|
|
Southern Illinois | Thinking about spreading our own fertilizer, and wanting a older terra gator with spinner box. what does eveyone else like four wheels vs three wheels and what do i need to watch for on the older terra gators thinking maybe a 1603, 1803 or something along them lines. Any feedback would be great thanks |
|
| |
|
Northeast Louisiana | I prefer the 1803 over the Case IH 4300. 1803 is a good machine and wayyyyy smoother and easier to service. The newer machines ride better tho. |
|
| |
|
Roseglen, North Dakota | The 1803 is a very solid machine; if you can "swing" it pricewise, spend the extra bucks and get one with Torq-Boost transmission. If you buy one old enough to have the shift lever on the floor (Torq-boosts were all on the console to your right) you will not enjoy running it in the least. |
|
| |
|
Northeast Louisiana | jd8850 - 9/29/2012 22:19
The 1803 is a very solid machine; if you can "swing" it pricewise, spend the extra bucks and get one with Torq-Boost transmission. If you buy one old enough to have the shift lever on the floor (Torq-boosts were all on the console to your right) you will not enjoy running it in the least.
I agree! |
|
| |
|
Central Iowa | If you can afford skip the torque boost and get a terra shift with a deere motor |
|
| |
|
Brazilton KS | Deere motor and terra shift and Deere axles--->>>machine is sooner or later fail something that costs more to fix then it is worth.
Cat motor, torque boost with 18 speed and planetary axles-->>>engines are cheap and readily available, transmissions are cheap and not likely to fail, axles are pretty common and seldom fail.
Short answer....if you don't care what it costs to operate, the Deere rig is great. If you are paying the bills and intend to keep it indefinitely, get the Torqueboost rig. |
|
| |
|
Northern CA | I have had great service with my Tyler 3300 with a Cat and an Allison auto. For that matter, my Terrogator, 1844 with a cummins and Allison has been good, too |
|
| |
|
north central ky | we have a 1603 with a 10 spd. and has been a great machine but I wish ours had the torque boost. |
|
| |
|
Roseglen, North Dakota | Correct me if I'm wrong, but with the Terra-Shift, don't you have to manually bump the shift lever to go to a higher or lower gear? With the Torq-boost, you always (I think?) have the 18-spd (as mentioned--affordable) trans. If your desired field spd is 20 mph, you would shift to 13th and drive machine like you would an auto trans because you have a torque-converter. The transmissions seldom give a problem, however (leave it to us) we have had the torque converters fail in 2 different machines (around 4500 hrs). On one machine it was $8000, the other was $11000--parts/labor @ Butler Cat. |
|
| |
|
Southern Illinois | Thanks Guys, I see some with allison autos in them are they something to look at or stay away from? also ive heard that the rear ends are weak in the 1603's and 1803's is there a year where that is not an issue? |
|
| |
|
St. Charles, MO & Piper City, IL | I like the Allisons. I found of you change the oil in the religiously they will run a long time. They do take more HP than a manuel. The rears ends are the same in a 1603 and 1803. Only difference is the 1803 did away with inboard wet brakes to do away with heat in the rearend. The coop I worked at in IL would change the rear ends at 2500 hours and rebuild them because they picked a pattern up from failures on both 16 and 1803's. In your case an 1803 with 18 speed would be a heck of a machine and serve you a long time with dependability. |
|
| |
|
Eastern, NE | Had our 1803 since new its a 97 8.1 deere 300hp , terra-shift its got little over 6500 hrs on it been the best floater we have ever owned! Our 8203 has given us way more trouble. As far as weak points the computer for the terra shift quit at 4000 hrs and a water pump in the 8.1 thats about it just keep the transmission and the rear end serviced with good oil and they are great! Wouldnt own anything that don't have power shift, but kinda got my eye on the new cvt machines. |
|
| |
|
Sunburst Montana | When did Terra Gator use JD axles? Was it on the older models? Our 2001 1804 has the JD engine, Funk tranny and a Rockwell axle, same axle our 1995 Loral.
Edited by Steiger Man 9/30/2012 10:19
|
|
| |
|
Sunburst Montana | You can set the Terra Shift in Auto mode so that you don't have to bump it manually. |
|
| |
|
Belwood, Ontario | 4 wheelers always had rockwel rear end, 3 wheelers didnt get rockwell until 2005, funk is jd |
|
| |
|
St. Charles, MO & Piper City, IL | Keep hearing great things about that CVT in fuel economy. Using 30% less fuel doing the same work. |
|
| |
|
central mich | If you dont want to spend much look for a 4 wheel Mertz. They were well built. Even the units with the Cat 3208 turbo and Allison were tough machines. Peterson Auctions usually has some at auction. Get a stainless box if possible. |
|
| |
|
Northern CA | Tyler bought Mertz. What I like about the Tyler/Mertz, the frame is tubular vs c channel on Ag Chem machines. Fertilizer doesn't collect and rust the frame into two pieces as easily. I don't think the Cat with a 3060P Allison can be beat |
|
| |
Older Terra Gators
