Illusion or reality...curved loader arms/hood...?

[daedong]

Henro,

The curves seem to have won the day.

Is there a threat of invasion of your country /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[MikePA]

Attached is a combination of both pictures. As you can see, they are not taken from the same perspective.

<font color="blue"> I've noticed that when a few "leaders" on the board stake-out a position on a feature, or an issue, that position gets repeated by a few others...</font>
It could also be that others actually have the same opinion. /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

Your message implies that others are simply 'following the leader'. Spending more time on TBN will show that TBNers are not shy about politely voicing their opinions. There are no "leaders" on TBN, simply people who, over the years, have provided accurate and helpful advice to many people and therefore have earned the respect of others. They typically do not just offer an opinion, they also include the reasons why they have this opinion which, more often than not, includes personal experiences and qualifications for why their experience may not apply in every situation.

<font color="blue">...and becomes the factual position that is used repeatedly. </font>
We're not talking facts here, we're talking opinions and everyone has one. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[ronjhall]

I don't have curved loader arms on my FEL. /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif

But they sure do look pretty on other tractors. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

I have attached a picture showing Mike and My tractors.

 

[MikePA]

The sloping hood allows seeing the top of the center of the bucket. Might be important to some.

While the sloping hood and curved loader arms do reduce blind spots, I think the primary reason for both of them was aesthetics which had a secondary benefit of improving visibility and reducing blind spots. IOW, New Holland (for example) redesigned their line of tractors to look less boxy, from the fenders in the back to the hood in the front. They got all the tractors done (except the TC30) and on the market, then redesigned the loaders to complement the design of the tractors.

 

[Henro]

Ron,

The perspective is closer to being the same in the picture you posted of your tractor.

Interesting that while on the blue one, it looks like the center of the bucket would be more visable, on yours the side areas of the bucket are clearly more visable than in the blue picture, where the curved loader arms block the view (I think that is what I am seeing...).

I guess at this point I can honestly say I like them both equally well... /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif

 

[mark777]

Your side by side pix are the best comparison I have seen so far. I will seriously consider a curved arm FEL on a future purchase. I especially like the lateral visibility on the bucket ends.....something I never really considered before.

 

[thcri]

Henro,

Since you wife is out of town why don't you take yourself a drive and test drive one of them blue ones and see how you like it. I am sure that you will find that while being nice it would not be the determining factor of which tractor one should buy. I think it would be kind of like "I like Ford pickups", while there is things I like better on the GM it is not enough for me to buy the GM over the Ford. Even if you like the new arms you won't be running home to clean one of them orange ones for trade in.



murph

 

[ThistleKop]

Thanks Mike. Now that I've been initiated into the group, I feel better already.

TK

 

[jinman]

Okay, I'm a little late to this thread, but it reminds me of my friend who is very overweight. He hasn't been able to see his feet over his belly in years, but he still walks just fine. /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

I guess we all get used to whatever we have. I sure like being able to see all of my loader bucket, but for those with quick attach plates and forks, they should be able to see much, much better without the hood in the way. How about it, PineRidge? How is your visibility loading pallets?

One of my favorite things is to mow with my loader off my tractor. I can look right down and see what's in the grass just in front of my hood. Maybe it's just a perception, but I don't give a darn about style. One of these days we'll have cameras on the bucket and it won't matter. We'll all be able to see exactly what we are doing. That's an option I'd love to have. /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif

 

[Steve_Miller]

I've stayed out of this long enough, time to get bashed. I have the CK20 and I think the curved arms make the tractor look alot better than actually being a big advantage for viewing. Before I bought I had a B7610, TC24DA and the CK20 in my yard for a night to try each one out. I ran them through some functions that I would normally do with my old B7200. They all functioned pretty much the same with the exception that on my old B7200 I thought I still had a better view of the bucket than any of the new ones. There were some obvious reasons for this. One, My old B7200 had a four foot bucket so I could look out around the side to see the side of the bucket and the hood was narrower. As for the new ones I couldn't see around unless I undid the seatbelt (which was a NO-NO). As for seeing the full width of the bucket I see no advantage, as long as you can see the level indicator you can half-**** guess where level is. (I prefer Kubota's level indicator over the rod type). The smallest bucket was on the B7610 (50") and you couldn't see much of the bucket over the hood (didn't matter to me). The TC24 (54") had the best view of the bucket overall, from what I could tell is that you were a few inches higher in the air. As stupid as this sounds I felt that you were to high in the air on this tractor and I didn't find it very comfortable because of this. I thought that it put your center of gravity much higher than the tractor's (if you know what I mean). I noticed in the ride that you got thrown around more than you did on both of the others. I tried lowering the air pressure but it didn't help. Anyhow the Kioti didn't have as good of a view as the NH from my perspective. Like I said unless your wanting to see the center portion of the bucket a lot of the time it doesn't make any difference other than its prettier with the curved loader arms.

Steve