Comparison weight for loader work versus mowing yard damage

[TresCrows]

This crusise control thing is a non issue. The pedal effort on the BX is so low I could mow for days and not have a tired foot--it is a non issue---especially if you have trees and obstacles to mow around.
Oh I love that R4 tires are an abomination and a scam!!! This could get real good /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif. There are times I wish I had turf tires on the 2410 and love the R1Ws on the BX. I wish there were a tire with more puncture resistence and slightly stronger sidewalls than the typical turf I have seen. All in all, R4s ride rough even deflated and have marginally better traction than turfs but they don't get flats often and I like that. Turfs on a 7500/2410/7800 might be a good choice or a BX with the fat little R1 they come standard with is also fairly mild on all but the softest turf. You said 90% finish mowing so I still recommend the BX with it's fully suspended deck. J

 

[UncleAl]

TresCrows,
Thanks for your input. I'm really leaning hard toward the BX22. I understand limitations of loader and backhoe on this machine (I read glennmac's past threads after my reply), but I think I would cover my needs with the BX. I've also come to peace with lack of cruise, based on my reading last night and your comment. I was just thinking about my past mowing experience: set the hand throttle, feet are free to dance around on the tractor, prop on the hood, whatever. About the tires, I asked the dealer about including a second set of tires & wheels (turfs installed, R1's on the side). He offered to include 2nd set for $265. Worth it to have 2nd set or should I just stick with turfs? My yard is usually not too soft, but this spring has been exceptionally wet.

 

[buzst]

glenmac,
Great reply, for most of what we do on our small machines turf tires are highly underrated and the dealers really do "oversell" the r4's.

 

[EldoNixon]

Just my 2 cents. I've been struggling with the same issue. I need to mow 4 acres, need loader & backhoe as well. I don't recommend a garden tractor. I have a JD 400 with a 60" deck, and it still takes me 6 hours to mow. I found the new CUT's to be much more nimble and can mow much faster, as the weight keeps it from getting thrown around.
I'd pretty much decided on the BX until I demo'd it. The loader seemed too small and I want a full cat. 1 for some ag implements.
Anyway, I'm now leaning towards the JD 4115 or 4110. A little bigger than the bx, bigger 3 pt. with position control and a much bigger loader bucket (61") and greater lifting capacity with the FEL. I also need to get pallet forks, and I can do so with the 4110/4115. Plus the deck is still suspended, you can still get a mulcher, and it is still real manuverable. And, if I add the front snow thrower, it has hydraulic chute rotation. They also weigh a lot less than the other bigger tractors you are looking at. They are also coming out with a model 46 backhoe for the 4100/4115, so that option is open (there is a thread in JD buying.)
That being said, the BX is still a heck of a machine, and it did mow well. At about twice the speed of my Garden tractor. Hope this helps. Of course, it seems that a soon as I lean one direction, something comes up to change my mind...

 

[jimg]

Re: weight for loader work versus mowing yard dama

Well, this all all rather interesting. I asked this question (which tires are appropriate) in the recent past and most of the replies were along the lines of R4s are a no brainer. Heres what Im doing....loader work, pulling stumps and rocks, mending rock walls, blowing snow (lots of it), finish mowing, some brush cutting (mostly just high grass) and moving hay wagons around. Most of what Im doing says ag tires exc the finish mowing which Id estimate at less than 50% of the time. OTOH I dont want to destroy what passes for a lawn either. So, do you think turf tires are up to this? Im not sure they are. Id really like to use ag tires but dont have a clue how hard theyd be on the lawn. Any input would be appreciated. jimg

 

[TresCrows]

UncleAl, if he is going to give you two sets of tires for that price, take them.
Big, little, it is all a compromise. I love my BX and find that it is about 90% capable of my 2410 and sometimes it is actually faster at moving dirt and it mows faster also. The 2410 kicks it's rear with the boxblade and hogging.
I somehow, being a nice person in person, have become saddled with mowing, thanks to my wife, about 20 acres of hay since none of my immediate neighbor's Sears riding mowers can take on the task. I was sitting there looking at the unit drinking coffee my wife had just brought me when I said something like "you know, I think I need a bigger tractor". She ran into the house and called my mother /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif to tell on me.
Hmmmm, if I had a bigger tractor, I could sell the 2410, keep the BX and get a riding mower ZD thingy and----------- /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif
J

 

[Boondox]

Re: weight for loader work versus mowing yard dama

Jim -- I have loaded aggies on my L3010 and use a rear discharge finish mower on my 7 acre meadow, about 3 acres of which is lawn. Unless I'm mowing after a protracted spell of rain, I really don't see what all the fuss is about. Aside from a couple of strips where the grass gets torn up -- more a function of the fact that my tractor lives in 4WD than a problem with the aggies -- my lawn looks great! And the funny thing is that when I mow too soon in the season when the ground is still mucky from snowmelt, the ruts are caused by my skinny mower tires and not from the ags.

BTW: I had turfs on my last tractor (a little B1750) and they spun going uphill if the slope was wet. I had more damage from the turfs than I ever had with the aggies. Of course, my land is anything but flat...

Glennmac got it right on this call. Pete

 

[jimg]

Re: weight for loader work versus mowing yard dama

Pete,
Thanx very much!! My land is slopes off rather abruptly...flat at the top and bottom. The soil is also sandy and in spots the grass is rather thin mostly from the dry conditions of the past few yrs. I ujst didnt want to destroy the little grass there is on the hill and create an erosion problem. Thanx again! jimg

 

[glennmac]

In the interest of full disclosure, my evolving and negative views of R4 tires are contrary to conventional wisdom and practice. Most CUTs sold today are sold, lemminglike, with R4's. I will publish a rant against R4's separately when I finish my radial tire research. In short, my view is that they are not much better for traction on wet grass or slide-inducing diagonal slopes than turfs, they are just as bad (useless) in mud, get flats in the front like any other front tire, are usually cheap Titans, have no special virtue in snow, and mark up lawns the same as R1's (assuming R1's will mark a given dry lawn much at all, which is unlikely). Moreover, they are a profit pack for the dealer. Note how R4's cost $860 dollars more than than R1's for the Kubota 3130, half that for the 3830, and half that again for the 4630.

No, R1W tires are not offered by any CUT manufacturer that I am aware of. R1W's (the "W" is for wet soil) are wider and have much deeper lugs than R1's. CUT manufacturers all offer an R1 tire/wheel package (now mostly as a price teaser to yuppies and other weekend diggers), one or more overpriced R3 packages (a Galaxy Turf is a very wide, high flotation, shallow tread R3), and an extremely overpriced and usually low ply R4 package.

The BX is a great and nimble mower for 4 acres. The BX22 is an especially clever multi-machine for people who need only modest fel and bh capability. I traded my BX for a 2910 because I quickly realized that the BX did not have the hydraulic capability, power, or size to do all the other-than-mowing chores I realized tractors could do (but only after I had bought one)--namely, cutting acres of very heavy woody brush and digging out stumps, logs and rocks.

I briefly considered getting a RMM for my 2910 when I bought it, but at that time issued a fatwah declaring jihad against myself for considering such heresy and blasphemy. Now, three years later, I am very seriously considering moving up to the 3130, one key reason being so I can use a blessed and sacred RMM mower (as well as installing custom R1W tires). The change in faith was caused by all the experience I have gotten driving backwards with my shredder and backblade, and by the type mowing obstacles I have to negotiate (the kind you have to mow under--like bushes, small trees, evergreens, and crouching supermodels--or the kind you have to mow over from a safe distance--like creek banks, pond edges, muddy holes, and cliffs).

I would get turfs in my current situation (now mostly lawn and field mowing about 7 acres) in a heartbeat were it not for my wet and muddy Oozama Ver Boten.

 

[UncleAl]

glennmac, you obviously have put alot of time and thought into this subject. Thanks for the reply and I look forward to future info from you regarding this. I don't want to steal your thunder, but I took a minute to ask Google about "R1W tire" attached is a picture that is on the MichelinAG site