New GC2310 Delivered this morning......

[dragula]

.........and my backyard looks like a minefield from all of the "practicing" today.

This thing is a blast to play with. I've operated heavy equipment for a living before from Cat D9's to Trackhoes and this little machine is almost as much fun.

I've put about 2 hours on it today. I'm really happy with the backhoe which is the main thing that I bought it for. The action is very smooth (once I got used to it of course) and predictable. I had read that some people complained that you couldn't use all of the hydraulics at one time and I found this to be somewhat true too. If you try to use all three backhoe cylinders at the same time (boom lift, stick cylinder and bucket curl), then it definitely gets a little touchy and slow. But it's not too bad really and I'm sure as I use it more, I'll get better at keeping the pressures equal in all cylinders.

I have two complaints though;

1.) I wish the FEL control lever was longer/taller. It's a little uncomfortable as short as it is and when I'm sitting in the backhoe seat position, it's hard to reach to raise the front bucket (so that I can reposition and push the tractor forward with the backhoe)

2.) Moving the seat to/from the backhoe position is VERY cumbersome. I actually noticed the same thing on the Kubota and a couple of the foreign brands that I looked at too so I don't guess that this is really a brand specific issue. It sure seems like that someone could come up with a better design for this though.


Regardless of the two issues above, I still LOVE the tractor and I think that I made the right choice with the MF. The tractor is very comfortable and I love the nice quiet engine. My neighbor has an older Kubota (about 5 years old) and his is considerably louder than this one. Of course, I assume that the MF will get a little louder as it ages though.

It took me a loooong time to decide which one to get (look at my join date here ), but I think it was worth the wait.

A couple of pics of the new tractor are below, next to one of my "other" rides.

 

[McDenny's]

Congratulations on your new tractor, I know you will enjoy it and it sure will come in handy with all those projects that need to be done.



Dennis

 

[archerynut]

You know your post is making all of the other members that are waiting for delivery of their new 2310 a little bit anxious. Not fair, it was about 70 degrees today and beautiful, to my benefit I did get stuck at work a little longer than anticipated. If I already had the 2310 there is no way I could have stayed at work.

Congrats and those pics look great. Can't wait for more pics, keep them coming.

 

[ray66v]

I have some suggestions to help you cope with your 2 disapointments.
To deal with the bucket issue I have found that in most cases I do not
need to put the front bucket all the way down. When you find the
"sweet spot" you will raise the front bucket up by lowering the rear
backhoe stabilizers. Then you don't need to fuss with the control once
you get set. Some jobs I don't even put the front bucket down at all.
The seat issue will get better on its own as you "master" the mechanism
from repeated use. Check the alignment for the hinges and latch, if it is
not perfect the seat can be difficult to operate. Some tweaking with
pry bars, and even a hammer can result in a very smooth operating seat.
There is a pin that in has to align with its hole exactly. The pin can be
"adjusted" with a hammer to center it if necessary. Once finished I
recommend a conservative amount of white grease on all moving points
and the pin. A few minutes studying the seat as you operate it will help
you to figure out any tweaks your seat may need now and periodically
in the future to maintain smooth operation.
Congratulations on your new tractor.

 

[dragula]

Well, I spent a couple more hours on it this afternoon and I think that I've finally figured out the seat. I see the pin that you're referring to and it does seem to be off some so I guess I'll see if I can "adjust" it some. Once I get the seat turned around, I have to kind of "jiggle" (for lack of a better word) the seat back and forth to get it to lock. However, it only takes me about 10 seconds to get it turned around now as opposed to the 30 seconds of frustration in the beginning.

I have a slight nuisance to add that may not affect others but it's an easy fix regardless; The knobs on top of the backhoe controls are flat on top and have kind of a sharp edge on them. I keep my hands on top of the knobs and the edges start to get a little irritating after a while. Gloves would be an easy fix but the knobs just screw on/off so I think I'll just pick up some new knobs for it. Maybe I'll get a couple of "dice" or "eight ball" knobs like on old cars.


I still LOVE the machine though. I'm only pointing out the above because I know that there are many here that search through old posts for further info (as we all do/did) about specific tractors. Maybe this will give them little things to compare to other machines. $5 knobs certainly shouldn't be a deal breaker though.


Archery, I've seen numerous posts of people having to wait for their machines (as you are ). Why is that? Do the dealers not have the particular machine in stock or are they behind on prepping and/or delivering? I bought my machine yesterday afternoon and had it at my doorstep by 9:30 this morning.

 

[dragula]

Well, correction to my previous post; I just went out to the garage to "unscrew" one of the knobs only to find out that they are slip-fit. I just pulled it right off. I checked the rod diameter too; 15/32nds/11.95mm which means that I could thread the rods for a standard 12mm late model shifter knob.

 

[archerynut]

The waiting was due to my schedule not the dealers. I didn't ask but I was at the dealership in the morning and he was just about ready to follow me home with the machine. Friday is the first time I will be off to be home to have them deliver the machine.

I think you should get some chrome skull gear shifters! That would be cool!

 

[dragula]

Oh, I gotchya! Man, I would have died having to wait that long. I was like a kid in a candy store when I was tractor shopping!

I was just browsing around ebay for some shifter knobs and I actually considered the skulls but I don't think that they would be much more comfortable than the factory units. However, I did find some nice perfectly round billet aluminum ones that Im bidding on. After I get them installed, I'll post some pics and an opinion (of course).

 

[JerryG]

I have a slight nuisance to add that may not affect others but it's an easy fix regardless; The knobs on top of the backhoe controls are flat on top and have kind of a sharp edge on them. I keep my hands on top of the knobs and the edges start to get a little irritating after a while. Gloves would be an easy fix but the knobs just screw on/off so I think I'll just pick up some new knobs for it. Maybe I'll get a couple of "dice" or "eight ball" knobs like on old cars.

I had the same problem. I drilled golf balls and put them on with a little glue.

 

[dragula]

I had the same problem. I drilled golf balls and put them on with a little glue.

Ha! That was a good idea. I wish I had thought of that or read this before I ordered those billet knobs.