A True Tractor Comparison

[ama530]

Hi everyone,

New to the board and pretty much a newby to the world of compact tractors. Finally purchased a NH Boomer about 1 1/2 years ago and have loved it ever since. Now on to my intent of this post. Has anyone or possibly a group/organization/magazine done a true side-by-side comparison of equally sized tractors? I have done a ton of research on compact tractors and have never found a true 'non-biased' comparison. Cars, motorcycles, etc... have these shootouts every year to give the buying community a good base to go off of for their purchases. Or maybe just a good starting point. The comparison charts just give you the manufacturer's specs on the unit and not a true representation of their actual capabilities. This would be a great opportunity to see who's specs really are correct. I would love to organize a competition between all the major manufacturers for the 30-35HP range of compact tractors. That seems to be the most popular HP range. Do weight, dimensions, 3PH tests, loader tests, examine fit & finish, fuel consumption, ergonomics, drivability, maintenance convenience, just name a few. Have a panel of about 5 individuals of various skill levels spend a day putting each one through its paces, write up a review, and then rate them on a scale. Then if it becomes a popular thing, expand it to 20-25HP, 35-40HP, etc.. Is this something that would be worth pursuing?

 

[k0ua]

Hi everyone,

New to the board and pretty much a newby to the world of compact tractors. Finally purchased a NH Boomer about 1 1/2 years ago and have loved it ever since. Now on to my intent of this post. Has anyone or possibly a group/organization/magazine done a true side-by-side comparison of equally sized tractors? I have done a ton of research on compact tractors and have never found a true 'non-biased' comparison. Cars, motorcycles, etc... have these shootouts every year to give the buying community a good base to go off of for their purchases. Or maybe just a good starting point. The comparison charts just give you the manufacturer's specs on the unit and not a true representation of their actual capabilities. This would be a great opportunity to see who's specs really are correct. I would love to organize a competition between all the major manufacturers for the 30-35HP range of compact tractors. That seems to be the most popular HP range. Do weight, dimensions, 3PH tests, loader tests, examine fit & finish, fuel consumption, ergonomics, drivability, maintenance convenience, just name a few. Have a panel of about 5 individuals of various skill levels spend a day putting each one through its paces, write up a review, and then rate them on a scale. Then if it becomes a popular thing, expand it to 20-25HP, 35-40HP, etc.. Is this something that would be worth pursuing?

If you have the resources to organize and pull this off, I bet it would get a lot of enthusiastic lookers!

James K0UA

 

[Zebrafive]

I would find this interesting :thumbsup:

 

[TSO]

Hi everyone,

New to the board and pretty much a newby to the world of compact tractors. Finally purchased a NH Boomer about 1 1/2 years ago and have loved it ever since. Now on to my intent of this post. Has anyone or possibly a group/organization/magazine done a true side-by-side comparison of equally sized tractors? I have done a ton of research on compact tractors and have never found a true 'non-biased' comparison. Cars, motorcycles, etc... have these shootouts every year to give the buying community a good base to go off of for their purchases. Or maybe just a good starting point. The comparison charts just give you the manufacturer's specs on the unit and not a true representation of their actual capabilities. This would be a great opportunity to see who's specs really are correct. I would love to organize a competition between all the major manufacturers for the 30-35HP range of compact tractors. That seems to be the most popular HP range. Do weight, dimensions, 3PH tests, loader tests, examine fit & finish, fuel consumption, ergonomics, drivability, maintenance convenience, just name a few. Have a panel of about 5 individuals of various skill levels spend a day putting each one through its paces, write up a review, and then rate them on a scale. Then if it becomes a popular thing, expand it to 20-25HP, 35-40HP, etc.. Is this something that would be worth pursuing?

Unfortunately, I'm not so sure you can put too much stock in those "shootouts" anyhow. Every year it seems like you read the info, and while it SHOULD be standard, objective informative... They always seem to find a way to ignore fact or twist an obscure stat in a way to give someone a win.

I just fear that the same would happen with tractors.

 

[XSKIER]

So, how would you go about funding your tractor shoot out? The manufacturers? The consumers? Government grants? Outside advertisers? Privately?

I just can't see anyway this could work. Pick up a snowmobile shoot out mag, which is funded by the mfgs, and tell us which snowmobile is best?

 

[bcp]

If you just want the tested numbers and not lots of personal, subjective stuff like the magazine articles, this may have what you want.

http://tractortestlab.unl.edu/

Bruce

 

[Sysop]

I think when purchasing a tool such as a tractor, there are so many variables when you take into consideration all the build variables between different models, our uses for the machines, the environments we'll be operating the machines in, there really isn't a way to do a "proper" side by side comparison that suits "all" readers.

The specs claimed by manufacturers are very close to accurate and should be able to be relied upon. If they weren't it wouldn't take too long before people caught on. Some things aren't spec'd using the same methodology between brands, which is where I think the difficulty begins. It pays to do all the comparative research yourself versus having some article tell you (because many just 'parrot' whatever the manufacturers spec).

The Nebraska tractor tests are the most non-biased and uniform tests you'll find, but their testing has changed (improved) some over the years (which shows in the results they provide) and they do not have test data for very many tractors as compared to the number of overall models of tractors available, nor do they have test data on new models as they come out (it takes a good bit of time for them to get a unit in for testing).

I agree funding for such an endeavor would be the difficult part. I do not see tractor manufacturers "donating" machines to subject to outside comparison to other brands. They state their specs and have their unique selling points, the only good that can come from donating a machine for comparison to other brands goes to the winner of the comparison leaving all the others unable to sell their units. If there are ten various models of 35 horsepower tractors in a test, as a manufacturer you only have a one in ten chance of such a test providing any benefit. Outside advertising dollars would likely be too few to purchase units for testing. One idea that could work would be to host a "tractor day" where you can roll up a tractor show, tractor pull, and some comparative testing on individually owned machines. Problem with that would be getting stock tractors in new/unmodified/unworn condition for accurate testing. Beyond that most tractor owners are on their machines working on nice weekends, so getting a good variety of participants at any single location would be difficult to say the least...

It's a great idea, but a hard one to pull off.

 

[FatTire]

I also don't know how you plan to achieve this, but it sure sounds like fun. One key thing is to find panelists who could be reasonably objective. (Who wants to trash their own tractor in a comparison?)

 

[art]

Nebraska tests are a good static test although in the fields you get a great difference because of tire manufactuers difference as well as the weight distribution also enters in. Throw working on a hill in and you have more differences! I've been to many tractor introductions and seen the differences in loaders speed and lifting ability. I've seen hill pulling loads up and down for braking and stability. I've also noted that on the tractors leased or rented to do the tests what the dealers might have done on plus sides or not done that led to poor performance of the brands.
Over all I still say there is a seat for every *** although it might not be the one that I'm selling today!
I do commend Fat Tire on his statement as everyone is proud of their purchase and normally not willing to consider for what ever reason another mans choice. Everyone has a reason as to why they bought what they did!

Being an old dealer I like to look down the road as to which manufacturer will be here in twenty years and still up and running and able to keep your tractor investment running with out going through an ordeal to get parts and find knowledgeable people to assist in repairs AFTER the warrantee is up!

 

[tjkadar]

The UK has these types of shootouts. One place you can find them is the PowerFarmingChannel - but its a pay subscription.

The Irish Farmer also has comparisons and shootout. There are some others done in Europe, but I have a tough time deciphering German and French.