JD Next generation TLB, replacement for the 110

[AKfish]

When you're a "hobby" contractor and taking on projects that fill-in here and there and make you a bit of money that adds to what "you really do to support yourself and family" the 110 is/was a great platform. It's OK to drop the hoe and hook up the 3pt hardware to do the landscaping chores. Just takes a bit more time. Or, it's OK that the hoe will only effectively work with crawl-space sized excavations. You don't take on those full basement jobs.

Or, the loader won't pick up full pallets of sod or pavers. You just off-load a few from the pallets - by hand. Just a bit more time; is all.

But... when you grow and expand and take on the bigger jobs or you decide that being a full-time plumber or electrician is not what you like doing, anyway - and then make the move into full basement digs and trenching in irrigation lines, etc.

The 110 is not "efficient" enough any more. Time is money... and getting the work done efficiently with fewer missteps and fubars is how you stay competitive and in business.

The market niche for the part-time, small job contractor shriveled; dried up with the economic downturn. The bigger guys started working lower in the food chain and competing with those part-time guys. The small job guys quit - moved on.

Deere, etc. sold fewer units. Closed the line down.

I hated to see it. That's life..

AKfish

 

[AKfish]

But... the real question is: do you think the construction, home-building, real estate, landscaping businesses are robust enough to support a small-TLB entry by Deere? How about home owner's... do you think there are enough home-owner's in the country interested in a small TLB and/or willing to take on additional debt to buy a small TLB?

Economy rebound enough that the bigger contractors are willing/able to give up enough space for the small-job guys to get back into the game?

I don't see it - yet..

AKfish

 

[dave1949]

As a home/acreage owner I know a 110 tlb is not worth taking on debt for. It just isn't big enough to do what I would do with a real tlb. Something in the JD 310 to 410 range is what I would need. Of course, that varies by the terrain in different areas, rocks, etc. and what is to be done.

I see the 110 as a contractor/landscaping/nursery niche tool, and as AKfish points out, that niche is getting squeezed by the economy. I think mini-ex's and skid steers are also eating into its market space.

For its capability, it is priced too high for most homeowners. Who wants to be in debt for a machine that can only do half of what you want to do? That's my personal take on it.

 

[DFB]

There was one at the landscape business/tree farm I worked at for a while. It was actually the least used piece of equipment we had and sat in the yard most all the time. Usually just loaded salt onto the trucks with it in the wintertime and I was about the only one who operated it. It had a cab and was difficult to fuel up. The skidsteers were more popular with most of the younger guys even for snow removal and we used a Komatsu backhoe/loader for all the digging.

 

[94BULLITT]

I always thought that the 110 was a nice looking machine and had good specs. I don't know why they would have cancelled it. I thought it was a good size machine for rental companies to have also. The skid steer mini ex combo would be nice but that would be a lot more money than a 110 and be more to haul around. I have heard the Kubota is going to add a factory cab to their TLBs.

 

[dave1949]

I always thought that the 110 was a nice looking machine and had good specs. I don't know why they would have cancelled it. I thought it was a good size machine for rental companies to have also. The skid steer mini ex combo would be nice but that would be a lot more money than a 110 and be more to haul around. I have heard the Kubota is going to add a factory cab to their TLBs.

Well, for whatever reasons, the market has made its choices. Going back to the original post question, I don't know what could be added to a 110-type machine to give it a bigger piece of the pie.

We don't know for example, if Kubota TLB sales in the USA alone keep that product line alive or not. Maybe they don't, perhaps Kubota has a broader market position globally for that machine than Deere developed.

These days, what happens here in the USA is far from the entire picture.

 

[capt_met]

AKFish is correct the market niche did get hammered with the economy but for me has been coming back the last 2 years. I have been able to stay pretty busy enough of late. The smaller B300 is a beefier machine than the 110 in it's lifting abilities. I don't think I could go lighter. The benefits of the smaller machine for smaller machine for smaller jobs has been great. No interest in going the skid steer route. I can tow with a 1 ton truck safely, Fuel use is minimal compared to a full sized tlb. When doing jobs I can only run one machine at a time so the skid steer/mini ex combo of the same capabilities is a lot of money for a machine compared to the smaller tlb's. In my opinion the 110 was just a little light for construction but could handle most landscape jobs short of lifting heavy pallets or block. When I build retaining walls each full block weighs 3600lbs. I am looking down the road for a replacement as Bobcat no longer builds the B300. Hopefully there will be one or I will have to go the larger route.

 

[Piston]

...I have heard the Kubota is going to add a factory cab to their TLBs.

Now THAT, would be a tempting machine. :thumbsup:

I really like the ability to use skidsteer implements on the front, things like a hydraulic snowblower just aren't capable of being run on our smaller tractors, whereas the M59 should put out sufficient flow/pressure to the front. Also, it's a lot easier to find rental implements that would work on the better hydraulic systems of the TLB's, rather than PTO driven implements. I can easily source a hydraulic power rake or rock rake, but finding a PTO version isn't so easy.

 

[jinman]

My personal take on the 110TLB is that it hurt JD's sales of larger machines. It also may have represented a maintenance nightmare for contractor/owners who worked their machines hard and had wear/failures. The machine would be perfect for homeowners or most of us, but the bigger commercial TLBs can take a lot more abuse and keep going. Kubota has small TLBs, but they have no commercial sized machines to be threatened by sales of smaller machines. Perhaps if JD had painted the 110TLB green instead of yellow, more people would think of it as more of a tractor than a full-time workhorse.

These are just my random thoughts and based on what I've thought about that machine from the beginning. It's a great machine, but I doubt it can take the rigors of daily construction site work. I don't think it can compete well with the many offerings from Kubota in small TLBs and also mini-excavators. All of this is just speculation. . .

 

[capt_met]

There was one at the landscape business/tree farm I worked at for a while. It was actually the least used piece of equipment we had and sat in the yard most all the time. Usually just loaded salt onto the trucks with it in the wintertime and I was about the only one who operated it. It had a cab and was difficult to fuel up. The skidsteers were more popular with most of the younger guys even for snow removal and we used a Komatsu backhoe/loader for all the digging.

Want to expand on how reliable your source was about Kubota coming out with a factory cab?