Plastic vs Steel

[markie61]

I feel pretty strongly, too. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

The plastics where the color "cracks" MAY be painted. The NH is molded color all the way through - never needs paint.

On mine, the low profile for aerodynamics is a joke (I joke it has a .32 drag coeffecient - about the same a Porsche.) However, low profile = excellent visability. I guess it is easier to mold a tight, low profile design than stamp it.

Steel is inexpensive nowadays, especially off-shore steel (which is where our CUTs are from). Good quality plastics can be expensive. I wonder if a dealer who sells NH fenders and Kubota fenders could make a price comparison.....'twould be instructive. Maybe it is for money....maybe it is because it is the best material for the design/application. Dunno.....

Anywho, I'll be online at this website on May 29, 2023. Let's compare notes /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Mark

PS I was born in Butler, PA! /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

 

[cowboydoc]

My tractor has been pretty indestructable with regards to the plastic but on the Gator we've gone through four fenders now. I'm not too pleased with the fenders there.

 

[TresCrows]

I agree with you. The plastic is strictly a cost cutting measure. It is dollar driven. Steel is repairable, refinishable and the plastic is throwaway. Fiberglass, like steel, is repairable and refinishable so it has it's niche. Some of the new plastics are quite amazing but I would rather have steel. J

 

[Bird]

I think one (problem? or just factor?) is that there are so many different kinds of "plastic." And if other consumers are like me, you don't really know what you're getting or how it will hold up to different environments. I really had doubts about the first plastics on the dash of automobiles, and thought for sure someone was kidding the first time I heard that Plymouths used plastic pistons in front brake calipers. /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif So I just muddle along in my ignorance and take what I get. /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif And most of the "plastics" have held up pretty well for me.

 

[Heath]

I'm with Bird. I'm not educated enough in the different chemistries of plastics, but I'm 100% sure that all plastic is not created equal. I also have NO way of knowing if the plastic components on the newer tractors cost less than using metal. I think that there are likely a lot of reasons why plastic might be used, many of them likely related to the ease of handling the raw material and the components during assembly.
My real opinion is that any manufacturer like Deere or Kubota would not use a material in their products that they felt it wouldn't give the consumer the most bang for their buck.
There have been so many advances in the areas of composites and plastics in the last 10-20 years, that I don't think anybody knows if plastic is better or worse than metal. I think that basing an opinion of plastics based on the performace of a plastic product that was manufatured 20, 10, or 5 years ago is a flawed approach.

 

[looch]

<font color="blue">My real opinion is that any manufacturer like Deere or Kubota would not use a material in their products that they felt would give the consumer the most bang for their buck</font>

My interpretation:

If Deere or Kubota think it's good - they won't use it.

Is this what you meant or is their a second negative missing?

 

[PhilNH5]

Heath,
I agree on the retro spective approach on plastics history. I worked for a while at a company that made conductie coatings for EMF shielding. They were used to coat the insides of computers. We had to conduct environmental tests on the coating when apllied to various types of plastic test sheets. This was done in an enivonmental chamber were we could control humidity, temperature and light exposure (lux). We followed ASTM guidelines and cycled through dif temps etc.

What always struck me was how well our coatings held up and how poorly the plastic held up after exposure to a years worth of sunlight. Trying to prove our coating was still intact while the test substrate crumbled was always fun.

But I know that huge advances have taken place in the ensuing 20 years so none of that info is relevant anymore. It will be very interesting to see how this all shakes out.

 

[CSAW]

Here in the humidity capital of the world (Florida) metal was the biggest reason I didn't consider a kubota when looking at the big 3. Plastic is a broad term. I posted a year or more ago about my jd stx38 and how the plastic hood disintegrated. Around $200.00 then, I see someone else had the same problem and now they are $230.00 That is why it is hoodless now and will stay that way. It was a brittle hard plastic, nothing like what is used on my tc35 and I'm sure it is not the same thing Deere uses on its tractors.

I have had small branches fall on my tractor hood and bounce off with no blemishes. I once had a large vine get wrapped up in my rear wheel and push the fender way up. I got the vine out and the fender went right back to its original place with no marks or problems. I know that if it had been metal it would have stayed sticking up in the air and probably kinked when I pushed it back down.

I'm not so sure plastic is cheaper than a stamped piece of sheet metal. I would think that it is probably more. I think that that plastic is more versitile than steel and the manufacturers use it because it is easier to get complex shapes out of.

For me plastic is the only choice. Good plastic that is. JMHO

 

[MikePA]

Perhaps this is just semantics, but are we discussing plastic or fiberglass? I believe the 'plastic' on my TC25D is actually fiberglass...at least based on how the underside of the hood and fenders appear.

 

[CSAW]

Mike My tc 35 does not appear to be fiberglass. However I don't know what it is. It looks like the same material that my 1996 Polaris watercrafts were made out of. Wish I could remember what that was, I don't have them any longer. Fiberglass would be ok though, I have a 34 year old dune buggy and the fenders have not fallen off of it yet, although the floor is rusty. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif