How I stumbled into a Kubota BX in the first place.

[bp fick]

Almost 6 years ago, my wife and I took possession of our pre-retirement property, now retirement rural property. I grew up in the 1950's on a farm and my grandparents and uncles farmed, so tractors weren't odd to me, but I was 30 years out of touch. I knew I would garden on a large scale and I also knew I would have serious snow to plow. Knowing those two tasks to be absolutely primary, I started to shop for a Garden tractor. I considered Massey-Harris Pony or FarmAll tractors from the 1950's as likely candidates, but I also just assumed there were a number of options in the "Garden Tractor" genre. Boy, was I surprised.

I admit, I was out of touch. Who knew that the old style Garden Tractors of the 1960's and 70's were long gone. The old "names" were done. Toro, Wheel Horse, Case, Simplicity and all the rest.

A trip to a Kubota dealership to see if I could function with a T series or GR series was somewhat disappointing. While nice machines, they were very expensive and were really lawn mowers. Nice lawn mowers, but not really what I was looking for.

And then? The salesman said to me, "Have you seen a BX?" Shoot, I had no idea what he was talking about. After an hour's worth of introduction and demonstration, I said, "OK, wrap one up and put a bow on it, as I'll take it."

Little did I have a clue how much I would grow to appreciate the modern garden tractor that is now known as a subcut, a term I'd never even heard before. I always find the various and sundry threads that endlessly debate, often with exaggeration on one side and snide ridicule on the other as to whether a BX is "really a tractor" or how capable a BX is or isn't to be pretty darn silly. I am rarely even the slightest bit tempted to join in these frays. Bleh!!

I use my BX weekly to work the garden, as promised. From prepping the soil to digging the 'tators, it does just fine, to moving a chicken tractor about the pasture, to pulling the utility trailer, to fetching firewood, to oh yes, plowing that snow, over and over again, the BX does just fine.

This is my story of how I first got a Kubota BX. Starting out by looking for a Garden Tractor or snow pushing lawn tractor and Ta Da!!! You'll eventually find the BX. If you're like me? You wouldn't trade a BX for a 1977 version garden tractor, with 18 hp gasser engine, draw bar implements, no FEL, no FWD, and so on. They may have been nice, useful and fun back then, they just wouldn't cut it in the 21st century, not for me anyhow.

Just some rambling thoughts on a grey, cold Monday night.

 

[bp fick]

So, what's your "I discovered the Kubota BX" story?

 

[milkman636]

Its good to hear the reflections of a satisfied owner. And it is great how we can just stumble onto things when we go looking for what we need. My BX story started when I went looking for a lawn mower and started to think about what would be the best thing I could buy for the job. Like you I also have fond memories of some older Fords, a Farmall cub, and even an old Case C with hand start and only a drawbar. But they aren't the tractors I want my sons learning on.

My BX is my fourth tractor in the last 25 years. I Started with a 1970 vintage Ford 2000, then moved up to a John Deere 5210 utility tractor as my property size increased. After another 10 years I added a 35 hp CUT with all the modern frills. Fast forward a few more years and I was hardly using my 5210 anymore. My needs have evolved and I figured out that bigger isn't always better. So bye went the 5210, and a couple weeks ago I found myself buying a BX. The overall utility and handy size of the thing impressed me. And I think it will be a great learning tractor for my sons to start tractoring on, with its power steering, independent pto, roll bar, seat belt, safety switches and all. I am eager to see my sons tilling the garden for me, or mowing the field at grandpa's house with a little rotary cutter behind it while I sit and talk to my Dad......etc. Did I mention its a great size for trailering? Plus I was in need of a new lawn mower, it'll run a front mount snow blower, and that chicken tractor moving business will be in my future too.

So that's why I bought a BX, and I see it getting more use than the 5210 it replaced. I am not concerned with how big it is compared to the other tractors of the world, my only concern is that it will perform the jobs that I have planned for it admirably. Based on my first couple weeks of ownership and the testimony of satisfied owners like you I have no doubt that it will.

 

[JOHNTHOMAS]

Bought 3 acres of hillside, gullied, treed, rocky land just out of town about 12 years ago. Wanted to build my own home myself after many years of remodeling houses and smaller than an entire house building projects.
Had owned several riding mowers over the years and decided I needed a final lifetime mower to tame my future yard. Research led me to Green, blue and Kubota SCUTs. The green was $3000 more than Kubota and blue was $2500 more than Kubota. Since it was my final lifetime mower I bought the high priced wheelbarrow for the front. Research also led me to 4wd and diesel powered.
I cut trees for a month with a chain saw. My wife decided to speed up our beginning of construction so I hired Larry Hamilton to bring his dozer out and start clearing land (back half was trees, rocks and slightly steep) and make me a level spot for my home. I bought a BX2200 MMM FEL and started building a building for it on the new property. Larry cleared in one hour what had taken me weeks to clear with a chainsaw which made me a believer in sometimes hiring others with more appropriate for the job equipment vs me doing it all myself. Time also started becoming more valuable with beginning the construction process. My brother volunteered to help me and my wife frame our house so I had to go forward quickly while I had him available.
Over the next year I ventured forth stretching the BX on jobs that I didn't expect it to be capable of doing. It exceeded most of them and occasionally fell short due to being a bit close to the ground and a bit under weight for the power it had but it far exceeded my expectations. I did a year later start my march forward of buying larger machines and went to a B7800 FEL and BX1500 MMM and fell for the propaganda of bigger is better and went to a Grand L FEL and quickly came back to a B3200 and eventually came back to several different BX models.
The BX25 was my most over all best for my purposes tractor. I'm liking the B2620 FEL BH more the more I use it but still believe I prefer the BX25 for tractoring and Kubota Fs for mowing.
This is my story and I'm sticking to it.:cool2:

 

[SeymourBota]

We always mowed our 1.5 acres with a Cub Cadet, but some parts became wet on occasion and I would have to mount the chains. Then, the dealer had a leftover Honda H5518, 4wd, 4 wheel steering in stock and we bought that- so much for ever owning 2wd again!!!
Back around 1999 or whenever Kubota first introduced the BX, we were looking for a replacement and the aspect of having a FEL to go with the belly mower and snowblower made for an easy sale.

That BX is still around, relegated to "camp duty" where it mows .25 acre, moves trailers, and blows snow in the winter.

My BX2660 does the 1.5 acres in record time!!!

 

[ultrarunner]

I was in the planning stages of a basement dig out and wanted to upgrade some of the trails on the property.

Started looking to see what was out there and stumbled on to Tractor by net and after spending a few late nights decided on Kubota and then decided to buy new after getting a little frustrated with what I was finding on the used market.

I've owned several tractors along the way and my BX would be the one I would keep if I could only have one...

 

[bp fick]

When we moved to our retirement home, I had been looking, even if casually, at tractors from "my era". I'd see everything from an old Suburban or Wheel Horse to a Massy, Farmall or an 8N sitting beside the road and I'd stop and look. But, when easing into my chair later at night, I'd ask myself if I really wanted to play tractor mechanic or tractor restorer in my retirement? The answer was absolutely not. I've the tools and most of the know-how, but that wasn't part of the plan at all. I wanted to spend my time doing other things and just wanted the tractor, whatever it might turn out to be, to just go when asked to work. Once I made the decision to buy new, I began to notice the advertisements for zero interest. This was 6 years ago and those zero interest deals were likely more legit, shall we say, than they have become of late, but that's another whole bunny trail.

That just iced the cake on buying new. It made the decision to actually go to a Kubota dealership that much easier. I had no idea how much cash we'd have to dump into the house, land and buildings and I didn't want to be cash strapped. The rest of the story I've already told in the original post.

 

[bp fick]

The house we bought had an issue along the rear basement wall and I knew I could fix it. But I wanted the dirt excavated off that rear wall. We had just moved in a few days prior, but while driving in the area, we saw a guy that had a Tractor For Hire sign on his pole barn, out in plain view. So, we stopped. Sure, he said, he'd come over and dig that dirt out for me. The price he quoted was so low that it told me that this was just an older retired guy who wanted to putter around, and I thought that was just fine.

The next day, a truck and trailer pulls up out by the road. The fella drives this orange tractor off the trailer. I could read that it was a Kubota, but it was so small. I honestly didn't put into my brain that it was a BX. I was too focused on the project. He set up began to get ready to dig. While I remember thinking to myself, "Gee, this is a little tractor" and "I'm not sure he can do much" and "Well, at least it won't be too heavy near my wall or over my septic lead."

In about 40 minutes, he had the wall excavated cleanly down to whatever the maximum reach of his hoe was. I thanked him, paid him the $50 he asked for (seriously) and gave him a $25 tip and told him take his wife out to dinner up at the Eagles or somewhere.

That was the first BX I'd ever seen actually working, though I couldn't even have told you it was a BX as none of it was really registering. I do remember thinking that orange color was awful bright and shiny.

 

[milkman636]

So when you were standing there at the dealership thinking about buying one, did that memory of that li'l orange tractor play through your head with you driving it?

 

[jix]

My tractor is an older Kubota B7100D. I drove 100 miles to look at it and bought it for $6800 with a rear blower (Meteor) and a dozer blade with down pressure and Swing hydraulics. It has 380 hours on it since new. Previous owner only used to to clear his driveway. I am so amazed at its power, First job was to dig out a stump with the dozer blade. Took about 30 minutes seat time, no blisters, no sweat, no problems, about two cups of diesel fuel. Done, hole filled, graded smooth. Yeah! I thought. lot easier than a shovel, axe, pick, and a wheel barrow..and fun!

Lovely machine, gonna blow the gosh darned snow offa the driveway and alsothe big snow berm that the govermint plow closes my driveway with, at least twice every time it snows here (which is too dang much).

The best thing of all.. I sold my ATV snowblower..it just kept breaking every time I used it... The Kubota only breaks if I do something stupid. I hate fixing things out in the cold.

But I didn't stumble onto it.. I searched or months to find it. The little beauties are quite scarce hereabouts ..and they are hardly ever available within my local area in Canada./.. There are a lot around, oh yes...but not many for sale..people get one, they keep it forever
I am retrofitting a custom built heated cab to it as a treat to my aging bones

What a rugged bulletproof tractor it is said to be. I love the little tusker way better than my silly ATV snowblower rig.

May be I won't hafta fix it every time I use it...like the *#&% ATV snowblower.

My uncle had a tractor back in to 40's..steel wheels..made by massey harris. It is still working on the same wheat farm in Saskatchewan..and I don't think it has ever needed fixing yet. Tractors, old ones, are like that.