Am I crazy??

[TripleR]

You could add a tooth bar or ratchet rake to help break it up, but I find a box blade to be an ideal tool for breaking up that sort of thing and then smoothing it out.

 

[taborekle]

I think that one of the hardest things to measure, but one of the most important features of any new buy, is enjoyment. Riding some craftsman POS mower for years on your lawn, hours at a time, vs riding a nice Kubota. You can see it over and over again in the posts here, "Seat Time" is code for "Enjoyment".

If you switched to a Kubota several years from now, you'll end up saying "Why didn't I do this earlier?"

Imagine turning mowing from a choir that you say, "well, looks like I have to do this" into "Grow baby Grow! I can't wait to get out there."

As I told my wife, "I don't think that I can justify it over the financing period of the machine, but I do think if it lasts 20 years, that it will be well worth it."

For the insurance on it, look carefully at the coverage, as the Kubota Insurance is very good. It covers the tractor, soup to nuts, for everything less a small deductible, for all causes except abuse and normal wear and tear, which is excellent coverage. I found for my tractor for 4 years it was relatively inexpensive, and that I could roll it's cost into the financing.

Good luck,

Larry

 

[sw18x]

Well I was finally given a very reluctant "yes" from the wife on a BX.:thumbsup: I'm leaning towards the 2360 even though I'm sure the 1860 can meet all my needs. I still have some concerns though regarding snow removal - I absolutely have to get the job done with this machine (I can see my wife now, "I thought you said you could plow with this!!"), but can't spend the extra $2500 for a front snow blower, so the FEL will have to do. I test drove the 2360 on Saturday and was amazed at the tight turning radius. Nice little machine, too bad friends and family can't understand the logic behind buying a quality tractor that will last practically a lifetime. Yeah, 13 or 14k is a lot of money, but what other machine will a homeowner spend as much time operating?

Any more thoughts on the FEL and snow removal? More questions: my neighbor has a Steiner and he recommends the industrial tires versus the turf tires. Which is better in the snow, turf tires and chains or industrial? Also, does anyone know how much a hitch bar attachment costs for the 3-point so I can wheel a log splitter around? And, what kind of weights are available for the rear for when I'm doing loader work? I have some lead weights off my racecar and I was thinking of making something up myself, if anybody has fabricated a homemade attachment I'd appreciate any input on this as well.

 

[leonz]

You should think seriously about a rear mounted snow caster

as the BX is an open station tractor and a rear mount snow

blower will cost you less money than a kubota front mount or

rear mount in most cases. A rear mount snow caster will work

very well with a front end loader.

 

[sw18x]

Thanks - dumb question but "snow caster" and rear mount snow blower = same thing, right?

As for the tire debate, I searched the forum and saw the results...I still wouldn't mind input, but didn't mean to open up that can of worms again. Seems the turf tires are probably best for me, R4's look pretty mean though...

 

[k0ua]

Good deal, glad you are going for the tractor. On snow removal with the FEL, well it works, it is a little slow, but it depends on how much you are doing, and of course how deep is the snow. There is also the matter of practice and getting good at doing it. It was all I used this winter. But I want a front Quick Attach blade. You will definately need weight. I have a 55 gallon barrel 3/4 filled with concrete I made. It weighs 750 lbs. you would not need that much, more like 400 I would think. You can search for ballast, and find my build if you like and many many more from others. I have heard that turf tires are a little better in the snow than the industrials, but several on here have reported much improved snow traction with industrial by cutting sipes in them with a special tool made for that purpose. Of course chains are the tried and true solution for better traction on snow and ice as well, for either type. Again use the search function on here and learn all about siping tires and using chains. Hitch bar for 3pt is about $26 at tractor supply, you will need a lock for it as well to keep it from rotating. I dont know if the BX comes with a Drabar that fastens to the differential housing or not, but that is what I do all my pulling with, it is called the swinging drawbar, tho mine does not swing. You are starting a new adventure, and will have many questions, keep posting and asking them and we will try to the best of our ability to help.

James K0UA

 

[BXpanded]

Well I was finally given a very reluctant "yes" from the wife on a BX.:thumbsup: I'm leaning towards the 2360 even though I'm sure the 1860 can meet all my needs. I still have some concerns though regarding snow removal - I absolutely have to get the job done with this machine (I can see my wife now, "I thought you said you could plow with this!!"), but can't spend the extra $2500 for a front snow blower, so the FEL will have to do. I test drove the 2360 on Saturday and was amazed at the tight turning radius. Nice little machine, too bad friends and family can't understand the logic behind buying a quality tractor that will last practically a lifetime. Yeah, 13 or 14k is a lot of money, but what other machine will a homeowner spend as much time operating?

Any more thoughts on the FEL and snow removal? More questions: my neighbor has a Steiner and he recommends the industrial tires versus the turf tires. Which is better in the snow, turf tires and chains or industrial? Also, does anyone know how much a hitch bar attachment costs for the 3-point so I can wheel a log splitter around? And, what kind of weights are available for the rear for when I'm doing loader work? I have some lead weights off my racecar and I was thinking of making something up myself, if anybody has fabricated a homemade attachment I'd appreciate any input on this as well.

The BX2360 has a larger loader bucket and greater lift capacity than the BX1860.
Most of the stuff you need, including the snowplow and the trailer hitch, is right here: www.BXpanded.com

 

[dodge man]

Here are some pictures of the snow I cleared this last winter. We got something like 24 inches. I cleared about 1000' of the road in front of my house to get to the main road. The picture in front of my tractor shows a drift that is about 3 feet deep. I'll spell your needs out for you in a simple manner AIR, WATER, BX2360, SHELTER, FOOD, TV, BEER. Your wife probably won't understand that, but you will.

 

[Grandad4]

+1 what DodgeMan said, even though what passes for winter down here pales in comparison to what he's dealing with.

My BX setup for the modest snow we get is almost the same as Dave's. Liquid-filled rear tires and my 230 lbs, plus a scraper blade on the back hold the back end down. I've got bar (agricultural) tires, not turfs.

When we do get snow, it's heavy and wet, often with ice underneath just to make everything slick. So far have not needed chains, even on some very steep driveways. Don't think we'll ever see a snow that will stop it around here. If you've got more snow than Dave, maybe you'll need a snowblower for it.

Highly recommend the rear scraper blade since it can be angled to windrow snow to the side. Not expensive either (Tractor Supply sells a 5 ft. blade for $300, and if you shop around, you can probably do better than that). Lacking that, you make a lot of back and forth runs or make lots of cross-hatch runs to the side with the loader, which takes lots of time.

Glad to hear of your plans. You'll find it's a wise decision. Be safe and enjoy!

 

[santa2u]

Any tractor owner will tell you to go as big as you can afford because you will wish you had later; I promise you.

Also, a box blade will come in handy for maintaining your drive.