Is sub-compact big enough for...

[Anonymous Poster]

I am shopping for my first tractor. I am building a house on 11 acres of former farmland converted to a residential neighborhood. I'm looking for a tractor to do light excavation, final grading, planting of trees, mowing & brush hogging, and snow removal.

I have been attracted to the Kubota bx 2200 because of its cost. It seems to be all I need. I'm concerned that the FEL load capacity is undersized though. Also, my neighbors have blue, and I don't know if attachments can be shared with orange.

Any advice?

 

[GaryG]

Here is my advice. Get the BX22 with backhoe and loader. You cannot easily add the backhoe on the BX2200. That little backhoe is great for planting trees etc. You will find several of the people on here have traded their BX2200s for the BX22 after a short time, to get the backhoe. Mine is sitting at the dealers waiting for me to return from Alaska, I'm excited....Good luck

 

[GaryG]

PS
The NH Boomers are nice also. I think a bit more money for what you will need. Most of the 3pt implements should work??? Someone else should answer that question...

 

[Will_C]

Jim; I'll try to help you with some advice.
1. In general, it sounds like you may want a bigger tractor than a BX. The 11 acres of mowing/bush hog work might have you thinking about a 6' mower and a 5' bush hog, depending on how the division of finish mowing and rough mowing breaks down. Those sized mowers are 1' bigger than the BX can handle.
2. Light excavation /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif, I don't know what you mean, but you will find both sub-compacts and compacts are limited here, unless you are considering a backhoe.
3. Finish grading, I think a BX could handle the duties if you are talking landscape rake work, some light boxblading, etc. I assume this is work you will only do once.
4. If you are talking 3 point hitch implements, Cat. I implements are universal for Cat. I tractors. Unless your neighbors have 50hp+ sized tractors, their stuff will work. Loaders, mid mount mowers, and other tractor specific attachments won't interchange.
I think you might well be served by a bigger tractor, understand I have the BX and can't say enough positive things about it, and the BX is far ahead of any garden tractor for what you are considering.
I hope this helps,
Will

 

[thcri]

The 3 point attachments will work for the most part. You will run into PTO shafts being too long when dropping down to the sub-compacts. Don't think anyone wants to cut them off for you to use. /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif

11 acres to me a sub-compact is really on the small side. Yes you can make it work. I think it really has a lot to do with how much will he mow and how much will he keep in prairie grass or what ever. The backhoe would be nice for removing stumps but I would not spend the money for the back hoe to plant trees. You can rent a post hole digger fairly cheap to do that. If you get to the point where your planting trees that need a hole that a back hoe would be nice for then I would have the tree farm plant them for you. I just got 10 blue spruce trees 12 feet tall and he charged me $180.00 to transplant all ten of them. The monies you would save on the back hoe could get you a bigger tractor.

Others have just as many acres with the sub's and do ok. It is just my personal opinion and that's it.

murph

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Some of the attachments used on a larger CUT or utility will technically fit but may put the BX's nose up in the air when you try to lift them /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
I think you might need a bit larger tractor. Also is your terrain rough : Larger wheels are very nice on rough terrain.

Not bashing just giving opinion on size.
BX22 is a nice little tractor which will do a lot for its size.

 

[JohnMiller3]

<font color="blue">… on 11 acres of former farmland … Is sub-compact big enough for… light excavation,… & brush hogging… </font>

No… /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif

Unless, you consider hiring out those jobs to much larger machines, get those jobs completed (excavation & brush hogging), and then start looking @ a smaller compact for the rest of your duties and future grounds maintenance…

 

[FamilyFarm]

I'm with the others that say a larger tractor. I have the BX and the things it does, it does very well. It is a very convenient package. What I mean by that - everything is so well integrated and it is easy to hop on and complete the task at hand with minimal preparation. It is easy to maneuver in tight places; the backhoe beats a shovel any day, the loader will surprise you. However, if you need to get large amounts of work done quickly , I think you will be frustrated with the BX (except for mowing - it is a gem for mowing /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif).

Terry

 

[frank_f15]

Jim, welcome aboard. think u might want to go up a size or 2. not only for the extra hp but for the added mass of the tractor itself. yes most cat 1 implements will work from one name to the other although the length of the pto shaft might not be right. might be helpful if u fill in your profile a bit, give us a better idea of the area and type of land u will be working.

 

[Egon]

11 acres--- residential neighbourhood.

I concour with JM3. A larger tractor will do initial jobs better but then be "Too Large" for maintenance purposes. The BX22 or similar size sound just perfect.

Some major work can be contracted out and yet leave you jobs for the smaller tractor. This contracted work is probably handled much better by a large tractor unsuitable for your ultimate use. It's surprizing what can be done with a little tractor, patience and time.

Attached is a picture of some work by a B7100. Different from the previous fuzz. The area had at least two feet of fill hauled in and rocks were dragged from up to 1/2 a kilometer away and then split.

Egon