Laurin cab experience

[lhansman]

I have a B26 and am considering putting a Laurin cab on it. I live an hour north of Toronto so definitely need heat but will probably opt for A/C as well since we do get some warm summer days as well. I did a search on Laurin I noticed there are a few members that have purchased Laurin cabs and would like to get your feedback on them.

I get temperatures from -20C to +33C so if you can comment on the heating and A/C performance that would be great.

M Kubota dealer thinks I would be buying a "dog with fleas" and instead thinks I should look at the Kubota B3000 with cab and attachments. This does have some attraction as I could get a front mount snow blower and a mid-mount mower but the cost with tractor and cab, MMM, snow blower, loader and backhoe puts me into L45 territory. He is also claiming that the sound isolation is not good with non factory cabs but I wear ear protection anyway.

I use the B26 for side jobs during the spring, summer and fall and get a lot of work because of the backhoe so I like the Laurin cab as I can be "inside" while digging which is not the case with the B3000. In the winter I just use the B26 for snow removal of my large driveway and a couple of my neighbours. This year I plan on purchasing a rear mount blower for the B26 so I started thinking of getting a cab.

Any feedback you can give me on Laurin cabs would be much appreciated.

 

[Scooby074]

Been in a few laurin cabs. Not on compacts, but larger machines and they seem fine. Heat is OK. Cant speak to AC. Fit and finish isnt like a Lexus, but remember its a tractor. Their newer designs appear to be more refined?

Not sure what a cab on a small BX would do for the machines centre of gravity? Id be a bit worried about making it unstable with all that weight up high.Plus it would make the machine physically larger which might negate some of the Bs's advantages.

Only issue ive seen with Laurin is they seem to rust out pretty fast especially in the dog legs. Rest of the tractor could be fine rust wise, yet the cab would have rust? If they made a composite (fiberglass, plastic or whatever) cab it would be awesome.

 

[jenkinsph]

Very satisfied with the Laurin cab on my 110tlb six years old and counting. HVAC works great no issues.

 

[powerstroke444e]

Seen one on b26 but didnt get to set in it but it look clean. I will be following to see how it goes. As fyi if you do any commercial digging you will be glad you stuck with the B26 instead of a b30?? with a hoe as dealer had one and it didn't seem like near the hoe as one on B26 just my 2cents.

 

[daveinnh]

I was kinda lookin at an M-series Kubota w/o cab and the dealer said the factory cab was better and cheaper than a Laurin.

That said, we put a Curtis cab on a L4310 - it's much better than being exposed to 0-F deg breeze and snow.

Dave

 

[Carl Bert]

I have a B26 and am considering putting a Laurin cab on it. I live an hour north of Toronto so definitely need heat but will probably opt for A/C as well since we do get some warm summer days as well. I did a search on Laurin I noticed there are a few members that have purchased Laurin cabs and would like to get your feedback on them.

I get temperatures from -20C to +33C so if you can comment on the heating and A/C performance that would be great.

M Kubota dealer thinks I would be buying a "dog with fleas" and instead thinks I should look at the Kubota B3000 with cab and attachments. This does have some attraction as I could get a front mount snow blower and a mid-mount mower but the cost with tractor and cab, MMM, snow blower, loader and backhoe puts me into L45 territory. He is also claiming that the sound isolation is not good with non factory cabs but I wear ear protection anyway.

I use the B26 for side jobs during the spring, summer and fall and get a lot of work because of the backhoe so I like the Laurin cab as I can be "inside" while digging which is not the case with the B3000. In the winter I just use the B26 for snow removal of my large driveway and a couple of my neighbours. This year I plan on purchasing a rear mount blower for the B26 so I started thinking of getting a cab.

Any feedback you can give me on Laurin cabs would be much appreciated.

I am curious myself, as I too have a B26 and am interested in a cab. The Laurin cab looks great to me, but the price is on the moon compared to the Curtis. I believe with heat and A/C it comes to around $11,000. Kind of hard to swallow.

My one concern is, how do you get into the seat, when in backhoe position? With the L45 you have the area along side the seat to walk from front to back, but with the B26 how would you do it. Unless there's a back door that I'm not aware of.

As far as I know, Laurin an Curtis are the only two options, and I don't believe Curtis offers A/C.

 

[powerstroke444e]

My one concern is, how do you get into the seat, when in backhoe position? With the L45 you have the area along side the seat to walk from front to back, but with the B26 how would you do it. Unless there's a back door that I'm not aware of.

Once you get use to it its not hard to go from the driving seat to back. stand up spin seat 1/2 way move right foot over seat then move left. then as your seting down move the seat all the way back. I got real good at this while workin in some real muddy conditions.:thumbsup: I would guess that is what you would have to do in the cab. My concern is the extra height of the a/c unit.

 

[lhansman]

Thanks all - I do appreciate the comments.

I am picking up a new ditching bucket, hydraulic thumb kit and the 66" bucket for the B26 on Saturday so I will definitely be sticking with my B26.

My dealer gave me an off the cuff number of $7,000 for the Laurin B26 cab but a quote from Laurin indicates you are much closer to the mark Carl at $11,000. I think at this point (unless I get a lot of side jobs over the summer) that I will possible get the snow blower this year and probably have to wait another year for the cab. The Laurin is pricey but it definitely is a nice looking unit and based on the numbers from my dealer it may be more money than a factory cab but it is cheaper than switching to a B3000 with cab and equivalent attachments.

I looked at the few specs I could find for the B3000 hoe Powerstroke and they look comparable to the B26 but it is not clear to me how it attachs. It appears to attach to the frame rather than the 3-point hitch but the seat looks uncomfortable for anything but short periods and it would be outside the cab too. I agree with your approach to moving from loader to backhoe operation - rotate the seat 90 degrees, step over, rotate the remaining 90 and sit down. I don't step in the dirt unless I have too!

 

[powerstroke444e]

What size ditching bucket? I have a 29-30inch that I made and it works great for clean up and moving sand. On the front I have 4n1 thats on it most of the time.
The rear thumb is priceless once you have you will hate running a machine with out one.

 

[lhansman]

I am actually purchasing a 24" digging bucket powerstroke as Kubota does not make a ditching bucket for the B26. I converted my old B21 24" bucket to B26 quick attach for the hoe so I will remove the teeth from that bucket and it will become my "ditching" bucket. The reason I am going to use the B21 one for ditching is the straight edge on the bucket is beveled to a point whereas I noticed that on all of my B26 hoe buckets the metal edge between the teeth is square. I think the pointed edge of the B21 bucket will do a better job of scrapping back sod and other stuff.

I have considered the 4 in 1 bucket for the B26 but I was concerned about its strength. I have and will continue to move a lot of large boulders so I wanted a strong bucket. To be honest I don't see the advantages of a 4 in 1. What do you find it allows you to do that a regular bucket does not?

A buddy just gave me a slightly used skidsteer grapple so I may adapt it to the B26. It does not have the correct QA setup for the B26 so I will have to cut off what is there and weld on the correct adapter plate which is only a couple of hundred dollars. Unfortunately I do not have the auxiliary front hydraulics and the dealer tells me that kit is around $1,000. Given the money I have just spent on new attachments I am going to hold off on that purchase for now.

I have a job coming up this weekend and a couple of more next week in rocky country so I am definitely looking forward to having the backhoe thumb at last. I'm taking the B26 to the dealer after work today and will pick her up Saturday with all her new attachments/toys!