Buying a new BX24 what is reasonable to ask for

[psd]

Hi everyone,

This is my first post although I have been spending a lot of time on TBN. Thanks for posting so much useful information. After reading a lot of your posts, I have narrowed my selection down to the BX24. I am going to get a 60" MMM in addition to the tractor.

My question is, what is reasonable to ask the vendor to include as part of the deal.


Thanks for all your input,

Pete

[asylum575]

I've had my BX24 since November and with 30 hours on her I really wish I had welded on hooks. Maybe 2 for the FEL and one on the BH. The R4s are pretty tough on the lawn. Probably should have gone with the Turf tires. Canopy would be nice as it gets hotter. If you can get a deal on implements and swing it into your loan(if financing) go for it. I'm looking for a Box blade and rake now. Probably should have got it all at once.

Just sharing my experience.

BTW,
Great machine.

[Shmudda]

Depends on what you want to do with the machine.

I got my BX24 at the end of December 2007 and only have about 18 hours on it so far. Naturally you want to get the MMM with it. I got them to throw in a tooth bar for the FEL as I have used machines of this size before and they dont dig real well without the tooth bar. Another item you could get is a Thumb for the back-hoe, as they are a really useful addition too.

Mine will be mostly used for digging out stumps, trenching, moving dirt around and mowing, so I really have everything that I need at this point.

Craig

[NuBota]

My dealer threw in toothbar and thumb, not because I asked (didn't even think about it really) but had told him I was clearing brush and pulling stumps. They also loaded my tires, which I did not realize till the first time I added air - they later told me it was their standard setup. Really was great because I would have been back to get all three - he did a good job of qualifying my needs....

Bucket hooks would be nice - but I've managed so far without them

[RayCo]

Definitely the FEL hooks. Are you asking what the dealer should throw in for free, or what you should purchase additionally? Free delivery's nice. Beyond that, I don't really expect to get free things when I buy something. My dealer put the hooks on me for no charge, and even painted them orange. I was grateful for that and wouldn't have minded paying, since it saved me the cost of a welder (so far).

As for what to get, if that's what you're asking, make sure you want to spend the money for the MMM. Personally, I can't see myself ever mowing my lawn with a tractor that I typically have a FEL and a backhoe on. I have 1990ish John Deere LX176 lawn tractor. I go out, start it, cut the grass, and put it away. It serves its purpose, and I ask nothing more of it. When that dies, I'll pick up whatever I find on Ebay or Craigs List for $300.

For the cost of the MMM, you could get something much more useful, imo. Of course, less than an acre of my property is grass, so I might have a different opinion if I were mowing four acres of grass every week. But then again, with the R4s, I don't really have much grass left to mow anyway.

Congratulations on your purchase, btw! You'll love it!

[psd]

Thanks everyone for the replies.

Let me explain my question a little better. Basically I will have 3.5 acres pretty much all grass. I have some trees that I will want to remove, and then the rest of the time, will be using the tractor for a lot of projects (New house with no landscaping done). So I was going to get a BX2250 but decided to get the BX24 with the BH so I could use the hoe for patio digging, tree stump removal, trenching, etc.

While reading a lot of the other posts, people were getting free stuff included like oil, air filters, tooth bars, etc.

Dealer here quote 17,900 for BX24 with 60" MMM, now while it is not the best price around, the dealer is close and has a great service department. So I was wondering what people thought would be reasonable for the dealer to include for free in that price?

Thanks again for your help. The TBN community is really knowledgable and helpful!

Pete

[frank_miller]

for 17,900 I would ask from a free 50 hour service. I paid less from Emerichs sales and service but I would get something here.

I found for installing inground irrigation systems the BX24 by itself takes WAY to long to install and kills the ground/grass. I just installed 2,500 ft of it last weekend with the BX24. There are better ways to install poly pipe and unground wiring. YMMV.

Lastly, I will say I dislike the BX24 for a few reasons. The joke switchs for safety (not on my old BX22 and need to disarm them), you cannot use any hyd on idle and the worst is the plastic floor. I HATE that and looks cheap.

[RayCo]

I agree that price is pretty high. I got mine for 15,300, although I didn't get a MMM.

As for the complaints about the BX, the lack of hydraulics at idle doesn't really mean anything to me. I guess if I cared, I could just turn up the idle. Also, the safety switches are a non-factor for me. Maybe I'm just a safe operator, and as such, I am unaffected by them. The only time that I have the safety switch under the seat try to turn off the tractor is when I'm going down a very steep hill. I do have to agree about the plastic platform, as well as the other plastic. I hate that I can't just drill holes and attach random things at any location.

I have a few different complaints:

• No HST temperature guage
• No oil pressure guage - the dash in general is pretty lame
• I sat here for quite a few minutes and couldn't think of any other complaints.

It is a great tractor that can do what can be expected of a tractor of this size. I don't see myself upgrading to a larger tractor ever - I would add a larger tractor instead. It works out well with my father-in-law in that when I have a job my little BX can't handle, his fullsize backhoe can, and when his backhoe's too big for a job, my tractor can slide right in

[Ken_CT]

I think it is reasonable to ask to include a couple of hooks welded to the FEL, and of course, don't forget to get a hat. A couple of additional purchased things I found very useful are a thumb and the ripper tooth for the back hoe. I bought those at Bro-Tek.

Ken

[NuBota]

I completely forgot about the hats! That is a given - no respectable dealer would not supply those!