Curtis cab

[Jimmy Joe]

I found a new Curtis cab for my DX 40, dealer has had it for almost three years now. It comes with heater for $2500.00, they no longer make my tractor or the Curtis cab to fit it. Should I jump on this deal or pass, are people happy with their Curtis cabs? I'm really leaning toward getting it, I have until end of April to decide.

 

[JJZ 109]

I found a new Curtis cab for my DX 40, dealer has had it for almost three years now. It comes with heater for $2500.00, they no longer make my tractor or the Curtis cab to fit it. Should I jump on this deal or pass, are people happy with their Curtis cabs? I'm really leaning toward getting it, I have until end of April to decide.

Any other details? Glass or plastic windows? Hard plastic, vinyl or glass doors? Wipers or defrosters?
These things make a difference. I looked into a Curtis several years ago for the JD 790 that I had at the time. Looked like a low budget cab with a premium price in my case, so I swapped the tractor for something with a factory cab.

 

[jenkinsph]

That would be a tough call imo, in your locale a cab tractor would be much more comfortable for sure. I think I would compare trading up to a factory cab tractor before making the decision. The Curtis cab isn't near as nice as a factory cab and won't add much value to your tractor if you decide to trade up later.

Which way I would go would depend on how much winter use I had for the tractor and how much difference in cost to trade up. I would prefer to skip the Curtis cab as it will not hold up as well as your tractor.

 

[hr3]

If you like your tractor and plan on keeping it I'd buy it in a heart beat.. I think I paid about 4 gr for mine a few years back and love it,, very tuff..

I have the soft doors and the rest is glass.. Heater works great windsheild wiper works great too.. :thumbsup:

 

[Jimmy Joe]

My understanding is it is a hard cab all around with glass windows, hard doors that remove in summer, just lift off. Not sure if it has wipers in front just assumed it did. All good points will check further, trading for a factory cab tractor would be major money, not too interested in that and I really like the tractor, the loader is a perfect fit and with the sloped hood visibility using the loader is second to nothing I have tried.

 

[DABSGT]

I have a Curtis hard cab on my JD x855. Purchased tractor last fall had a snow plow with FEL. I have found that the glass makes for good visibility, wiper works good and the heat in a snow storm kept me nice and toasty. If the tractor is going to get lots of winter use that seems like a good deal.

 

[amkfken]

I have had my Curtis Cab for 4 years now, bought it with my new tractor. It has plastic windows in the doors and behind the seat, glass windshield with wiper. I have no heater and don't want one no need as far as I am concerned.
Looks like a great price, go for it!!

 

[garf658]

I would grab that deal for the price... I bought the hardside cab on a pallet 4 yrs ago for $3700. It took two of us about 6 hrs to install on the L3830. Now countless hours later I have a 4 cct fuse panel fed from a 50A breaker, ft/rr work lights, rear view mirror, heater with fresh filtered air, aux 12v plug for the heated seat pad, gun boot hangar, frt wiper (was included), rear wiper (from a wrecker IH cab) that bolted into the predrilled glass holes. I was really pleased with how the loader valve fit through the front lower glass porthole in the cab, no need for any mods except popping out the glass. I can still lower the ROPS and squeeze under the 7 ft garage door. The lockable door latches still work flawlessly, the weather stripping against the fender wells all fits tight, the headliner is still glued in place. For sound protection I wear a set of AO Safety Worktunes, they even work great for FM reception. The biggest drawback to this cab IMO is the radiated heat from the console and floor. As a trade-off the heater in Winter easily makes up for it.
I planned on installing some reflector bubble wrap to block the heat from those areas, but now I have a 5740 with factory cab A/C for those hot days (could not resist the deal on this one!!) One thing I will have to be careful with is not scraping the new fiberglass roof under the spruce and pine limbs like I always have previously with the metal Curtis cab.

 

[mjncad]

The dealer has had it for 3-years now, and you're the first interested party? Offer him $1,500 for it.

I agree with JJZ 109's opinion on Curtis cabs.

 

[JJZ 109]

My understanding is it is a hard cab all around with glass windows, hard doors that remove in summer, just lift off. Not sure if it has wipers in front just assumed it did. All good points will check further, trading for a factory cab tractor would be major money, not too interested in that and I really like the tractor, the loader is a perfect fit and with the sloped hood visibility using the loader is second to nothing I have tried.

Could be worth looking into if its all glass and has hard doors. Way back when I was investigating a Curtis they wanted serious money for a cab with vinyl doors, no heat/defrost or wipers.
I was thinking about moving from a gear to hydro tractor anyway, so the cab issue just pushed me a little sooner. I was tired of looking like the abominable snowman whenever I had to use the blower.
Like mjncad says, it can't hurt to try and low ball them a little bit if its been sitting around for that long and they want to be rid of it. But if it has the glass & doors like garf's I think I'd snap it up for $2500.

 

[Jimmy Joe]

He wanted $4000.00 three years ago, I called him a few months ago and he said $3900.00 so I went to a Cub Cadet dealer and saw one on a smaller tractor. It was partially a soft side cab and I was not too impressed. I went to a lawn and garden show and the guy was there, he told me I needed that cab. I told him I saw one and no way are they worth that kind of money.

He said make an offer so I told him he would not like my offer, he said "I haven't heard it yet". I told him $2500.00, he asked if I had anything to trade, I said I would give him the IH hat I was wearing. I told him I can hear the boss telling him "Get that thing out of here, someone is going to hit it and break the glass, it is just collecting dust'! He said he was writing it down. Two weeks later he calls and says they will accept the offer.

I am going to call tonight and confirm the hard cab and doors and glass, if so I will buy it I don't think I could come near building it for that price. I hope he forgets about taking my hat as partial trade.

 

[Jimmy Joe]

He got back to me today all is as I thought it was so I decided to take it.

 

[garf658]

Good for you Jimmy. I think you'll be happy with it, especially when winter sets in again.

 

[mpham]

Glad you got it. I have a Curtis cab on my Kioti and it works great. Has solid doors,heat and front wiper. I remove the doors for the summer.

 

[Jimmy Joe]

Thanks Garf658 the older I get the less I appreciate the cold so the cab will be a big plus.


Phil I'm glad to hear you and a few others like their Curtis cab, for the money I don't think I can go too wrong. When you remove the doors do you just lift them off the pins or is there something else to remove first.

I have a friend who has his own car repair business, he put a Kozy cab on his dad's tractor, he offered to help put mine on. You can bet I will take him up on the offer he is very good at getting things done right. When I pick up the cab I'm dropping it off right at his shop and he will haul my tractor over. He even has a forklift to unload it if we need it. I'll keep you posted, but I won't get it until the end of the month.

Thanks everyone for all the insight it helped a lot in my decision.

 

[mpham]

Doors lift right off. Mine are heavy though as they are steel and glass. I have removed them alone but help is better.

 

[varmint]

Jimmy Joe: you gotta complete this thread and post some photos when you get your new cab installed! Seems to me that $2500 is nothing, if you will getting such a major improvement in your equipment. Next winter, you will wish you'd done it years before.

 

[Jimmy Joe]

Phil, good to hear the doors are heavy. D
o you have any issues with the windows fogging up in cold weather?

Varmint I sure have been thinking about a cab for quite a while. I will try and post the before, during and after pictures when we get around to installing it.

 

[mpham]

o you have any issues with the windows fogging up in cold weather?

Yes, they can fog pretty good when snow blowing and they get wet. I have a heater with mine so I added some extra fans and keep wiping supplies in the cab. Usually for me it is just the rear that gets the worse as that is where the blower is.

 

[daveinnh]

Jimmy:

I too have a Curtis cab. A fan mounted on the roof in the right rear corner of the cab is ball-mounted, so it can be swiveled for effect.

One thing I'd change during assembly is to mount a bigger front wiper blade for better coverage. The std. provided by Curtis is too small.

The heater unit used to vibrate something fierce until I twisted a joist hanger to the top and the front. Be sure not to drill thru the core of course.

Also, I wired 2 front and one rear lights off the top of the cab - mounted thru the Curtis bolt-holes. (I use the rear to check the rear blade when plowing snow at night).

Consider getting Curtis' distribution box for wiring and control.