Test Drive

[pitotshock]

OK I couldn't help myself on this one. Here is a pic of the pond, about 150yd long and 35yd wide

 

[jinman]

Anything specific for a vehicle that has lived outside its whole life?

My tractor was bought in Feb of 2001 and has been outside in Texas for all of it's life. The paint and fiberglass has held up very well. Considering the jobs I do, I don't think there would be much difference if I kept the tractor inside except for maybe the condition of the back side of the seat. I keep it folded forward so the cushions don't get the full sun's blast and I also park the tractor so it's in the shade of trees about 70% of the time.

Oh! BTW: We have 55 acres with trees and small meadows. We also have two ponds and a large lake (big 15-acre pond really). Everyone here on TBN is sick of me showing pictures of them, so I'll just make the point that the hydro transmission is the ideal transmission for backing a rotary cutter repeatedly around a pond's perimeter and changing directions 100s of times to get that job done. You never have to touch the brake. I would not call it a "walk in the park," but it is sure easier than any gear tractor I've ever used. Your pond looks great! Does it become a nice ice rink in the winter?

Check out the operation of the tilt and extendible steering wheel on the tractor. Especially in cold climates, the steering wheel is prone to get water/ice inside the tilt steering cylinder and cause it to fail. My extension doesn't work because I never use it and it just finally became too tight to operate. I've had to disassemble and lube my tilt steering once and now I keep it covered so rain doesn't get in there.

In general, the finish on my tractor has see far more abuse from tree limbs, brush, and vine scratches than from the sun. On the older tractors like mine, there is a hood vent right above the battery, so guess what happens when it rains? Yep, the battery gets wet. When you start the engine, guess where that water goes? Yep, right into the radiator and HST cooler. This is by far the worst "outdoor issue" in my book. If my seat was ragged, that would probably be my second complaint, but my seat has held up very well.

One other thing... Crawl under the tractor and look at the condition of the operator platform. Mine is in terrible shape. It seems that the rubber mat over this platform just holds a lot of moisture and gunk. The paint job on the platform is not that good and it shows. I don't think my platform is going to fall apart anytime soon, but it irritates the heck out of me everytime I look up and see it rusting while I'm under the tractor. I find myself wishing it was made of fiberglass too.

 

[kossetx]

Pilotshock, I believe the 45 would be just fine for you and what you are planning. I have takes care of 161 acres for 14 years with a 25 hp tractor and the ONLY reason I bought a new tractor was to get a fel equipped tractor with rops, something my old tractor never had. If you were going to do heavy ground engaging or baling hay, yes get bigger. If your just mowing and moving stuff around, light discing and planting, you'll do just fine with the 45. My .02

 

[daTeacha]

Just a thought regarding your wife and stick shift -- with most tractors, it's not a matter of shifting, but more one of pick a gear and go. All she needs to do is learn the shift pattern and clutch operation. With a foot throttle, the driving experience can be quite a lot like a car or pickup with an automatic.

 

[pitotshock]

OK, back from my test drive

2003 TC45DA 775 hours non-S/S. It was mainly used at a tree farm moving black earth.

Reports... in no particular order

Overall the machine had a moderate amount of rust. The battery area had some surface rust all around it. Under the rubber foot mats, Seat frame, and grab rails were all rusty. You can see that someone had touched them up with paint, but after sitting dorment on the lot for a while it has started to oose out again.

Plastic fenders and hood in really good shape without scratch or chip or crack.

Sun bleached - after sitting outside for its whole life, the plastic knobs and lever handles all looked faded and weathered. The seat was cracked and dried out, with one large open tear. Dealer promised to replace the seat cover with new.

Bucket is non-quick attach in good shape without any cracks in the welds and the front edge still in good shape with lots of meat left. All motions from the joy-stick were as expected and the bucket float worked correctly.

Front tires completely shot, Dealer promised to replace with new

Tilt and telescopic not functional. Dealer promised to repair.

I showed up unannounced so that he wouldn't have a chance to warm the engine up. It started without problem and ran very smooth and consistent, no smoking. Mechanically, it was very sound and had no noticable problems.

I didn't start to negociate on this deal as I have a few other leads, but his asking price is $21,500CAD(~19,700USD).

Overall I think this is a very functional tractor and with the repairs made by the dealer would be a reasonable purchase. If I do try and pick this one up, I would start by offering a few thousand less and have them install the quick attach system.

 

[dknarnd]

I just had a chance to buy a 2005 TC45A with 135 hours, QA HD bucket, 1 rear remote for $19,000 at a Kubota dealer which took it in on trade for the M7040. He was holding it for 1 day until I got my deposit to him but being the curious person I am and after some calling around I found out that it slid down a bank into some water, didn't roll and supposedly didn't take in any water. They had to have it pulled out with another piece of equipment but after hearing that I decided to back out on the deal. I'm still doing some checking on the tractor through other sources and if I become satisified with what I hear and it is still available maybe I'll go for it. Otherwise I'll go new for a TC40A.

 

[Doc_Bob]

OK, back from my test drive

2003 TC45DA 775 hours non-S/S. It was mainly used at a tree farm moving black earth.

QA bucket is almost mandatory.
Free NH extended warranty would help.
Can you fix the rust?
Have them replace the seat.
Have them do a complete service or pay you the difference so you can do it.
Let them demo the tractor on your property for a day or two, then decide.
Bob

 

[jinman]

Pitotshock, I noticed a few things as shown below. The other things were as I expected.

Front tires completely shot...at 775? Wow! What do you mean? Was all the tread gone? Are they industrial tires? My tractor has nearly 1200 hours and the front tires look fine. If this tractor was used in the dirt, I'd expect the front tires to be very good shape. This would be very disturbing to me because it seems to indicate that the tractor has many more hours than the hour meter shows.

You say the bucket is non-quick attach, but is it the HD bucket? Did it have holes just behind the front cutting edge? If not, it's a standard duty bucket. Like DocBob said, I'd negotiate to get the quick attach plate and bucket.

2003 TC45DA 775 hours non-S/S.

Bucket is non-quick attach in good shape without any cracks in the welds and the front edge still in good shape with lots of meat left. All motions from the joy-stick were as expected and the bucket float worked correctly.

Front tires completely shot, Dealer promised to replace with new

I didn't start to negociate on this deal as I have a few other leads, but his asking price is $21,500CAD(~19,700USD).

Overall I think this is a very functional tractor and with the repairs made by the dealer would be a reasonable purchase. If I do try and pick this one up, I would start by offering a few thousand less and have them install the quick attach system.

 

[schmism]

i can see scrubbing the front tires clean in a short time if you spend much time on hard ground in 4wd at full lock. On my smaller TC33 the fronts scub big time in 4wd at full stearing lock.

a few things i "learned" when i bought mine used...

1) have them do the mantaince schedule thats about to come up.
2) check tires for plugs. turns out i have a front tire thats leaking with a plug in it.

i mistakenly thought they would have "100 point checked" mine before the sent it out... couldnt be farther from the truth. Even after you get it home check all the fluids and spend some time hunting down all the grease zerks. (or better yet have the dealer go over all that with you... mine didnt dispite my asking)

While a TC45 sounds like the right tractor, Its my understanding its still to small to bale (even small sq) with.

With that much ground id hate to find myself in the postion that the TC45 was to small to do some of the larger jobs... but to cumbersome for the smaller "around the barn" jobs.

without knowing more about your operation or intended use, id almost be inclined to recomend a smaller tractor like my TC33 for around the barn work, and a second AG size (TN series.... 70-100hp) tractor for the larger jobs out in the fields... (bailing, 15' batwing mowing, disking, seading etc) (from my limited understand it does take more work than you would expect to "maintain" good pasture.

 

[Doc_Bob]

Pitotshock, I noticed a few things as shown below. The other things were as I expected.

Front tires completely shot...at 775? Wow! What do you mean? Was all the tread gone? Are they industrial tires?

Tells me that the front tires were carrying a lot of weight (dirt) on very abrasive surfaces. So they wore out quickly. Makes me wonder what the front axles look like.
Bob