Putting a sound gard cab on a 4430 open station

What would you fellas do?

I got a 1974 4430 quad range open station with 9000 total hours and 2600 hours on a rebuilt engine. I'd put it at an average to above average tractor. She's my "BIG" tractor. I also got a worn out 4010, 2040 with loader, and a decent-but-too-small-to-do-much-work 60

Last week, I was looking at a ROPS for my 4010 at the local non-affiliated tractor repair shop and noticed a sound gard cab sitting a little further back in the shed. It's for sale and he's willing to mount it on my 4430, but hasn't given me a price yet.

Now, I'd be taking a tractor worth maybe $9,000 and making it into a tractor worth maybe $16,000. I already know he wants $1800 for just the cab. Dunno what he'll price for mounting it and installing AC. I'm thinking anything up to $4000 should be considered seriously.

Honestly, I don't have a whole lotta use for a cab most of the time, but my wife wants me to at least put a ROPS on it. A cab is awful nice in the winter when I have the snowblower on back or am pushing snow with the 9 foot Degelman front blade (4wd would be even better but...).

My other thought would be to trade this tractor in for one with a cab, BUT I know this tractor and am confident it's in good condition and I couldn't trade it with 4 grand to boot and get much more of a tractor anyway.

OR maybe I should just mount a ROPS and forget about cabs :-(

Whaddaya think?

If you know the tractor and its condition I would say yes. You will be so much more comfortable and it will seem like driving in your car as far as noise level. I wish they had came out with them on the early 4020s. Those add on cabs weren't much better then sitting in a tin can listening to every hydraulic whine and different noises echo and bounce from one side to the other.

Your reasoning sounds good, but a very nice 4430 with a very nice cab would not bring $16,000 in my neck of the woods. You might want to shop around and see what one is worth in your area before you commit to spending so much money on yours.

How old are you? 55+? Put the cab on. My son and I do hay together. I"ve got a 4020 open station, he has a JD 2955 with cab. Every now and then he feels sorry for me and lets me drive the cab tractor. Wow.....never realized how much better I felt at the end of the day. Just do it.....if you're over 55. The young bucks don't need it.

Next question - what part of MO are you in and what does a decent 4430 with cab go for there? I agree that if he's going to keep the tractor a couple thousand extra would be money well spent, but I still hate to see him spend $14,000 to get a $12,000 tractor.

Before pulling the trigger I'd look around and see what a good tractor that size with a cab would cost in your area. You might find out it is better to sell a 9000 hr. tractor and use the $ plus what you are going to spend to replace the 4430.

Back when I worked for a JD there was a 4430 just as you're describing. It came open station and had a SGB installed on it. The rear mounts on both rear axles had to be built as open station tractor came less the SGB mounting holes in the axle housings.

Hey Fellas,

Well, scratch that. I thought $4K would be the high side, but with installing all the AC stuff on my tractor, he said it'd be over $5K.

ROPS it is.

Thanks for the opinions.

It is doable,but you will need a donor tractor. You will need the rear axle housings off of a donor tractor (open stations aren't the same)as well as the wiring harness(s)and some brackets,linkages etc, as well as the a/c components off of a donor(compressor,condenser,lines wiring etc and possibly the harmonic balancer if yours doesn't have the pulley to run the compressor). While you have the axle housings off, you might as well do the brakes too. Figure on replacing most of the a/c lines while it is apart, as a preventative measure.Figure with the cab at around $4000,misc.parts and labor you will do a good job of tearing up 10 grand

When Deere came out with the sound guard we thought it don't get any better then this. But now that I have tractors built 2000 or after, there is no comparison to the cabs. Mine happen to not be green but every make is about the same for cab design now. If you can see fit, I would trade the 4430 for a late model tractor with cab, air and heat.

When Deere came out with the sound guard we thought it don't get any better then this. But now that I have tractors built 2000 or after, there is no comparison to the cabs. Mine happen to not be green but every make is about the same for cab design now. If you can see fit, I would trade the 4430 for a late model tractor with cab, air and heat.

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Hey Belgian,

Trading up isn't gonna happen at this point. I'm still absorbing the costs of buying the farm and upgrading the buildings. I can't see my way clear of getting another tractor for at least two more years. It'll more likely be 2015 as that's when the CRP is done and I can finally start cropping the ground. With Organic corn going for 13.50 a bushel, I sure wish I could start cropping it now!

You are right about the newer cabs being nicer. I've driven many different tractors from NH, Deere, etc. and they are nice. However, they're very expensive to buy and very expensive to maintain once their 10 miles of wiring starts to age. My neighbor has a 6 year old 7320 Deere that has been to the shop three times in the last two weeks and they are having a hard time finding the gremlin. My dad's new New Holland has been a royal pain from the day he bough it last fall. You'd think a $100K tractor wouldn't have so many little problems, but I guess not. Its fuel tank has been sucking in and the suncreen for the moon roof doesn't work. Sometimes he needs to reattach a wire that was pulled off while going through the woods to get the transmission to work.... etc.

farmerboy
I agree on the wiring & computer nightmares that may loom on the horizon of the new model tractors.