Which brands have more metal, and which brands have more plastic?

[Milo]

Like someone said, "Deere uses a lot of plastic, but at least it's good plastic."

 

[Dennis59]

Which brands have more metal, and which brands have more plastic? This question is inspired by the "What Did I Purchase?" thread.

I like metal. Many of the plastic parts in tractors, especially newer ones, I'm picturing just a few years down the road, cracked and broken. It's one of the several priorities I felt when last shopping.

What do you think???

I have a 2000 New Holland boomer, it has a fiber glass /plastic hood fenders and floor pan. It still looks like new. I see some steel ones in that Era they are all rust. It all depends on how you take care of it.

 

[jd49]

The plastic panels on my JD 4400 are truly pathetic. Many of them have broken at least once, and I keep gluing them together. Just before I bought it, a mechanic from the JD dealer worked on it and dropped the hood. It broke and he had to replace it. I should admit that I do a lot of work in the woods and push brush piles and move brush with a grapple, so there are a lot of branches around to hit the tractor. I made a brush guard for the radiator grille. But steel panels would definitely fare much better.

 

[jyoutz]

My X740 JD is 11 years old no issues with hood cracking.

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Probably stored indoors out of the sun.

 

[CADplans]

The plastic panels on my JD 4400 are truly pathetic. I made a brush guard for the radiator grille.

I built a brush guard,, or should I say I adapted a brush guard to my tractor.
When I bought my JD, the dealer was swapping the guard on an 85HP tractor, that an employee had dented,,
I asked If I could have the dented one, they delivered it when they delivered the tractor,,

Four pieces of steel, and a few bolts later,,

The guard even flips down with the pull of a pin, but, it is so big, I can raise the hood without flipping the guard.

 

[coobie]

Probably stored indoors out of the sun.

Yep only way to keep equipment in good condition . 1996 Ingersoll.

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[North to Alaska]

My Branson 4520r is all metal except a few smaller, unimportant things, like the cup holder….wait the cup holder is actually VERY important!

 

[RichnMo]

I agree with all of you as our society has become a high dollar but low quality market where the plastic is almost bio-degradable to where if you part it outside not only does the color fade but within a few years it's like the plastic just crumbles ! I'm not sure where it will lead but this high cost and low quality material and workmanship is for the birds !

 

[ranchito]

Kind of typical (paint fade). My Kubota's have faded from orange to Mary Kay pink.

And I thought only Mahindra faded to pink. Sorry to see I am not alone here.

 

[jyoutz]

And I thought only Mahindra faded to pink. Sorry to see I am not alone here.

I think that Kubota has changed their paint and this color fade doesn’t turn pink anymore. At least I’ve never seen later model pink Kubotas.