Are we in the USA really this far behind?

[npalen]

 

[mcfarmall]

Yes, yes we are.

 

[Jchonline]

They look nice. Not sure I would want an articulating machine on my slopes/terrain but other than that very impressive.

 

[coobie]

Why no front end loaders on any of those tractors?

 

[LouNY]

No, No we are not.
I'm glad they called them mini.
I looked at what was available some this year as I would like a 60-80 Hp bi-directional
and would consider a 40 Hp.
If you look every single one of those tractors has a transmission/drive tunnel that you have
to straddle to get into the seat. They generate a considerable amount of heat in the summer
if worked for very long.
Then look at the sizing for getting your foot to the far side while getting set down in one of those,
many of them you would have to slid/swing your foot over the seat to get it to the floor board on the far side.
I know that my boots are mud covered or manure covered often regardless of the season,
then come winter the mud and slop that would be brushed off and in the seat to get set in.
Now I will admit if I had smaller feet and was several years younger I might feel different,
but I don't heck I'm even thinking about trading my 574 because of the difficulty of straddling the transmission hump
with my size 15 boots getting in the way.

 

[ptsg]

Why no front end loaders on any of those tractors?

They look nice. Not sure I would want an articulating machine on my slopes/terrain but other than that very impressive.

That is exactly where these tractors are used.

These tractors are specialized tractors meant to be used in orchard, vineyards, greenhouses and hilly ground. They have to be very low to clear branches and with a really low center of gravity for hills and such.

While there are loaders for these tractors, the arms have to be very long to clear the nose and makes for a cumbersome loader and very little capacity. Plus, a loader it's an easy and fast way to destroy the pivot point and even break castings.

This is just a demonstration video but you get the idea:

 

[4570Man]

Americans won’t buy new things is a lot of the problem. There’s obviously cost for another problem. But yes in general we’re decades behind foreign innovation.

 

[ptsg]

No, No we are not.
I'm glad they called them mini.
I looked at what was available some this year as I would like a 60-80 Hp bi-directional
and would consider a 40 Hp.
If you look every single one of those tractors has a transmission/drive tunnel that you have
to straddle to get into the seat. They generate a considerable amount of heat in the summer
if worked for very long.
Then look at the sizing for getting your foot to the far side while getting set down in one of those,
many of them you would have to slid/swing your foot over the seat to get it to the floor board on the far side.
I know that my boots are mud covered or manure covered often regardless of the season,
then come winter the mud and slop that would be brushed off and in the seat to get set in.
Now I will admit if I had smaller feet and was several years younger I might feel different,
but I don't heck I'm even thinking about trading my 574 because of the difficulty of straddling the transmission hump
with my size 15 boots getting in the way.

Sure, you sit on the tractor pretty much with the transmission in the middle of your legs, however, these tractors are split in two halves. The rear half, where the operator sits, just holds 80W90 gear oil for the diff and PTO gears. Very little heat is generated there. The front half holds the hydraulic fluid where most of the heat sits.

 

[ptsg]

Another good example here. You just can't a fit a conventional tractor on a kiwi farm like this.

 

[Rebeldad1]

in general we’re decades behind foreign innovation.

how true for many things.