Buying Advice Cab or no cab?

[Missouri Pioneer]

Another benefit of the cab that I have been thinking of is that at best, any new tractor I might get will be living under the open sided car port for at least a little while. I guess some people just leave their tractors outside in the elements, but I don't suppose that would be real good for them. Even under the carport, the tractor would be subject to the typical heat and humidity that north Florida can provide. So I am thinking that the cab would provide at least a little bit of protection to all of the control mechanisms inside of it. Heck, for that matter, at all of the tractor dealers I have been seeing, they ALL have their tractors for sale just sitting out in the elements anyway. So maybe it's not any real big deal for them.

Another issue is going to be rodents. We seem to have our fair share of them around here. Had some vehicles get the wiring chewed up a bit, and prompted me to sell some of my gun collection to pay for having a garage built. So if I leave the tractor outside, I have to figure out a way to rodent proof that tractor as much as possible. I have snap traps out right now, as one of my security cameras saw a rat scampering across the porch several nights ago. Almost caught a racoon by the nose in one of them.

My wife has been talking about getting a building to put the tractor within, but that would mean having one built on site, since there is no way anyone would be able to get a pre-constructed building big enough for that purpose down our driveway, much less be able to make the turn off of our dirt road onto that driveway.

As for local dealers, well that is a problem. Options are kinda slim around here.

One thing to look into is the purchase of two 40' shipping containers spaced however far apart, with trusses however high you like across for a roof. Ends can be added if you like.

 

[troverman]

Good to see all these older guys still out working their land and properties. I've had 4 open station tractors and 2 cab tractors. Currently, I have one cab tractor.

That said, there is definitely some truth about the cab being a hindrance when it comes to trees, and even visibility. For example, I plowed my neighbor's driveway as a courtesy a few years back when I got my first cab tractor. Well, no good deed goes unpunished, and I broke the amber warning light off against trees that lined his driveway right away. There's quite a bit of stuff that is mounted at roof height on a cab tractor, including work lights, warning lights, radio antenna, mirrors, wipers, etc. The roofs are generally made of plastic and can be ripped open. They are fairly easy to change however. There is also less visibility. For the most part, visibility is OK...but with smaller cab tractors you often can't see the bucket when the loader is all the way up, and you can't peer over the fenders to see how close you are, or look in any direction with unrestricted visibility.

I thought I would comment on the climate control systems as well:
Heat is usually never a problem. But A/C is often inadequate on a hot and bright sunny day. Lots of southern guys will have their glass tinted dark, which does help keep the sun out...but also makes it harder to see if you work at night. If you look at the A/C compressors and condensers on these smaller tractors, they are tiny. Nothing like what you would see on a car. And the total cab interior space of these tractors isn't dramatically smaller than a regular cab pickup, except the tractor cab is mostly all glass and doesn't have the automotive level AC system. If you mow in a field for an hour or two, the screens in front of the radiator and A/C condenser will become clogged with grass chaff. Eventually the tractor will overheat if this isn't cleaned out periodically, but you'll notice the A/C blowing much more warmly first. An electric leaf blower works best, but eventually you need to clean the cores with water.

Finally, brand.
There's no such thing as a free lunch. If you buy one of the "value" brands, meaning Korean, Indian, or low-end Japanese...you'll seemingly get a lot for your money but will likely encounter difficulty getting in getting replacement parts over time. Resale value will be less. And many times, certain things will be made less well...often things that are hidden. Its worth noting that most tractors will have a different company make the engine and the front end loader. From my point of view, when it comes to small tractors, there are only two brands: John Deere and Kubota. These two brands will have the most dealerships and support; parts will be obtainable forever, and resale value is the highest. But, budget can always be a concern and its your money so buy whatever works for you.

 

[Millwood]

I bought a Kubota B3300SU in 2014. I is open air. I have looked at the flimsy aftermarket cabs available and am NOT impressed.

Since most of my jobs involve snow, the FEL works great, but it does get damn cold and at 74 it's not fun. If I had it to do over, I would get a cab.

 

[hoardac]

35hp and up are easier to get in and out of with a cab.

 

[YardBikeBob]

How are your knees? I am 67 with a 40hp no-cab tractor losing the battle on 120 wooded acres in the MIssouri Ozarks. Wife is not the helper she once was.

My tractor is great! I can (eventually) do anything! But what I'm usually doing is getting in and out of the tractor to adjust 'stuff' for the work I'm doing in the woods all by myself. My knees are not great and it seems I'm only good at looking over my right shoulder anymore.

The point is, it doesn't sound like you'll be spending pleasent hours in an a/c cab if you're maintaining trails and doing woods work. You'll be getting in an out a lot during a project. So you might consider a 25-hp open station tractor just because it is easier to step in and out of and it is a hell of lot more capable than you are without it.

 

[mic214]

When we lived in New Mexico I had an open station Kubota L3901. We had almost 7 acres at the house and 140 acres of hunting property about an hour away. We were up in the mountains in Lincoln County, so the weather was not too severe in winter or summer. I never had an issue with bugs either.

We recently moved to Northern Colorado To a much smaller place (4-1/2 acres). I ended up selling my L3901 and getting an LX2610 with a cab. So far, it has been perfect for my needs. The cab is great in the winter when I am plowing the driveway and the main road in our cul de sac. It is also really nice to have A/C in the summer months when the temps get in the low 100’s. I especially like the cab during July and August when the biting horse flies are out!

I’m 65 by the way

 

[RB5]

I bought a Deere 4044M a few years ago. I debated back and forth about getting a cab. It would be nice when mowing my fields. I have 61 acres. The problem is a lot of what I do with the tractor couldn't be done with a cab due to trees in the way. Even part of my driveway would be difficult to grade. It would be nice to mow and mow for hours with the a/c on and the stereo going. I could see getting a cab if my land were more open and I baled hay myself. I have someone else that does it. I decided not to buy 2 tractors and went without the cab. Everyone has to decide exactly what best does the job for their property.

 

[RB5]

When we lived in New Mexico I had an open station Kubota L3901. We had almost 7 acres at the house and 140 acres of hunting property about an hour away. We were up in the mountains in Lincoln County, so the weather was not too severe in winter or summer. I never had an issue with bugs either.

We recently moved to Northern Colorado To a much smaller place (4-1/2 acres). I ended up selling my L3901 and getting an LX2610 with a cab. So far, it has been perfect for my needs. The cab is great in the winter when I am plowing the driveway and the main road in our cul de sac. It is also really nice to have A/C in the summer months when the temps get in the low 100’s. I especially like the cab during July and August when the biting horse flies are out!

I’m 65 by the way

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I hate those dang horse flies. They usually don't bother me much in the morning before it gets hot, but it's been around 105 here lately. They started buzzing me at 8AM while I was watering my peach trees.

 

[crhunts]

Buy the cab...you will be GLAD you did!!

 

[wickemite]

OK, so this will be my first tractor, IF I do buy one. Maybe my last one, too, as I turned 73 recently and don't imagine this will be a periodic thing for me to do over my remaining years.

BTW, my apologies if this is posted in the wrong place. I looked for a section for newbie style questions, but didn't find one.

I am located in north Florida. 50 acres of mostly heavily wooded land. Getting to where doing minor clearing manually is no longer as much fun as it used to be. I had a heart attack last year. Wife has diagnosed with stage 4 ovarian cancer last year. Yeah 2022 REALLY sucked. So, things are stacking against us to be doing a lot of (any?) heavy lifting. I don't know how much and for how long I will have my wife's help when I just need an extra pair of hands. And the hands and arms I have just ain't what they used to be, neither. A couple of weeks ago when I wanted to move a concrete bird bath across the yard, that got me to REALLY thinking that something to help me with the lifting would have been nice to have. Something like an engine hoist on wheels, even.

So I believe I need motorized help. Friend of mine has a tractor and has come over several times to help me with some things. He would just shake his head and tell me he doesn't understand why I haven't bought a tractor a long time ago. "Good exercise" I would tell him, doing this all manually. But things have changed. Of course he says he will always be here to help me, but he has his own medical problems and I can't expect to keep leaning on him for tractor help.

Here in north Florida, we have a few seasons where riding an open tractor into the woods might not be a pleasant experience. Yellow fly season, mosquito season, hot and humid season, and the fall ground nesting habits of yellow jackets are always an unpleasant surprise. Oh yeah, and those large spiders forming webs at unexpected places between the trees. Not keen on getting those webs wrapped around my face. All seem to point to having a cab on a tractor so I could keep on tractoring, regardless of those environmental hurtles and unpleasant surprises.

But I have some doubts. I want a smaller tractor, likely one of the less than 25 horsepower models. My plan is to clear AROUND most of the trees, not try to knock them over or dig them up. So small size would help with that. Now, I know air conditioning robs horsepower from any engine it is attached to. How much would the air conditioning in a cab on a 25 horsepower tractor impact the usefulness of the thing? Wouldn't make much sense to have to choose between using the AC or running a flail mower when needed, if the tractor didn't have the power to run both simultaneously, now would it? So is there a MINIMUM horsepower rating for a tractor engine below which having a cab with AC is just pure folly?

And there is the issue of driving through woods with the cab. Are they designed to take some arguments with tree branches and not get damaged excessively? The way I am thinking about it, I WILL have tree branches to contend with. But it is not too bad. Mostly small saplings that I would want to take out anyway. Pine trees tend to put their branches up high around here. I guess I would rather have those branches scraping and slapping at the cab rather than my head and upper body. And I suppose the ROP guard would likely catch many of them anyway, just hopefully not bending them forward and down to knock my hat off. I guess I could take the time with a polesaw to take out many of the lower branches, but that puts me back in the environmental concerns that had me thinking about getting the cab in the first place. Walking through the woods with a pole saw would not be any more fun than driving through the woods at those above mentioned challenging seasons.

Are the doors and windows of these cabs field replaceable repairs? And are they made of actual glass (perhaps impact resistant?) or just some plastic that would get scratched all to hell from the branches?

Just a silly idea wanting to get a small tractor with a cab anyway? Suck it up, buttercup, face the elements and take the scars? Or just sell the place and go live in a condo on the beach and forget about the whole thing?

Yeah, I know. Expecting answers mostly beginning with "Well, it depends......."

I am way north of Florida. Have three tractors, all old like me and in the 45-47 HP range. One 4wd, the other two are 2WD. Also a 350 49 hp Case Crawler/Dozer. All open station. Fun things to play with at 82 years young. Any of them will do amazing things. I prefer old stuff, all diesel because I can easily maintain the stuff. A cab is to my way of thinking a personal choice. To each his own. I find parts are easy to come by in that power class range, so many of them out there. Things are lots of fun. Have a buddy, turned 91 and also has several oldie ,goodies. Having a great time playing with his stuff. Some units date back to the 1940,s