Great Little Tractor
Model Year: 0
My B1550 has dual range HST, bi-speed turn, 4-wheel drive, power steering, a 3-point hitch, and a heavy-duty front-end loader attached; plus I bought a 40-inch rotary hoe (Howard), a 40-inch Slasher (Amatec-Moorehouse), 48 inch heavy duty swivel grader blade, and a post hole digger for it. I bought this machine with 5,000+ hours on it already, and it had been used as a loader for a garden soils supply yard, so the front-end loader and the steering components were well worn. I don't think that it was maintained as well as it should have been, so I had some failures. The steering bracket that bolts on top of the R.H.S. front gear hub broke, the ball joints on the steering rod from the steering box to the front failed, and the L.H.S. front gearbox suffered a bearing disintegration. It sounds bad, but given the hours, the application it was used for, and the lack of maintenance, it is not too bad at all. All of these failures were due to heavy constant front-end loader usage without reasonable maintenance. The tractor has performed very well, and surprised me with its capabilities given its tiny 855cc engine capacity. The torque is sufficient to run the 40-inch rotary hoe in heavy clay soils to a reasonable depth, and to run the 40-inch slasher over long thick grass and weeds, but only just. I probably should have gone for a 36-inch hoe and slasher, or a B1750 tractor, but I have no complaints really, as it does cope. If your property is 5 acres or bigger, I would suggest that this machine is barely big enough....depending on what you want to do. It certainly would not run wider implements than the ones I bought. Low range is slow, but un-stoppable, high range is limited in power. 4-wheel drive is mandatory for front-end loader usage.
Pros: Torquey, economical, reliable if maintained, compact, well spec'd
Cons: Coolant recovery system, and air filter for the trans case (hydraulic reservoir) not std, luckily easy to retrofit both though
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