MichSnowBlower
New member
- Joined
- Oct 29, 2006
- Messages
- 5
Hi!
Thank you all for your many informative posts!
Until now, I have been a lurker and have learned a great deal from your posts. Thank you!
This is my first post, so please be gentle with me.
I am now ready to buy my first (and only) tractor and need your wisdom and help.
Tasks:
1. 90%: Snowblowing 300 foot blacktop driveway with maxium grade of 7.5% (4.3 degrees). Northern Michigan, lots of very light, powdery snow.
2. 10%: Rare, light FEL work - moving woodchips, a little top soil, a few small logs across front forks
3. No mowing
Decided for Sure:
1. 4wd
2. Front snowblower
3. Hard cab with heater
4. FEL (based on "you won't believe how much you will use it" comments here. Thanks guys!
Discussion:
I have studied your informative posts carefully and have read consistenly that if I am only blowing (which I am) and/or mowing (which I'm not), the John Deere X748/X749 may be the tractor of choice, and I agree with this.
I fully understand that the X748/749 is a premium garden tractor, not a SCUT, but that it is probably the best tractor for my tasks and I was therefore leaning that way.
However, I got a quote from the Kubota dealer for a comparably equipped BX2360 (front blower, FEL, Curtis hard cab) and it is $ 3K less than the X748.
As far as I can tell, some of the cost differential is that the Kubota dealer did not charge for installation of the Curtis hard cab, while the Deere dealer is charging $ 1,350 for installation of the factory cab and setup plus $ 450 for a 40 amp alternator for the heater, as well as the other odds and ends necessary for a front blower and FEL.
While I want the best tractor for the job, and if they were both the same price, I would probably go with the X748, with as much money as this is costing, for $ 3K less, I am thinking that I could be plenty/equally happy, although in a slightly different way with the BX2360 - it wouldn't be as "cushy" but it will be more of a "tractor". I will be blowing snow in a hard, heated cab. What could be bad about that?
I was also considering the X728 because I am on the fence between gas and diesel for my tasks, but the X728 is still $ 2K more than the BX2360.
While I understand that a great price on the wrong tractor is no bargain, I can't identify anything specifically on the X728/748 that is really worth $ 2K - $ 3K more over the BX2360.
Questions:
1. For my tasks, is there anything about the X728/748 that is really worth $ 2K - $ 3K more than a comparably equiiped BX2360? If so, what?
2. Which one should I go with and why?
Thank you again for everything I have learned from your past posts and thank you in advance for any help that you can provide on my decision.
Thank you all for your many informative posts!
Until now, I have been a lurker and have learned a great deal from your posts. Thank you!
This is my first post, so please be gentle with me.
I am now ready to buy my first (and only) tractor and need your wisdom and help.
Tasks:
1. 90%: Snowblowing 300 foot blacktop driveway with maxium grade of 7.5% (4.3 degrees). Northern Michigan, lots of very light, powdery snow.
2. 10%: Rare, light FEL work - moving woodchips, a little top soil, a few small logs across front forks
3. No mowing
Decided for Sure:
1. 4wd
2. Front snowblower
3. Hard cab with heater
4. FEL (based on "you won't believe how much you will use it" comments here. Thanks guys!
Discussion:
I have studied your informative posts carefully and have read consistenly that if I am only blowing (which I am) and/or mowing (which I'm not), the John Deere X748/X749 may be the tractor of choice, and I agree with this.
I fully understand that the X748/749 is a premium garden tractor, not a SCUT, but that it is probably the best tractor for my tasks and I was therefore leaning that way.
However, I got a quote from the Kubota dealer for a comparably equipped BX2360 (front blower, FEL, Curtis hard cab) and it is $ 3K less than the X748.
As far as I can tell, some of the cost differential is that the Kubota dealer did not charge for installation of the Curtis hard cab, while the Deere dealer is charging $ 1,350 for installation of the factory cab and setup plus $ 450 for a 40 amp alternator for the heater, as well as the other odds and ends necessary for a front blower and FEL.
While I want the best tractor for the job, and if they were both the same price, I would probably go with the X748, with as much money as this is costing, for $ 3K less, I am thinking that I could be plenty/equally happy, although in a slightly different way with the BX2360 - it wouldn't be as "cushy" but it will be more of a "tractor". I will be blowing snow in a hard, heated cab. What could be bad about that?
I was also considering the X728 because I am on the fence between gas and diesel for my tasks, but the X728 is still $ 2K more than the BX2360.
While I understand that a great price on the wrong tractor is no bargain, I can't identify anything specifically on the X728/748 that is really worth $ 2K - $ 3K more over the BX2360.
Questions:
1. For my tasks, is there anything about the X728/748 that is really worth $ 2K - $ 3K more than a comparably equiiped BX2360? If so, what?
2. Which one should I go with and why?
Thank you again for everything I have learned from your past posts and thank you in advance for any help that you can provide on my decision.