New tractors will anybody listen

[Spear]

Problem with today’s tractors I believe is as much to do with the cam bus wiring as anything. Any slight fault shuts down either systems now.
2 examples I’ve had.
Pillar display screen failed..... so what.... except it was connected to the transmission to show which gear was selected and that caused the transmission to select creeper gears and not allow you to move out of them.

Second happened the other day. I was ploughing and lost rear linkage control. It turned out to be damp had entered the rear fender linkage control buttons. Because of covid dealer shirt on mechanics and had to wait over the weekend to get it going again.
Technology is fine when it works but almost every breakdown we have these days is due to an unnecessary sensor failing or computer shutting systems down because of a non critical fault that wouldn’t even have been detectable years ago.
Then they charge us more for the privilege to buy said tractor and more to repair as parts are all throw away and need laptops to diagnose.

Dealer here is an hour away and usually needs two trips to fix. 1 to find faults 2nd to fix

 

[Nearly]

If NH etc made passenger jet planes then hundreds would be killed in the resulting falls from great height.

 

[GeorgeK]

If NH etc made passenger jet planes then hundreds would be killed in the resulting falls from great height.

Perhaps, but how long would a 747 provide reliable service for in the hands of a livestock farmer? I can see it now, engine hanging on baler twine, plywood covering holes rotted in the cabin floor, maintenance regime consists of scraping enough slurry off the windscreen to just about peer through

 

[dave mountain]

Ok thinking of buying a new tractor I need 50k and front suspension, then a radio air con gear stick and manual spools that are easy in reach next to the gear stick, had 3 tractors on demo need to be a computer wiz kid to operate spools and turn radio up and down more electrics and gizmos than the star ship enterprise My mates got the new mf 8s on demo and hates it says after 5 years and 5000hrs it will be seriously expensive if a fuse blows or the monitor starts throwing up every error code . When will the manufacturers get the message I have been telling our reps for years and I know I’m not alone

This tractor is built and its a deutz, so either you put up with the dealer distance or put up with a tractor that isn't quite what you want, cant have everything in this world.

 

[mf7480]

If you want a tractor from the good old days why don’t you buy a tractor from the good old days? They’re still about.

 

[Wellytrack]

If NH etc made passenger jet planes then hundreds would be killed in the resulting falls from great height.

If fendt made jet planes all the rest would be grounded and cut up for scrap..

 

[Wellytrack]

Just bring back the Fiat 110-90, wack a Turbo on it, fit a 50k cog and charge 60 grand for it. I’m sure the NH dealers would be dealing with hordes of sunburnt farmers queuing up outside the gate from 6am.

 

[Nearly]

If fendt made jet planes all the rest would be grounded and cut up for scrap..

I know they already have multiple beacons but the coffin on the front linkage may affect the aerodynamics.

 

[ford 7810]

A power quad plus JD with mechanical spools and full suspension would probably be my choice for a new tractor.had a demo last year a NH T6 175 dynamic command manual spools and no daft telle screen to programme .don’t like the cab with big gangly
doors . But will need to be a T7 size for our work

 

[clbarclay]

If fendt made jet planes all the rest would be grounded and cut up for scrap..

The fendts would get grounded too, but only because of environmental damage, due to having to dump the excess fuel they generate, mid flight.

 

[Pennine Ploughing]

The fendts would get grounded too, but only because of environmental damage, due to having to dump the excess fuel they generate, mid flight.

Aye but think of the profit in the job, emissions would be less due to 30mpg, and having surplus fuel to sell,

 

[Henarar]

All you with the new technical high productivity tractors won't be on another thread complaining about the lack of profitability in the job will you

 

[dave mountain]

Just bring back the Fiat 110-90, wack a Turbo on it, fit a 50k cog and charge 60 grand for it. I’m sure the NH dealers would be dealing with hordes of sunburnt farmers queuing up outside the gate from 6am.

until they drive it and find it gutless AF due to the DPF & EGR that NH have had to bolt on to it

 

[Digester Man]

@zecase sounds like you need a 150hp Kubota in your life!

 

[Granite Farmer]

I have to agree with @Cowabunga. On our machines it is almost always mechanical problems that let them down. I dont think we have had an electrical problem that has stopped us from working yet.

It should be noted that farmers create the demand for ever more tech.

 

[Nearly]

I have to agree with @Cowabunga. On our machines it is almost always mechanical problems that let them down. I dont think we have had an electrical problem that has stopped us from working yet.

It should be noted that OPERATORS create the demand for ever more tech.

Perhaps another thread should be 'New tractor or 10 year old tractor and another £2 an hour for operator'
Most of the peasants amongst us don't have enough acres / workload to persuade us to spend £80k on a showpiece.
I do about 400 hours a year, have 4 tractors that together stand me at £30k and aren't depreciating or costing me finance.
Mini-me may have different ideas in the future.

 

[Jackov Altraids]

I have to agree with @Cowabunga. On our machines it is almost always mechanical problems that let them down. I dont think we have had an electrical problem that has stopped us from working yet.

It should be noted that farmers create the demand for ever more tech.

I really can't see that the demand for evermore tech is coming from farmers.

Cowabunga is right in terms of any contractor wishing to buy a new tractor. It has to be capable of doing any job quickly , efficiently and be comfortable for its driver who must spend countless hours in it. I would imagine a large proportion of new tractors are purchased by such people as you need to have many hours work for the figures to even start to add up.

I don't know the circumstances of the OP, but there will be a lot of livestock farmers that want the type of tractor he has stipulated where it will spend most of its life hauling slurry, trailers or maybe a feeder wagon where most of the gizmos are simply superfluous. They just need a comfortable, reliable machine with as little as possible to go wrong and which any member of staff could jump on and operate if necessary without first requiring a days tuition.
We aren't stupid and incapable as @Cowabunga suggests, to the contrary. We like resources to be applied in a strategic and efficient manner. We aren't luddites either. Just because I would prefer not to have a computer screen as a controller doesn't mean you can't enjoy an air seat, air con or blue tooth stereo. If those go wrong, your comfort might diminish slightly but it doesn't stop the work getting done in the same way as a broken indicator has been known to throw a tractor into limp mode.

 

[jondear]

Suspension , Decent seat .Air con, lights ,radio a gearbox that's usable and not as complicated as the starship enterprise!That's all for most farmers

 

[7610 super q]

L/H leccy shuttle ( is it possible to couple this to a mechanical gearbox ? Probably not ), and air seat would do me. Air con would only get used for 2 days in Crapweathershire. And nobody ever died of having to use a quadrant or PTO lever.

 

[JP1]

First question is, what do you want your tractor to do?
A basic tractor with a fairly simple gearbox and basic controls can be bought if that's all you need, for basic jobs. You can probably even delete the cab on many models if you try hard enough.
If you need a tractor capable of thousands of acres of precision work applying hugely expensive inputs, powering machines that require huge oil capacity at sub centimetre precision then you'll probably find all the features actually have a purpose.

This is outside the local NH dealer.
Still some hugely complicated rocker switches on it though.
Keen?
View attachment 948870
View attachment 948871

The bit I really like is that big grey thing on the front that lifts things up and down and even looks like it's now even easier to fit attachments to compared with eying up bolts etc . That saves my arms arms and my back and I just need to know how to start her up and one clever joysticky thingy to master - if I get it wrong I just tip the sh!t back on the ground and have to do it again. I'm a reasonably quick to learn steering wheel attendant mind