Bx 2230 Post hole digger

[astor]

Guys,

I just bought 50 posts to redo my front fence line. Rather than dig these by hand I thought I would borrow a friends cat 1 post hole digger and try it on my BX. I have no experience with a post hole digger but from what I read my BX will take a full size digger for a cat 1 set up. Is this correct? Do I have to watch out for certain brands of post hole diggers that will not work on the back of my bx 2230?

Any helpful comments would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Steve

 

[valleydweller1]

It's my understanding that the BX2230 will take a Cat. 1 Auger head, but the auger bits have to be shorter to accomodate the limited lift height of the BX. I've been told the BX actually has a Limited Cat. 1 3ph. That was confirmed for me when I borrowed a rototiller from a friend and wasn't able to lift it high enough to get it off the ground.

Greg

 

[astor]

Greg,

Thanks for the response. I thought I read that the Bx1500 had the limited cat 1 but the 2230 did not. Maybe that is wrong information. I am going to have to drop my tractor off at the job site first and than go and get the post hole digger, so I sure would want to know if its going to work before I waste my time picking it up and trying to fit it on the back of my tractor. I will have to do some more checking.

Steve

 

[Tom_H]

This is an issue I have followed for nearly 8 years. I have a BX2200 and a Greene PHD and auger from Horthern Tool. The PHD is full sized. To get the U-Bar on, the 3ph must be at mid height and absolute max spread. You have to slip one pin in one side at a slight angle, then come back and do the other pin on the other side. It fits barely. Then you put the rest of the auger on. At full lift, my 42" auger has 6" of clearance on the ground.

All BX models have the same 3ph as mine, except BX24 and BX2350. Some have described this as limited Cat. 1. It is a bit narrower at full spread than a majority of other Cat. 1 tractors, however, most 3ph implements will fit. There are a few that will not. Northern tool mistakenly shipped me a 30" wide pond scoop that would not fit, my 24" pond scoop does fit.

The 3ph on the BX24 and BX2350 are the same as all other BX hitches, except that they have a greater max lift height. Your BX2350 3ph is the same as mine.

I am having a Woods BH6000 put on my BX2200. I may not be able to get max lift at max spread with the PHD any more. TBN member Scrounger discovered that the sub-frame on the bh prevents max lift when at max spread as the arms hit the subframe. He posted photos on TBN.

Land Pride and Gearmore make small PHDs that fit a BX well. Each comes with a 36" carbide fishtail tip auger from Pengo. Land Pride has a downpressure kit available with theirs. Supposedly it is only for the PD15 model and higher, but TBN member ultrarunner coupled this downpressure kit with his LP PD10 model with no problem.

 

[JJPP]

You could always start with tractor parked on something to raise it up high enough to get the clearance that you need. Just make sure what ever it is that you use is stable. It doesn't sound like you will need all that much more clearance maybe just a couple of sheets of plywood or you could just move the left over dirt around with the fel. It would be a little more work but it will save money which we all know is most important in the end.

 

[mark.r]

One thing to be concerned with is the length of the PTO shafts as well. Sometimes the PTO shafts need to be shorten i.e. cut by a couple of inches. I don't know if this applies in your case but this can be an issue with running implements on small subcompact tractors. I had this issue when I bought a new finishing mower for my old Ford 1220 . . . my new Woods PD65 PHD has a section in the manual specific to the shortening of the PTO shaft as well.

 

[drtydeed]

If your buying a phd to do this job your wasting you money. Do yourself a favor, rent a dingo machine and you'll have your 50 holes in under two hours....maybe an hour.

oops, didn't register that you were "borrowing" one. Suggestion for "dingo" rental still stands.

 

[Barryh]

Guys,

I just bought 50 posts to redo my front fence line. Rather than dig these by hand I thought I would borrow a friends cat 1 post hole digger and try it on my BX. I have no experience with a post hole digger but from what I read my BX will take a full size digger for a cat 1 set up. Is this correct? Do I have to watch out for certain brands of post hole diggers that will not work on the back of my bx 2230?

Any helpful comments would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Steve

Just ordered a Leinbach L7200JR through my local Kubota dealer. I'll have it in about 3 weeks. Here is the thread on this digger if your interested.

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/kubota-owning-operating/116465-post-hole-digger-bx-series.html

 

[KeithInSpace]

You should be OK with a regular Cat 1, but the bit will probably drag on the ground between holes.

I have the REGULAR L7200 (vs. Mr. Barryh's L7200JR) and it actually fits on my machine. I think the JR would fit a little better...the spread is slightly less and the boom is a foot shorter, I think. The L7200 JUST fits at absolute max spread.

I purchased the L7200 off of Mr. AceDeuce, a member of this forum. He used it on his BX1500 without a problem. Same deal, though...the tip of the bit drags on the ground, so you either strap it up, drag it, or pull it off between holes.

JUST BE CAREFUL when borrowing equipment that the PTO shaft isn't too long. Probably not a problem on a PHD, but just be sure it doesn't bind through the entire motion of the arm. You can really mess up your PTO/Transmission casing if your shaft is too long since the PTO itself isn't made to resist that type of loading. My understanding is it will break the casing and shove the power shaft right out the front of the transmission. Doesn't sound fun.

 

[Barryh]

You should be OK with a regular Cat 1, but the bit will probably drag on the ground between holes.

I have the REGULAR L7200 (vs. Mr. Barryh's L7200JR) and it actually fits on my machine. I think the JR would fit a little better...the spread is slightly less and the boom is a foot shorter, I think. The L7200 JUST fits at absolute max spread.

I purchased the L7200 off of Mr. AceDeuce, a member of this forum. He used it on his BX1500 without a problem. Same deal, though...the tip of the bit drags on the ground, so you either strap it up, drag it, or pull it off between holes.

JUST BE CAREFUL when borrowing equipment that the PTO shaft isn't too long. Probably not a problem on a PHD, but just be sure it doesn't bind through the entire motion of the arm. You can really mess up your PTO/Transmission casing if your shaft is too long since the PTO itself isn't made to resist that type of loading. My understanding is it will break the casing and shove the power shaft right out the front of the transmission. Doesn't sound fun.

Yes, thanks Keith for pointing that out.

I guess I should have noted even though the (L7200) will fit your tractor as Ace and Keith have demonstrated. The (L7200-JR) is specifically designed for a Sub Compact tractor.

The difference is the u-frame, which is made narrower to fit between the lift arms, this enables it to lift the length of the auger. It also has a shorter boom to help assist in higher lifts.

As I have a BX -1500 which has around an inch and a half shorter clearance, I figured the JR would be even better for crawling / dragging the auger around in my back woods.