After putting about 650 hours on my
BX23 - I upgraded to a
B3200 a few years ago. My decision points to go bigger were pretty simple: I wanted to get more work done faster. I contemplated going all the way up to an L , because the size difference between the
B3200 and the lower sized L's was not really that much - and there was an increase in FEL capacity with the L. But the lower sized L's use the same
BH77 that the
B3200 uses - and with the tractor itself being higher off the ground in the L, this means the hoe doesn't dig as deep. Also the L hangs the hoe further off the back of the tractor - which makes the tractor more unwieldy IMHO. I REALLY wanted an SSQA on the FEL of the
B3200 - which is something the L's came with from the factory at the time. But I settled for the Kubota pin-on QA , and then later upgraded to the SSQA when Kubota came out with the adapter a year or so later.
The last deciding point for me to go with the B instead of the L - was that the L still had the FEL loader joystick mounted in the forward position with the lever sticking back to the operator's position. This basically means you can't get off the right side of the tractor at all. On the B - and on the BX before that - I can get off and on both sides of the tractor. Which is something that comes in pretty useful a lot of the time when I'm working in tight quarters.
I also figured the money I saved with the B - I could spend on more implements - which extends the usefulness of the tractor - and I did just that.
So my advice would be consider ALL of the things you think you're going to want to do with the tractor - and weigh that against the increased cost of going to the bigger tractor , plus any disadvantages the bigger tractor has - and use it all to make your decision. I think the increased cost is a factor - especially because you point out that going forward that mowing is going to make up the bulk of what you will do with it. If you're going to do trail work and so forth with it - then spend the money on more implements instead of the bigger tractor. Looks like the FEL on the
B2601 comes with the SSQA style quick attach on the FEL - DEFINITELY get that and take advantage of it by spending money on more attachments for the FEL (like a forklift frame - Artillian makes a really nice one).
