Buying Advice Advice on 2320 purchase for mowing and snow removal

[jenkinsph]

JJKJ,
I would have to give some thought to buying the X748 or 749 at that rate and buy a tractor when you know what you need it for. Could be that a good used tractor will handle the field work for you.

 

[JJKJ]

Thanks for the perspective John. I was a bit suprised when I had read the posts describing the 2320/2520 as "tippy". I was suprised because I sat on a 2520 in the dealership and I did not feel like I was sitting up high, or in a position that would give me the impression that it would be top-heavy. Sometimes it's hard to sift through what is good info and what is rhetoric.

John

 

[turbo36]

Thanks for the perspective John. I was a bit suprised when I had read the posts describing the 2320/2520 as "tippy". I was suprised because I sat on a 2520 in the dealership and I did not feel like I was sitting up high, or in a position that would give me the impression that it would be top-heavy. Sometimes it's hard to sift through what is good info and what is rhetoric.

John

Just so you know where my opinion comes from.
I currently have a 3720 Cab, 2520, X749, and 455 AWS- previous to the 2520 I had a 2305.

2305 - This was an OK all-around tractor but I never really liked it, probably because of the poor #PH control. It was very tippy - I proved it many times by putting the 2520 and 2305 side by side in the same setting and always the 2305 would lift a tire before the 2520.

3720 Cab - great tractor for blowing snow in my shirt sleeves while listening to my IPOD, a bit tippy though.
Being a cab tractor it was a pain if was doing something that required getting off the tractor a lot, also if you are working with someone and needed to communicate with them beeping the horn and using hand signals gets old very quickly.


455AWS - great snow blowing and mowing tractor, can't say anything wrong other then it is only 2wd.

X749 - AWD and AWS, now we're talking! Nothing beats this for snow blowing and mowing, I have side cut hills that are down right hard to walk up never less mow across and it never felt tippy. Probably going to kill me some day because I am too trusting of this machine. If I had to choose only have one machine this would be it and I would just rent a tractor with a FEL when I had to move dirt.

2520 - Did I say if I had had to choose one machine it would be the X749? Well, I meant maybe, as this little girl does everything good, not great, but good. I can't side cut the steep stuff but I can go up and down the hills.
This is the tractor I grab to do all my typical tractor chores. Sure the 3720 is bigger and more sexy but the 2520 feels like a well broken-in pair of boots.
This fall I looked at the hour meter on the 3720 and realized I only put 1 hour on it last year. I guess I do like the 2520!

Well, that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

 

[ChuckinNH]

In an effort to get back to the original post let's remind ourselves that we are talking about maintaining 2.5 acres. The rest is being taken care of by someone else. I'll lay out some of my thoughts on the subject.
1. If mowing is the primary use I would choose the 2320 over the larger tractors in that series. The mower is set up differently, and better in my view.
2. I wouldn't even consider something larger than the 2000 series since matching tasks is more important than value per pound.
3. Like some others here, I have found my Kubota which is roughly the size of the 2320 to be more stable in most situations than my garden tractor, but not as nimble which is a consideration on hills. Even though it is higher, the wider stance, and loaded tires do make a difference. The mmm will also lower the center of gravity.
4. Though I have little experience with my snowblower yet, I do think that having reasonable pto power, weight, and traction will matter. I moved some very soft, and heavy snow banks the other day with mine, and was able to lug the 19 pto hp down, and ran out of traction with my loaded r-4's more than once. The banks were 2-3', or more high, but you can run into that with drifted snow too.
5. Loader speed is down some on all the "new" models including mine, but it sure hasn't kept me from getting a lot done with it.
6. Steering control with a front mounted blower will be an issue even with 4wd. I used my loader the other day to remove aobut 3" of new snow on pavement, and had trouble at times with the loader in float mode. There was certainly no more resistance there than there would be with a blower down on the pavement unless you had it raised on the skid plates maybe. I sometimes wonder if these kind of issues are any worse, or better with this size tractor than they would be with an X700 series. I do think the full time 4wd on the X series will partially make up for their lack of weight. Others won't share my opinion, but I found that the BX22 that I had (same as the 2305, heavier, but a bit narrower, and shorter) was just a bit big to be a great garden tractor, and not quite big enough to be a tractor. The bottom line is that in order to gain reasonable loader capability you will give up some nimleness, and tear up grass a bit more when mowing. What you will gain is a more versitile machine which is important if you need to do other things. If you were to poll a group that mowed 2.5-5 acres more, or less weekly, you would find that they probably put about twice as many hours a year on their mower as they do on their CUT. I know that I do. Grass, and leaf collection is important to me along with the mowing and regular snow removal. I love having a tractor the size of the 2000 series, and find that I do a lot of things with it that I wouldn't get done if I didn't have it. Like the previous poster though, if I had to keep just one tractor, it would be something like the X728- X749.
In your position that is the choice you need to make. Do you want a garden tractor for all the every day things, or a "real" tractor for any reason at all............... don't try to justify it. If you want the tractor then buy one that is at least a reasonable compromise for mowing. Some dealers around here have many used mmm's that came off the larger Kubota B series, and they don't sell well at all. Many folks on this forum move to larger tractors, but go back to garden tractors, or ZTR's for mowing. Keep those things in mind.

 

[Nuru]

I would recommend a used 3x20 series with cab, with attachments. You can add either wheel spacers (6" on each side to the rear axles to increase stability), or a set of Turf specials like I did to widen its stance. It maybe a bit larger than you absolutly need but it will get the job done with strength to spare.

 

[jenkinsph]

I would recommend a used 3x20 series with cab, with attachments. You can add either wheel spacers (6" on each side to the rear axles to increase stability), or a set of Turf specials like I did to widen its stance. It maybe a bit larger than you absolutly need but it will get the job done with strength to spare.

Just read the other thread, so are you trying to sell your 3x20 and get a 4x20?

 

[Nuru]

LO!, no, no, too chicken to do that - can't find a way to sneak the 4x20 series onto my lot. I thought about just saying the 3520 needed to go into the shop and have the 4x20 come back, but then it is - how do I get it into the shed? LOL! If it would fit into the shed, it would get by her
Let's see a new double shed costs about, ...etc, and then I could sneak the 4x20 into the new shed, and, etc.