Is it here yet?

[OverlyRun]

Blue,

I like my TC35 so much, I cannot imagine what your 29 must have been like. I might have to test drive one to see what wonders I've missed.

I have no prior tractor to compare my TC35 with, but I do lots of work in the woods and mowing a very rough pasture. Shuttle shift and gears work pretty well. Range lever is more balky, but do you really change ranges that often? Or is 35 just enough more weight than 29 that any shifting is clunkier?

BTW, what is with the dates that TBN is assigning to the posts in this thread? They show up here as out of order and going back to 2000.

Chas

 

[have_blue]

</font><font color="blueclass=small">( Have_blue, I'm glad your tractor has arrived and I'm sorry it's not everything you expected. </font><font color="blueclass=small">

Thanks Jim. The long wait is over, for better or worse. It's like going on a honeymoon with a wife you never dated. You get good and bad surprises. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

As I said, there were too many annoyances/concerns to post, so I suppose my abbreviated gripes raised as many questions as they provided helpful information. Most complaints are in comparison to my previous tractor/loader, and are not absolute.

Here are a few clarifications on some of the annoyances. Mind you, none are so serious that I can not fix or learn to live with them, or the tractor would go back to NH. I don't think that's happening! /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Noise: Engine is much noisier than my TC29. More exhaust noise, diesel clatter, and mechanical whine. Same engine, just more displacement...must be the muffler and extra ponies mixing it up in there.

Pedals: Gas pedal is in right field. Glad I seldom use it, because it nearly gives me a groin pull when I do. /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif
Both brake and clutch are pretty far off the centerline, and will take some stretching and getting used to on my part.

Clutch engages suddenly very low on the pedal. That may smooth out. The first 1" of pedal travel feels like the spring is anemic. I may drill a new hole for the pedal spring and move it to prevent the clutch pedal from being too easy to depress for the first inch or 2. I sometime like to keep my foot on it, and do not like it to depress until I want it to. (OK, smirk with your HST. Score 1 "I told you so" for Jim!)

Working the 3PH lever has resulted in accidentally bumping the joy stick 3 times already, resulting in sudden bucket drop. The low joy stick location will take much getting used to, but I think I may eventually like it. Incidentally, the 3PH action is very smooth and positive. It's much better than my "old" tractor, which was only 2 years old.

There is a lot of slack in the bucket and cylinder pins. The Woods didn't have that much slack until 300-400 hours of the total 525 hours on it. The scoop bottom is too short or shallow making it remind me somewhat more of a deep dozer blade than a scoop. I find it impossible to skim soft dirt and get a nice heaping scoopful so far. Scoop capacity is very small for the 72" length.

Why NH chose to put a false bottom in the scoop is beyond my comprehension. Ding concealment perhaps? Why not add the metal to the scoop thickness and be more ding resistant?

Up/down modulation is very imprecise. It's hard to skim an inch or 2 withoug gouging or breaking out. The scoop will not touch the ground in the full rolled back position, making smoothing/packing impossible. I will miss this important function. Back grading is also limited if not useless. The scoop fully uncurls mushy, just hanging on the linkage. There are no positive stops! No nice BANG against a stop to dislodge the last clinging dirt. Neither is there a bang at full roll back to jar the dirt level inside the scoop. Just little things for sure, but very important when you move dirt all day long.

Scoop level rod rubs against hydraulic lines when going to full roll back. This will definitely wear holes in the lines. Duct tape to the rescue until the dealer returns with my grill guard and my new hood parts (which were damaged in shipment). I think he can twist or loop the lines to avoid rubbing, but I'm not sure. How about yours?

Shifter is very stiff, 4WD lever is stiffer than stiff. Shuttle shifter is OK...I love it!

See, I've already wrote a big page, and not even warmed up yet. /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif

A soon as day breaks, I will hit the pond and see if the FEL is salvagable. Too bad NH put this bucket on the end of such an elegant boom.

Here's my main gripe (see attachment). Drawing is grotesquely exaggerated for clarity. /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

Mind you, this scoop is probably fine for the average dirt slinger, but I move so much dirt that I need good productivity. My TC29 and little 60" Woods loader puts this package to shame so far. I will either have to get better at using it, or work out a trade for another Woods FEL.

Well, it's daylight! See y'all tonight!

 

[have_blue]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( I like my TC35 so much, I cannot imagine what your 29 must have been like. I might have to test drive one to see what wonders I've missed. )</font>

Yea, the TC29 was a great little package. Seemed much more refined than the 35. The 29 was a good ladies tractor, the 35 is "rough and ready". I doubt my wife will like to drive the 35, because of the clutch. Did yours smooth out, or do you have HST?

Even with teething problems I really like it so far. For 1 thing, It nearly cut my mowing time in half. I just have some things to get used too...mostly the FEL. I did some FEL work yesterday with no implements on the 3PH with no tipping on slopes. Couldn't do that with the TC29! It tipped even with a plow with a large block of oak on it.

Charlie, are you looking at the posting date above, or the member sign-up date on the left? One thing I did was go in my personal preferences and show only the last 2 days of posts. Some of the threads go back 2 years! I think they should be expired (deleted) after 2 or 3 weeks.

 

[jinman]

Have_blue, I appreciate your clarification of the issues with your tractor. Your comments will be seen by a lot of folks here, and I just wanted to know some of your exact complaints. I think you have some valid points and some not-so-valid points, but that should be no surprise. I hope some things are just new or different rather than bad. Here are some of your complaints and my thoughts:

<font color="blue"> Noise: Engine is much noisier than my TC29. More exhaust noise, diesel clatter, and mechanical
whine. Same engine, just more displacement...must be the muffler and extra ponies mixing it up in there. </font>

I'll have to take your word for that. I'm a little hard of hearing /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif and my tractor seems quiet and smooth. My tractor's idle speed was low when I got it, but now it idles at approx. 1060 rpm as advertised.


<font color="blue"> Pedals: Gas pedal is in right field. Glad I seldom use it, because it nearly gives me a groin pull. </font>

I didn't even know there was a gas pedal on the gear tractors, but I looked it up in the Repair Manual and I agree. It looks dinky and way out from where your foot normally would rest. /forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif Maybe they planned it that way, but I think I'd be using the dash mounted hand throttle almost exclusively.

<font color="blue"> Both brake and clutch are pretty far off the centerline, and will take some stretching and getting
used to on my part. </font>

I think you will get used to it. I'm 6' tall, but I have little stubby 30" legs, and I like where the brake and hydro pedals are. The console is pretty wide, but I think you will adjust pretty quickly.

<font color="blue"> Clutch engages suddenly very low on the pedal. That may smooth out. </font>

I agree that most new clutches can surprise you. After the break-in period when you go back to your dealer or the 50 hr check, I'd have him adjust it more to my preference. ...and I'm not going to give you static at all about your selection of a gear tractor over HST. If everyone liked the same thing, we'd all be fighting over the same woman, or car, or property, or...you get my drift? /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif I have had several times I wished for gears on my tractor, but not many. It's just my preference and it's exactly what I expected. /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif

<font color="blue"> Working the 3PH lever has resulted in accidentally bumping the joy stick 3 times already, </font>

You'll get used to it and like it... I think. I used to have a car with the cruise control on a stalk that came out of the steering column. When I bought my truck, the cruise control is in the center of the steering wheel. I can't tell you how many times I washed my windshield at 70 mph when I meant to be setting the cruise control. /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif Now, I love the steering wheel location. BTW, if your 3PH control is too stiff, many of use have loosened the jam-nut where the shaft enters the hydraulic assy and that has cured our problem.

<font color="blue">There is a lot of slack in the bucket and cylinder pins. The Woods didn't have that much slack until 300-400 hours of the total 525 hours on it. The scoop bottom is too short or shallow making it remind me somewhat more of a deep dozer blade than a scoop. I find it impossible to skim soft dirt and get a nice heaping scoopful so far. Scoop capacity is very small for the 72" length.

Why NH chose to put a false bottom in the scoop is beyond my comprehension. Ding concealment perhaps? Why not add the metal to the scoop thickness and be more ding resistant? </font>

Wow! Are you sure you got a New Holland bucket? /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif You and I disagree very much on this point and it's got me
scratchin' my head for sure. /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif I've attached the specs for the NH bucket. You said the Woods 60 in bucket had more capacity, but I checked Woods data and the capacity of their bucket is 11.0 cubic ft. the NH bucket is 11.9 cu. ft struck and 13.7 heaped. Woods doesn't give the heaped capacity. The Woods 66" bucket does come in and 12.1 cubic feet, but that's very close to the 72" standard and heavy duty NH capacity of 11.9. If you had chosen the NH quick attach bucket, it's capacity is 13.1 cu. ft. struck and that exceeds both of the Woods buckets. The Woods 1012 does not have a recommended 72" bucket. You have to go to the 1016 to get the 72" bucket and it's capacity is 13.3 cu ft struck, which is very close to the NH quick attach bucket. I think your sketches are wrong. You may feel that way, but the numbers don't agree with your impression. I sure hope you didn't get the standard bucket. I do agree that the NH standard duty bucket is best suited to hauling manure. It surely can't do any real dirt work. My conclusion is that the 16LAs specs more closely parallel the Woods 1016, but you weren't planning on buying that loader. Also, the NH bucket is just under 300 lb, so that leaves a lot of your loader's lift capacity for the load in the bucket. An 800 lb bucket would mean I lose 500 lb of lift capacity. I'm not sure I'd want that. Do you have any idea what the Woods bucket weighs. The Gannon buckets for skid steers are very heavy, 800 lb ++. /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

<font color="blue"> The scoop fully uncurls mushy, just hanging on the linkage. There are no positive stops! No nice BANG against a stop to dislodge the last clinging dirt. </font>

You probably have discovered that it hangs there mushy for only a short time then, Bang! The hydraulics catch up to the regenerative dump and the cylinder reaches the end of its travel. I can shake my bucket really hard using the joystick at that point. It's not a hard slamming stop, but since your bucket has a false bottom, material doesn't get jammed in the back of the bucket and releases more easily in my opinion. If you like the hard stop other than the cylinder, you will probably not be happy, but I like not having to slam the bucket into a stop to get it to completely dump. To me this is a plus and I guess we'll just have to disagree on this point. /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif

<font color="blue"> Scoop level rod rubs against hydraulic lines when going to full roll back </font>

My loader doesn't have this problem, so I'm sure the bracket holding the level rod or the hydraulic lines can be routed away from the rod. This is something the dealer should have checked and adjusted correctly before delivery. On my tractor, the rod was mounted on the outside of the cylinder making it upside down when my tractor was delivered. /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif I just uttered a few choice words and changed the rod to the inside of the cylinder and adjusted everything. I guess I'm responsible for my rod not coming anywhere near my hoses.

<font color="blue"> Shifter is very stiff, 4WD lever is stiffer than stiff.</font>

Hey! I agree with something again. /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif The 4WD shifter takes some getting used to. The more you use it, the better it gets. I just make it part of my startup procedure to engage and disengage it a few times and I'm having good luck. Sometimes you have to rock the tractor in gear a little to get it to engage. I think it could be better, but honestly, I don't have any complaint since I've learned the little quirks of how to keep it operating smoothly.

Well, I hope you've had a good day of tractoring and have found that you are happier with your tractor. I'd sure hate for you to get stuck with something that made you really unhappy. I also feel a little responsible because I give the 16LA such high marks. I still believe everything I said, but I'm disappointed that as yet you are unhappy. I just wonder if the heavier bucket gives you that extra sense of control you feel you have lost with the 16LA. I'm baffled, but I'm not ready to admit defeat. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[have_blue]

Hi Jim,

Who said I'm not happy? I'm happy as a clam, and I have a sunburn on top of my suntan to prove it.

Ya, I got the standard bucket. Ya, I wish my bucket was configured like the Woods. I also wish the capacity was as high as the 66" or 72" Woods.

I'll have to try that shaking technique, and get used to the linkage. I have several large conical mounds of of topsoil that I piled with my little TC29 and Woods 1009 loader, and can't for the life of me add to their height. Seems the NH bucket and the linkage combine for a pivot point that is not really at the bucket hinge. My TC29 is gone, so I can't compare side by side. My memory may in fact be defective. /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif

In my sketch, I did not mean to say the NH bucket was very small compared to the Woods. It was the shape that I was pointing to. The bottom of the Woods scoop is long and flat, and it would skim cleanly and effortlessly. My guess is the NH will perhaps do this too, once I am used to it.

See, when I would level the Woods scoop and skim loose dirt, the bucket would fill and the dirt would heave upward, causing the bucket to fill nicely and round off. The NH doesn't do this, and I'm struggling to learn to round off my scoops. When the Woods would accidentally dig in, I could raise it and keep scooping without breaking rhythm. I must clutch and stop the tractor to raise the NH scoop. I don't know why this is. Perhaps the wider bucket takes way more power to break the dirt loose.

I'll see my dealer and ask him about a deeper bucket if one indeed exists. If he won't trade, no big deal. I'll just buy it. I need a new BBQ pit anyway. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

Wish I could exercise that 4WD lever and loosen it, but I can't budge it now. I've tried everything. Wrenched my back trying, now it'll have to wait. Good news is, 2WD traction is plenty enough for plowing and FEL work. This alone was justification for me to trade up to the TC35.

My main shifter is already loosening up, and I'm getting used to it. I'm in heaven with the synchro and the shuttle shifter. My TC29 had to be brought to a full halt to avoid gnashing of gears. Hey, this alone nearly justifies the TC35.

Don't you feel one bit responsible about anything. I'm nearly as old as you are <grinning, ducking, and running for cover>, and I am my own main advisor just as we all should be. I more than appreciate your measured, knowledgable feedback, believe me.

Right now I have a small handful of legitimate problems, and the rest are really matters of getting used to things. I will fix them or have my dealer do it, and I will be totally satisfied before a month has gone by.

Sunburn is too bad to work much today. Man, I've got to get a bigger hat! /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif

 

[jinman]

Have_Blue, after a good day's work, you should probably check the battery area and hose it off. If your dealer didn't take some of the acid out of the battery, you may find yourself getting your radiator and surrounding area replaced under warranty. I'm just mentioning this as a reminder because it's so easy to forget to check these things in the excitement of having a new tractor.

I think you "nailed it" on the wider 72" bucket taking more power to push. When working in the deep loose sand of my creek bottom, I found myself spinning both rears and both front wheels trying to push the bucket. If I could get the depth just right, it filled and flowed to the top just as you stated. The loose sand made it a challenge. My neighbor has a Kubota 34xx with ag tires and the one time he took it into the creek bottom, he got stuck with an empty bucket and had to use the bucket to pull himself out. I couldn't have cleaned out my creek unless I had the R4s, 4WD, and differential lock. I would have been stuck several times because the loose dry sand gave me very little traction and the wheels tried to sink. The thing I like abut the bucket is that it cuts a swath wider than my wheels. That way I don't end up suspended by ridges on the sides while the center is a narrow trench.

Someone else had a severe problem getting their tractor to engage 4WD, and it was suggested that they raise the front tires with the loader. That worked for them and maybe it might work for you too.

I'll have NH paid off in December of this year and that will give my budget some "play money" to use for tractor add-ons. I'm going to try to upgrade to the quick-attach system and bucket. I may be able to make you a good deal on a heavy-duty bucket with reversible cutter bar.(see attachment) I wanted the quick-attach setup when I got my tractor, but they weren't available. Now everyone who has one seems to really like it.

In the hot sun, I try to remember to swap my ballcap for a big goofy lookin' straw hat. The brim is huge and it has a drawstring I can put under my chin. Mowing around trees I've probably "mowed" half-a-dozen ballcaps and hats without a drawstring. /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif This goofy lookin' one will probably stay with me 'til my dying day. /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif

 

[have_blue]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Someone else had a severe problem getting their tractor to engage 4WD, and it was suggested that they raise the front tires with the loader. That worked for them and maybe it might work for you too. )</font>

I knew that. I have no idea WHY I did not think of it. /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif What day is this anyway?

Yea, I gotta get a big hat AND buy or fabricate a shade to bolt on to my ROPS. Just like in the Texas hill country, the sun is brutal here. Skin cancer is no stranger to the old farmers.

Hey, sounds like a possible deal in the making on that bucket.

But wait!

I hear a little voice of ignorance asking "What is the difference in the Std. and the HD bucket?". I can't find a doggoned thing on the Web about it, and NH's web site has nothing. Can you fill me in, just generally? I know there is a slight weight difference, but do not know where the weight is added.

I tried back grading and pushing-packing with fully curled bucket yesterday. It was not pretty. Back grading works only on very fluffydirt where is is not really useful anyway. Pushing-packing does not work at all, because the bucket will not lower fully to the ground. Maybe if I let some air out...ACK! Water, I mean...

 

[jinman]

I don't know if the NH HD bucket has different mounting, but my HD bucket will touch the ground when it's curled all the way back and I lower the arms. I'm not sure on that issue, but I think I know the main differences in the buckets and I labeled them on the attached photo.

When I back drag, I normally do it with the cutting edge. I've used the back of the bucket, but I sure prefer the edge because I can change its angle as needed. If I have loose dirt, I float the bucket and vary the angle of the edge for the best result. Of course, if I want the extra weight of a full bucket, I have to use the back of the bucket as you suggest. I'm not sure if my technique is the best, but it works for me.

 

[have_blue]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( I'm not sure on that issue, but I think I know the main differences in the buckets and I labeled them on the attached photo)</font>

Doh. That's my bucket...

Thanks for the lesson Jim, and thanks for going to all the trouble to edit and post pictures. NH needs more info on their web site. Maybe they'll catch up soon.

 

[OverlyRun]

Have_Blue - you are right about the posting vs sign up dates. /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif

I have the HD bucket on my 16LA and back dragged with the back of the bucket this weekend to pull dirt back over a stump hole (pulled with the toothbar going forward). Since it is hard to see, took a few passes to get height correct so that the pile I was smoothing got smaller, not larger. But once I got it, it worked great.

My TC 35 is geared - all the stickiness w 4WD control etc I have too...but change that pretty infrequently.

My complaint: headlights are blocked by the bucket unless I carry it pretty high...or very, very low. Makes it sporting coming back in a hurry through the woods from the lower field late in the day...especially as days are already shorter here.

Chas