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RodinNS
09-11-2005 09:50:02
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Re: Ford 6610 stabilizer bars in reply to Hurst, 09-10-2005 16:04:21
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The TS isn't a bad tractor in most ways. The engines are a little better on fuel than the old ones. They can lug a little better too. I don't like the oil consumption. I've never seen an old Ford that burnt oil. The rear seals still leak too. Initally, I hated the new Fiat based front axle. It doesn't oscillate as much as the old ZF units, and I still think that front tie rod is going to cost someday. But so far, it hasn't been a problem, and works good. The tractor doesn't have a parking brake to speak of either. It does, but it's cable operated, and the writing was on the wall for that after the first week we had the tractor. I'm still not sure what was gained by going to hydraulic brakes, and thus necessating this cable operated ....unit. The old mechanical brakes worked just as good, and the parking brake was built in. Mine is also a 12x12 tranny. It's a decent tranny. It shifts so so. The external forks and side loader aren't tops in my mind. It will lock in low range if I'm not careful shifting. It's not bad to unlock, just the principle of it. I like it for field work, but it isn't for roading. It just doesn't have the right combo of gears, and I find I have to change range too much when hauling heavy, and that isn't much fun. It's a rather convoluted sequence that takes too much time, and if you miss, you're going backwards fast. But, for baleing and mowing, I like the transmission. It's fairly flexible for light field work.
The hydraulics are of the same bane as the 10 series, except the pumps were changed around, and a boost cylinder added to the 3 point. It lifts a lot more, but at the expense of being so slow that I don't care to use the tractor for 3-point work. If I was buying another, I would look hard at a 24x24 tranny to see how it shifted with the wet clutch, because I would certainly want to go with the CCLS hydraulic system, which is only available on the 24x24 and 16x16 tractors. Personally, I think NH spent too much time "packaging" features on these tractors rather than simply building a base, and then letting the buyer choose the options. I would much rather a 24x24 with a dry clutch and CCLS, but I'm not allowed such things. The Case JXU ( I think) is the same tractor, which comes closer in specs to what I want. It's not that they can't or don't build the components that I want..... they just won't package them the way I want. They are far too concerned with maintaining a price differential between features.
Ergonomically, it's a nice tractor to operate. Visibility on the flat deck is good. It's fairly comforterable. It's just little things like the devil's stabilizers, the bad parking brake and the slow 3-point that spoil that tractor.
To sum up, I think the TS will end up being one of the most durable tractors ever built by Ford/NewHolland over the long haul, closely following the 4000 and 5000. It's got the beef where it counts, and can certainly stand up to heavy hard work. But, I think it's lost some of the features and flexibility that the 10 series had. In my mind, the TS is just a tractor; it will never achieve the reverence that I have for the 7710. Never.Rod
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