Thinking of buying my first tractor. TC26DA or TC34DA??

[390GT]

I had no trouble last year with my turf tires and snow plowing. I have a NH
72" front blade. I have used the FEL also to clean snow. Front blade is alot better for that job. Front blade subframe has to be removed for MMM brackets to be installed. Takes about an hour to change from grass cutting to snow plowing. Greg

 

[mjcbluridg]

Some input on mowing 2 acres; I mow about 2.5 acres with a TC34 and a 6' RFM and R4 tires. All things considered, I think it does a great job and have no regrets. However, you won't confuse a class II tractor with a zero turn radius mower. My lawn is pretty simple, with only a few trees and similar obstacles. If there were a lot of trees, etc, it would be a pain in the rear or a trimming mower would be in order. Also, impressed with how maneuverable the tractor is, even without SS. Never had power steering before and am amazed with how easy it makes things. Also, R4 tires are not as hard on the lawn as I would have thought.

 

[wild4nature]

Good comments about the MMM and a front blade. I never would have known you had to remove the blade mounts to put on the MMM. Looking more like I will be getting a TC34. Probably will get a FEL and a front blade for now. I will worry about the mower later. I'll have to keep using that 25HP Huskee (MTD) garden tractor I bought from Tractor Supply to mow with for now.

I called and priced the TC34 and it list's for $ 15400 plus another $1200 for Super Steer. Is the Super Steer worth it?

 

[mjcbluridg]

I have a non-SS TC34. I am very impressed with the maneuverability of the tractor and attribute it to the short wheelbase and the ease of the power steering. That said, I have never heard anyone with a SS tractor say anything but nice things about it. I chose to not get SS for the following reasons: to avoid the complexity and additional moving parts and to gain a shorter overall length for the tractor. The SS does provide a tighter turning radius - check the NH specs. Good luck.

 

[richtidebruin]

Wild,

I have 2.5 acres and bought the TC34DA. In fact, since I am wanting to purchase more land in the future, I even considered the TC35/40 series (to the point of demo-ing one on my property). The 34 is not overkill.

I guess a lot depends on how close the trees and other obstacles are on your property, but I have found that my 72" RFM works fine on my property with this set-up. I don't even take off the loader - just drop the QA bucket.

I think the mid-mount mower would feel even more agile, but comes with the on-off pain of a mid-mount and you lose the non-universal benefit you have with the RFM.

As far as compaction and industrial tires are concerned, I have had no regrets there either. But this depends on a lot of factors. My yard is well established (grass and unfortunately-weeds rooted, dirt settled) and soil is fairly hard/rocky. The type of grass you have could also factor in - fescue in the south is pretty hardy. Also, I am not attempting to establish a "Southern Living" coverpage worthy lawn. Don't get me wrong - it looks very good after cutting, it just doesn't look like an exclusive golf course. Keep in mind that with either tractor and tire setup you are looking at - you will have enough power that if you lose traction you can tear up the grass.

See if your dealer will let you demo the 34, all you need is a couple of passes to figure out if it is too big. If it is too big, you will never question if you should have bought more and the lower price of the 26 will add to your buying experience....

Rich

 

[wild4nature]

Hmmm. I'm still undecided about the tires. I am going to go to the dealer today to take a look at the 34. I'm thinking it will not be overkill since I want to move a lot of dirt and gravel. I might have to make mulch beds around some of the groups of trees to make mowing easier, but with a FEL and a big pile of wood chips the neighbor brought me last year it shouldn't be too bad a project.

I'm with Rich on the quality of lawn. I want it to look nice, but not perfect.

Looks like the supersteer option might not be worth it. mjc.. below seems to be doing OK without the added expense and complexity of SS.

 

[kozak]

wild4nature,

If you will be mowing with a TC34DA I would strongly recommend the turfs over the R4's especially if you get any appreciable rainfall. Even with the turfs you will have to leave the tractor in the barn / shed for a few days after a rain or suffer the consequences.

In so far as removing snow, I have had no issues with turfs. I can even plow heavy packing snow with the FEL. Of course, if you have hilly terain / driveway you will probably need chains.

As for size of tractor, I also only have 2.3 acres but with landscaping & removal of horse manure chores, TC35D comes in very handy. However, I do not cut grass with my machine. I guess I would if I had a rear mount mower but would not always be able to do so (due to wet conditions) so just continue to use my small riding lawnmower.

Good Luck with whatever you decide.

Vic

 

[daTeacha]

Wild -- living along the 'pike you probably don't have bad soil at all. I grew up on the clay banks up by the big lake and currently live in the glacial moraine area a few mile south of 30. Your soil is probably a nice sandy loam, so the R4s would be a good compromise, as is their design purpose.

I've found the high lift height and relatively large volume of the bucket on my DX to be very handy. For building those sound walls, pines will be great, but mix the species up some in case you get some pest invading your planting. Also, some hybrid poplars will give you a lot of growth in a very short time to get things started. Think about white pines and Norway spruce with a few Hemlocks scattered in the mix.

For your mowing question, I think you can get several different mowers for the class II chassis tractors. Try the smallest one and see if it'll work for you. If ground clearance is going to be important in your work, look hard at the supersteer front axle compared to the non SS one. You'll see you lose about 3 or 4 inches of clearance with SS. Also, if you park a SS tractor next to the identical tractor without SS, the SS wheelbase is somewhat longer. With the loader off, if you drive them both straight into a wall, the SS tires will hit before the fram and the regular tractor will have the frame hit first. Whether that's a plus, minus, or of no consequence is something only you can decide. You will not be able to use 4 wd when using SS, and the 4wd system on that machine is kind of automatic -- the tractor decides when to engage the front drive. It's just an added bit of complexity and/or convenience depending on your point of view.

I avoided the whole SS question by buying a Case.

 

[rjoseph]

I have TC34DA w/SS and a 72" Mid mount Mower, and I can maneuver better then Garden Tractor. You need to take the TC34 for a ride! Go Turf tires for the lawn, they are very lawn friendly. Also, I have a FEL w/68" High Capacity Bucket for moving Gravel and Snow. The TC34 took a full bucket of gravel with no-problems, plenty of power. The TC34 is 35HP it has a good HP to Weight Ratio. I believe this is the best class 2 tractor made. Good Luck!

 

[wild4nature]

Well, I stopped by the dealer yesterday, but they were closed. They did have a good selection of NH tractors on the lot so I was able to walk around and look at everything. The TC34 looks bigger than I thought. I think this will be the one for me. Maybe leaning towards the turf tires. My lot is fairly flat with a small rise coming up the first 200 feet of the driveway. I usually just plow the snow downhill in that section. No problem.

The R4's look like a little too much for my yard. I would like to drive the tractor all over the grass I have planted now, in and out of the woods, and up and down the driveway with minimal damage to the turf.

Looks like no SS for me. I don't think I will need it. Good feedback from everyone.

Also, about the pine trees, I bought some saplings last year and they are doing OK considering I haven't watered them or cared for them much. I went with mainly Norway Spruce and some Blue spruce. White pine isn't dense enough and I really do not like Poplar. I have 4 or 5 big poplars I would like to cut down now. They grow too fast and they make a big mess all year with the flowers in the spring and the leaves in the fall. I would like to get some Black Hills Spruce also, they don't grow too tall and are slow growing.

Thanks.

Greg