B7500 vs 154 Cub Lo Boy

[buck boost]

Hi Guys. I'm think about picking up a B7500hst with around 700 hours on it. The tractor comes with a 60"mmm, 4x4 w/R4's, and the 302 FEL. I haven't looked at it yet, but the pics make the machine look in very nice shape. Straight bucket, original owner. Asking price is 11,500. (seems kinda pricey to me)

My 154 is getting tired, and becoming unreliable, but still easily repairable (which is becoming more frequent lol). The only thing I use the 154 is for the 5' belly mower (all mowing season), and roto-tilling the garden in the spring. I use it for "some" heavy grass (beating on, need to use creeper drive) and std finish mowing.

So a few questions for/ex 7500 owners:

How will the 7500 pull a 48" brush hog through heavy water way grass? (around 4' tall, 17pto hp enough?)
How high will it lift a 48 brush hog? My water way has some 6"-8" ruts.
How nice is the mmm finish mower? Does it leave a nice cut?
Is it easy to pull the mmm off and on?
Is the loader capable of decent work? I think I read that the 302 has a 660lb capacity... (but I don't really need a FEL, but I think it would be fun on a machine that size)
How nice (or not nice) is the HST tranny to operate? (I don't really know how bota does their hydro trannies...)

I have a nice farmall A for light pulling work. I also have a new M7040 w/FEL and 6' woods brush bull for primary heavy mowing and primary snow removal ,the three bottom, grading, and lifting/firewood ect. I would like the 7500 with a 4 footer to get the wet spots and tight spots that the big fella (7040) can't go, due its size, or weight.

The 7500 seems like nice size on paper, but I'm afraid when I go drive 2 hours to go look at it, I think it might be too small. Dunno

Anything specific to the 75xx line that I should look at closely when going used?

Is that price high/too high?

You guys were great in helping me decide on the 7040 vs some other colors in the general section.

Thanks again.

 

[thetooth]

I bought a b7500 3 years ago for $8500 with a fel and a 54" mmm ( 450 hours ) , so yes I think the price is high . I think the cut is pretty good with the mmm . My mower is a ground contact so you will see the lines from the wheels on the mower but the will disappear after a day .

I run a rear blade for pushing snow , a 60" tiller in the spring for the garden , use the mmm in the grass cutting months . I have put a little over 200 hours on it since I have bought it and have been very pleased with the performance and reliability .

With the fel attached it is very easy to remove the mower deck 5 minutes tops .

 

[buck boost]

Thanks thetooth. Which trans do you have? How does it pull the tiller ?

 

[thetooth]

hydro transmission , I use high for moving around the yard and fel work and low when mowing or operating the tiller . I think the speeds are 4mph low and 10mph high at 2600 rpm .

It handles the tiller fine ( it is the lightest model bushhog makes 475 pounds ) . It is a forward till . I think if it was a reverse till I wouldn't want larger then a 50" .

i have had no major issues since I have owned it . 2 Minor issues a plugged up fuel filter was causing some surging and every once in awhile the front axle will drip a little fluid .

I don't run a bushhog but I would be comfortable putting a 48" on the tractor

 

[chim]

I've owned both a 154 LoBoy and a B7500. The B7500 was a lot more tractor than the Cub and I had it from new in 2002 till last summer. That said, there were often times when something bigger would have been better. I ran a 5' rotary mower a few times and it was really too big for the B7500 for any rough stuff. Since you have the M7040 you can hop on that if the B7500 isn't up to the task.

With regard to price, I sold mine for $9K a year ago. It had around 1,100 hours, was very clean, well-maintained and fortunately the hood didn't ever get creased from the loader frame missing the pins while installing it. The dealer said many with the 302 loader have the crease. Here's a shot of the B7500 the night it was separated from its "brothers".

 

[Milo]

I can't answer most of your specific questions but I can say the hydro transmission has been smooth and faultless in operation on mine since new (2003). I have the 302 loader and RCK54-24B ground contact mower. The loader can easily handle anything I can fill it with. The mower works great and this setup is my lawn mower. I like how high it raises for going over ditches or mowing my field. When I was comparing, many mowers did't lift as high as the B series with a RCK54/60-24B deck. I'm not that familiar with current used values but 11.5 seems just a bit high. But if it's in perfect condition with record of all services done maybe not.

 

[buck boost]

Thanks guys for all for all the info. I really appreciate it. It sounds like a b7500 is a nice machine for its size. I'm going to schedule a visit to go look at.

 

[ronjhall]

Having owned a Cub and a B7100 (a bit smaller than the B7500). There is no comparison. The B7600 will run circles around the Cub.

 

[Bluegill2]

The B7500s' are nice little rigs!

 

[lawn_king]

I ran a B7500 for years. I had a landpride 42" rotary cutter that would tackle some serious vegetation. I also had the front snowblower and the front 60" plow. I traded in the machine towards my B3030 in 2005. At the time of trade in the tractor had a heated curtis cab with worklights, 302 fel and 700 hours. A commercially worked tractor that was well maintained. I got 8 thousand in trade and the dealer sold it for 10 in less than a week. I think the 7500 will be a great little rig for you but i would not pay 11500 for it!