2 speed tranny vs 3 speed. Is it really a big deal?

[rScotty]

Hill High Guy,

You can always take a less conventional route that a fellow turned me on to with a B2650.

This assumes that you do not care about the mid mounted mower option and will use a 3-point finish mower instead.

You order your B2650 with the Kubota wheel spacers, and you also order it with a much wider set of tires that also allows for more added fuid weight. You see, the B3350 shows 2 R4 tire options, one being the same standard 12" wide R4 from the B2650, but the optional tire is a 15" wide R4 tire that is 3" taller (1.5" taller at the axle).
SNIPPED SOME OF THE QUOTE

Rock Crawler, that tire swap sounds great! Killer look, too. It should work mechanically as long as you or the dealer checked to make sure that the front to rear rolling circumference ratio remains within bounds. Otherwise the front to rear drivetrain stress will be too high in 4wd. That has to be checked, and it wouldn't hurt for us to double check their figures.

I believe that the technical dept. of both Titan and Goodyear will have the rolling circumference spec. available and will send it if you ask. Goodyear used to publish all their specs online, but I don't see them right now. Since you have some time right now it wouldn't hurt to calculate the stock ratio and compare it to the new one. The spec you need is the rolling or loaded circumference. Rolling circumference differs from a standard arithmatic circumference because rolling circumference takes the elasticity of the sidewall into account.
Luck, rScotty

 

[Rock Crawler]

Rock Crawler, that tire swap sounds great! Killer look, too. It should work mechanically as long as you or the dealer checked to make sure that the front to rear rolling circumference ratio remains within bounds. Otherwise the front to rear drivetrain stress will be too high in 4wd. That has to be checked, and it wouldn't hurt for us to double check their figures.

I believe that the technical dept. of both Titan and Goodyear will have the rolling circumference spec. available and will send it if you ask. Goodyear used to publish all their specs online, but I don't see them right now. Since you have some time right now it wouldn't hurt to calculate the stock ratio and compare it to the new one. The spec you need is the rolling or loaded circumference. Rolling circumference differs from a standard arithmatic circumference because rolling circumference takes the elasticity of the sidewall into account.
Luck, rScotty

The B3350 tire upgrade I show above is the factory upgrade option of both the front and the rear tires/rims, the tires/rims are Kubota sold with the tractor. They just don't option it with the 26HP version on the website. The B2650/3350 are the same tractors, just that the 33 has more HP. So the Kubota engineers already did the homework on the tires and all. I just will not have the 33HP that they feel you need to run that larger tire package. I also do not farm or garden (no pulling implements down into the earth to rip and roll the ground), so that 7.5% loss of gearing doesn't mean much to me.

 

[Deere Dude]

I never heard or read where people wish they would have gotten a two speed instead of a three speed.

 

[check]

2 speed works just fine on my BX25, and I use it on 25 acres. I never travel more than 500 yards or so on a paved road, so I don't need a lot of speed. I travel in Rabbit most of the time, and it only takes a split second shift down to Turtle if I'm going into a tough pile of dirt if I have to go up a slope.

 

[Hill HIgh Guy]

thanks for all of your help everyone. Sounds like the majority say 3 speed. Now I've narrowed it down to Kubota L3901 and Kioti CK4010. I fear the B2650 just won't have enough to pull a large cutter up my hill. You all are super knowledgeable and I hope to return the favor once I make a decision.

 

[k0ua]

I will weigh in on it. You can get by with 2 speed especially with the smaller tractors, but 3 speed ranges give you more options. Look at it like this, like every other mechanical engineering decision, you are usually trading something for something else. In this case you are always trading torque for speed.

With a 2 speed machine, you cannot make the lower gear ratio quite as low as you might like so that you can have maximum torque traded for speed, because of the way some people will try to use it and stay in it all the time. They will want some speed from this low range for transporting with a full bucket or for mowing. Neither can you make the top gear range as high as you might like for more speed on the roadway, as you just won't have enough torque to climb even a modest hill.

So you compromise and make the high not so high and the low not so low. Works good and lasts a long time. BUT it is a compromise, but it is one both manufactures and buyers can usually live with MOST of the time.

With a 3 range machine, No compromise needed, They can engineer up HI range and lower the LO range, because you do most of your work in MED range anyway. Downshift when you really need to grunt, and up shift when you need to fly down the road. You stay in MED for every thing else, and you are as happy as a clam.

 

[Rock Crawler]

On hill property, high is a sad joke on a BX 2 speed. The tractor can not move itself. There is absolutely no comparison. After owning the 2 range, I'll never own another.

 

[rScotty]

The B3350 tire upgrade I show above is the factory upgrade option of both the front and the rear tires/rims, the tires/rims are Kubota sold with the tractor. They just don't option it with the 26HP version on the website. The B2650/3350 are the same tractors, just that the 33 has more HP. So the Kubota engineers already did the homework on the tires and all. I just will not have the 33HP that they feel you need to run that larger tire package. I also do not farm or garden (no pulling implements down into the earth to rip and roll the ground), so that 7.5% loss of gearing doesn't mean much to me.

Oh! Well, that's all to the good then. I didn't know that the B2650 and B3350 were the same tractors except for HP. I'm certainly willing to accept that the Kubota Engineers did their homework ....but what's the old saying? Something like, "Accept but Verify"? It's easy enough to do.

As to the small loss of (low) gearing, even if you did want to rip and roll the ground, there are perfectly good smaller implements that would make up for the small loss of gearing. I don't see a problem. I agree that stability is worth that small tradeoff.

I can't wait to see the photos! You may have started a revolution.
rScotty

 

[Tractorable]

Trust but verify.....

 

[ultrarunner]

On hill property, high is a sad joke on a BX 2 speed. The tractor can not move itself. There is absolutely no comparison. After owning the 2 range, I'll never own another.

Member have posted saying their BX has no power on a hill... then find out they were in high range or had the 3pt engaged...

I have to be on flat to use the high range... 98% I am in Low.

Even the Deere 110 is seldom in High with 3 ranges due to the SF Steep terrain when roading it...