Newbie Any help on NH 24D Vs. 30 Pros and Cons

[VaTractorGirl]

I need to get the hang of this my first post went to the general forum. I am looking to buy a New Holland 24D or 30, I really don't like the looks of the 30 just seems to boxy, but they seem to be cheaper than the 29's, I am looking on e-bay at corriher imp. looks like they have pretty good prices. According to the NH web-site I need a 24 or 30 tractor. I have 5 open acres gently rolling, that I may eventually need a loader for. Right now my main goal is some major box grading. I have more time than money so this is about as big as I can go. Any help will be much appreciated.

 

[Bob_Skurka]

The TC24 and the TC29 are fully featured modern tractors. The TC30 is a basic workhorse without some of the newer ergonimic enhancements. I believe the TC29 has a tighter turning radius than the TC30, and I am sure the smaller TC24 has a tighter radius. Other differences can be found in the hydraulic pumps, guages, etc.

There is nothing wrong with either, but they are different in theory.

For 5 acres you could choose either tractor and probably be very happy. The TC30 will probably let you pull a slightly larger box blade so your statement about heavy box blading may tip you in favor of the TC30. The TC30 will also let you pull a larger mower deck in the future after your box blading is done and the grass is growing. However, if you plan on extensive landscaping on that 5 acres with lots of plant beds, shrubs, etc, then the TC24, with its smaller frame & thighter turning radius would probably let you complete the mowing job faster than the larger tractor, even with a slightly smaller mower deck.

Either tractor will operate a loader with ease, the TC30 might give you a bit more capacity than the TC24, but probably less than the TC29.

Personally I think it boils down to choice between the TC24 and the TC30 based on LONG TERM anticipated use. If you plan on minimal landscaping and if you plan on mowing that 5 acres, then the TC30 might be a bit better. If you plan on lots of landscaping, then I'd lean to the TC24.

 

[VaTractorGirl]

Thanks that helps, Only about an acre will be finish mowed. The rest will need to be bush hogged until I have a barn with some horses and who knows when that will be! But the turning radius probably is a big issue, because I have problems that need to be addressed close to the house. Basically the property is long but not very deep the house sitting at the left end and a slope of the whole property the goes from right to left, so needless to say we put the house in a hole! Need to make some swells possibly a retaining wall.

 

[Bob_Skurka]

I would lean toward a TC24 with no more than a 60" finish mower. If you are careful, you can use a finish mower on pasture grass to tame it and that will save you from buying a bush hog, but that also assume you are only talking about mowing pasture grass, no small trees, saplings, bushes, because those things can do a number on your expensive finish mower.

The TC24 is small enough to work inside a barn to clean stalls. That is another point to consider, but he barn must be designed with a tractor in mind.

I think the TC24 will help you build the swales you need, but will take you a bit longer than if you use the TC30.

Many of us find that we want a BIG tractor when we are constructing things the first year and a SMALL tractor to maintain them for the next decade or two.

 

[Casimir]

VaTractorBabe:

You didn't fill out your profile, so it is difficult to say where your are and what kind of soils you will be dealing with. Assuming the "Va" stands for Virginia, I will say that we live in Central Virginia, about half way between Fredericksburg and Richmond. The soils here are very sandy, and I have no problem using a 5 foot box blade behind a Ford/NH 1520 -- about the same horsepower as the TC24D, but about the same frame size as the TC30. I find the tractor just about right for a small horse farm -- enough power, but small enough to go through 6 ft gates with a loader full of stall cleanings.

I think you will find that either tractor would serve you well. As others have said, I sometimes wish I had a larger tractor when doing big jobs, but I sometimes wish I had a smaller one, when I am trying to manuever in the corrals and around trees.

One word of advice -- get the front end loader (FEL) when you buy the tractor. It will be less expensive then and you will find 1001 (or more) uses for it, especially after you get the horses or are getty ready, like building fences, a barn, etc. It really comes in handy for lifting or carrying a lot of things, not just scooping up dirt, gravel or horse manure. You will also find it a great companion to the box blade when you are trying to move dirt around.

Good Luck, and welcome to the forum. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Kip

 

[VaTractorGirl]

Wow, we are very close I'm in Locust Grove we built this house last year and moved from the Todds Tavern area of Spotsylvania. Our dirt on this particular piece of land is not really all that red, thank goodness, probably because except for digging the hole for the basement we really haven't went that deep and this whole field was once a pig farm. Where did you buy your tractor, from Dickensons? I think that I am going to take corriher imp. price to the New Holland dealer in Orange and see what they can do. I think that they also still have the low financing so maybe a bucket isn't entirely out of the question. I need to sell the Allis Chalmers 720 I have at Nichols auction this coming weekend. Thanks for your reply.

 

[28RedHorses]

You might want to see how much Horsepower you can get for your budget. This seemed like good advise when I purchased my tractor last Fall.

The 24D stands fro deluxe (I'm sure there is someone out there who will correct me if I'm wrong) and is their newer line of tractors. The 30 is their older style of tractor. I found the difference to be about a $1000 in price.

Also you need to look at the transmission type to determine PTO horsepower verses tractor horsepower. The PTO horsepower is the amount of work that you can do with the implements driven off of the PTO. The hydro transmission reduced the PTO horsepower.

Also something to consider is that most of the dealers will be having their open houses in the next month or so. When I looked at the different brands they seemed to be more open to deals at that time. You should take a hard look at the dealer. A bad dealer = a bad experience.

Good luck with the tractor hunt!

My three cents...

28Red /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif

 

[Casimir]

Sorry it took so long for me to get back to reading the posts. I bought my tractor from Theros Equipment in Fredericksburg. They are located on Route 3 on the East side of town (across town from Dickenson's Kubota). Check them out if you haven't. Randolph Kinsey, their tractor sales person, as well as their service department has treated me well. If I decide to upgrade, I will probably deal with them again. Send me a Private Message if you want more details.

Kip

 

[28RedHorses]

Interesting. I have not heard good things about Theros in New Baltimore. In fact the sales guy was a carpet bagger. They tried to make the cost of the two tractors seem closer but sticking different implements on the tractor. An example of this is a less expensive finish mower on the 30 and a more expensive mower on the 24. The sales guy was then quick to point out only "X" amount of difference. When I asked why they were different implements he changed the subject. The same applied to 24 with hyrdo trans and 30 with manual trans. It was not a true comparison. I guess where I'm going with this is do an apples to apples comparison. Things like this tend to make me not trust the dealer. Also others have had a bad service experience.

Maybe Fredericksburg is under different management.

28Red

 

[Casimir]

I haven't dealt witht the New Baltimore store, but local management and sales staff can make as much or more difference than the ownership. The folks in Fredericksburg have treated me well.

On the finish mower, if they were both MMM (Mid-Mount Mowers), they are pretty much designed for each individual tractor. The TC30 is actually an older design that NH resurrected to compete with the JD 790 and other "Economy" tractors in this HP range, so it would use an earlier designed MMM as well. If they were both RMM (Rear-mount mowers), then I would agree - you need to compare apples to apples and oranges to oranges. The same RMM should work on both tractors, with the TC30 having a little more horsepower to drive it.