Impossible Choice?

[Henro]

<font color="blue"> Henro .. the attachment was there to confuse people that own too many tractors. </font>

Gee...I didn't mean to make you think you should delete that picture! /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif I say put it back. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

By the way, I thought you were just slightly better looking than Junkman when I saw that shot... /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif

(that is your picture under your name, isn't it Junkman???)

 

[thcri]

To me a Hoe would be like the loader. You would be surpised on how many uses you would come up for it. I think the TC30 is a good tractor and I would not worry too much about warranty issues. If it is Hydro compared to the Kubota then you would be making a good decision on the New Holland.

just my 2 cents

murph

 

[fishman]

Man, I wish I had a backhoe. /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif

However, I like my HST so much that I don't think I would give it up, or the advantage it gives me (at least) when doing FEL work. So if the TC30 was gear and had 500 hours or more, it would be 7800 all the way.

 

[OkeeDon]

I had a choice between a brand new TC18 without a hoe for less than $14K and a used TC33 with a hoe for about $17K; both had loaders, although the TC18 was the new 12LA and the TC33 was the older 7308. The two loaders have similar enough specs that there was no advantage to the loader on the larger tractor.

The extra horsepower and larger frame on the TC33 was tempting, but not necessary. My land is flat, and the dealer was honest enough to reassure me that the TC18 would do everything I wanted it to do.


So, the difference really came down to the hoe, although there were some other factors that influenced my decision. I could get zero% financing for 3 years on the TC18 and fairly high interest on the TC33 because it was used. The warranty was pretty much expired on the used machine. While the hours were low (230) on the used machine, it looked like it had been ridden hard and put away wet. And, finally, the hoe was a Bradco mounted to the 3 point hitch, not an OEM New Holland hoe.

My choice was the TC18. There have been a couple of occasions when I would have liked to have had the hoe, but I've worked around them. The dealer was correct; the TC18 has been enough tractor for my needs. For the money I saved, over $3K plus the interest over 3 years, I can rent a larger tractor/loader/backhoe or a mini excavator when I need a hoe and have money left over. Besides, I don't like the way that hoes are configured on CUTs -- I don't like to have to scramble around and change seats if I want to move the tractor.

 

[Henro]

<font color="blue"> Man, I wish I had a backhoe. /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif </font>

Fishman,

You make me want to stand up, beat my chest and say...

Man, I'm glad I have a backhoe! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[Yankee]

I'd never driven a gear tractor before a week ago. Finally got around to doing an extended demo of one - a TC30, which I drove around the dealer's lot for the better part of an hour, every gear, forward and back, again and again and again. Not only was the transmission a piece of cake, it was smoother (much to my surprise) than the hydros I've tried to-date. It has me re-thinking to the point where I've started looking into what compacts have sync and powered gear transmissions.

Problem is that most compacts with gear transmissions have transmission-driven PTOs (the FWD TC30 is live), plus I'd prefer the smaller frame size of a B7610 or a TC24. Unfortunately, I don't think I can get it all, so it will probably dome down to smaller with hydro or a bit larger with gears.

Yankee Bill