Most but not all posters casting aspersions on cabs suffer from the sour grapes syndrome. It is the "I don't have one so they aren't good" sort of thing. You can justify (rationalize?) most decisions some of the time and some of the decisions most of the time but saying those with cabs are wrong because you don't have one is just plain tacky.
Of course you can get along without, without nearly anything. You could be driving a gasoline or propane powered tractor and make fun of the diesels. You could be plowing with a pair of mules using a bent stick instead of a tractor and a steel plow and calling everyone with a steel plow a girlie man.
If you have work to do in inclement weather a cab is much more conducive to your getting on the tractor and doing it. It can be safer for your health, preventing heat stroke or hypothermia or breathing chemical sprays or breathing dust. Hand cranked cars had their place and I'm sure if the term "girlie men" were in fashion back then it would have been used by some against the folks who paid extra for an electric starter. Windmill? GIRLIE MAN, can't you pull a bucket of water by hand? Indoor plumbing? GIRLIE MAN, can't your wife draw and tote water to run the kitchen? Flush toilets? GIRLIE MAN, is it too far to walk to the outhouse? You gonna let a little blizzard keep you from doing your "business?"
Of course there is no work you can do with a cab that you can't do without a cab. You may be safer, healthier, exposed to less risk, and more comfortable but surely you cab owners are envious of the fold down ROPS or does having a ROPS make you a GIRLIE MAN TOO?
There are lots of usage patterns that make the open tractor tolerable. Usage patterns that tend to be intolerable in an open tractor call for more protection be it a surrey top, flexible plastic cover to thwart the wind or a fully enclosed cab with heat and A/C. How many open tractor drivers are driving a convertible car (in winter) and NEVER RAISE THE TOP or have removed the top of their truck?
Of course economics does enter into it but if you can't afford a heated and air conditioned cab or choose to put the money elsewhere and suffer what ever discomfort or danger is associated with an open tractor then that is fine BUT it does not make everyone with a cab wrong. I choose to use a chainsaw to fell trees and suffer the added expense of the saw, gas, oil, chain loops, safety equipment, and so forth. An axe or hand saw will git 'er done with less pollution, less noise, and a little more effort on my part so does that make me a girlie man? How many detractors of cabs on tractors use an inexpensive axe instead of the expensive girlie man chainsaw?
I think a large part of the nay saying is a smoke screen to dodge the facts. I do not claim an open tractor is a bad idea for many tasks. Clearly it is not comfortable in many situations so not as conducive to getting you to do the work and surely you can do more in a comfortable shirtsleeve environment than you can bundled up or sweating yourself into a puddle.
To avoid a cab because it doesn't have a folding ROPS that will let you drive under low branches is a realistic concern. I wonder what percentage of time someone would be driving under low branches? I trim all branches about the 10 ft off the ground level of the trees which are repetitively in my way. To me, it looks better and lets light get under the tree to grow grass. Of course not everyone would agree it is an improvement.
When I spray chemicals I am safer in a cab. No matter how careful you are, eventually a flaw in the wind or some turbulence, or a moments inattention and the wind will drift your chemical plume over you. If you spray chemicals that you would not like to shower in or breath in then you would be better served with a cab. If you are plowing or disking or other wise making dust clouds you will breath less dust in a cab (there is a filter on the air drawn in.) If you have allergies with regard to some of the stuff you mow you will be better off in a cab as the allergens are mostly filtered out by the cab air filiter. If you have problems with biting and stinging insects you are better off in a cab.
I can't say driving an open tractor isn't fun under the right conditions because it certainly is. I like to ride horses too but not for my ordinary transportation. If tractoring is something you do when it is fun and don't have to do when it isn't then an open tractor may suit your needs just fine. Some of us have obligations that are best met by using a tractor. These obligations continue through all kinds of weather and sometimes can NOT be delayed.
If you keep stock, for example, you are obligated to care for them. They need to be cared for irrespective of the weather or conditions. Would you rather spend the day in a freezing rain with blowing wind on an open tractor or in a heated cab? I have a friend/neighbor with 3 tractors and no cabs. He has to change clothes 2-3 times a day in bad weather but he DOES TEND HIS STOCK. Terrific moral fiber, fantastic sense of duty, great character and just a whole lot easier for me with a cab.
Pat
