Was at the dealer today and looked at the tank below the tractor. It hangs down very little and to me is a nonissue. Its nice NH makes the plate std but if you hit something immobile at speed I think the tank and plate are toast anyway. Given the weight of the machine the plate is just a token attempt at protection. BTW there are pipes of various sizes down there too which are unprotected. Theres a lot to ruin if you 'run aground' besides the fuel tank.
Noticed there is an inline transparent fuel filter upstream of the primary can filter. That makes it easy to see 1) if theres fuel to the primary and 2) if theres crud in the fuel. It looks like some of the trim has to be removed to change the primary. The inline looked easy but could be messy unless you clamp off the lines prior to removal.
Room underneath the hood is spare unless you want to access the battery or air filter. Everything else looks like a royal pain to reach. Whats that plastic tank way in the back? It had something green in it.
This machine appeared to have a single hydraulic filter (very large) that was easy to access. Im not sure which side of the pump its on and the dealer also didnt know. Any ideas?
The salesman (at the NC dealership) priced out the same rig I gave to my local (TN) dealer + a weight rack and came in at $1k less w/ an indication perhaps more could come off w/ further negotiation. He priced the PS/16x16 at an additional $1300.
After some searching around he did find a ground speed charts some of which are below. I do have the fast (25mph) 16x16 chart and will post it if theres any interest. It does look like, as Robert mentioned, that the 16x16 shares many of the same speeds w/ the 12x12. The BL/BH ranges look pretty useful.
12x12 mech. shuttle (TN60-85A) (mph @2300rpm)
14.9R28 16.9R24 16.9R28 16.9R30 19.5LX24 22.5LX16.1
R1 R1,R3,R4 R1 R1 R4 Turf Special
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
A1 1.03 1.00 1.08 1.12 0.97 0.75
A2 1.55 1.50 1.62 1.68 1.45 1.12
A3 2.29 2.22 2.40 2.49 2.15 1.66
A4 3.38 3.27 3.53 3.67 3.18 2.45
B1 1.83 1.77 1.92 1.99 1.72 1.33
B2 2.75 2.66 2.88 2.99 2.58 2.00
B3 4.01 3.88 4.19 4.36 3.77 2.91
B4 5.95 5.77 6.23 6.47 5.60 4.32
C1 5.32 5.16 5.57 5.79 5.01 3.87
C2 7.90 7.65 8.27 8.59 7.43 5.74
C3 11.62 11.25 12.16 12.63 10.93 8.44
C4 17.22 16.69 18.03 18.73 16.20 12.51
12x12 mech. & power shuttle (TN95A/DA) (mph @2300rpm)
14.9R28 16.9R24 16.9R28 16.9R30 19.5LX24 22.5LX16.1
R1 R1,R3,R4 R1,R4 R1 R4 Turf Special
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
A1 0.46 0.44 0.48 0.50 0.43 0.33
A2 0.69 0.67 0.72 0.75 0.65 1.50
A3 0.97 0.94 1.02 1.06 0.92 0.71
A4 1.43 1.39 1.50 1.56 1.35 1.04
B1 2.29 2.22 2.40 2.49 2.15 1.66
B2 3.43 3.33 3.59 3.73 3.23 2.49
B3 5.04 4.88 5.27 5.48 4.74 3.66
B4 7.50 7.26 7.85 8.15 7.05 5.45
C1 6.64 6.43 6.95 7.22 6.24 4.82
C2 9.90 9.59 10.36 10.77 9.31 7.19
C3 14.59 14.14 15.28 15.87 13.73 10.60
C4 21.63 20.95 22.64 23.52 20.35 15.72
16x16 mech. & power shuttle, 18mph (TN60-85A/DA) (mph @2300rpm)
14.9R28 16.9R24 16.9R28 16.9R30 19.5LX24 22.5LX16.1
R1 R1,R3,R4 R1,R4 R1 R4 Turf Special
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
A1 0.34 0.33 0.36 0.37 0.32 0.25
A2 0.52 0.50 0.54 0.56 0.48 0.37
A3 0.80 0.78 0.84 0.87 0.75 0.58
A4 1.37 1.33 1.44 1.49 1.29 1.00
BL1 1.49 1.44 1.56 1.62 1.40 1.08
BL2 2.23 2.16 2.34 2.43 2.10 1.62
BL3 3.32 3.22 3.47 3.61 3.12 2.41
BL4 4.86 4.71 5.09 5.29 4.58 3.53
BH1 1.83 1.77 1.92 1.99 1.72 1.33
BH2 2.75 2.66 2.88 2.99 2.58 2.00
BH3 4.01 3.88 4.19 4.36 3.77 2.91
BH4 5.95 5.77 6.23 6.47 5.60 4.32
C1 5.32 5.16 5.57 5.79 5.01 3.87
C2 7.90 7.65 8.27 8.59 7.43 5.74
C3 11.67 11.31 12.22 12.69 10.98 8.48
C4 17.22 16.69 18.03 18.73 16.20 12.51