Comparison kubota BX vs my Massey GC1715 . . . what have I learned

[2ndhalf]

I have been driving my neighbors Kubota every spring for the last 6 years or so for a food plot behind my house, so I was familiar with it. We have a JD345, which is more similar to the Massey as far as forward and reverse, so the wife should have no problems getting used to it.

I did notice that the Kubota drifted or rolled forward a ways after I let off the forward pedal. Reverse was just the opposite, would could to an abrupt stop when pedal was released. Also, the PTO lever on the left was "stuck" in one position at the start of my test drive. The dealer man had to crank on the level to get it to move into another position. When the machine was warmed up, it moved easily. Little things that swayed my decision to choose Red instead of Orange. Would I dare bring an Orange tractor back to my home town of the Columbus Cardinals?:footballhelmet:

Have you considered keeping the JD 345 for mowing and just get the MF with a loader and leave off the MMM? The price difference will probably not be huge to keep the mower.

 

[Scut 4 Big Bucks]

The JD345 has issues. It runs for a while, then shuts down. Wait an hour, then it starts again. Took it to three different dealers to fix it, never did. That's why it's getting traded in for $700. 1996 model. Great excuse to finally get a scut!

 

[MNLaredo]

Congrats on your new home! I'm not far from you ... just south of New Richmond. Hoping to upgrade to a SCUT next year if all goes well (that's a big if at the moment).....

Well...SCUT purchase will be delayed, the sale of my house fell through at the last minute (buyer financing problems) which wiped out the purchase of the new house in WI. Will be going back on the market in the spring. On a slim positive note, I'll have more time to browse SCUTS (even though I've pretty much made up my mind on the MF).

 

[MNLaredo]

...New topic: why I'm not using a front mount snowblower on my Massey gc1715. Several reasons:

1. I want to have my fel on all winter . . . Using it with my brand new Snow Edge clamped on the bucket . . . Or just as a bucket. Allows me to deal with slush and snow as a push or backdrag situation and to deal with drifting and piles....

Did your FEL and Snow Edge get a workout with this last winter storm? How'd it go?

 

[tractorshopper]

Well, I just got back from McFarlanes. Huge hardware store with tractors inside, very nice.

I test drove the Massey Ferguson GC1715 and the Kubota 2370 (there wasn't a 2670 in the showroom). I loved them both, but the Massey just seemed to be a smoother operator, IMO. I'm not sure if I'm supposed to post prices on here, so I won't. I did get pricing on the 1715 with the DL95 loader, mulching 54" deck, and a 50" land pride tiller. The mulching deck was a $200 upgrade from the standard 60" deck. After hearing Axle talk about his, and the fact that my wife hates when I blow the clippings in her flower beds and other landscaping around the house, I thought I should go that route. So, if you're good at math, with the tractor and attachments, taxes, insurance, and using the 3.99% for 84 months, I was at $222 per month with no money down. If the wife says yes, I'm going to be a Massey owner very soon. Woop Woop!:cool2:

I have all the confidence in the world that this size tractor will do everything I need to do, and more.

Which Landpride tiller? Makes a big difference. I would not recommend the RTR 0550 or RTA 0550 at all to anyone. I would highly recommend the RTR 1250 or RTA 1250 to anyone.

 

[Scut 4 Big Bucks]

Well...SCUT purchase will be delayed, the sale of my house fell through at the last minute (buyer financing problems) which wiped out the purchase of the new house in WI. Will be going back on the market in the spring. On a slim positive note, I'll have more time to browse SCUTS (even though I've pretty much made up my mind on the MF).

Well that sucks snow balls, dude!

I have a buddy that lives near Star Prairie, he works at the local trout farm.

 

[Scut 4 Big Bucks]

Which Landpride tiller? Makes a big difference. I would not recommend the RTR 0550 or RTA 0550 at all to anyone. I would highly recommend the RTR 1250 or RTA 1250 to anyone.

You had me worried for a few minutes. I went down to the shop and took a picture. I wanted the reverse tine tiller, not the forward. I didn't research these at all, just bought what the dealer had in his yard (as far as model goes). What's wrong with the 0550 models?

 

[tractorshopper]

The RTR 0550 has 4" tines instead of 6" on the 1250. There are less of them. They don't till as well and the unit is way lighter. The worst part of the 0550 though is it has a shear pin instead of a slip clutch. And it breaks, very often. All around, the 0550 is a very light duty tiller, while the 1250 is quite the opposite.

My last tractor was a L3800. I had the 1260 on it and did a ton of tilling with it, including a lot of virgin soil. It worked flawlessly with no problems. If something stuck, the slip clutch did its job and protected everything. Remove the rock or sticks, then go right back to work. I tilled my brothers large food plot several times with it with the first time being it's first ever tilling.

My brother then bought a BX25D with the 0550 tiller. The very first time he tried to till that same plot that had now been worked over several times by me, he couldn't make it 20 yards max before breaking a sheer pin and he couldn't till very deep either. I was there with my 1260 and went right to work and did the whole plot with no help from him. He spent more time trying to replace pins that it became useless.

When I bought my BX2370, I made sure to buy the 1250 with it. I have used it quite a bit and it is as durable and easy to use as my 1260 was. Can't say enough good things about it.

Basically, the 0550 is a toy in comparison and in my opinion is not worth having. My brother is trying to see if he can buy a slip clutch shaft to replace his current shaft, but even so, it won't till as deep or quick as the 1250. He really wants to get rid of it and buy one like mine (and yours).

 

[TripleR]

My RTR0550 has the optional slip clutch and it works fine for my needs, but if I had it to do over, I'd get the 1250.

 

[Scut 4 Big Bucks]

Thanks for that great response, tractorshopper. I guess I got lucky with my purchase, although it wasn't cheap at right around 2K.

Couple questions about tilling. How fast can you pull the tiller? I suppose it depends on the ground you are tilling?? Do you plan on one pass and you are done? I hope this is the case. I was using a 6' disc and had to go over the plot 3 times before it was ready to plant. I did find a couple youtube videos of this tiller, but the guys seemed to be creeping along.