Our property is located @5300' elevation with pretty mild summers. We will see 100 degrees a couple times each summer but 80's is the normal high temp. I ran a Deere 624G loader up there for a couple months this last summer with AC not working and just left the doors open and stayed comfortable enough. What are your thoughts on cab options? I can see the upside to enclosed with comfy temperature control and keeping the dust down but AC systems and blower motors are just one more thing to fix on models in my price range (@30,000). What do you daily operators prefer? This is for our personal 50 acre ranch, not making a living with it. Lots of dirt work projects ahead of me though so I'll be putting plenty of hours in it.
Get a cab and worst case only use the heater in the winter. It's not too bad in the summer with all the windows open. But in the winter is when that heater will be real nice. Always easier to keep the heater working than a/c
Yair . . . Arizona Coast . I am an old Dinosaur with many thousands of hours in open cabs and maybe twenty enclosed . . . for mine, in your situation a cab would be a pain in the azz. I hate looking through glass, and the A/C or heater has to be working for the cab to be of any benefit in dust. For an owner/operator in your climate and application I believe an open sunshade/ROPS would be a more serviceable machine. Cheers.
In my neck of the woods no cab is a pain in the butt, legs ,,,, and fingers.... just saying .
I'm with grandpa on this one , I bought my first cab machine last April. It was still cold enough to use the heater which was real nice and when it was 100* the a/c felt pretty good. The glass does take getting use to but the benefits out way the other . One thing I noticed , today it was 24* , I warmed the machine up took of working. Your not near as tired when you get out for the day. Face is not wind burnt and red as a beet. Lips not chaffed , nose not running down your chest , you get the picture. Last year my open station , there were days I didn't run because of the cold. I think the extra run time in the winter would soon pay the difference in the cab price.
Yair . . . Gotcha grandpa . I suppose its a matter of where you are . . . Arizona Coast sounds like he's in a pretty hospitable climate. Cheers.
What's it like in your neck of the woods Scrub? Mild climate? I will say in the spring when it hits 60* it is pleasant on an open machine.
Yair . . . Dickjr . Apart from one stint in the Australian high-country and then in PNG all my machine hours were in a hot dry country. The biggest problem was dust. When chaining it is not always possible to work the wind and A/C would have been a blessing . . . while you could keep it going. I really feel for folks who have to operate and repair machinery in cold climates. Cheers.
I recommend a cab over the open station any day. Save your hearing, you wont be eating dust on hot dry days or freezing on the cold days.
The AC can be a pain to keep going, but if you can get by with doors and windows open in the summer, you will be glad to be able to close them in the winter. For my own machine, I would look for the cab, as I am tired of freezing in the winter, and the wind......... Summertime, if the AC works, fine, and if not you are the one to decide if the money to fix it is well spent or not.
Yair . . . I know folks who bought a new D6 in 2011 and have had so much trouble with the A/C that they have given up on it and taken off the doors and all the glass out of the cab . . . they are at least 200 kilometres from any A/C service and the machine is unworkable at the normal summer 40 degrees C without air It's a shame as I notice the trim and seat and finish on cab tractors seems to last for years compared to the same stuff out in the weather under an open ROPS I suppose any one can learn to diagnose and repair such systems but it just wasn't worth the effort for a station dozer. Cheers.
Sounds like I need to really consider the closed cab. Thank you for the input guys.
Enclosed cabs will always bring a higher price when the machine is sold. Either new or used. That alone says a lot about them. Opinions anyone ??
I'll agree that a cab is worth every penny if you use the machine for business. For a homeowner, if you have the option of saying "too hot today, won't work outside. a little rain today, won't work outside. or beautiful spring day, gotta find something to dig" the cab won't matter as much as the guy who plows snow or works six days a week spring to fall.
Only had mine a few years and I like the closed cab. Still had to fix the AC but the cold weather the heat works just fine. As other mentioned, don't need to wear hearing protection if it's closed up
Cab or not depends on your needs and jobs. I recently used a tractor w/ cab. It was dreadful, I was working alone so had to mount/dismount multiple times. Each time the door and controls slowed the operation. Working close to trees, I had to consider the glass all the time. With my open station, I merely watch the exhaust and potential spring backs to me. I can also lean over the tire to spot hazards and close work. Delmer is right about my freedom to work or not in regards to the weather.
I grew up here in NY operating a farm tractor with no cab or canopy plowing snow and mowing and plowing fields. The first time I did that from an enclosed cab I thought I was in heaven!! You do sacrifice some visibility but for me the gain in comfort is well worth it! Even with a canopy and no glass you'll be hindered by weather, with the slightest breeze you'll get soaked even stationary on a rainy day. I won't mention what happens if you try to transport or even work at low speeds. I don't think anyone here mentioned the noise reduction, modern machines are much quieter with enclosed cabs than without. At the end of the day that makes a huge difference in the amount of fatigue you feel.
Regardless of weather hot or cold It will be full cab . I had a 580 ck back in the 70s with no ROPS and you baked in the sun or froze your skivies off in the winter .When I got my 580 c with full cab and heat (no AC) it was a joy going to work . I was protected from swinging branches etc etc and the elements of the weather .No wiping of a wet seat . It is a deal breaker for me with no cab regardless of price .And I thought I was a pretty tough guy in the elements , not no more .
Just the word "Arizona" screams a cab WITH a good A/C but if you think the heat is a non issue, it your call. I do know that working in one in the summer with a cab and the A/C does not work can be misery. And I hear some say to not expect the A/C to be like that in a car. They do cool it down but not that much. Here where I live the open ROPS is fine except for the winter, and driving up the road when it's 20 degrees is painful. Luckily we don't have many snows to deal with. The cab does restrict visibility and the ability to hear noises that I like to hear. I'm sure some like it quieter. But if I was going to run the hoe like all day long... I would want the cab. I just use one occasionally around the farm. On edit I would add that the dust out there might make a cab necessary. Also the safety factor would be involved. The glass would protect you from small limbs etc.
With a back window, plywood sides (takes 10 minutes) and heat hauser its summertime in the teens. 60-85 degree day atop your iron mule is about perfect. Cab and glass could get pricey without guarding in a tree environment. Every few years or yearly on some I'm always fiddling with the A/C. It is not always expensive fixes (I have my own tooling) but non the less more **** to break. A cab with no A/C is worse than a open rops. If I had to sit in there every day all day making the bucks I would want a nice cab, but for a pick and choose day machine.
Hand goes up. I'm an admitted cab snob. I've used tractors w.o but now definitely prefer the cab. As said w weather and even if you have a roof, your still out in it if not sitting still. As for the visibility thing you learn where to look and yes I find myself actually being more careful now for cab strikes (I don't see that as being a bad thing).