Advice on Moving Dirt with Kubota BX2230

[ky8t]

I have a Kubota BX2230 that I bought second hand (now with 50 hours on it). I have been trying to use it to landscape the yard at my new home and am not having much success. I have several questions that I hope someone can help me with. I am a real novice with this type of equipment and need the advice of some of you experienced tractor owners.

1. I have been trying to figure out how to check the hydraulic fluid, but I can find no information in the manual on that subject. It appears that the tractor uses the transmission fluid for that purpose. Is that correct?

2. When I scoop only a half load of dirt in my front end loader, it will not raise. How much dirt (or weight) should I be able to life in the FEL?

3. The lift for the three point hitch does not raise or lower linearly, making it difficult to adjust the height of the implement. It just slams down when the lever reaches a certain point. Should it be doing this? is there an adjustment for this?

4. The tractor came with turf tires, but when I use the FEL to move dirt, the tires do not grip well even in four wheel drive. I am thinking i need standard tractor tires for this purpose. How much will that help? I have looked for them on the Internet, but I do not see many available. Where can I find them? Or does anyone want to trade barred tires for turf tires?

5. Related to #4, I am thinking of buying a box blade to landscape my yard. However, I don't want to buy the blade and then find that the tractor does not have the traction or power to pull the blade through the fairly hard ground on my property. I'd be better off hiring someone to do it. Can the BX2230 handle a 5' box blace? Tractor supply has one made my King Kutter.

Lee
Huntsville, TX

 

[milkman]

I have a older version of your tractor and I'll answer what I can. 1. The hydraulic fluid and the transmission fluid are not separate and the dipstick on the rear between the top lift arms checks the level of both. 2. The loader should raise with a bucket full of dirt, however if you mean sticking the bucket in the bottom of a pile of dirt half way and trying to raise it, you're trying to raise all the dirt above the bucket, mine won't do that either. Have your hydraulic pressure relief checked, shouldn't be much cost to check and adjust if necessary. 3. The three point up or down sounds normal, there is an adjustment for the lowering rate that is located between your legs just below the seat, screw it in and the implement lowers at a slower rate, you can adjust this, in or out, depending on the weight of the implement. 4. The bar tires will definitely help with traction, I went to my Kubota dealer and ordered a set, front and rear, for right at $300, ask the dealer to order them through whole goods. 5. I use a 4' box blade and it works well with my rear tires filled with fluid. I can load the box full of dirt and it's all the load I can pull, I suppose you can use a 5' but I don't think you can pull it fully loaded.
Hope this helps, good luck with your tuff little machine.

 

[milkman]

I have a older version of your tractor, a 2001 BX2200, and I'll answer what I can. 1. The hydraulic fluid and the transmission fluid are not separate and the dipstick on the rear between the top lift arms checks the level of both. 2. The loader should raise with a bucket full of dirt, however if you mean sticking the bucket in the bottom of a pile of dirt half way and trying to raise it, you're trying to raise all the dirt above the bucket, mine won't do that either. Have your hydraulic pressure relief checked, shouldn't be much cost to check and adjust if necessary. 3. The three point up or down sounds normal, there is an adjustment for the lowering rate that is located between your legs just below the seat, screw it in and the implement lowers at a slower rate, you can adjust this, in or out, depending on the weight of the implement. 4. The bar tires will definitely help with traction, I went to my Kubota dealer and ordered a set, front and rear, for right at $300, ask the dealer to order them through whole goods. 5. I use a 4' box blade and it works well with my rear tires filled with fluid. I can load the box full of dirt and it's all the load I can pull, I suppose you can use a 5' but I don't think you can pull it fully loaded.
Hope this helps, good luck with your tuff little machine. I work mine way beyond the what I thought it would do.

 

[art]

With the loader work how much throttle are you using? I think enough if you are spinning your wheels which should be telling you that it's time to raise the loader.

 

[Sherweld]

Welcome to TBN. Lots of good folks here.

With practice you will learn to feel what your machine needs. For example you say when pushing dirt, your wheels spin.
If you are pushing DOWN with the bucket while "bulldozing" you are lifting the front wheels making it easy for them to spin and losing traction because you now only have two (rear) wheels fighting for traction instead of four.

Learning to angle the bucket is as important as the throttle with these little machines. Often a little bucket "lift" when the front wheels break loose, will plant them back down to restore traction or learning to feather the bucket angle to not take so much bite. It's a matter of feel and practice to make these machines perform their best.

Don't be hard on yourself (or the machine for that matter) it takes practice to master, but they can do amazing things for their size.

 

[jbrumberg]

ky8t:

Welcome to TBN ! This is kind of "off topic" but I am curious if you have a tooth blade on your bucket? A tooth blade really increases the effectiveness of dirt digging. Jay

 

[neucam]

Hi, If you mean you have a half load of dirt and it won't lift that, then have your system checked, with just dirt it should be able to lift a full bucket, gravel may be a different story. I can overload my tractor trying to move too large of rocks. If you are trying to fill it with dirt then keep the bucket fairly level , go into the pile slowly and lift and go forward at the same time, then the bucket will fill up. Some small corrections may be neccessary. Go slow.

 

[neucam]

Another thing, when using the loader, a box blade or any other ballest on the 3pt would help your tractor perform better with the loader, then you may not need new tires unless you are in very soft soil.

 

[3RRL]

If it is a big pile of dirt (tall) you want to drive into the pile with bucket level just off the ground. Go slow and as you drive in, start lifting AND curling the bucket at the same time, not just lift. You will "slice" off the dirt that way and it will be a lot easier on the tractor. You want to think of it like you are whittling a piece of wood where you cut into it and cut off a slice. It takes a little practice to get the sequence right, but when you do, you'll know it. The bucket will fill big on the way up, that's when you know you got it all.
Good luck and Welcome!

 

[alchemysa]

4. The tractor came with turf tires, but when I use the FEL to move dirt, the tires do not grip well even in four wheel drive. I am thinking i need standard tractor tires for this purpose. How much will that help? I have looked for them on the Internet, but I do not see many available. Where can I find them? Or does anyone want to trade barred tires for turf tires?

5. Related to #4, I am thinking of buying a box blade to landscape my yard. However, I don't want to buy the blade and then find that the tractor does not have the traction or power to pull the blade through the fairly hard ground on my property. I'd be better off hiring someone to do it. Can the BX2230 handle a 5' box blace? Tractor supply has one made my King Kutter.

You need weight on the back to give you traction when using a loader. Changing the tyres will be a waste of money until you sort out the rear ballast. A box blade will add weight to the rear so it will improve traction. I doubt you would need different tyres to drag a box blade.