Buying a 2615HST, why am I worried?

[deezler]

Hey Deezler, how do you like your rachet rake? They make those right up the road from me in Carlisle, PA. I work 20 miles from there. Been thinking about getting one instead of a landscape rake.

Word. I like my ratchet rake a lot, especially for just $199 (clearance sale of the 72" model at tractor supply). It's a heavy duty piece.

However I'm not sure I could totally advocate it as a replacement for a landscape rake. The ratchet rake is only really effective at smoothing ground when pulling it in reverse, which can be annoying. You also can't adjust and side to side angle on it since it is rigid on the loader bucket edge, so if you're working very uneven ground, it is hard to get it totally flat when the tractor is rocking back and forth. And it won't hold nearly as much debris as a landscape rake, if your goal is to clear a lot of scrap off the ground. One more gripe is that you can't dig into the dirt with it mounted.

On the other hand, it is very effective at ripping up underbrush. And it can be rather handy having it on the loader, since you can articulate it quite a bit and easy shuffle around stuff with it. I like having it stiffen my bucket edge too, so that I know I can't bend it pushing against trees and such.

 

[ILUVBIGBUCKS]

Went great!:thumbsup: I've been too busy running the tractor to post a reply! Trip was long and sucked a big one, but I'm very happy I did it. We left at about 2 am on saturday morning and got there about 8. Checked everything out, left at 915 and was home by 3(LONG DAY!).

Tractor got put to work right off the trailer after a quick check over and grease job. Also had to fix a couple of things that the previous owner didn't appear to know what he was doing. No big deal, simple stuff. Guy that had it only ever used the tractor to run a Brush hog and it shows. Tractor is like mint! Even the bucket dosen't appear to have been used more than once. Mower might have 20 hrs on it. That 6ft deck really knocks out our yard pretty quick. The wife keeps getting a big grin on her face after running it saturday. I hope she likes it because i go overseas this saturday and she will have all the seat time on the machine till i get back in july.

I put about 5 hours on it between saturday and sunday and i just love it. It is so much smoother and quieter than our Kubota. Did a little dirt work around our new pole barn and it can really move some dirt. Wish i would've had this thing years ago. Our B7500 was a joke. You couldn't even lift a bucket full of dirt without it getting tippy and needing 4WD to move. I had this bucket full of large rocks yesterday and it didn't even break a sweat, 2WD and all.

I will do a full write up this week with pics and stuff when i have more time.

Congrats on your new machine. Glad it worked out well for you. Now you just need to update your avatar photo! :thumbsup:

 

[charliepff]

Congrats on your new machine. I am still learning the limits of mine. The orange b series does not hold a candle in the wind to these machines in my opinion.