A day in the life of a Kubota BX25D

[Cherokee140]

Update....Well got back from Florida and no offence, a nice place to visit but I would not want to live there....but anyway a few things to report.
Machine now has IIRC 37 hours on it....almost to that first service.

I took off and put back on again the backhoe and loader, it really was not that bad. I did it on the concrete driveway this first time but I am not really worried about doing it on the softer ground next time. Seems like you have lots of room so move up or down to get things lined back up. Even if it sinks in a little I think it will be a non issue. Both came off as easy as you have seen in the dozen videos that are on youtube. Putting them back on was really not too big a hassle, had so do some wiggle with the backhoe to get one pin to slide in but it was really a non event. Now the deck....that was a bit of a *****. Not sure if it will be more easy the next time, but this time it took a screwdriver as a pry bar to get the lift arms to line up. In the back where the arms lift I could not get the deck lined up....kept hitting on a little bushing in the lift arm...a little massage with the screwdriver and it popped right on. But I was cussing that thing....I really hope it gets more easy.

I also want to update on a few other things.....tractor took some battle damage under the tractor there are some rubber boots on the shafts....now doing this off of memory but I think it is on the input shaft, that boot has been torn, likely from branches. I also checked the fan and no damage to the fan, but those boots are indeed torn.

Now mowing....this thing will mow like a dream. Very nice cut, very easy to drive I did one lap around the back yard then I gave it to the wife and she ran a lap. So I am guessing we mowed about a mile on it. A circle around our back yard is right at one half a mile.

While the loader and backhoe are off I checked the hyd pressure and found it to be quite low, 1600psi. Very interesting, I had not found it wanting in power, but spec is spec and hay that is why there is one. Infact when trying to pull out some posts with the bucket or loader it will just lift the other end of the machine off the ground....guess the little machines weight came into play here. If it was a larger machine I think it would have lifted the posts out of the ground....or at least the ends of the tractor would have stayed on the ground longer.

I also have dug up some more trees, all black locust, the roots on some of these are larger then the trunk of the tree....the backhoe can't bust those about the size of my wrist...wonder if bumping up the pressure will give me more power to tear out larger roots.

I put everything back on the tractor, loader and backhoe, and called it a day after that....so far very impressed with the machine.

Anyway that is the update so far...enjoy guys.

 

[rbarker]

Installation of the mowing deck is definitely my least favorite job on the BX. Getting it lined up right can be fussy but I've never had to use tools to do it. I usually install it in the spring and remove it in the fall because it is a pain to do. Some folks here say they can do it in a couple of minutes with practice but I haven't got to that point yet and it doesn't look like I ever will. LOL As far as the loader and back hoe are concerned they go on and off like a dream.

Sent from my iPad using TractorByNet

 

[Cherokee140]

Spoiled....I am now very spoiled. I did some more mowing yesterday, I don't want to use anything except for the BX. Have a large craftsman mower, 54" deck....LOUD, way more bumpy, LOUD, harder to turn, LOUD, did not cut as nice, LOUD, hurt my back...oh and did I say LOUD. Then I just did the round robin with the mowers....tried the little john deere, 48" deck not as loud, cut nice, but very thirsty....both these machines love the gas. Then put mowers on the JD650 and the old 8N those are not as bad, but the 8N does need a to be midasized so it is a little loud....you can only patch exhaust so many times (yea I am cheap) they would mow much faster, and I am sure with a good finish mower could give a cut as well but it was still not as easy as on the BX.

That thing is really a dream, had to cut the mowing short as the wife wanted to plant a few apple trees (4) and a couple of peach trees (2). I use to dig the holes with a post hole digger, and wondered what the heck happened to all the dirt. never enough to fill the hole back up....even with the tree dirt in there. With the backhoe I guess it does not compress the dirt, and it leaves the sides and bottom of the hole more loose for roots to grow. We have about 10 or so fruit trees now, and got peaches last year off of some of them.

Then went back to digging up black locust trees....tell me just how a root can be bigger then the trunk? Someone screwed up when they made this tree. I hate those things.

Looking for some Missouri friendly Bamboo to plant next....I think that will be very cool. I know it spreads like crazy but it does not have thorns. Wife wants a peach orchard....I want bamboo, people will buy both....hmm.

Anyway that is the latest update....oh and I think the tractor hit 40hrs last night.

How much is a person suppose to use these little machines in a year....seems I read that it was not a big number. I already have 40 hours on mine and I have not even started on a few projects.

Oh well little hard working machine gets a rest tonight....thunderstorms all day today.

 

[Verticaltrx]

How much is a person suppose to use these little machines in a year....seems I read that it was not a big number. I already have 40 hours on mine and I have not even started on a few projects.

Use it as much as you want, I've seen several BX's with 3000+ hrs on them. I doubt the quality is less than any other Kubota, I put about 150-200hrs a year on my B3200.

 

[ryan08]

Grass cutting can pile on the hours, but who says there is a limit? You bought it to use it. Enjoy!

 

[Cherokee140]

Grass cutting can pile on the hours, but who says there is a limit? You bought it to use it. Enjoy!

Man that is so true, my three year old craftsman already has 220 hours on it....and all it did was mow....and while it was mowing we bailed most the front and back yards....the hours will start to rack up quick. But now we have a machine for everyone.

 

[Cherokee140]

Been a little while, I just wanted to make sure all understood I have not let this slide, our weather just has been flat rotten here lately. Highs in the low 50's, Rain every day. Saw on the snews this morning that we had rain 18 out of 30 days in April.

I did use the tractor as a trash truck yesterday however....hauling the trash down to the street. On the positive side with all this rain I have checked out the area of the driveway I worked on with the Ratchet Rake and even with all this rain it has held up nice.....so I am going to do the rest of the drive way. I need to order more gravel to work on other areas however.

Machine now has 41.7 hours on it and it is still working great. I think/hope with all this rain it will be more easy to rip out more of the roots to these darn trees. It has also been good for the fruit trees we planted. This weekend will likely be a busy weekend with the forecast being in the 70's. I am working also on getting the belly mower working again on the old JD650. So hopefully we will have 4 mowers to run, I will need them if we are not going to bail anything this year and everything is going to be "yard".

 

[Cherokee140]

Well she hit the big 50 this weekend. No pics however....sorry guys, seems the new Android OS really eats the battery in my phone. Has some cool moments (pulling vines out of a 50' tree) but the phone let me down....looks like it is time to make use of that cigarette lighter...ahh oops....accessory outlet and charge my phone. Then I finally put the mower on it and mowed with it...boy it sure does cut nice....even the radio water reporter thingy I have....made a meal out of that, crap first time I hit that thing and I am lower to the ground then ever before....guess a real mower does cut lower then when bailing...still don't know how much that will cost me to get fixed.

Back to mowing with it....I have never had a mower with power steering before and it sure is nice, but I do think it is much more bumpy then mowing with the 650. (this is a all out review of everything I do) and I think that mowing on the 650 is much better on my back even with its warn out seat then the BX. I am guessing the shorter wheelbase makes it not take the bumps as well....also the lower profile tires are not going to be as forgiving over bumps. Best still is the 8N as I can stand up with that but I really need to get a finish mower for that, I don't like brush hogging when just mowing....mowing gives much better cuts. The BX is also MUCH more quiet then the 650, but it is much younger. The hour meter went out on the 650 at 4000 hours, the BX just ticked over 50. JD has new mower bearings for the mule drive, and spindles that are only a few years old....still it is a REAL noisy beast...you wear hearing protection when using that machine. But even with its damaged blades it will cut nice, and it pretty fuel thrifty. The 650 has a 2cyl Yanmar engine.

I am getting better at putting on the deck and taking it off, but I still cussed it. Thinking I might have made a mistake and not getting the quick connect. I forgot the stupid drive shaft....half the back was done and I was in the middle of a fresh cut field trying to put on the drive shaft. It might not be a big deal with someone that has two good arms but I only really have one. The other I don't have the strength to push the drive shaft onto the output shaft....it was all I could to do hold it up. But again that is ME, I still think that down the line I am going to look at a Ferris or Simplicity mower with suspension for better mowing for ME.

I am still in love with the machine however. I was going to do a little more work in the yard but figured at about 2pm on sunday that I was going to have a little fun and went for a dune buggy ride, then went out to do some flying.

Not sure what I am going to do about the bumpy mowing....I am not against doing some smoothing, but need to find a way to do it faster. The only part that is really smooth is my little airstrip. And that took months of rolling to get smooth.

Going to ask that question in the other section.

 

[CHDinCT]

Cherokee140, here ya on the bumpy ride when mowing, even though I don't mow much with mine. Had the same experience as compared to my 20+ year old garden tractor, which has a slightly shorter wheelbase. Two things: First is the air pressure in the tires. The BX25 is something like 25 psi in the back and 20 psi in the front, or vice versa - can't recall the exact pressures right now. My Wheel Horse calls for 12 psi. The high pressures is to handle the loader loads, of course.

Second is that my BX25 (not a BX25D with the new seat) really has no suspension. Not sure if yours does. Sure there is some "springy-ness" in the seat, but it goes down to the stops as soon as I sit in it. My WH has a much better suspension set up and actually does cushion the ride some. To address that, I added some compression springs to the BX25 seat a few years ago. Cost me about $10. I posted a thread on it here somewhere which I will now attempt to find for you or anyone else that would like to add some more suspension to the seat. It was not a complete cure, but did help some. Might be even better with some larger springs.

 

[CHDinCT]

OK, found the thread. Like I said, hope this is of help to any BX25/BX24 owners. I believe the non-backhoe models use a different set up since the seat doesn't raise and swivel, but maybe something similar could be done.

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/kubota-owning-operating/216316-my-10-bx-suspension-seat.html