Cab or Not?

[Overtaxed]

I have a cab, and I'm happy I got it, but there are downsides, which I didn't expect. If your doing a "short job" with the tractor, or something with a lot of on/off, it's kind of a pain; when I'm moving equipment around with it, I often wind up leaving the door open, which is a sure fire way to break it, but I hate "open door, get off, check equip location, get on, close door, move tractor 3 in, repeat". Now, when I'm out with the bush hog, or plowing, blading, or anything else that's more than about 10 mins in the seat, I love the cab. I wouldn't change that tractor to a non-cab if I bought it again, but I would like to have an open station tractor for some tasks instead of the cab. Probably 80% of my seat time I'm happy I have the cab, the other 20%, I'd rather have the open.

 

[LouNY]

Well I have a newer cabbed and an older open station in my yard, The last time I ran the open station was to change the oil in the fall.
I do use it in the summer for mowing most of the lawn. So it's about 95% cabbed to 5% open station.

Over on the farm 5 cabbed 9 open station, it's still 75-80% cabbed.

 

[TripleR]

When I was shopping for my current tractor, dealing with the cab or not question I asked them how much was a new door (frameless, curved glass, drilled for all the hardware). He said about $700! None of the new cabs have flat rubber mounted glass panels that any glass shop can cut for you, and being a cheap bastard I could see myself either not replacing it or it taking a year or so of feeling guilty about being a cheap bastard and finally replacing it.:laughing:
Every piece of glass on today's tractors as far as I've seen needs to come acro$$ the dealers part$ counter.

We were a bit concerned about glass breakage as we had to replace our left side glass twice on our CX80, once we were no where near the woods. We now have been running three Kubota cab model for quite a few years, seems like a non issue for our uses. Cabs are now a necessity due to health issues on my part, but we have to have some open stations my brother ad sons use.

 

[IXLR8]

Another option-
My tractor is an open tractor, I couldn't justify the additional $4500+ for a full cab at the time of purchase. After several years of plowing snow out in the open I coughed up the $1600 for a soft cab and a canopy from www.covermytractor.com. I had a few fitment issues and the folks at CMT were very responsive getting things corrected. CMT also threw in a "free" 12dc heater which I have never installed, I have found no need to. I wish I had bought the cab sooner. The first time I used it to clear snow, I went out in my usual winter gear; "mad bomber" hat, gloves, jacket, scarf and Sorrel boots. With the sun shining I had soon removed my hat, gloves, scarf and unzipped my coat I was so warm. The weather at the time was 14dF with winds blowing at 20+ mph. The way I see it, I have the best of both worlds. In the winter I have a full enclosure, in the spring and fall I can remove one or both doors, or any of the other 4 panels. In the summer I can remove all doors and panels and be back to a fully open tractor. The cab came in a soft case to store all the panels in. It takes me about 15 minutes to go from full enclosure to no enclosure.

 

[johncanfield]

I put 500 hours on my open station Kubota and now I have a cab tractor, I will never go back to an open station. Yes, if you are getting in and out of the cab a bunch it is a bit tiresome but overall not a negative factor when choosing between the two.

 

[Texasmark]

Trying to help a newbie with a tractor decision and he is undecided between a cab or traditional open station. The tractor is to be 40 to 60 hp. with a front loader but doesn't need AC. Any brand, probably a new machine.
We do get snow here, & sometimes heavy snow. The tractor is for year round chore use half woodland and half meadow. Looking at cabs really cuts down on the tractor choices, so we're looking for some opinions.
Thanks, rScotty

My first new tractor purchase (6530C) was because I wanted a new tractor with all the whistles and bells including heat and AC and some isolation from dust created when I work. The rest are open station and most of the time that's OK, but some of the time (weather dependent) it's not OK. So I work around the weather's limitations.

 

[GoldenCityMuse]

Definately cabbed, as I get older, I don't want all the environmental issues.

Sure is nice in winter when the snow is flying, and in summer the AC is very pleasant.

Yeah, you have to open a door to get out and adjust something, but really, how different is than from a car/truck.
I got the Cabela/TYM tractor with cab, excellent visibility with it.

 

[Gary Fowler]

I put 500 hours on my open station Kubota and now I have a cab tractor, I will never go back to an open station. Yes, if you are getting in and out of the cab a bunch it is a bit tiresome but overall not a negative factor when choosing between the two.

I don't understand the issue of getting in and out of a cabbed tractor being more difficult than an open station. Given the same tractor, they are the same height so you climb up/down the same amount. With the large handle on the door of the cab (mine at least), you have plenty of hand holds rather than just the fender hold on an open station. I have a 2010, been in, out and under a lot of trees and never broke anything. Cabs are tougher than you think. Can you drop a tree on them NO. Can you leave the door open and back into a post NO. They are just like an automobile, watch what you are doing and especially monitor low hanging limbs (and garage door height) and you wont have any problem. I did have to do a lot of trimming of my pasture trees so I could get close to them, but the trimming made the trees look much better than them having limbs all the way to the ground.

 

[Gary Fowler]

photo of trimmed trees so tractors and mowers can get under them. All my trees are trimmed up appropriately. It was a lot of work at first but now just a yearly cropping of the limbs that tend to hang down.
This is an old photo and trees are now about twice that height, but still trimmed up the same way.

 

[Gary Fowler]

Some folks say they cant afford the cost of a cab, well I say, some things should not be bought just for the sake of keeping up with the Joneses, but when it comes to your comfort when outside, go for a cab. You wouldn't sacrifice your comfort when it comes to seating in your home by sitting in a hard solid wood chair rather than a comfortable recliner, so why do it with your tractor.