Tractor Sizing Pre-Purchase homework - L3301DT Package

[chinton]

Thanks for the replies. You've given me more to think about.

 

[s219]

Wont your tires lose traction before running out of horsepower?

My previous tractor, a B2920 with 29HP and weighing 1500#, would run out of traction before power. But my L3200 (32HP/2600#) starts to bog down and struggle long before it give up traction. I guess it comes down to power and weight. In both cases, you lose forward progress, so the end result is much the same. Little more comical on the B2920 though.

 

[4570Man]

My previous tractor, a B2920 with 29HP and weighing 1500#, would run out of traction before power. But my L3200 (32HP/2600#) starts to bog down and struggle long before it give up traction. I guess it comes down to power and weight. In both cases, you lose forward progress, so the end result is much the same. Little more comical on the B2920 though.

Are you using low range? My L3240 HST weighs 3,400 pounds stock and I have a loader, loaded tires and a backhoe attachment. With all of that on I can break traction in 4wd with the diff lock held down on any surface. The engine does start to struggle if it has good traction, but it has never given up before the wheels slip. If you have a geared model the engine won't even struggle to break traction.

 

[lennyzx11]

L3301/HST here. I pull a 5 ft land pride BB and the 6 ft LP cutter. I have R1s. I was using it slow in rocky ground and snapped one of the tine ends off on the BB. I've been digging with it hard and the tractor would spin and never has seemed to run out of power.
The rotary cutter has never bogged the tractor down. Even in deep thick never before cut brush. I use low range for everything working though.
The FEL seemed a little weak from the dealer and I checked the pressure and shimmed the pressure relief valve per instructions posted here.
The piranha tooth bar was the single best addition I've made to the bucket. Digging improved greatly.

 

[Citydude]

Thanks for the replies. You've given me more to think about.

Your welcome. The 3301 geared tractor your looking at has more than enough power and weight to upgrade to to a 66" BB and a 6' cutter however it will do what you want it to do with the implements in the package your looking at. Enjoy!

 

[jeff9366]

RE: Box Blade selection

The key metric is weight per unit of width. Generally, 100 pounds per foot of width is minimum for effective cutting. Box Blades used in commercial work begin at 200 pounds per foot of width.

Box Blade Width: Select a Box Blade a tad wider than tractor rear tires. If not this wide, you cannot make repeated pulls in the same trench, because the tires will not have free way. So, never narrower than rear tire width. No reason to buy wider than 12" over tire width (6" each side), money better spent on additional weight per unit of width, than absolute width.

The Three Point Hitch does not provide down force. Primarily, the weight of the implement provides cutting ability, Three Point Hitch/Top Link adjustment provides optimum cutting for a given weight.

In many cases a Ratchet Rake bucket attachment is better at light grading than a too light Box Blade.

 

[chinton]

Interesting. So the stated weight of the BB1260 is 346#. Is it built strongly enough to withstand use in heavy soils? Throwing some ballast on top of the BB would seem to be easy enough if the thing is inherently strong enough. Would something like the Cimarron BB60 be a better choice at 483#?

I'm already scheming on the piranha tooth bar as well as that bar.

I've not bought anything yet but already feel the tugging of the money vortex!

 

[bspeedy]

I'm planning on purchasing a L3301DT Package from my local dealer. He suggested the smaller L2501 but I want more HP than my Husqvarna mower has.

The 25 hp diesel engine on a CUT is not comparable in any way to your 25 hp Husq riding mower. I would not hesitate to get the 25 hp machine for small acreage. Same frame as the 3301 as well - I think.

 

[Fallon]

I have the same machine... L3200 HST with loaded R4s. Got it with the same rotary cutter, but a now sold back blade (have a SSQA plow now). My cutter is fine, although I could spin a 6' I bet. I can bog the tractor in heavy dense grass, brush & stall the tractor mowing yucca with my 5'. Either one will probably be fine as you can go slower with the 6' trivially with a HST. It mostly comes down to maneuverability. Go with the 6' if it's mostly going to be open field with no obstacles. If any tighter conditions or obstacles are in your path, go 5'.

I have a 72" King Kutter box blade. I can pull it reasonably well, but often wish I had a heavier 66" box instead. I've excavated down about 6' digging out the back of my barn where the hill was burying it using the box. Took a while, but did well. A 60" would be to small for me. The L3200 HST can pull the 72" almost full before running out of traction. You'll never reastically run out of power before traction. You may be going really slow, but except for PTO stuff I've never been out of power before traction.

Whatever you do, get the rear tires loaded. It's not stable or that safe without, not to mention lacking a lot of traction. Always have proper ballast (rotary cutter is great) on the back when using the loader.

 

[Fallon]

The L2501 is an underpowered machine to get under the 25hp emissions limits. However it's probably under rated compared to its true output & configured for torque rather than HP. I keep hearing it's not as much of a dog as you'd expect. I wouldn't want less than the 32hp on my L3200, but want to check out a L2501 when I'm at the dealer one of these days to see how it compares. I suspect better than I initially thought.