Lots of good replies. My contribution - my dealer pretty much said that the 24D, in his opinion, had too much horsepower for the chassis. Not that it wouldn't come in handy when running powered implements like a post hole digger or a snow blower, but in general that the small Class I chassis runs out of weight and traction long before the 24 HP is used up. He said the 18 was a better match for the chassis, and all I can say, not having tried a 24, is that the 18 is an excellent match.
Some of the differences in the "D" models, not available in the 18, are, in addition to the wraparound headlights, the tilt/telescope steering, swivel seat, crank adjustable 3PH tilt and flexible 3PH hookup arms. The 21 and 24 have slightly more hydraulic pump capacity (4.9 vs. 4.0 GPM), but that doesn't seem to have any effect on the actual work they'll do - the 3PH and 12LA loader capacities are identical.
All are/were available with gears or hydro; the 18 with either 2WD or FWD. Comparing apples to apples, if you equip them all with FWD and hydro, they have identical 2 speed range (the more powerful ones are very marginally faster at top speed). The position control on the 3PH does have an adjustable, locking stop that helps repeat the drop locations.
I have to be honest; I can say that more horsepower would be good. But, before I would move up in the Class I, I would look at the TC30 or move up to Class II, the TC33D. In fact, that's what I went in to buy. But, I found out that 1265 pounds lift at the 3PH is more than even bigger tractors from the "other" brands, and will lift any implement I ever want to lift, and the 12LA loader will do almost everything the 7308 will on the TC30, 29D and 33D. Even at the lower of the published numbers, 750# vs. 875# did not seem like it would make enough difference to make it worth going up to the Class II. Regardless, when I start thinking about more horsepower, I start thinking about a TN65 or something, not a 24D.
I was almost tempted by the flex hookups on the 3PH, but I decided I would probably look into a quick hitch. But, two things happened. First, I discovered that some quick hitches have limitations (won't fit all implements, add weight, position the implement further back) or are very expensive (the several triangular ones looked interesting, but not at over $1K to get 3 implements hooked up). Second, I discovered, after more than 250 hours and lots of implement changes, that it's not all that difficult to kick the attachments around until they line up. If I ever get too lazy for that, I'll build wheeled dollies for the attachments that make them easy to roll around until they line up.
I don't have anything to offer about the snowblower - note my location. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif But, I run a 4' Rhino SE brush hog, 4' box blade, 6' TSC (KK?) landscape rake, and I made a humongous root rake that mounts on my loader bucket that really works great! (see attachment)(yes, that's en entire small tree sticking out of that mass of grape vine roots). Not bad for 18 HP. I've put 250 hours on it in 5 months, with a 15 day vacation in the middle of that or I'd probably be near 300 hours. My only problems have been a bent power steering cylinder (replaced by my dealer under warranty even though I probably bent it) and a small current problem that is likely fuel-filter related (I haven't had a chance to check it, yet). Also, my loader controls had a leaking hydraulic fitting, which I tightened,
It's filthy dirty, scratched all to heck and back, has a small rear in the top of the seat back, has a messed up PTO shaft cover, and the hinged cover over the PTO connection came off. About what you'd expect from something that has piled up that many hours that quickly - rode hard and put away wet.
But, you couldn't tear it away from me.
Some of the differences in the "D" models, not available in the 18, are, in addition to the wraparound headlights, the tilt/telescope steering, swivel seat, crank adjustable 3PH tilt and flexible 3PH hookup arms. The 21 and 24 have slightly more hydraulic pump capacity (4.9 vs. 4.0 GPM), but that doesn't seem to have any effect on the actual work they'll do - the 3PH and 12LA loader capacities are identical.
All are/were available with gears or hydro; the 18 with either 2WD or FWD. Comparing apples to apples, if you equip them all with FWD and hydro, they have identical 2 speed range (the more powerful ones are very marginally faster at top speed). The position control on the 3PH does have an adjustable, locking stop that helps repeat the drop locations.
I have to be honest; I can say that more horsepower would be good. But, before I would move up in the Class I, I would look at the TC30 or move up to Class II, the TC33D. In fact, that's what I went in to buy. But, I found out that 1265 pounds lift at the 3PH is more than even bigger tractors from the "other" brands, and will lift any implement I ever want to lift, and the 12LA loader will do almost everything the 7308 will on the TC30, 29D and 33D. Even at the lower of the published numbers, 750# vs. 875# did not seem like it would make enough difference to make it worth going up to the Class II. Regardless, when I start thinking about more horsepower, I start thinking about a TN65 or something, not a 24D.
I was almost tempted by the flex hookups on the 3PH, but I decided I would probably look into a quick hitch. But, two things happened. First, I discovered that some quick hitches have limitations (won't fit all implements, add weight, position the implement further back) or are very expensive (the several triangular ones looked interesting, but not at over $1K to get 3 implements hooked up). Second, I discovered, after more than 250 hours and lots of implement changes, that it's not all that difficult to kick the attachments around until they line up. If I ever get too lazy for that, I'll build wheeled dollies for the attachments that make them easy to roll around until they line up.
I don't have anything to offer about the snowblower - note my location. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif But, I run a 4' Rhino SE brush hog, 4' box blade, 6' TSC (KK?) landscape rake, and I made a humongous root rake that mounts on my loader bucket that really works great! (see attachment)(yes, that's en entire small tree sticking out of that mass of grape vine roots). Not bad for 18 HP. I've put 250 hours on it in 5 months, with a 15 day vacation in the middle of that or I'd probably be near 300 hours. My only problems have been a bent power steering cylinder (replaced by my dealer under warranty even though I probably bent it) and a small current problem that is likely fuel-filter related (I haven't had a chance to check it, yet). Also, my loader controls had a leaking hydraulic fitting, which I tightened,
It's filthy dirty, scratched all to heck and back, has a small rear in the top of the seat back, has a messed up PTO shaft cover, and the hinged cover over the PTO connection came off. About what you'd expect from something that has piled up that many hours that quickly - rode hard and put away wet.
But, you couldn't tear it away from me.
