LONG time lurker here...I have spend days reading reviews and comments on compact utility tractors prior to finally ordering my Deere 2520 last week. I own about 5acres in Western Pennsylvania. The property is typically western PA...all hills, pretty steep in places. I also have a paved driveway that is mostly hill and about 150 yards long.
I bought the place about 5 years ago and have been using a Cub Cadet GT1554 to cut the grass (4 acres) and a 2003 Honda Rubicon to plow the driveway. I have chains on the tractor just to cut grass...it works OK but seems a bit much for the tractor. I have a 60" plow on the quad to plow the driveway. Most of the time it works pretty good. When you get over about 12 or 16" of snow, you really have to keep up with it. Long story short, I figured I would have rode the quad more then I have...actually I have used the quad ONLY to plow snow.
I finally decided that I needed something different and that it didn't make sense to keep both the tractor and quad. So I sold the quad and forced myself to buy somthing.
I had looked at compacts and subcompacts when I bought the house but didn't feel like dropping more cash at the time. I started my hunt this year looking at the 1026r. I liked a lot of things about this machine...expect for the price. I went to my local Deere dealership and the power is good BUT I didn't like the high RPMs that the machine ran at. The dealership was great and let me take it for a ride up and down hills with the MMM on. I noticed a pretty decent RPM drop (even in low range) when hogging the hydro peddle going up the hill. I know that your not spota mash the peddle to the floor but I wanted to see what she had. The hill was really steep but so is my property. This was a great test....in high range forget it, with the deck on not happened. In low range I think it was dropping about 800 RPM. I did have the unit in 4x4.
Next I did the same task with the 2320...it was improved but in general, my review was the same. Couldn't cut the hill in high range, and it low range with the throttle mashed, it did dog the engine about the same. (dropped around 600 to 800 RPM).
The loaded seemed to operate very similar (speed and such) on both the 1026R and 2320.
At this point in time I was scratching my head what to do...the salesman suggested we try the 2520. I knew the HP difference was marginal over the 2320 and the 1026R. I did notice that the 2520 had larger displacement and was rated at a lower RPM. I gave it a try on the same steep hill. WOW what a difference! In low range with the hydro peddle mashed the machine didn't drop even 100 RPM. I was suprised and some what confused.
After some thinking and research, I drew this conclusion...the 2520:26.4HP has 51.3 ft/lbs, 2320: 24.1 HP and 40.3 ft/ lbs, 1026R: 25.2 HP and 40.7 fl / lbs.
Let me tell you the HP is about the same...the torque MUCH difference (26% more) and the 2520 operates at a lower RPM.
The other big difference between the 2520 vs the 2320 and 1026R is hydraulic flow. The 2520 is rated 10.5 L/min, the 2320 is rated at 5.6L/min and the 1026R about the same. This is about DOUBLE the flow.
I really didn't start this search thinking I needed this big of a tractor BUT after just testing the grass cutting on the hill, I decided the 2520 is what I needed. No need to move into loader tests.
Here was the deal sealer for me. I ended up paying $19400 plus tax for the 2520 with loaded R4, 62" MMM, 200CX loader with heavy duty bucket (I will explain this in a bit). I think that for the incremental cost of the 2520 over the 2320 you are much better going with the 2520. I think I got a pretty good price to...my math tells me I was around the 18% off MSRP (depending if you count delievery and setup fees...which I think is a bean counters method of adding cost of the machine).
Here is why I went with the heavier bucket...I looked at the buckets that the dealer had on all the 2000s series...NO BOLT HOLES FOR A CUTTING EDGE!! WTF. IF or WHEN you wear the edge out you have to get an angle grider cut off the old one, then weld on a new one? COME ON MAN. I thought about getting a mag drill and punching some holes in it....but seriously for a 20K tractor you shouldn't have to do that. After some looking in the config. manual and the website we found that I could get the heavy bucket WITH the holes for the cutting edge on the 2000s series. I would recommend that everyone do this....the cost was about a wash.
I probably will buy rear chains for my double black diamond driveway but I will do that after the tractor is delievered.
I looked at other manufactures Kubota, New Holland, Massey, and Bobcat. I scratched New Holland and Bobcat right away....first I was like WOW I can get a lot more machine for less money than Deere. Then I started looking at how these units were made and the fact that NH and Bobcat doesn't even make this units! I don't remember what Korean of Chinese company they sub'd it out to, BUT that was enough for me to pass. I am sure that they are decent machinces but the resale just isn't as good, and the changes that both companies made with who manufactured these, where they were manufactured, and mass model changes but them on my Black List.
The Kubota was a nice machine...I was surprised to find that how light (weight the B2000 series was). I didn't like that. I liked the 3 speed hydro tranny and the machine overall but I found that the prices were really close to that of a Deere. The other thing is the Deere dealership is like 5 miles from my house and was much better to deal with than the 2 Kubota dealerships. I felt like I was buying a car at the Kubota dealerships (basically started right around MSRP ) and when I asked if I could run the machines cutting grass and moving some material with the buckets, the Kubota salesman looked at me like I speaking another language and make a big deal about it.
I hope this helps! If anyone wants more info please PM me. I will put some pics up when my baby (2520) arrives!
