Looking to purchase a 2305 JD with bucket and backhoe

[DrewLLatham]

Looking to purchase a 2010 JD 2305 with a Bucket, Backhoe and belly mower with 81hrs. Seller is asking 17500.00 and don’t know if this is a great deal or just a deal. Any advise would be greatly appreciated
Drew

 

[DrewLLatham]

Condition is spotless, I cannot seem to find how the John Deere lineup falls with the 2035, Sub compact, or compact. I’m using this machine along side of my JD X740 to mow roughly 3/4 acres. I need the machine to move a lot of bushes, retaining wall installation, snow removal and to finish off a remodeling of the property which started many years earlier.

 

[KennyG]

2305 is a subcompact, compares to the current 1 series JD like the 1023. The biggest limitation is the smaller tires which limit the ground clearance and lift range. It's been popular for light work, but don't expect the backhoe to do much heavy work. The weight and hydraulic capacity is limited but if you don't have a large property it may do fine. If I recall the 2305 has only one weakness, the plastic transmission cooling fan. It can be damaged by debris under the tractor, so you have to be careful. Other than that, it's a very reliable tractor.

 

[dusty3030]

The housing around the rear pto shaft is thin and prone to shatter if pushed in like when you have a sticky or frozen up pto shaft that isn't sliding like it should. Also I believe there are u joints on the drive shaft that are hidden that never gets lubed that can be a problem.

 

[DrewLLatham]

2305 is a subcompact, compares to the current 1 series JD like the 1023. The biggest limitation is the smaller tires which limit the ground clearance and lift range. It's been popular for light work, but don't expect the backhoe to do much heavy work. The weight and hydraulic capacity is limited but if you don't have a large property it may do fine. If I recall the 2305 has only one weakness, the plastic transmission cooling fan. It can be damaged by debris under the tractor, so you have to be careful. Other than that, it's a very reliable tractor.

THank you..

 

[jonsstihl]

I have heard that PTO gears are fragile on that model. Can remember exactly if it was the actual gears or the castings or if the broken gears would have a tendency to break the castings but I would stay away, Kind of like the Kubota B3350 stay away.

 

[KennyG]

Here is the original thread on gear failures:

John Deere 2305 Compact Tractor Transmission and rear PTO failure

According to this thread, the gear box was upgraded in 2007 or 2008. Keep in mind this was an extremely popular model of tractor and the extent to which the failures occur in tractors used with oversized PTO equipment isn't known. In general I think they have been reliable.

 

[bigtiller]

I have heard that PTO gears are fragile on that model. Can remember exactly if it was the actual gears or the castings or if the broken gears would have a tendency to break the castings but I would stay away, Kind of like the Kubota B3350 stay away.

I bought a new 2305 in February 2006 and did custom garden tilling with a 50" reverse tine rotation tiller for 7 summers before I jumped up to a 2720.

I never had problems with the pto.

 

[MTGreen]

Make sure you regularly expose and lube the driveshaft between the motor and the hydrostat which is not in the maintenance schedule. Lack of lube here makes for a 500hr time bomb.

Also make sure you understand you are getting a cat 1 limited and not a true cat 1 3pt.

I bought a 2210 (almost identical to 2305) disassembled "parts tractor" at one point for $1000 because that driveshaft rear u-joint fragged and took out the front of the hydrostat.

 

[jd670]

The 2210 was only produced from 2003-2006 because of the pto case failure as mentioned above. My dealer had trouble selling them because of the failure reputation. Excellent for mid mount mowing. The 2305 was the replacement. It came out in late 2005. It had a much thicker and stronger case. it's production run lasted till 2010. Then the one series came out. The 2305 was a much better machine. I would avoid the 2210. Just my 2 cents...