Plastic verses metal

[W5FL]

Sorry, but most of them deserved to be kicked. I have met a lot of them, and don't remember a single one that was an Engineer. Seems that if you are very creative you are a good engineer, but fired as a bean counter. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Plastic? Metal?

Definitely metal if it's thick enough. Look at the hood on a Kubota L35, it is built like the hood on a dozer. My Ford 1710 shows the results of not having such a hood and was pounded inward by branches snapping against it, the occasional stump root etc. The L35 has a pretty good grill guard but could be made better by a big chunk of expanded metal grill work over the whole thing as wide as possible. I don't know if the tractor manufacturers have any idea the places we are taking these tractors and what we are doing with them. I read once a TLB isn't good for land clearing. I wish someone had told me and the Ford that 17 years ago! I drove the Ford across a bog using the front bucket, 18" x 18" "bog feet" on the backhoe legs and 6' x 6' expanded metal sheets. Would have been nice to spin around and be able to pick them up like an excavator can, I had to grunt them around caked in mud, but completed the ditch where one professional got hopelessly stuck and refused to come back.

And back to the topic, don't all plastics break down in the sun? Most tractors don't enjoy a garage.

And on another topic of tires R4 vs R1. You folks are wrong on the R4's not cleaning themselves. You just need to put the tractor in the garage, go away for 24 hours and then come back and drive the tractor out. The dirt will be off the tires (and on to the floor). See...they do clean themselves/w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif My old AGs wouldn't bring that much in the garage! The R4's should be good for climbing over sharp shoots and rock, but get filled up and useless about as quick as the turfs on the BX.

 

[W5FL]

del,

No, but all the cheap (the ones the bean counters let the engineers use) plastics seem to deteriorate in the UV environment. I don't recall seeing Lexan (polycarbonates) change, but they cost 10x more than steel! /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif Aerospace can afford the exotic materials, but most of us want it inexpensive and rugged and that is steel in 2000. I looked very carefully at what John Deere did on their 10 series tractors for Fenders and Hoods. It is really nice, but has no advantage over steel and a potential disadvantage if you ever damage it.

I will keep my tractor for a minimum of 25 years, so these things are important to me! /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

Go to Rural and comment on the mailboxes some time. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

 

[JimBinMI]

Hawgee,

This oughta be good for a laugh...on me! With all of the talk about plastic and New Holland, I just assumed that my TC18 had plastic hood and fenders. I would knock on them once in awhile and thought that it sure sounded strong for plastic. Then with all of the talk about how plastic wasn't plastic anymore with all of the advances and everything, I just figured it was really heavy. /w3tcompact/icons/shocked.gif

Well, I figured I'd take a magnet to my tractor today, so I did, guess what I found out? OK, now this is on a New Holland TC18 that I've had for almost a year. The pretty hood is metal and the fenders are metal! There is plastic around the steering wheel, tack, gauges, the front area of the hood - the black part is plastic, at the top rear of each fender is a plastic extension of the fender that holds reflectors. Realize that I'm not saying one is better than the other, just that I have metal where I thought it was plastic! /w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

Doesn't that just get my goat! Don't know if any of this is true for other TC's or even a new TC18 today!

JimBinMI

We boys and our toys!