Missy
Member
ummm.... MMM, ROPS? Is there an acronym list around here? I got the hydrostatic transmission (HST) I think...Missy,
Like Jerry said, I have a 2003 NH TC24D. It has been a good little tractor. I'm over 800 hours on it now. I maintain a little over 7 1/2 acres with it. No horses, but my daughter would love to have some. If I knew what I was doing I would probably give in a get a couple.
Anyway, tractor wise I love it. Sometimes I wish it was a little bigger, but then all of a sudden I'm doing something that tells me I bought the right size. My neighbor has a 36 HP Long. He likes my tractor much better. He says it is better size for what we do and he likes the NH loader design better. I can actually fit more stuff in my bucket because of the way the are designed.
I've had a couple of little fluid leaks, but nothing that wasn't taken care of by tightening a line or a bolt here and there. There is a bit of the problem where the seat mount develops some stress cracks, but usually a piece of steel run underneath the seat will fix that problem.
I use the 60" MMM to mow about 5 acres. I then use a 4' cutter to mow the other 2.5+ acres 3 or 4 times a year. I also use a 60" tiller, 60" box blade, 60" scraper blade, and an 12" auger. Also use it to pull my little trailer around the yard, I guess I also use to put our big trailer in place. It moves our 28' camper like it isn't even there. I used it to build our 30x48 pole barn. I also dug a small Koi pond for my wife's flower garden - she now wants to redo the pond and enlarge it.
I love my little blue beast. Just wish I had a mini-excavator to go with it.
Oh, some of the things that changed on the newer DA lines was the placement of the throttle lever and the headlight switch and they changed the front headlights. I like my throttle lever placement better, but I would like the new headlight location because my knee always hits the switch and turns my headlights off and I end up in the dark for a second or 2 (like that is unusual) until I figure out what happened. Headlight wise, I like the looks of mine better, but the new ones supposed shine a little more to the side. Either way, you'll want to add some to the ROPS as the loader will block the lights on front anyway. Any way, the new TC26DA is pretty much the same as a TC24DA, except 2 extra HP. I don't believe the changed the HST anyway, so that will still be your limiting factor. The hydro pressure relieve valve will usually kick before your motor runs out of power.
And like some of you, I'm still wondering what a pulverizer is. Any thoughts on whether our first investment should be a bush hog or a regular mowing deck, and what size? I am so tired of taking 5 hrs to mow 5 acres, and that's not even accounting for the quarter acre pond... Most of it's pasture, but we do have some pretty heavy brush around the pond.