Cab or No Cab?

[Builder]

Cab tractors are safer, healthier and able to be operated in more adverse conditions for longer hours due to less operator fatigue. I also believe they're easier to resell.

Cab tractors will get more appealing to you every year older you get. We all get older, not younger. 'nuff said.

 

[rpraymond]

I guess it really does depend on use and preference. I bought my L3430HSTC mainly for snow removal and the cab really comes in handy. But many times I will use my old AC D10 for mowing the field just to be out in the fresh air. But everyone has a different need and desire so with all that's been said good luck and get what you want

 

[LS248]

Having 45 years of experience as an operating engineer, and having been the owner of three open station Kubotas (2910, 3130, and BX18), I feel that one gets to an age where if one can afford the comforts of heat and air conditioning - go for it! I have a 5030 now with a cab (heat and AC) and it is a pleasure going out there, whether it is snowing like heck or I am rototilling deer plots in the summer with the dust unbearable. Life is good. (Just one old operating engineer's opinion!)

Dennis

 

[inseeme]

I am in the process of trading my M6800 for a cam M7040 right now go cab, you want regret it!

 

[inseeme]

I am in the process of trading my M6800 for a cab M7040 right now go cab, you want regret it!

 

[RFB]

kubotafan,

Good point. There are lots of posts regarding folks trying to protect themselves from the elements with canopies, snow shields, soft cabs, after market hard cabs, etc.

I have never seen a post that said that they wanted to remove a cab so that they could eliminate the comfort.

If someone were given the choice of a free tractor with a cab, or without, what would they pick?

I already think that I know where the majority would vote.

 

[big bubba]

Okay my friends, I will bow out and conceed that cabs are more important than the reason most recreational tractor owners have them: to disaccociate themselves from mundane schedules and indulgent creature comforts and do something real in the open air. I am in absolute agreement with commercial/heavy equipment operators and cabs....but I thought this discussion began with the need of a cab on a b series tractor which to me makes about as much sense as placing a cammper shell on a riding lawnmower. But can't say for sure, since all we have here in Arkansas are outhouses (but am considering a heater for mine when my rig's paid off). Until then, I remain your humble forum member....Oh, by the way, all you recreational cab owners, how about a body fat content measurement? All in good fun, respectfully, bb

 

[froggy]

BB,

I'm still laughing over your last post about putting a heater in the outhouse.

froggy

 

[lawn_king]

I think that the older you get, the more you look toward a cab. My tractor experience started in 1977 at school. Vocational agricultural school, grades 9-12. It was love at first operate for me. Today i use a cab tractor year round, to earn a substancial portion of my living. I ran open station tractors through the 70s, 80s, 90s, and up to 2002. I think you get to a point where you have had enough. For me it was a cool fall torrential rain storm. I was in the middle of a 6 acre core aeration, lost my cell phone & most of the contents of my wallet. I ordered a curtis cab the next day & have since jumped up to a factory cab. I wouldn't buy another open station tractor tractor, like i said, i think everyone gets to the point that the want one. Jmho.

 

[riptides]

Lost in this discussion is that not all tractors make good cab candidates.

Each tractor has it's own advantages and disadvantages going into cab mode.
Space, comfort, heating/cooling, filtration, visability, features, ergonomics, etc. etc....

-Mike Z.

 

[GinNB]

I find the ergonomics of each tractor a bit different. If a tractor operates well from a standing position then, for many tasks and some times of the year, I find a cab an annoyance. I like standing for visibility and to absorb the shocks and pitching/swaying offroad. Speaking of pitching and swaying, a straddlemount openstation tractor keeps you closer to the sway point, so if your use includes lots of rough ground or sidehills then you'll get pitched around a lot less if your butt is close to the pivot point. All of the factory cabs I remember seeing are platforms, not straddlemount.

I hated cabs until a few years ago when I got dragged kicking and screaming (well, not quite) into a factory-cabbed M9000. Quiet, comfy, MP3 CD player, heat, AC, GPS navigation (Trimble AgGPS and Garmin Venture Cx), powered mount for my pocketpc, and cig lighter for my cellphone charger. It's an office now, so despite the shortcomings I'll never have an open tractor for my main tractor again.

 

[dirtworksequip]

Sorry if I offended any open station owners. I had an open station for over 12 years and since getting a cab tractor would never go back to an OROPS. I don't think you will find any cab owners saying. "It's just too comfortable, I hate it"

Sincerely, Dirt

 

[big bubba]

Mr dirtworksequip: absolutely no offense taken, all in good jest. If we can't enjoy the open exchange of opinions & experience then are we tough enough for our tractors? respectfully, bb

 

[lawn_king]

Cabs are expensive, factory cabs, very expensive. In addition to the protection from the weather, im protected from the sun, pesticide drift and bees. Im allergic to bees & have to inject myself with an eppi-pen when i get stung. I guess i can justify the 5 thousand dollar cab more so than others, as its a work tool for me and you need a cab for snow work, some blizzards last for days here. As stated already in this thread, you dont hear people saying i hate this factory cab, im going back to open station!

 

[Roadkill95]

Cabs are expensive, factory cabs, very expensive. In addition to the protection from the weather, im protected from the sun, pesticide drift and bees. Im allergic to bees & have to inject myself with an eppi-pen when i get stung. I guess i can justify the 5 thousand dollar cab more so than others, as its a work tool for me and you need a cab for snow work, some blizzards last for days here. As stated already in this thread, you dont hear people saying i hate this factory cab, im going back to open station!

Lawn
What do you use your 3030 for? I think I am a smaller B series buyer and I am waiting for the new models, and would love to have a cab.
I think a 3030 is over kill for my needs right now , maybe not in the future though.
I wish the new Bs had a factory cab, I know I can get a aftermarket cab and add heat but AC would be a problem to install.
Maybe a 3030 isen't out of the question, thats why I was wondering what you used yours for.

 

[ChuckinNH]

LawnKing, You need no other justification for using a cab than the spraying you do. I lost a cousin, and an uncle at young ages due to problems related to all the open station spraying they did. (mostly herbicides on corn crops) One was only 35. Please stay healthy, and continue to use a cab tractor!
Chuck

 

[lawn_king]

One big mistake i see over and over is people buying too small of a tractor! I did it myself with my B7500! I use my B3030 For pto spreading,spraying,core aerating,brush cutting,york raking,loading,light grading,forks,stacking snow,snowblowing (if we ever get a blizzard) moving trailers & equipment around the yard, loading construction equipment into dumptrucks (compactors,generators,etc.) You name it! The 3030 may look like a big machine at the dealer, once you get it home and put a few hundred hours on it, it shrinks, trust me! I have perhaps purchased too small a machine a second time, as i am looking to jump up to an L model w/cab, if i can make the weight ratio/footprint/pto & fel power and payment all work out! The B3030 is a fine machine, good all around tractor, not too big not too small and as i have stated more than once, a joy to operate! Dont buy the wrong tractor! Take your time, demmo several makes & models, and think about what your tractor needs will be next year, not next week!

 

[sugarmaple]

One more vote for a cab, hands down. For me, the liability is that it is fragile and demands that one be more careful than with an open station, in the woods or mowing (glass breaks dramatically and easily I have found out more than once.) The roof on a 4330 cab is 1K all by itself (you don't want to know). But with all, I love it for all the reasons everyone else has stated. You can do more with less fatigue, dust, bee stings, and so forth. BH access is more clumsy too, but one really should have more than one tractor anyway, right? ;-)

 

[canoetrpr]

The consensus here on this post of cab over open deck only confirms my observation that Americans continue to remove themselves from the environment and indulge themselves in a continuous supply of creature comforts wherever they are. Why not put in a heated massage seat, maybe a TV, and a continuous supply of fast food?

big bubba - I'm not American but that massage seat, TV and continuous supply of fast food (make that steak ... mmmmm steak!) you are talking about is sounding pretty good to me!

Seriously though, when I was shopping a couple years ago, I never considered a cab. Thought those here with a cab were lightweights. Sure would appreciate one blowing the snow in -15 degrees up here. I've also had to move bales around with freezing rain. Horses couldn't wait for the weather to get better Cab would have been nice then too.

 

[LBrown59]

The right answer is "it depends".

I s that a dependable answer?