jeepcoma
Bronze Member
Hi all, I picked up a new 2025R this summer and thought I'd create a thread of my own to post updates about what I'm doing with the tractor, modifications, projects, etc. First, I gained a lot of information from various internet sources, posts, videos, etc and it has helped me a lot, so I hope that by writing about my own experiences I might be able to help out someone else. Second, it's a good way for me to document what I've done and to be able to look back over the years and see progress. As TTWT pointed out in a video, property maintence is a long term job, and it's important to celebrate the accomplishments. This is very true because I'm always thinking about what I need to do next, and it's easy to overlook all the things I have done.
So first, some background about why I chose the 2025R. I live in rural NH on 21 acres. It's split roughly in half by a brook. On the north side is a steep hill, about 10 acres. On the south side it's mostly flat (for NH) about 8 arces, then a smaller 2 acre elevated hill. The "hill" has our house, garage, and barn. The 8 acres contains our yard, paddock, and pasture. Oh, and it's all in a floodplain. This ground is very soft. Based on experience from driving trucks and other vehicles on the property, a weight of about 3,000-4,000 lbs is relatively safe, while much higher results in leaving deep tracks and getting stuck in the mud. That effectively limited my search to the subcompacts.
In my area, the options are Kubota, Kioti, Mahindra, and JD. I had done a bit of research into tractors (and ultimately bought the Grillo) when I purchased the property so had some knowledge of the JD 1 series as well as Mahindra, as well as some (favorable) past experience with JD. I liked the mechanical simplicity of the basic Mahindra units, but neighbor has a Mahindra and complains about how long it takes to swap implements (and my goal is to always have the minimum amount of weight on it, so that's important). An eMax was a good deal more expensive than either JD or Kubota options. A visit to the Kubota dealer was a neutral experience. I stopped at the JD dealer and the 2025R seemed like the Goldilocks tractor - a bit more ground clearance than the 1025R, a bit bigger (better ground clearance for the woods matters to me), slightly more weight, slightly more cost. The removal and attachment of the loader, backhoe, and mower deck looked very well thought out and easy and quick to do. That narrowed down my selection to the 1 and 2 series. Let's look at the weights of the 1025R and the 2025R:
That puts the "max transport weight" of the 1025R at 3,171 lbs and 3,548 for the 2025R, a 12% difference. Both of these are in the sweet spot for me.
Price wise was even less of a difference. Going from the 1025R with 54" mower deck to the 2025R with 60" mower deck was a 5% increase. For me, the slight additional capability was worth the slight additional charge.
Comparing the 2025R to the 2032R/2038R was about 50% more in both weight and price in just the base tractor (plus all the bigger implements are heavier and more expensive). And, the most taxing work HP wise I'll be doing is mowing, so there were a lot of downsides for my application without any significant benefit.
If I'm being completely honest, a part of my decision also came down to how each unit felt. Compared to the Kubotas, the Deere's just "felt" better to me, ergonomically and visually. The 2025R had a bit more of a "big tractor" feel compared to the 1025R. When you're going to spend a lot of money on something and keep it for a long time, it's important that you like it, and that helps avoid buyer's remorse and regrets. So for me, I liked the 2025R best out of all my options, and it checked off the right boxes for what I needed it to do.
June 14th, 2023 I took delivery of a brand new 2025R TLB, hydraulic thumb, 60" MMM, and BB2048 box blade! It occurred to me that the only big equipment purchases that I have bought new have been my 2-wheel tractor and now my 4-wheel. I've never had a new car or truck!
Hope you will enjoy following along as I modify the tractor and get some work done!
So first, some background about why I chose the 2025R. I live in rural NH on 21 acres. It's split roughly in half by a brook. On the north side is a steep hill, about 10 acres. On the south side it's mostly flat (for NH) about 8 arces, then a smaller 2 acre elevated hill. The "hill" has our house, garage, and barn. The 8 acres contains our yard, paddock, and pasture. Oh, and it's all in a floodplain. This ground is very soft. Based on experience from driving trucks and other vehicles on the property, a weight of about 3,000-4,000 lbs is relatively safe, while much higher results in leaving deep tracks and getting stuck in the mud. That effectively limited my search to the subcompacts.
In my area, the options are Kubota, Kioti, Mahindra, and JD. I had done a bit of research into tractors (and ultimately bought the Grillo) when I purchased the property so had some knowledge of the JD 1 series as well as Mahindra, as well as some (favorable) past experience with JD. I liked the mechanical simplicity of the basic Mahindra units, but neighbor has a Mahindra and complains about how long it takes to swap implements (and my goal is to always have the minimum amount of weight on it, so that's important). An eMax was a good deal more expensive than either JD or Kubota options. A visit to the Kubota dealer was a neutral experience. I stopped at the JD dealer and the 2025R seemed like the Goldilocks tractor - a bit more ground clearance than the 1025R, a bit bigger (better ground clearance for the woods matters to me), slightly more weight, slightly more cost. The removal and attachment of the loader, backhoe, and mower deck looked very well thought out and easy and quick to do. That narrowed down my selection to the 1 and 2 series. Let's look at the weights of the 1025R and the 2025R:
| Unit | 1025R weight | 2025R weight |
| Tractor | 1,556 | 1,872 |
| Loader (120R, frame + bucket) | 808 | 808 |
| Backhoe (260B) | 610 | 610 |
| Mower (54" for 1025R, 60" for 2025R) | 197 | 258 |
That puts the "max transport weight" of the 1025R at 3,171 lbs and 3,548 for the 2025R, a 12% difference. Both of these are in the sweet spot for me.
Price wise was even less of a difference. Going from the 1025R with 54" mower deck to the 2025R with 60" mower deck was a 5% increase. For me, the slight additional capability was worth the slight additional charge.
Comparing the 2025R to the 2032R/2038R was about 50% more in both weight and price in just the base tractor (plus all the bigger implements are heavier and more expensive). And, the most taxing work HP wise I'll be doing is mowing, so there were a lot of downsides for my application without any significant benefit.
If I'm being completely honest, a part of my decision also came down to how each unit felt. Compared to the Kubotas, the Deere's just "felt" better to me, ergonomically and visually. The 2025R had a bit more of a "big tractor" feel compared to the 1025R. When you're going to spend a lot of money on something and keep it for a long time, it's important that you like it, and that helps avoid buyer's remorse and regrets. So for me, I liked the 2025R best out of all my options, and it checked off the right boxes for what I needed it to do.
June 14th, 2023 I took delivery of a brand new 2025R TLB, hydraulic thumb, 60" MMM, and BB2048 box blade! It occurred to me that the only big equipment purchases that I have bought new have been my 2-wheel tractor and now my 4-wheel. I've never had a new car or truck!
Hope you will enjoy following along as I modify the tractor and get some work done!
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I’ll share a picture of my bent bracket, I’ve done it more than once. I actually tied surveyors ribbon around those two pins you pull out to make sure the loader is off when I remove the deck. It definitely is hooking the loader stand. I’d ask for free parts to fix it. Did they warn you? Believe it or not you can still install the mower deck the way it is bent.