DO NOT BUY TC40/45

[hazmat]

Kubota, NH, John Deere and all the other compact producers did not build these tractors for commercial use. They were built more for homeowners.


Robert -

????? I strongly disagree. I understand that you are farming with your tractors, but there are many other "commercial" uses that suit a compact better.

There are countless compacts being used for landscaping, snow removal, mowing, golf course / atheletic field maintanence etc. The local rental yard has a few Kubota TLBs that have a couple thousand hours & are still running in top shape.

While I am the "yuppie homeowner" with the Kubota that Dougster referred to I never babied my TC18 & got 680 near trouble free (1 leaking front hub fixed under warranty) hours out of it in 5 years.

As an engineer - I highly doubt the manufacturers are purposefully "derating" the compacts so that they will break in X hours / years causing you to buy a new one. Rather they keep adding new capabality / features so you want to upgrade.

 

[Robert_in_NY]

Well, that settles that once and for all. Brian and I and anyone else out there trying to use an under 48 HP tractor for commercial purposes are doomed. How stupid of us.

Dougster

Take it however you want.

 

[Robert_in_NY]

Hazmat, I never said these machines couldn't do the work people are doing with them what I did say is they are not designed for it over the long haul. It is not uncommon for a large farm to put 2000 hours on a tractor in one year with the majority of the hours working the machine the way it is suppose to work.

I am not saying they de-rate these machines, they just don't build them to handle the high hours/high work load that some people think they should. Why build a tractor to run 24/7 when 90% (rough guess at the figure) of the owners are people who use the tractor less then 10 hours a week. A tractor like a TS-A (T6000) now which is more geared towards the dairy farm/hay operations where they use these machines 30-40 hours a week need to be built for those conditions and workload. Am I right?

And most of the landscapers I know use skid steers for the heavy work and compacts for the light finish work. The Golf courses here use TN's and 5000 series JD's to mow their lawns and trade machines quite often (I am not saying some don't have compacts but the ones here don't).

Do you have a lot of people using compact tractors for commercial snow removal in your area? If so then there is something in your water as a compact tractor is not a great snow removal tractor. They can not handle a large blade and they are too light to really be effective. I use my 1920 to take care of the snow at the apartments as it does the job better then a shovel but I use the TN at the farm. The commercial guys run trucks and heavy loaders with large snow blades attached to the bucket.

 

[hazmat]

Many college / business campuses use compacts to remove snow from the paths crossing the "quads". They fit the niche where you don't want to do it by hand or with a walk behind unit, but can't fit a "full size" machine / truck in there.

For road or parking lot work, of course, big trucks & loaders etc.

 

[LoneCowboy]

You have to use the correct tool for the job.
I don't disagree a utility is a much better tractor and if you search my posts, you'll see that.
But not ina 1 acre plot
And I do lots of 1 to 5 acres.
If i can use the utility, I do, but many times I cannot, the compact has to do. Sometimes even only a subcompact will do (and those I don't do, but someone does)
I agree the compact won't last like a utility and my posts over time have shown that. The utility has lower maint. costs and will last much longer.
But, it needs some space. I'll tell you this week i've been on 3 acre property moving 100's of tons of sand. (riding arenas), the biggest gate they have is 6 foot. Guess what? I'm using a compact, and I understand it won't last 10,000 hours like a utility, but it's not designed to.

I do expect my compacts to work out of the box and pull implements designed for it. Notice I don't pull my 8' mower with my 45hp tractor, that's too much. But a 6' mower isn't and in fact it really should be able to pull a 7'. But this current TC45 barely pulls a 6' up a hill. (in low low, it won't even max out)

And I haven't condemned all of NH"s line (yet ), I have my TN75 and love it. But, they (NH) do need to step up tomorrow. We shall see.

 

[Robert_in_NY]

Brian, don't take my discussion with Dougster as a post towards you. I know there are jobs that compacts can do easier then a utility. That is why I own one. But like you I don't use the compact to mow 20 acres, I use the 7710 unless that is hooked up to something else then I use the TN.

Good luck with your meeting. Hopefully NH will give you a new tractor and a new dealer.

 

[Farmwithjunk]

I think his comment was a bit tongue in cheek...

M E ? I wouldn't do a thing like that. No SIR. NO WAY NO HOW!

 

[JerryG]

They are only built as tough, as durable, as strong, as long lasting as the majority of the people that buy them need. See how the commercial TLB has evolved from a farm tractor platform to what it is today. The commercial TLB needed to be much stronger than it was originally. If the home user as a whole suddenly jumped from using their compact tractor 100 hours a year to 500 hours a year, then the compact would have to go through many changes. Different companies even view their purpose differently. Some reduce the weight dramatically for mowing while other purposely built them with more robust jobs in mind. Different tractors for different jobs.

 

[Cobra-R]

Good luck with your meeting. Hopefully NH will give you a new tractor and a new dealer.

I don't understand, what did the dealer do wrong? Correct me if I am wrong, was this tractor built by the dealer? Is he resposible for it breaking? Heck, he has the least amount of control over a product than anyone. He doesn't design it, build it, and he doesn't operate it, but he is one of the first to be blamed.

LoneCowboy said himself in post #7 on page 1: "I don't disagree that my dealer's service department is less than optimum But none of these are setup or dealer issues."

He also mentioned that when he stopped and talked to the manager of the dealership, the manager immediately said to get the rep on the phone............. I don't know why everyone is so fast to condemn the dealer.


Brian

 

[Soundguy]

I agree with Jinman... A single instance does not automatically create a trend.

also agree that yuor unit is bad.. I wouldn't want a repair either.. I'd want a replacement..

Soundguy

Brian, my experience is quite different from yours (see attachment). Not only do I get lots of work done everytime I use my tractor, it climbs hills with a load very well. In the photo, I have at least two buckets of dirt in that loader and made 100s of trips up and down the pond dam. I believe you have a bad tractor, but I believe it is wrong to condemn a whole model because of your misfortune. Your tractor may be junk, but mine is not.