Are cabs useful under say 30-35 hp?

[patrick_g]

Moss, You sure know where to insert the knife and when to twist it!

Everything is tradeoffs. Mine was cab or hoe, take your pick.

I have been told Kubota has 3PH hoes for my tractor but I was more inclined toward a towable unit built from plans or a kit. They crawl around on the site like a crab. No matter which I would choose there will always be a time when another choice would have been better. Yoiu pays your money and takes your chances. I have few or no plans for taking the hoe off my place often or at all. It is not even a particular necessity but a nice to have.

Thanks for the ref.

Pat

 

[Boondox]

Eeegads, yet another complication in my decision!

A gently used U35 excavator with 650 hours just came on the market locally. It has a cab, heat, rubber tracks and a hydraulic thumb for $31.5k

I didn't want a cab because much of my work will be in the forest where the glass would be endangered by limbs, etc...but with a zero tail swing machine, if the tracks were wide enough to fit between two trees the cab would be safe.

And the price is very attractive...

Pete

 

[patrick_g]

Boondox, Sounds good. I would mention that some trees have limbs growing out of them above the height of the tracks so you still need to pay attention.

Pat

 

['Bota Fan]

Just came across this old thread and read every post. I'm really surprised no one else mentioned the two reasons I wanted/needed a cab.

All I have to do is ride by a field with goldenrod or ragweed or . . . . name any one of a hundred other similar plants that are the spawn of Satan, and I sneeze my fool head off. It's called allergies, and judging from the enormous number of commercials for all manner of allergy medicines, I'm not the only sufferer. Mowing from inside a cab is not a luxury, it's an absolute necessity.

And, there are lots of times I can do a couple of hours of mowing in 90-degree weather, jump out of the cab and go to a meeting or out to eat and not smell like a wet goat.

If you're some of the fortunate ones who can operate an open-station tractor without half-dying, then go ahead. Some of us just don't have that option.

 

[patrick_g]

BotaDude, I think I have previously got pretty close to your cab benefit. Spraying ag chemicals in an open tractor is an accident waiting to happen. The vagaries of the wind are such that at times it is impossible to predict then a slight variation will put you in your own chemical plume.

I can remember to make all turns while spraying such that I am upwind of the mist/spray but that assumes the wind is constant in direction. That may be an appropriate assumption in some locals but certainly not around these parts.

I know there is a constant undercurrent on this site against safety measures (search on "hand wringing") but if you look at the unvarnished truth as represented in insurance mortality tables, US Dept of Ag or other sources you'll find the effects of chemical exposure are directly connected to cancer rates in the ag industry. You don't spray one day and die the next so it takes just a little bit of intelligence to connect the dots.

I'm just spraying a little xxx and I'll be careful. It isn't convenient to wear rubber gloves to mix the stuff, it isn't convenient to change clothes every time I spill the stuff on me...

Less exposure is better. If you spray ag chemicals you are considerably safer if you have a cab in addition to all your other safety measures and strategies.

Pat

 

[npaden]

I could have used a cab a couple weeks ago when I was mowing some thick weeds and bumped into a HUGE bee hive! I was probably stung 30 times and had to abandon the tractor and the bees laid claim to it for about 2 hours before I was able to retrieve it.

Oh by the way, I don't know how much power is lost to the hydrostat in tractors of 30 HP and under but my 39.5 HP HST is only rated at 40 HP with standard gear box. I doubt anyone would notice the difference in performance or fuel consumption.

Pat, I think you have something mixed up on your HST numbers with your tractor. When I was shopping the HST took about 2 or 3 hp away from the PTO hp on the kubota XX30 models vs. the GST or manual shift models. It was more than 1/2 hp for sure.

 

[Double Orange]

Most cab models total height are lower than ROP models.
I've enjoyed the comfort level, that a Cab provides, that I traded my Gator for an RTV 1100 Cab. Another reason I speak highly about cabs...I don't get along with snakes....and the cab gives me just a little more protection.

 

[patrick_g]

Pat, I think you have something mixed up on your HST numbers with your tractor. When I was shopping the HST took about 2 or 3 hp away from the PTO hp on the kubota XX30 models vs. the GST or manual shift models. It was more than 1/2 hp for sure.

Sorry to here of your run in with the KILLER BEES. As regards the HST HP loss...

I have a Grand L4610HSTC it is about 6 years old. I bought it new. I have not had it on a dyno. I quoted some Kubota literature. I believe I quoted the literature accurately but can't account for their accuracy. If it were really important I could try to find it (or similar reference) but I don't think Kubota will pay for the effort. As I recall it was a full color brochure with more than one model depicted.

Pat

 

[npaden]

Sorry to here of your run in with the KILLER BEES.
Pat

Actually after talking with a guy who does bee keeping as a hobby these are just regular honey bees. If they were killer or africanized bees there is a chance that I would not be here now based on my discussions with him. I ended up running about 100 yards away from the tractor and they left me alone after I ran off that far. If they had been africanized bees they would have more than likely followed me as far as 1/4 mile and possibly farther. At the time I didn't even think about running for my pond about 1/4 mile away but if they had been africanized bees then that might have been the only thing that would have saved me.

I'm going to let the bees stay until spring and then the bee keeper wants to come and vaccum them up and put them in one of his bee boxes. I came REALLY close to burning down the pile of wood that they are using for a hive but didn't.

 

['Bota Fan]

Less exposure is better. If you spray ag chemicals you are considerably safer if you have a cab in addition to all your other safety measures and strategies.

Pat

Preach on, brother, preach on.

Bees (garden variety or otherwise), yellow jackets, hornets, even fire ants (yes, I know they don't fly under their own power, but they do when I hit a mound and the mower blades throw 'em in the air!), snakes . . . it's best to keep as much distance between them and you as possible. Failing that, be inside a cab. If that makes me a girlie man, get me some more nail polish.