My L6060HSTC was delivered this week, and I have about 5 hours on it now. I figured I would give a rundown of my initial impressions and update as time goes on for anyone else considering such a purchase. I don't do YouTube much so I figured I would basically give a text description of my initial impressions.
It has been extremely cold out so I haven't used the backhoe much other than to toy with a couple minor drainage ditches along the driveway to make sure it works.
The setup is an L6060HSTC, LA1055 loader, BH92 backhoe, 3rd function, rear remotes, wipers, defoggers, and R4 industrial tires.
It took about 2 weeks for the dealer to receive it from the factory and 3 weeks to build.
Initial problems have been leaking loader hydraulic line (from the loader disconnects on the frame to the tractor connections), forgotten defogger switch, steering wheel would lock up when turning, dash showing metric units, and the hood release won't spring back into place. The steering wheel was resolved when I found the grommet that seals the cab around the steering column had come out and was basically spinning on the column and catching on stuff. I put the grommet back in place and haven't had an issue since (although I probably should have put a small bit of lubricant on the grommet where the column goes through it). The loader hydraulic line it has to go back to the shop for as well as the defogger switch. The dash I switched to imperial by reading some other forum posts because it was driving me nuts not to know how many gallons of fuel I was using without doing liter to gallon conversions). The hood release I still need to look at and see if I can resolve or if the dealer will just have to deal with it when it goes back.
Hydraulic line leak (yellow line):
Steering grommet that I resolved before fixing:
Thus far I have used it mostly for loader work and have not had the backhoe off of it. The first couple evenings I used the loader to back drag the area behind our barn where the ground was mud but is has frozen and making it difficult to walk on for our horses. I used the backhoe for a couple drainage ditches just a few inches deep. I used the mechanical thumb on the backhoe to remove a large rock that was in one of these ditches and causing water to drain down my driveway and create an ice spot (so glad to get that taken care of, never could address it before). Today I used the loader to plow our steep 1000' driveway and I may be doing that again if it doesn't stop snowing.
In the few hours of using it, it has been 20 degrees F or less here, and I have to start taking off my scarf and ear muffs while in the cab. The tasks I have done with it, minus the snow removal, I would have never done when it was this cold out. Honestly the cab was a good investment because I can now work when it is really cold, which is an opportune time to work because when the ground is frozen I do less damage where I am working. When I dug the ditches, I finished the work with the loader and spent more time getting things right rather than just quickly calling it done. I also really like the mirrors on the cab because I can see where my rear wheels are when backing it under my lean to in between things. Also I like the front and rear work lights which are a huge help. I would not purchase the cab without the rear work lights. Perhaps some day I'll make them brighter with LEDs, but after years of not having them, I'm super happy with them as they are now.
Not ever having a cab one thing I immediately noticed as you somewhat lose the feel of being on a tractor, which is good and bad. The bad part of that is to realize where the cab is in relationship to low things like tree branches. Another bad thing is I feel like the tractor is more stable than my last tractor, but it is likely due to being closer to the ground since my last tractor was a New Holland WorkMaster 55 and sat higher. On hills, it feels more like being in a pickup truck and not really feeling tippy. Perhaps it isn't, but it makes me nervous to not even have the feeling since I was so used to that. The other negatives I have noticed is not being able to hear every slight sound, like hitting something with your loader (which I've already scrapped one of the lean to posts on my barn once with it because I didn't hear the initial contact). The obvious good thing is the fact it is a lot easier on your body, and you can pretty much sit things wherever on the sides of you an expect them to still be there when you park it.
The couple things I did notice about the loader joystick are it is a bit stiff compared to my last loader (Ansung on the WM), and the loader lockout I have hit with my leg twice now and locked it out while using it and had to reset the lever. I haven't used the throttle up feature much, but because the tractor is new I reduce the throttle up from the max setting to about 2000 rpm. I have found it handy when I need to raise and dump a load of snow as it speeds things up. My grapple is on order so I can't speak to the third function, but I do think the on/off for the third function is honestly a bit hokey the way they use a strap to attach it to the joystick. If they wanted a switch for that, they should have just put it on the side like back where the loader implement hydraulic disconnect switches would go over on the right.
I traded my last tractor to go back to HST because I have a lot of debris cleanup to do around my property as we moved last year. I thought HST would be second nature moreso than the gear tractor but I've honestly had to readjust to it. I keep wanting to use the HST pedal to increase the throttle and sometimes forget this when I intend to go in reverse (obviously caught after an inch of moving). The hi/lo on the steering column has been pretty convenient when around the house, barn, or cars I can tap it down into low and get a fine control of what I am doing, and then tap it up again when away from anything breakable. The auto hi/lo I have turned on currently, but honestly has not really been that useful yet. The auto throttle I like because I don't have to think about continuing the throttle up/down with the hand throttle, especially since I was used to my floor throttle on my last tractor. I drove a L4060HSTC at the dealer and I thought the HST was a bit jerky, but my L6060HSTC doesn't have this same jerky feel. Not sure why that is, but it could be because I have the backhoe on and my tires are filled, so the weight may help. I did adjust the L4060HSTC hydrostat responsiveness on the dash when I tried it all the way to not be as responsive, but it didn't seem to help. I haven't adjusted it on my L6060HSTC yet, but it seems just fine for what I am doing.
I haven't gotten to use the wipers yet as it is too cold to even try to spit fluid on the windshield. I cycled the wipers once to make sure they both worked but I haven't tried the spray. The defoggers I can't comment yet. I have noticed the cab fogging up after about 10 minutes inside and I make sure the recirculate is off, turn the blowers up a bit higher, and sometimes open a side window for a few minutes. Even below 10F, the cold air coming in the side windows feels good when the heat is on in the cab. However, I can see where in blowing bitter cold snow you would likely want the defoggers, which is why I decided to get them knowing it would be very difficult if not impossible to add them (at least as a factory option) later.
The backhoe is pretty nice, although it's a bit clumsy to get on. It's a bit of a small area and leaves you feeling somewhat trapped between the seat and the controls, especially since I am a bit taller. I haven't had any issues with the controls, and it does everything I would expect it to. I haven't done anything serious as I was trying to break the tractor in gently. The mechanical thumb already paid off as I lived a large rock out of a drainage ditch beside my driveway that was causing issues as I mentioned earlier. In the position it was in, I would have likely had to manhandle it over into the loader bucket which would have been difficult. The thumb was easy to adjust. I have the rubber pads on the backhoe, and that was good because I didn't do any damage to my driveway (despite being gravel) when using the hoe. I've read in the manual the stabilizer pads can be flipped over and it appears so by removing a pin and turning them to the other side, so the triangle is down and you can get better traction if you were in dirt and didn't need to protect the ground. Reaching the backhoe controls from the cab is a bit of a challenge, as I have to open the back window, turn around, put my knee on the seat, and reach out the back window. The backhoe sits further back from the operator seat on the cab model and this is done obviously because of the cab. There is a second mounting plate that is on the backhoe that allows it to sit further away from the tractor cab to make it work on the cab tractor. I haven't tried to get to the loader joystick from the backhoe station, but I doubt it is doable, at least not easily.
One thing I have noticed is a big difference in turning radius on this tractor compared to my last setup. Granted, the front wheels on my last tractor were spaced all the way out, and much larger. I really appreciate the tight turning of this new setup as I think it will help me get around into places I could not before. It keeps me from having to use the independent brake as I commonly had to do on my last tractor when I needed a real tight turn radius.
As far as other oddities, I have noticed the trim on the right side where the controls are does not match up all the way. I thought that was a bit strange. The third function lines could be better protected below the tractor, as expected after reading this thought on many forum posts. The display change switch does not light up when the headlamps are on, which is a pain. Actually I'm not sure the regen lights light up either with the headlamps on. I don't think there is a parking light mode, essentially no headlamps but side lights on. Also the interior dome lamp is dim (will replace with an LED bulb, thanks to a forum post I read on that) and it does not turn on automatically when you open the door (and hence does not go off automatically either).
Trim separation:
Initially I'm fairly pleased with the investment. I bought the setup for clearing debris, so once my EA grapple comes in I hope to put that to the test. It did a fantastic job moving snow today, despite not having a rear blade on. I'm really anxious to get the three point hooked up and try my box blade on it and see how things go. There will be some time before that happens since I need to make sure the backhoe doesn't have any initial issues. I will try to update this thread with any other thoughts as I use it more.
Driveway work today:
Tractor picture in the snow:
I did a lot of research prior to purchasing, and thank everyone that has posted thoughts on the L, grand, and cab models in the past. Likewise there were a few good YouTube videos where folks did a pretty good walk around of the L60 cab models which really helped my purchasing decision in know what options I wanted and which I didn't think I needed.
It has been extremely cold out so I haven't used the backhoe much other than to toy with a couple minor drainage ditches along the driveway to make sure it works.
The setup is an L6060HSTC, LA1055 loader, BH92 backhoe, 3rd function, rear remotes, wipers, defoggers, and R4 industrial tires.
It took about 2 weeks for the dealer to receive it from the factory and 3 weeks to build.
Initial problems have been leaking loader hydraulic line (from the loader disconnects on the frame to the tractor connections), forgotten defogger switch, steering wheel would lock up when turning, dash showing metric units, and the hood release won't spring back into place. The steering wheel was resolved when I found the grommet that seals the cab around the steering column had come out and was basically spinning on the column and catching on stuff. I put the grommet back in place and haven't had an issue since (although I probably should have put a small bit of lubricant on the grommet where the column goes through it). The loader hydraulic line it has to go back to the shop for as well as the defogger switch. The dash I switched to imperial by reading some other forum posts because it was driving me nuts not to know how many gallons of fuel I was using without doing liter to gallon conversions). The hood release I still need to look at and see if I can resolve or if the dealer will just have to deal with it when it goes back.
Hydraulic line leak (yellow line):
Steering grommet that I resolved before fixing:
Thus far I have used it mostly for loader work and have not had the backhoe off of it. The first couple evenings I used the loader to back drag the area behind our barn where the ground was mud but is has frozen and making it difficult to walk on for our horses. I used the backhoe for a couple drainage ditches just a few inches deep. I used the mechanical thumb on the backhoe to remove a large rock that was in one of these ditches and causing water to drain down my driveway and create an ice spot (so glad to get that taken care of, never could address it before). Today I used the loader to plow our steep 1000' driveway and I may be doing that again if it doesn't stop snowing.
In the few hours of using it, it has been 20 degrees F or less here, and I have to start taking off my scarf and ear muffs while in the cab. The tasks I have done with it, minus the snow removal, I would have never done when it was this cold out. Honestly the cab was a good investment because I can now work when it is really cold, which is an opportune time to work because when the ground is frozen I do less damage where I am working. When I dug the ditches, I finished the work with the loader and spent more time getting things right rather than just quickly calling it done. I also really like the mirrors on the cab because I can see where my rear wheels are when backing it under my lean to in between things. Also I like the front and rear work lights which are a huge help. I would not purchase the cab without the rear work lights. Perhaps some day I'll make them brighter with LEDs, but after years of not having them, I'm super happy with them as they are now.
Not ever having a cab one thing I immediately noticed as you somewhat lose the feel of being on a tractor, which is good and bad. The bad part of that is to realize where the cab is in relationship to low things like tree branches. Another bad thing is I feel like the tractor is more stable than my last tractor, but it is likely due to being closer to the ground since my last tractor was a New Holland WorkMaster 55 and sat higher. On hills, it feels more like being in a pickup truck and not really feeling tippy. Perhaps it isn't, but it makes me nervous to not even have the feeling since I was so used to that. The other negatives I have noticed is not being able to hear every slight sound, like hitting something with your loader (which I've already scrapped one of the lean to posts on my barn once with it because I didn't hear the initial contact). The obvious good thing is the fact it is a lot easier on your body, and you can pretty much sit things wherever on the sides of you an expect them to still be there when you park it.
The couple things I did notice about the loader joystick are it is a bit stiff compared to my last loader (Ansung on the WM), and the loader lockout I have hit with my leg twice now and locked it out while using it and had to reset the lever. I haven't used the throttle up feature much, but because the tractor is new I reduce the throttle up from the max setting to about 2000 rpm. I have found it handy when I need to raise and dump a load of snow as it speeds things up. My grapple is on order so I can't speak to the third function, but I do think the on/off for the third function is honestly a bit hokey the way they use a strap to attach it to the joystick. If they wanted a switch for that, they should have just put it on the side like back where the loader implement hydraulic disconnect switches would go over on the right.
I traded my last tractor to go back to HST because I have a lot of debris cleanup to do around my property as we moved last year. I thought HST would be second nature moreso than the gear tractor but I've honestly had to readjust to it. I keep wanting to use the HST pedal to increase the throttle and sometimes forget this when I intend to go in reverse (obviously caught after an inch of moving). The hi/lo on the steering column has been pretty convenient when around the house, barn, or cars I can tap it down into low and get a fine control of what I am doing, and then tap it up again when away from anything breakable. The auto hi/lo I have turned on currently, but honestly has not really been that useful yet. The auto throttle I like because I don't have to think about continuing the throttle up/down with the hand throttle, especially since I was used to my floor throttle on my last tractor. I drove a L4060HSTC at the dealer and I thought the HST was a bit jerky, but my L6060HSTC doesn't have this same jerky feel. Not sure why that is, but it could be because I have the backhoe on and my tires are filled, so the weight may help. I did adjust the L4060HSTC hydrostat responsiveness on the dash when I tried it all the way to not be as responsive, but it didn't seem to help. I haven't adjusted it on my L6060HSTC yet, but it seems just fine for what I am doing.
I haven't gotten to use the wipers yet as it is too cold to even try to spit fluid on the windshield. I cycled the wipers once to make sure they both worked but I haven't tried the spray. The defoggers I can't comment yet. I have noticed the cab fogging up after about 10 minutes inside and I make sure the recirculate is off, turn the blowers up a bit higher, and sometimes open a side window for a few minutes. Even below 10F, the cold air coming in the side windows feels good when the heat is on in the cab. However, I can see where in blowing bitter cold snow you would likely want the defoggers, which is why I decided to get them knowing it would be very difficult if not impossible to add them (at least as a factory option) later.
The backhoe is pretty nice, although it's a bit clumsy to get on. It's a bit of a small area and leaves you feeling somewhat trapped between the seat and the controls, especially since I am a bit taller. I haven't had any issues with the controls, and it does everything I would expect it to. I haven't done anything serious as I was trying to break the tractor in gently. The mechanical thumb already paid off as I lived a large rock out of a drainage ditch beside my driveway that was causing issues as I mentioned earlier. In the position it was in, I would have likely had to manhandle it over into the loader bucket which would have been difficult. The thumb was easy to adjust. I have the rubber pads on the backhoe, and that was good because I didn't do any damage to my driveway (despite being gravel) when using the hoe. I've read in the manual the stabilizer pads can be flipped over and it appears so by removing a pin and turning them to the other side, so the triangle is down and you can get better traction if you were in dirt and didn't need to protect the ground. Reaching the backhoe controls from the cab is a bit of a challenge, as I have to open the back window, turn around, put my knee on the seat, and reach out the back window. The backhoe sits further back from the operator seat on the cab model and this is done obviously because of the cab. There is a second mounting plate that is on the backhoe that allows it to sit further away from the tractor cab to make it work on the cab tractor. I haven't tried to get to the loader joystick from the backhoe station, but I doubt it is doable, at least not easily.
One thing I have noticed is a big difference in turning radius on this tractor compared to my last setup. Granted, the front wheels on my last tractor were spaced all the way out, and much larger. I really appreciate the tight turning of this new setup as I think it will help me get around into places I could not before. It keeps me from having to use the independent brake as I commonly had to do on my last tractor when I needed a real tight turn radius.
As far as other oddities, I have noticed the trim on the right side where the controls are does not match up all the way. I thought that was a bit strange. The third function lines could be better protected below the tractor, as expected after reading this thought on many forum posts. The display change switch does not light up when the headlamps are on, which is a pain. Actually I'm not sure the regen lights light up either with the headlamps on. I don't think there is a parking light mode, essentially no headlamps but side lights on. Also the interior dome lamp is dim (will replace with an LED bulb, thanks to a forum post I read on that) and it does not turn on automatically when you open the door (and hence does not go off automatically either).
Trim separation:
Initially I'm fairly pleased with the investment. I bought the setup for clearing debris, so once my EA grapple comes in I hope to put that to the test. It did a fantastic job moving snow today, despite not having a rear blade on. I'm really anxious to get the three point hooked up and try my box blade on it and see how things go. There will be some time before that happens since I need to make sure the backhoe doesn't have any initial issues. I will try to update this thread with any other thoughts as I use it more.
Driveway work today:
Tractor picture in the snow:
I did a lot of research prior to purchasing, and thank everyone that has posted thoughts on the L, grand, and cab models in the past. Likewise there were a few good YouTube videos where folks did a pretty good walk around of the L60 cab models which really helped my purchasing decision in know what options I wanted and which I didn't think I needed.
