Been a year with a cab - Not sure I would again

[buck12]

I have only had my tractor since last April and only wanted a cab in July and August. I like the open station but AC sure would beat sweat in my eyes mid August.

 

[brandoro]

There are times when I miss the open tractor but, Mother Nature has a way of reminding me why I bought the cab tractor. One day last summer I had the flail mower on and was about as far from the house and shop as I could be on 16 acres. I had been thinking this would be a nice day to be on an open tractor when a cloud came along and opened up on me. I figure it rained hard for about the length of time it would have taken me to get back to the shop. With the cab I just kept on going and was thinking "this is a really nice cab". Another time I was spreading crushed rock on a fairly nice day when the wind came up and it started to SLEET. Nice cab, instead of running for cover I carried on with the job.
And of course, using the snow blower, no question that the cab makes that a comfortable operation.
The other comments about low hanging branchs, reduced visibility when working in close quarters, all true.
I'll stay with the cab but, if I ever felt I could use another tractor the second one would almost certainly be open station.

 

[Red Beast]

The few times when I prefer an open station is:
1: Getting on and off multiple times in a day. Need to be a bit of a gymnast with cab.
2. When something breaks or goes bad, I can't hear it with a cab until it gets really noisy.
3. When I want to get someone's attention, I can just yell. Vice versa, someone can yell at me to get my attention. With cab, I installed a horn to get attention and use hand signals to convey my message. (Usually polite hand signals.)
4. Visibility is a little better and can hang toward one side or the other to see tire edge ect.

Would I give up my cab? No way!

that is a great idea!

 

[brandoro]

Mine came with a horn, I like it

 

[Doug_D]

3. When I want to get someone's attention, I can just yell. Vice versa, someone can yell at me to get my attention. With cab, I installed a horn to get attention and use hand signals to convey my message. (Usually polite hand signals.)

Much better idea than the dirt ball my wife tossed at the cab to get my attention. Should of called it quits after that. Both of us were big grumps for the rest of the day

Now I keep a pair of those small midland walkie talkies close by when I am working with someone....much better than a dirt clod

 

[kevinj]

3 years with the cab and would not trade it for an open station!!!

Especially since the cab kept the yellow jackets out last fall!!!

Most of my time is winter or summer and the heat & cool are hard to beat.

I do have a smaller open station that I can use though

 

[Red Beast]

^^ that's the big difference right there, having the second tractor.

 

[Specop_007]

this is just *my* feelings on the matter. Its not meant to insult anyone, just my experiences.

i want a cab when I'm doing long hours (6-14 hour days) of work. that almost invariably means fieldwork or other "in the clear" work. The little around the house jobs are where I use the cabless, and as such smaller, tractors. I dont want to worry about the cab being in the way or the reduced visibility around vehicles and trees and houses.

The "big boy" tractor has a cab, the "little guy" tractor does not. If I found myself spending more than an hour or 3 on the "little guy" tractor I'd start to wonder real hard why I wasnt using a larger machine.....

 

[wolc123]

Cabs are good for farmers other folks who make thier living outside, but for those of us with inside jobs, it is often great to get outside after work and on weekends. You loose that with a cab. Might as well stay in the office and get a "We" game that lets you play tractor on a video screen. Whenever I see a CUT with a cab, all I can think of is "A fool and his money are soon parted". I am real happy and comfortable under the hot old summer sun with just my homemade canvas-covered, wood-frame canopy, or plowing snow in the winter wearing my carharts, mittens, boots, and face mask. I love having all the tractor's power available to put into the ground or pto (you wont find me with a hydro trans on a non-lawn mowing tractor either). I have been running open-station tractors for almost 40 years and have yet to get stung by a bee while doing it. It is refreshing to see this post and I appreciate your honesty and courage in makeing it. Most folks are just too darned proud to admit a mistake like that.

 

[Robert_in_NY]

I bought a good pole saw for the main reason of trimming all the edges of my fields. Regardless if you have a cab or open station tractor you should get rid of those limbs. If you are worried about your cab what do you think those limbs will do to you on an open stationed tractor. A good pole saw is cheap compared to hospital bills or broken cab windows and bent exhaust stacks.

I go through early in the spring when the ground is just getting firm enough I can drive most of the property without rutting it up, trim off all the limbs I see as problems or potential problems in the next couple years. Let them all fall to the ground and pick them up after I run out of fuel. By then I am done for the day anyway as my back doesn't like this type of work anymore. The larger limbs I cut up into firewood for my grandfather and if I have a lot of it he comes out and cuts up the wood behind me felling the limbs. Early in the spring or late in the fall are good times to cut as its usually nice out and you can see what your doing as the leaves are either just sprouting or already falling.

I loved my cab tractor for lots of reasons, always had a dry seat when I left the tractor outside (which was about 33% of the time). Heat in the winter and cold days, ac in the hot days. No dust bothering me while baling (which was the best advantage) or discing or spreading pulverized lime. Plenty of room to take my daughter with me occasionally without worry of her falling. And I loved not having the occasional branch hit me in the head or have to duck one as the cab deflected the limb on its own. On my open station tractors I have to drive very slow on the first pass of certain fields I don't own as I am constantly working around low limbs.