NH TC24DA Ownership Experience

[Carl]

The tractor was delivered on 12/30/04. So have had it for almost 2 years, or 180 hours. Have performed the services within 5 hours of recommend hours.

I will say that the tractor has given me no trouble at all. Had one problem with fuel gelling. (my fault for not using it more.) (If had would have bought the treated fuel.)

The dealer has been good to me. Called me this year and said that their was a recall on the hydraulics of the tractor. Some of the loaders would hit the elbow for one of the hydraulic fittings and snap it off when loader raised to full height. The dealer said that he only saw the notice once and it was never announced again, but he wanted to be sure. The elbows were replaced by the dealer at my home. At the same time installed orifices in the bucket tilt cylinder circuit. This was because when dumping a heavy load the bucket would drop quicker than the hydraulic fluid would return, causing the bucket to flop until the oil was pumped back to the cylinder.

So far the tractor has been used to plow snow with FEL. Dig out tree stumps. Fill in a low spot and build a lane. Dig a small pond for irrigation of garden, and drain garden when wet. Haul cut fire wood from woods. Plow and disk garden. Subsoil garden, and route for power to a shed.

The tractor always starts and runs well. Is fairly comfortable to set on. Controls are all handy to use, well placed and comfortable to use. The hydrostatic transmission is nice to use with the FEL. It is nice not to have to shift gears. The foot control is also nice to use. My MTD had hand control which was a pain when using the FEL I made for it. Also the hydrostatic foot control doesn't seem to require any more pressure to operate when the tractor is pulling hard. (I mention this because the MTD did)

Cons: The tractor lights aren't very good for using the FEL. Have installed a front and rear light on the roll bar so that can see when the bucket is in the carry position. And so that can see while backing up. Not completely satisfied with the forward shining light. It is pretty bright in the eyes when looking back. Am thinging about how to mount it to eliminate that problem.

I would like a little more pulling power. The TC24 shares the same transmission that is used in the TC18, and is sized for the TC18. Isn't normally a problem except under heavy pulling it will pressure releive and not transfer any more torque. But then you can't kill the engine, or spin ruts in the ground.

Would I recommend it to friends? Definitely! It is a sweet running little tractor that I enjoy very much.

[JDFANATIC]

Carl,

Nice review. We don't get to hear much from the NH crowd.

[Carl]

The Kubota tractors, and of course John Deere, and the other major brands have some with comparable ratings. I think close to same pricing. I think that with the Kubota it is more brand recognition. There is always the risk of getting a lemon with any brand, which puts it on the dealers shoulders. So dealer should really be part of the choice.

[rkcr]

Howdy, Carl. I like your review. I have 45 hours on mine and can't disagree with anything you say. (Only problem I've had is a slight drip from a loader hose connector, fixed under warranty.)
you mention digging and trenching -- have you done that with a backhoe, or some other way?
I have a long driveway that drifts deep and a live in a township that thinks driveways are places to dump snow. Can't afford a blower or a full plow assembly for the front so I've been thinking rear blade. Does that make sense?
Thanks

[Carl]

RKCR: The trenching that I have done I rented a trencher. I did not purchase a backhoe for the tractor. Used a subsoiler to bust out any tree roots, and to loosen rocks and busted concrete chunks in the trench route. This worked well the trencher never hung up on any of the debris.

The garden pond was dug with the FEL. I subsoiled the garden to drain it into the pond. Seems to be working well as the garden isn't muddy with the 3+ inches of rain that has fallen.

Clearing snow, a few people on this site have used the rear blade to plow the snow. Most say that the rear blade works well. So far I have managed to clear my drive (100') and couple of neighbors (80 or 90'). Takes a little longer and isn't so neat. Leaves piles rather than nice plowed banks. I have hesitated to get a rear blade for my tractor.

My experience with leveling with a box blade leads me to believe that rear blade would give me the same problems. The geometry of the rear blade is the same as the box blade. The blade amplifies the uneveness of the ground. Front wheels go up and the blade digs more creating bigger dips and hills. Maybe experience will teach me to do fine adjustments on the height position of the box blade to compensate for the dips and mounds from the wheels of the tractor following the ground.

Hope this helps you some.

[rkcr]

Carl:
That helps a lot. It also pretty much settles the question of getting a subsoiler.
One thing: From the specs and the little bit of digging I've done, I had dismissed the bucket as a digging tool. Do you have teeth, or does it do the job better than I'd assumed?
Thanks again
rr

[Carl]

No I don't have teeth, although at times I wish that I did. I just angle the bucket down a little and shave a little at a time. Take your time and it works fairly well. My ground was heavy wet clay. Sticky and doesn't like to pull apart. So the shaving method works quite well. If the ground was sandy then could take bigger bites.

After I got the box blade I would put the scarifier teeth to maximum down and use that to loosen the ground to scoop up. That works well too. But again in the clay I couldn't fill the box blade and pull it into a pile. Because when the tractor ran over it it was almost like virgin ground.

It seems to go fast with me even just shaving. Course I'm used to a 16 hp MTD garden tractor with a home made FEL that could pick up 300 #. And the tractor could barely shove the scoop into any kind of dirt.

[g-money]

we got a tc45da and we love it is a hydro as well and its it good product

[Carl]

G-Money: My brother purchased the tc40 with the standard transmission. Whatever your preference is I guess.

That John Deere looks like it is a bit over tired! Has the engine been modified? Our B never slipped the tires with anything that it was hooked to.

[g-money]

g will only come close to dying on the tightest tracks..... california tracks are different been trying to tell people that for years lol

[Ken N Tx]

:Welcome1: G-money..

Enjoy the entire site!!

Many various Forums on MTF.. :thThumbsU

[g-money]

thanks Ken