New guys take on pros & cons of 45 HP range of CUT's

[Diamondpilot]

To be honest I used a MM on a Cub 154? Low Boy and really liked it as a lawn mower. That was about it. I use both my tractors for much more then lawn mowing. I weekly would be dismounting the MM on my current tractor due to ground clearance issues. Lets face it, any tractor with a FEL is at a disadvantage when it comes to mowing in close. That is what ZTR's are for.

Chris

 

[WilliamBos]

To be honest I used a MM on a Cub 154? Low Boy and really liked it as a lawn mower. That was about it. I use both my tractors for much more then lawn mowing. I weekly would be dismounting the MM on my current tractor due to ground clearance issues. Lets face it, any tractor with a FEL is at a disadvantage when it comes to mowing in close. That is what ZTR's are for.

Chris

Same here, lawn mowing is only one of many uses for our tractor. How ever, I am not buying one of those box store POS ZTR mowers, just to mow grass. Have a riding lawn mower that will eventually be finished off to help out. I will hold out for a Kub ZD, or an MF (Iseki) series. RFM will be next, for sure. Do not have an FEL, no plans on one.

 

[Hematite]

Look at other brands with cabs. I found the L cab to be smaller than others, too. My AGCO/Challenger/MF series cab is roomier in some aspects. Look at other brands, you may find they're roomier, too. I'm spoiled by my LB115 cab. You could have a keg party in it, but I did think the K cabs, even the M series were on the smaller side.

I think that this is a very good point and largely overlooked! The space in the cab, ergonomics of the controls, visibility, and general comfort can not be overemphasized. If you put 1000 hours on the machine, you will be the one spending those 1000 hours in the cab. My understanding is that the New Holland cabs are unrivaled in these areas in this class of tractor. Definitely look them over in this regard.

 

[Builder]

I think you're going to see almost all manufacturers offer the drive over MMM decks within another 1-2 years.

 

[bp fick]

For some, mowing IS their number one task and the MMM is an almost permanent fixture. Other than removing it in fall for snow plowing, it is just there, kind of a body armor for their sensitive under belly things too, I suppose. I get it.

However, I too am a tractor first guy. Freaked out my dealer when I made him remove the $2400 belly deck before I'd buy the tractor. For me, garden work is #1 w/snow plowing #2. No mowing. Nicht!

To each his own. Different needs and wants. It's what makes the world go round.

 

[WilliamBos]

For some, mowing IS their number one task and the MMM is an almost permanent fixture. Other than removing it in fall for snow plowing, it is just there, kind of a body armor for their sensitive under belly things too, I suppose. I get it.

However, I too am a tractor first guy. Freaked out my dealer when I made him remove the $2400 belly deck before I'd buy the tractor. For me, garden work is #1 w/snow plowing #2. No mowing. Nicht!

To each his own. Different needs and wants. It's what makes the world go round.

Our MMM is only on to cut the lawns. I would not do anything with it on. If you are working up some SOFT ground, and start to sink, the damage of the entire tractor resting on the MMM can be expensive.

 

[bp fick]

You guys realize we are just killing time talking about mowing while Lt. studies things some more, right?

Reply #106 and counting

 

[Builder]

LT needs to check out a NH, MF or Case/IH cab to make sure he won't fit better.

 

[Lt CHEG]

LT needs to check out a NH, MF or Case/IH cab to make sure he won't fit better.

Without question the NH or Case/IH cabs are the roomiest, most comfortable cabs in the industry in my opinion. I would probably rate the new MF 1600 series cabs as a close second. For me, I like the placement of the controls overall the best on the NH tractors as well. The placement and feel of the loader controls felt the best to me, and I like the placement of everything else too. Probably the most important is the amount of adjustability to the seat. The NH and Case/IH tractors were the only ones I tested where I could put the seat all the way back and feel like I actually wanted to be closer to the pedals. In other words the leg room in the NH cabs is teriffic.

Oh, and I've been holding out until I sign the papers this afternoon, but I suppose I should just spill the beans. In the end, the decision really came down to the dealer that most wanted to sell me a tractor. The Kubota dealers just wouldn't move enough off of their prices for me. The John Deere dealer was way overpriced so they were out of the running pretty quickly. So especially after ruling out the Kubota 3030 it was pretty much down to the NH or the MF. The MF dealer really sharpened his pencil and I came very close to buying. However the NH dealer came through in the end.

The dealer despite trying hard to do so couldn't come up with a Boomer 3045 cab tractor that any dealer was willing to send, so it was looking like I was going to be getting an MF. Then I got a call about a Boomer 3040 that was located. It was a demonstrator unit but would still come with the factory warranty, 0 fpr 72 month financing and as a bonus would already have the break-in service done. It also came with a mid PTO as a nice bonus, as I will probably put a front snowblower on there someday. The dealer who was familiar with my needs and didn't just want to sell me more tractor explained that the Boomer 3040 would do EVERYTHING that I wanted to do with ease. So after some hemming and hawing I told the dealer that my wife and I would sign the paperwork this afternoon.

So there it is, the price on the tractor came in at about $3000 less than the power shuttle MF 1643 tractor which I feel is the closest tractor in comparison and this one is a hydro. The price on this tractor was actually in line with a Kubota 3240 from one of the dealers, and I got better financing to boot. So I'm pretty happy right now, as long as everything goes smoothly. I got a tractor which will do everything that I want it to do and easily fulfills my most important requirement of comfort. I even saved so much money that I may look to buy a Woods BH90X backhoe for it next year with all the money I saved.

I will post more specific information when the tractor is delivered. I want to give the dealer the credit they deserve, but by the same token if something wierd happens I don't want them to be looked down upon for something that wasn't their fault. In the end I guess I took the first piece of advice I picked up from reading this forum - shop the dealer just as much as the tractor.

 

[Builder]

I think you made a great choice. It always seems to come down to availability and price. I almost always set out to buy one piece of equipment, but end up buying another because a dealer has something very close to what I wanted (close enough to make me happy) at a better price than what I originally set out to buy.

I really like the NH tractors. My LB115 cab is laid out light years ahead of the competition. Excellent design/engineering.

Good luck-please post pictures.