffordK]

I had one of those for about 2 weeks and I sold it. I found the dozers to be much easier to run. View attachment 856164

A dozer may be better than the 977k loader. This one was cheap.

Although one of the jobs will be to take out a few large stumps. Think a 20 foot rootball. Then try to make a level pad for my future workshop. I may also use it to load or unload stuff, or even to lift beams for the shop. The strongest hydraulics I have, if I get them working.

That brings back the question about cabs and bees.

3 small yellow jacket nets and 1 small mud dobber nest. Pretty quiet this time of year, but I could imagine jumping in the cab and firing it up and finding some very angry yellow jackets in the cab with oneself.

For some reason the cab on this beast is not very air tight. It looks like there was a headliner at one time that was removed.

 

[Looking4new]

A dozer may be better than the 977k loader. This one was cheap.

Although one of the jobs will be to take out a few large stumps. Think a 20 foot rootball. Then try to make a level pad for my future workshop. I may also use it to load or unload stuff, or even to lift beams for the shop. The strongest hydraulics I have, if I get them working.

That brings back the question about cabs and bees.

View attachment 856674

3 small yellow jacket nets and 1 small mud dobber nest. Pretty quiet this time of year, but I could imagine jumping in the cab and firing it up and finding some very angry yellow jackets in the cab with oneself.

For some reason the cab on this beast is not very air tight. It looks like there was a headliner at one time that was removed.

Below freezing temps is the best time to remove the nests and burn them.

 

[CliffordK]

Below freezing temps is the best time to remove the nests and burn them.

Those are small enough and accessible that I can knock them down and stomp them.

Apparently the yellow jackets don't reuse nests the following year, so those in the CAT cab are now no longer viable. It is quite possible I had the CAT moved away from the former queen. I'll have to look at the mud dauber nest a bit more. However, I've never been stung by a mud dauber.

 

[Jkott]

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.

I hit a ground nest with my open station and got nailed twice by hornets before I realized what was happening. Then I got my cabbed tractor and hit another ground nest. “Hey, look at all those hornets on the other side of the glass”. It’s a good argument

For snow removal and really dust things like my mowing today or cultipacking, I love my cab. But it is a real pain to get in and out of for some tasks. I really wish the LS doors were easily removable like my Mini X. That would make things be easier

I solved the choice problem by keeping my open station when I got my cab. Some tasks are much more comfortable and easier on each of them.

 

[wolc123]

I hit a ground nest with my open station and got nailed twice by hornets before I realized what was happening. Then I got my cabbed tractor and hit another ground nest. “Hey, look at all those hornets on the other side of the glass”. It’s a good argument

For snow removal and really dust things like my mowing today or cultipacking, I love my cab. But it is a real pain to get in and out of for some tasks. I really wish the LS doors were easily removable like my Mini X. That would make things be easier

I solved the choice problem by keeping my open station when I got my cab. Some tasks are much more comfortable and easier on each of them.

Ironically, I know one old farmer who will never buy another cab tractor because of bees. He didn’t notice that they had built a nest inside the cab of his tractor until he was hauling a manure spreader down a road with steep ditches on each side.

The bees began their attack at some point and he began swatting at them. During the resulting shaky maneuvering, a can of starter fluid fell down and discharged, filling the cab with fumes. He passed out and rolled the tractor on its side in the ditch, doing massive damage, but fortunately breaking enough glsss so he could get fresh air and breath again.

 

[garry1p]

I had to make that decision when I bought a new tractor in 2021 my old tractor was open.

I decided since I am retired (85) and can choose my work hours when bush hogging I start early 7am and work until the metal on the tractor gets to hot to touch around 11 or noon and quit for the day. I do this one week each month during the summer in winter I only use the tractor to clear trails in heavy wooded area.

Since we rarely get any measurable snow no need to get out on really cold days.

I finally decided I would go no cab and use that money to buy new implements. "IF" I had to do snow removal in cold weather I would defiantly have bought a cab, AC and heat.

 

[Williy]

Can you replace the door cylinder so you can open the
door farther???

willy

 

[lincmercguy]

I have both and there are advantages to each. I like my 5105 (OSS) better for precision loader work, or anything where I might have to adjust the loader or 3pt from the ground. I like the open station for my PHD as well. I also like it better if I'm off and on the tractor a lot. Today I was cutting and moving branches, so I used the 5105 all day. It was also quite nice, so being out in the elements was fine.

The three point on my 5105 has a lot more travel as well. I'm not sure if this is due to lack of cab or just the model itself. I don't think they ever made the 5105 or 5205 with a factory cab.

I do like the cab on the 5055 much more for mowing. It's not just the heat during mowing season, it's the dust. I work full time, so I usually mow for a bit in the evenings. I did a lot this fall as the new place had 7' weeds everywhere and it took a long time to take narrow nibbles to find everything in the weeds. It's nice to not have to shower after mowing and the dust really aggravates my asthma as well. For obvious reasons, I like the cab for plowing snow. I've done my share of that in the 5105 before it burned and I got the 5055.

If I had to only have one tractor, it would be the 5055 for the cab advantages and it has more capacity for many things. Cost is a factor, but I got it used. But if the choice were no tractor or an open station tractor, I'd have no issue going OSS like I did when I bought the 5105 (used as well).

 

[Little Red Tractor]

If the work situation in which you use it will allow for it--without smashing glass out of it on a regular basis--get the cab. My situation won't allow it or I'd have one.