Tractor Sizing B2601 vs BX

[PaulL2]

I've currently got an older BX2350, ex a contracting outfit. I got it cheap at auction, it's pretty beat up, but mechanically seems sound. It does most stuff I need, although I occasionally wish I had more power, more lift, or more speed.

I have budget approval from the better half to get a new Kubota. She's somewhat bored of going to the tractor shop with me to imagine a new tractor, so she'd like me to just buy one.

We have a pretty small block - maybe half an acre. We back onto bushland, so there's usually stuff to chip, I mow the lawns (I'm not super fussy but I like them nice), I pull the boat in and out of the ramp a couple times a year (ski boat - maybe 5000lbs on tandem trailer), I move around mulch and dirt. I sometimes head down the road to the local domain and mow that if it needs it.

My land really only justifies a BX. The missus reckons people will laugh at me having a B2601 on our property - too much tractor. She's probably right. But, specific questions:

1. People say the BX mows better than the B. Is that better mow quality, or is it just that the BX is more nimble? I see on here someone suggesting that the B will cut up the lawn, which would be a problem
2. The BX has struggled at times pulling the boat - not spinning the wheels, but not moving either. I wasn't there, but the brother in law was and he's a proper tractor guy, he reckons it was in low ratio and 4wd and diff lock, and had plenty of revs. I'm not sure why it didn't pull.....but is the B a noticeably stronger transmission? Would it pull more?
3. The B has dual pumps where the BX has single, so the implement pump on the B is actually lower flow than the BX (when you're not turning the steering at the same time). Is the cycle time faster on the B, or slower as the pump flow would suggest? (Brother in law suggests the difference is pressure, but I'm not sure)
4. The B is about 10% or more heavier, but has quite a bit larger tires. Is the ground pressure about the same - will it compact the soil more or about the same?

Ultimately, I'm trying to work out if I'm being greedy. I haven't yet had something I wanted to do that the BX couldn't do, I just sometimes had to be a bit innovative in how I got it to do it. The B looks to be 10% bigger but lifts about 30% more and drives 50% faster. I kind of want it, but don't want to regret it. I could just get a BX2680 instead, and console myself with a little extra horsepower that I have little use for.

Thoughts?

 

[radioman]

I doubt getting another BX with couple hp will do it. moving a trailer with BX with 5k is alot for tractor. I have moved a loaded 16 trailer with firewood with BX and it sure whined alot. a B will do much better-- the lo is even lower giving you more oomph pulling plus it will be more balanced. and the midrange speed is even better then BX. I have not mowed with the B but the decks are different suspended vs ground contract. as for cycle time... you sound like a guy who time is money so..

Look at it this way -- you would not be getting the B for the mowing, but for handling your boat duties safely and easier. half an acre is pretty small for a b but hey -- you gotta have the right equipment that can do it all , no sense of having a multiple machines for various tasks.

 

[check]

The "more power, more lift, more speed". I have the BX25, and radio man has the BX24, so we know of what we speak. Classic, classic problem. Do I go bigger or stay with what I have? For me, it is not worth the extra money to upgrade to something like a B2650, and in any case I have quite a bit invested in implements. However, if I was starting from scratch, I would probably go with the B2650. However, you need to look at the dimensions of the small spaces that you have around the property. If it is wide open, then no problem with the B2601. But I have some very tight spaces, so the BX25 is fine for me.

I also have a 4-wheel steering garden tractor, and mow about an acre maybe 3 to 4 times a year with it, so that works out for me. I will never buy a mid mount mower for my Kubota, because it is way too much money compared to the garden tractor that I use, which I got for free!

I pull my boat in and out with my vehicle (Ford F150) - can you not do the same?

Good luck to you!

 

[PaulL2]

I pull my boat in and out with my vehicle (Ford F150) - can you not do the same?

Look at it this way -- you would not be getting the B for the mowing, but for handling your boat duties safely and easier. half an acre is pretty small for a b but hey -- you gotta have the right equipment that can do it all , no sense of having a multiple machines for various tasks.

Yeah, this is my problem. I have a 4wd Audi that (when we bought it) was so it could pull the boat. We're on a lake, so no salt water issues. Then when it came time to buy a truck, we got a 4WD Ford Ranger that could pull the boat - I think that model is a different vehicle in this part of the world than the US, but nevertheless it easily pulls the boat. And the boat mostly stays in the water....so while I like pulling the boat with the tractor I don't need a tractor for it as such.

And then it really comes down to me wanting a bigger tractor, despite having nothing really that I do that needs a bigger tractor. And my nagging concern that if I buy the bigger tractor it'll turn out that most of the stuff I do is actually worse, not better. I've seen guys saying that whilst the B lifts more, actually it lifts a bucket load, the bucket is just bigger. I don't have high volume work to do, so probably a bucket load is what I would lift, other than when I'm lifting things off the back of the truck, or moving stuff around the lawn.

Realistically the main benefit is the extra speed, and it's rare that I need to go somewhere that I need extra speed.

Of course, then I'm on a slippery slope. A newer BX does very little different than my current BX, other than being less beat up (so it'd have lights, turn signals, engine covers). Mechanically it'd do exactly what I can do today, I'm not that keen on a drive over mower, and I rarely take my loader off - those are the two big advantages of the new model. So then I'm not getting a new tractor at all. One advantage of my current tractor is that I got it cheap (that makes me feel clever), and it's already pretty rough so I don't feel bad when I back it into something or break another piece of plastic on it through not being careful enough. And I have little concern about letting other people drive it, given some contractor's apprentice appears to have driven it for the first 5 years of it's life, and he clearly wasn't interested in the warning signs that say things like "don't step here".

I could improve my current one by getting telescoping stabiliser bars (one big bug-bear), and I could put some money into a hoist of some sort (meaning I could lift stuff without using the tractor), then use the truck to pull the boat. Which would be a logical thing to do....but isn't quite what I had in mind.

A different question...does pulling the boat _hurt_ the BX, or is it a task it does or doesn't do. Seems to me the hydrostatic just slips, but won't wear out. It could overheat if I go a long distance, but pushing and pulling the boat around the yard isn't likely to break anything. Is that a fair assumption - the brother in law suggested it'd cook the torque converter, but I'm not sure that's actually something a BX has?

 

[bcp]

People trade in fully functional cars and trucks all the time. Then they have a newer one that does the same work as the old.

This plan works for tractors, too.



Bruce

 

[PaulL2]

60 inch mower deck. I've got 54 at the moment....that's definitely worth a whole new tractor. :drink:

 

[art]

To be using a BX and it working for you there might not be much need for a bigger tractor. As mentioned the mowing quality I find it hard to believe there is a difference with all things being equal! The three range transmission would be a plus on heavier tow jobs as well as the bigger tires which will actually give you less compaction and more traction. The second thing on the bigger tractor transmission goes to the cooling fan on the hydro goes away on the B series.

 

[mile9c1]

If I had a 1/2 acre I'd go for a B2301, but I'd skip the mowing deck and instead find a dedicated push mower (maybe used).

 

[628pm]

The B is also taller, will it go into your garage or storage?

 

[Michael Aos]

My "new" BX2370 arrived with around 1hr on the clock. At about the 2hr mark, I was wishing I'd looked at the B2601 instead.

Talked to the salesguy. I'd have to look up the exact numbers, but as I recall I was looking at a $2K hit for my now "used" BX, plus around $4K to upgrade to the B2601.

Decided to just stick with the BX. Coming up on 90hrs now, and the BX has done pretty much everything I've asked of it. Seems like all the hard work is done.

That said, my dealer just took a lightly used B2601 in on trade toward an "L". I've made a conscious effort not to go look at it. Too tempting.

I also sat on a new B2650 again. It used to look HUGE. Now it seems like a very nice size.