New(to me)BCS725/tiller

[cmyoung2]

Picked up a bcs725 8hp Kolher Mag w/electric start with a 26" tiller at an auction last week. got new tines installed, awesome tiller. It has the 8" wheels. Being new to BCS, what improvements can I make that will help with other implements. I would like to add a snow/dozer blade, some type of rough mower, and as soon as I can get some metal, a power barrow like oldmech. Our garden is fairly small, 1/4 acre, wife likes designs so we have alot of short row with little turn space this year, may change next. have 3-4 acres of rough pasture and need to help the goats a little.

 

[farmerboybill]

Hi CM,

Congrats on the 725 with the Kohler. That Magnum 8 will do just about anything you ask of it. I use one on a 735 to mow my lawn with a 38 inch finish mower. It snorts a little if the bag is full when I use the bagger, but it does great when I mow back on the ground. I've also used it on the BIO-100 chipper and it does as well as any other engine offered on a BCS including the diesels. Since it has a Kohler on it, your machine is an early 90's model.

The biggest upgrade you can do with a 725 is taller tires - either 4 by 10s or 5 by 10s. With the rough cut mower, you'll definitely need taller tires for clearance in rougher ground. You'll find that the machine will be harder to turn with taller tires. To ease this issue, you can buy free-wheel devices, but they have some limitations I can discuss if you'd like.

My first "real" BCS was an early 90's 8 hp Kohler Magnum powered 715 I owned for a year (I had a 205 before it. It was a good enough tiller, but not on the same level as the 700 and 800 series). My 715 was just like yours but without the hi/lo shifter. It was limited due to the lack of differential lock and the single speed in "pusher" mode. It only took me one season to decide I wanted something a little more versatile. I kept an eye out for a good deal on craigslist and I now own an 850 with a Kohler (Lombardini) Diesel and the already mentioned 735 with the 8 horse Kohler Magnum.

Good luck with the 725. It's an excellent machine and I'm sure you'll get some use outta it.

 

[cmyoung2]

Would like to know more about the free wheel attachments. How do they work in reverse?

 

[farmerboybill]

Hiya CM,

The free wheel devices have four settings -
1. Locked for tilling
2. unlocked for moving the machine around when not running
3. ratchet in "tiller" mode
4. ratchet in "pusher" mode.

When set to ratchet, they work by allowing the outer wheel in the turn to ratchet independant of the inner wheel. You essentially have to outrun the the inner wheel when turning. When set to ratchet, the tractor lacks the hold-back of the transmission. If you turn downhill, the machine will free wheel down the hill. If you try to rototill in ratchet mode, the tiller will rocket forward. If you put it in reverse, you'll need to drag it backward manually.

That being said, I actually liked the free-wheel devices on my 715 and a 730 I had last year. I used them for mowing and blowing snow. They require one to think a little more when operating a machine, but are a good compromise if you don't have differential. They perform well on all attachments (except the tiller) once you get used to using them. When running the machine, always turn uphill. When tilling, lock one or both to keep the hold-back of the transmission. When reversing, either manhandle the machine or lock one of the wheels.

Bill in WI

 

[cmyoung2]

Thanks for the info, might be something I might look at later. Think the idea of taller tires might come first.

 

[mpapiary]

Congratulations on the new 725, I'm sure you will love it. I have one and it gets plenty of use around my small farm. The 725 is a good, usable machine and will do just about anything you ask of it. I run a chipper, 30" tiller, snow blower, flail mower and a sickle bar mower and it does a great job with all of them. I did upgrade to taller tires (5x10's) when I bought the flail mower to get a little faster ground speed. The 725's are almost as fast as the newer 8oo series with the larger tires. Another item you may want to consider (Well worth the money!!!!) is a quick hitch. It makes changing implements much quicker and easier. I have the Grillo unit from Earth Tools and am very happy with it.

 

[cmyoung2]

Have been using the tiller in the garden, like it but really need long, straight rows. Obstacles like posts and fencing can be a challenge. Worked up a couple of new beds today, out of hard turf, and very dry. The comments about the tiller jumping when it hits stuff is just a little understated. I would say leaps, takes off like a rocket, not just jumps. Realized real quick it is a one man job with no one anywhere near, especially out front. Even so, that tiller does an awesome job. I could not have dug it with a shovel, probably not a pick, and it three passes the tiller has a good, deep bed. Will be looking for some of the other attachments as soon as the pocketbook allows.
We are in the NC mountains, so things are not flat. How much does a wider wheel spacing help when on slopes? With no differential, how much harder are the turns when wider? i'm 6' , 215 lbs and fairly stout, but don't want to make things harder than needed.

 

[mpapiary]

Tilling dry ground is always fun! I have clay here and when it gets dry it gets like cement. As far as stability goes, the wider wheels do help. The bad news is that the wheel upgrade is pricey (As are most of the implements for these). Turning is slightly harder, but not bad. I have never really missed having a differential, although I'm sure it is a nice feature. The free wheel devices sound interesting - I have an old Wards two wheeler that uses the same ratchet principal but only on one wheel. As these tractors are fairly light and balanced I have never really found turning to be that big an issue. You might consider dualing up the tires which would probably help stability and traction even more and a used set of 4x8's would be cheaper and easier to find. There was someone on this forum that has done it and said it worked well.

 

[clytle374]

If you are looking for stability on hills just widen the wheelbase. Look at wheel spacers, much cheaper than bigger wheels. The 5" spacers real help ours, but ours has a differential so I can't answer how much harder turning will be.

One other thing about leaping tillers. Trying to hold the tiller back when it grabs something makes it worse. You pull the tiller up into a 'wheelie' off its wheels and put all of its weight on the tines. If you can let it jump and come right back back down on its wheels, it won't launch and drag you across the garden. At least that is my personal experience from trying to fight a 715 in hard rocky soil until it finally jerked me off my feet, literally.