BX - Buyer's Remorse? Loader remorse, anyway.

[smitesmash]

i tried to stay out of this thread as long as I can. Look- there are going to be a few people who say a certain tractor doesnt fit the bill or match their needs or used to using large heavy duty equipment. Thats fine with me, they just dont have the knack, the patience to get the job done. I just cant justify my needs/wants to fit theirs too. WE all are different and thats why there are many models to choose from. Just take it back and get the right size that suits you. One size doesnt always fit all. For me, the BX is the perfect fit. I am tired of the crappy box stores riding mowers and cant get much done. I certainly dont need a B or L or M right now. If the need arises, I always can upgrade/rent or just chip away the project with a smaller one. It will get done eventually. No skin off my bones. I do NOT put down the larger tractor owners and they shouldnt put down the smaller owners either. You just get/use whatever fits the bill.

People don't keep coming back to this forum just because of facts. Its Opinions that count.

And heres mine: years ago I had to move 3 cu/Yd of 5/8-, 600 feet from where it was dumped, to where it was needed, by hand (shovel and wheelbarrow). Never doing that again. I'd use a BX or an L* or an M* or hire minions before doing that again

 

[jeff9366]

From whence in the galaxy come Minions?

Are they legal?

 

[bcp]

From whence in the galaxy come Minions?

Are they legal?

I think they are coming next year.



Bruce

 

[tractorshopper]

I have an L3800. It is awesome and I love it. I also want a BX. It is also a real tractor. My brother has one. It's awesome and has it's advantages too. I have a JD L118 lawn mower. It is not a cheap lawn mower. It does not compare to a BX in any fraction of any way except strictly cutting grass (at a much lower speed with a much narrower cut width and lower quality cut IMO). It has 22 HP gas engine. The HST struggles up hills and barely has enough power to back up on flat ground. It can hardly pull a small trailer made for lawn mowers if any weight is added. It is only 2WD and slips like crazy on hills and any divots or bumps in hills leaves one wheel spinning with me going nowhere. It is very weak in comparison to a BX. It does not have a loader option. It would not have enough power or weight to do anything with a loader anyway. It burns gas at a very high rate compared to a BX burning diesel. In fact, my L3800 at full working speed doesn't burn as much fuel in an hour as my L118 burns in gas only performing one function. I can't put a PTO or any tractor attachments on my lawnmower.

I say all that simply because I don't even have a BX, but totally disagree that they are a glorified lawn mower (unless that is the only thing someone bought it for).

The BX will not do as much work as fast as my L3800 and frankly some jobs that my L3800 would do probably aren't possible to do with the BX, but the BX will do a lot of what my L3800 will do in a longer period of time. My lawnmower will not do any of what these tractors will do except mow grass. They just aren't a comparison.

And I do agree with the others that a tooth bar makes a world of difference to any loader and a box blade or any weight on the back will also have a tremendous impact.

 

[Jay4200]

I think most of you missed my point. My BX does a wonderful job at exactly what I bought it for - mowing the grass. I am not dissing the tractor in that regard. I also wouldn't call a BX a "glorified lawn tractor", but I might call it "a lawn tractor on steroids".

My point was/is that I spent a considerable amount of extra money finding one with a loader, simply because I thought every tractor should have one. After using the loader a couple of times, however, I am of the opinion that I pretty much wasted my money on it - it is simply not worth using the loader, as I have a bigger one at my disposal. The BX tractor simply isn't enough machine to adequately perform with one, even as little as the bucket is. If you have no other choice, it's certainly better than nothing, but for me it isn't even worth doing a quickie job with it, as the performance is SO far inferior to my bigger machine. It it nice to carry tools or bulky stuff around, sure - my barn and house are 1/8 mile apart, so I do appreciate the loader for that. When you see a loader on a garden tractor, you can tell at a glance that it is primarily for looks, and that it is incapable of doing any real loader tasks. This is pretty much the case for the BX too, which was a surprise to me. I don't know if it is just lack of weight, since I don't think the 'B' frame tractors are all that much heavier - must be that coupled with the little wheels.

I figured that the BX bucket would be useful doing smaller jobs - I first used it digging gravel out of a pile to fill in low spots beside my driveway. I fully expected it to be half as efficient as my big loader, as the bucket is roughly half the volume, but it is nowhere close to half as efficient - more like 1/5th. I just wanted to let those out there who might be in my position know what to expect (or not to expect), because I expected quite a bit more out of it. That's all.

 

[k0ua]

Hi, Jay, I don't have a dog in this, but I am wondering what you had on the rear 3pt of the BX when you were testing the loader, and if you have considered getting the Piranha tooth bar? By all reports it makes a big difference.. I know for sure though from many years of experience that proper 3pt weight makes a huge difference in using the loader.

 

[HEC]

Maybe my B2650 will end up being a glorified working in the garden , some rc work , and snowblower tractor , that's fine with me because that's exactly what I bought it for . Jay is just saying that in his opinion the loader wasn't worth the money being spent on it for his needs . It would be a strange world if we all had the same needs and likes and dislikes . It would be interesting if Jay would have a chance to use some of the hints given here to see if his opinion might change a little or maybe a whole lot . I would never have thought of a tooth bar being of such a great help . That's the beauty of this forum we can all learn from one another .

 

[TripleR]

I think most of you missed my point. My BX does a wonderful job at exactly what I bought it for - mowing the grass. I am not dissing the tractor in that regard. I also wouldn't call a BX a "glorified lawn tractor", but I might call it "a lawn tractor on steroids".

I figured that the BX bucket would be useful doing smaller jobs - I first used it digging gravel out of a pile to fill in low spots beside my driveway. I fully expected it to be half as efficient as my big loader, as the bucket is roughly half the volume, but it is nowhere close to half as efficient - more like 1/5th. I just wanted to let those out there who might be in my position know what to expect (or not to expect), because I expected quite a bit more out of it. That's all.

As I mentioned in my earlier post, it may depend on terrain, type of soil etc. We have nine tractors, I think, from our BX2200 to our M8540 with about six equipped with a FEL. We have fluid in the tires of our BX2200 and wheel weights on our BX2660 and always put counter weight on the 3PH when doing loader work.

We haul rock, dig dirt, move bags of concrete, clean out ditch, push logs etc. with our BXs, actually never even take the FEL off. My brother has it out at his farm right now where we keep several of our tractors and he is using it quite a bit, he was surprised at its utility and in fact has never used it until now. I had him replace some seals on the FEL cylinders and he had to try it out.

We both grew up farming, own quite a few tractors, so our favorable opinion of the BX is not based on lack of having something bigger or not knowing any better, it just works for us.

The BX does have limitations and certainly is not for everyone, so I often advise people to go bigger; sorry yours does not meet your expectations.

 

[Jay4200]

The BX does have limitations and certainly is not for everyone, so I often advise people to go bigger; sorry yours does not met your expectations.

Bigger probably wouldn't have been better, as I bought it specifically for the small size as a primary mower - although I'm starting to wonder if a 23HP 'B' would do as good of a job with a MMM - those aren't really much bigger than a BX, just taller. I am going to take the loader off this winter to mount the FM snowblower (emergency backup for my 6' 3pt blower), and I probably won't put it back on in the spring.

I DID take the 'bigger-is-better' advice when I bought my first tractor - I really needed a 'B' size for what I wanted to do, but I wanted a HD 9' backhoe so I found a 45HP 'L' frame tractor. Glad I did, because the 'L' is just about perfect for everything (except mowing).

 

[TripleR]

Bigger probably wouldn't have been better, as I bought it specifically for the small size as a primarly mower - although I'm starting to wonder if a 23HP 'B' would do as good of a job with a MMM - those aren't really much bigger than a BX, just taller. I am going to take the loader off this winter to mount the FM snowblower (emergency backup for my 6' 3pt blower), and I probably won't put it back on in the spring.

I DID take the 'bigger-is-better' advice when I bought my first tractor - I really needed a 'B' size for what I wanted to do, but I wanted a HD 9' backhoe so I found a 45HP 'L' frame tractor. Glad I did, because the 'L' is just about perfect for everything (except mowing).

I know what you mean. no matter how much I research, I am often uncertain until after the purchase. I once went to buy a B and came home with a BX, then a few years later, went looking to buy a B or L in the 32-35 HP and came home with a 50 HP cab.:laughing: