Gittyup
Elite Member
- Joined
- Oct 4, 2007
- Messages
- 3,159
- Location
- Mid Atlantic
- Tractor
- Kioti CK25 Shuttle Shift, loaded tires, JD X739
I appreciate all the helpful comments. As my very first task for the tractor will be hauling rock (several tons over multiple trips), my focus should be on the transmission. Pretty much all of the tractor offerings at the Big Boxes seem to be geared more towards mowing task. It seems as long as I stay away from the entry level K46 and Intek B&S, I am on the right track of my needs.
I am still not sure used is for me (although the offerings in Lancaster County area seem o' plenty). I would gather get new so I can take care of it from day one and every scratch will have a story!
I am currently leaning towards CC GTX2000 with 42" deck ($4,000), as it has the beefy, servicable transmission and smaller deck size. The JD 320 is a close second, but the cast tranny in the CC is appealing to me and the dealer stands out more for offering long-term service.
I really wish the Husq YTH42V42LS was available with beefier tranny. It seems silly to me that the 16HP tractors have the same tranny as some of the 26HP ones, you would think they would scale up together. I read some posts that you can replace a K46 with K66. I am doing to ask the local Husq dealer (family owned business) his thoughts on that. For $2,500 with a Kawaski 24HP and 42 Fab deck, that is a nice platform for me. And I really like their instrument cluster far better than either CC / JD, not that I would buy on that alone. If I had a way to upgrade the Husq transmission should I run into issues, I could sleep better at night.
Feel free to chime in. I realize comparing the $4,000 CC with the $2,500 Husq is not really apples to apples. I see it as buying top of the line low end unit (Husq), or entry level GT (CC) with a tranny that I do not need to think about. Even if I never actually own the core aerator, snow blade, etc., knowing I CAN is important to me.
Thanks again, what a great forum!
-John
I see you aren't far from me. In nearby you craigslist there is a 345 and and 425 for sale. Both are far far superior to the cc you are considering, and for less money.
You will be buying less if you go with the cc, new or not. The 425 especially; it has power steering, drive shaft tranny AND drive shaft mower deck, real hydraulics, a tranny the size of a small car, locking differential, and is liquid cooled engine. The CC is a toy by comparison.