I had it in my head that I was going to get a 790, or a 990 (if I went insane) and ended up with the 2305. I saw it first at the Lancaster, NH Fair in Early September. The Sales guys loved them and I figure if I let anyone use it the hydro would come in handy so after test driving them both around the lot (Twice... ;) of Harvest Equipment I ended up buying the 2305.

Bought it with the 200CX loader, 62" deck, and 47" (Still waiting for delivery) snow blower for 17k. Bought it to mow and do property work on 6.2 acres (Mow about 5) in VT and 2.6 in Phillipston MA. I have about 30 hours on it in about 2 months.

I was mowing VT with a Craftsman GT5000 50" deck (25hp manual trans) and a 60" Swisher pull behind (actually on the side) so I was able to cut about 100" of width (10" for overlap) at about 5.3mph which was the transport speed (6) of the GT 5000 - I would always have to slow down to 3.3mph or less if the grass was thick due to the Swisher's 12.5hp bogging down with the 60" cut.

With the 2305 I can cut 62" full hydro speed at about 9mph (2900rpm - Tractor does 8.3 at 2600) and except for hills and turns virtually never have to slow down. It's much better on fuel than the gas mower also. The (loaded) R4's don't seem to dig up the lawn much and provide great traction when using the loader. I'm still not 100% sure I won't get a set of unloaded Turf tires but I doubt it. I do see a little wear around corners where I constantly turn with the R4's.

It's an absolute MOWING MACHINE and aside from maybe a bounce or two if I hit bumps mows fine at high speed.

The Hydro does take more power than gears would have but boy is it nice when using the loader. Mowing I could go either way, it's nice around the corners but I'd do gears just as easy.

It has plenty of power and I've used it to pull down some trees that I've taken down on my lots after partial cut-throughs with a chain saw.
The only thing that even approaches using all 24hp is mowing thick grass at high speed or on a hill.

With some weight on it it get's plenty of traction. It bases at 1450, I figure the load in the rear tires is 300lbs, the loader is 360+180 for the bucket and the deck is 200lbs bring it up to about 2490 without anything on the rear. If I take the deck off and add my 700lb (140 for the box + a 560 block of hardened concrete) I'm up to almost 3000lbs for loader work.

I have a 60 inch landscape rake, a DR PTO chipper and I got a ballast box and mixed
and let harden 560lbs of concrete so it is about 700lbs. Without the deck and with the ballast box it seems unstoppable. The only time I've maxed out the loader was lifting about a 30' 20-25" think downed tree to cut it with a chain saw.

The rear PTO works fine and aside from having to jump the seat safety to get it to work with the chipper I've maxed out the capacity of the chipper/shredder (19-45hp) at 4.5" (Small trees) and it just eats them up and the engine runs strong.

If I end up using it more in deep woods I'll probably miss the bigger tires of the 790. Haven't missed the independent brakes yet or anything like that. Also, when mowing and having to hop on and off to keep moving crap the lower height is very nice. I may eventually get a bush hog for it but I have a 17hp DR which I would take first into the woody stuff instead of the tractor.

About the only complaint I have isn't with the tractor it's the dis-advantage of having a mid-deck. I originally wanted to get a rear pull finish mower so I wouldn't have the deck hanging. I have to admit the deck mows sweet and is manuverable but for any serious loader work (other than moving around already piled material) you need to remove it. Fortunately I think I can remove it in less than a minute (maybe two) now that I've had some practice. Spin the wheels 90 degrees, undo the two pins, drop the front support and roll it out. Doing it twice in a day doesn't bother me. Much easier than the 17 cotter pins, etc. on the Craftsman garden tractors.

The Oil filter on the Tranny also seems a little exposed but I'm on the hunt for some sort of skid plate for it.

Overall I'm still excited about it and love to use it. Maybe someday I'll get something bigger but it would probably be out of want, not out of need.

;)

Date Purchased: 9/2005
Purchased: New
Price Paid: US$17000
Pros: Ease of use, power, mowing racecar
Cons: None so far.
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