matemike
Member
Little background:
I live on 2.5 acres in flat SE Texas. My property has many palm trees, six pecan trees, two oak trees and a half acre is uncared for underbrush that I want to take back. I've been considering a 26 hp tractor for keeping our gardens in control, handling fallen limbs after storms, building up my burn piles and pushing them back together after burns. I'll also use the machine to bush hog a drainage retention area behind my property to keep the foliage from always growing and clogging the ditch and culverts. Neighbors further downstream keep their sections of the ditch in check and they seem to have less standing water, fewer poisonous critters, and overall more appealing landscape compared to what my section of the ditch looks like.
I've recently upped my wants to a 35 hp tractor after borrowing a friend's 2538. I put 25 hours on it in 5 days and I really put it through its paces taking back a 3000 sq ft garden that was lined with a 4 ft tall cinder block wall. I ended up moving 18 tons of concrete and grading all the dirt back down flat. What I discovered throughout the job is that no matter how big of a tractor you have, you're going to use it to its ability. When grading dirt I lost traction and bogged down a few times with the 2538 which is way more tractor than I ever thought I'd need. I'd have to raise the box blade a little and take smaller bites. So that experience is why I'm considering a bigger tractor than what my initial intent was of getting a 26 hp unit.
Based off what many experienced tractor owners say, the consensus is to get the heaviest tractor with the most loader lift capacity you can afford. For me it comes down to these two Mahindras, and the paper specs are almost a wash. Initial price is also a wash with the 1533 costing $500 more than the 2538. I would choose the 2538 but the threads about the 1500 series being more premier and a few more threads about 2538 problems have me leaning towards the 1533. The 1538 is considerably more expensive than the 2538 so it's off the list.
Down to the specs:
The 1533 unit weighs more by 34 pounds. That being said, the 2538 loader attachment outweighs the 1533 loader by 205 lbs. So in the most common configuration of having the loader attached the 2538 will weigh 4115 lbs and the 1533 will weigh 3944 lbs; a 171 lb advantage to the 2538. Is that all that much to even consider?
When it comes to horsepower, the 1533 is shy again of the 2538; 34.5 vs 37.4, 2.9 hp gain in the 2538. But referring back to my experience, I never lacked the HP, what I lacked was weight and traction.
The 1533's loader has a lift capacity of 1650 lbs and the 2538L has a lift capacity of 1634 lbs. Advantage of 26 lbs to the 1533. The 2538 loader has more crap hanging off it like the support legs and hydraulic lines; more stuff for branches to snag on and crevasses for dirt to hide in. But if I ever needed to replace a fitting or entire hose the 2538 loader would be a breeze to work on compared to the 1533 with all the hidden hydraulic lines.
The 1533 has a longer chassis than the 2538. While this results in the 1533 having a larger turning radius by 1.3 ft, I'm wondering if the loader capabilities will be less likely to lift the rear tires on the 1533 due to it's length?
All in all what I'm getting at is that the two machines are a wash as far as specs on paper. I know all too well it´s going to come down to seat feel and personal preference.
I didn't mind the side by side HST pedals of the 2538 during my 25 hrs of seat time, but sometimes when stopped and looking back at my boxblade placement I'd accidentally hit the fwd pedal when I meant to move in reverse. There's almost no way to make that error on the rocker pedal of the 1533. Just need to see if I like the rocker. It looks funky though. I've only test drove tractors with rockers and I didn't mind it, but have never truly worked with one.
The 1533 loader control is near the operators right knee whereas the 2538 loader control is a tiny bit of a reach. To each their own. The RPM throttle knob is also near the operators knee on the 1533 whereas it is on the dash of the 2538. That's where I think it should be.
The 1533 has some bells and whistles with the suspension seat, cup holders, retracting seat belt, valve stem protectors on the wheels, and overall refinement. It's the refinement of the Mitsubishi machine in the 1533 that has me leaning towards it. The 2538 is just a little more tractor for the money, but lacking in fit and finish. Neither has a terrible history, many many good reviews on both. I think there are just a couple more problematic reviews about the 2500 line than the 1500 line.
Just asking away here and getting all my thoughts out there to see if there's anything I'm missing or if anyone knows from experience which tractor they'd get for the same price and why.
I live on 2.5 acres in flat SE Texas. My property has many palm trees, six pecan trees, two oak trees and a half acre is uncared for underbrush that I want to take back. I've been considering a 26 hp tractor for keeping our gardens in control, handling fallen limbs after storms, building up my burn piles and pushing them back together after burns. I'll also use the machine to bush hog a drainage retention area behind my property to keep the foliage from always growing and clogging the ditch and culverts. Neighbors further downstream keep their sections of the ditch in check and they seem to have less standing water, fewer poisonous critters, and overall more appealing landscape compared to what my section of the ditch looks like.
I've recently upped my wants to a 35 hp tractor after borrowing a friend's 2538. I put 25 hours on it in 5 days and I really put it through its paces taking back a 3000 sq ft garden that was lined with a 4 ft tall cinder block wall. I ended up moving 18 tons of concrete and grading all the dirt back down flat. What I discovered throughout the job is that no matter how big of a tractor you have, you're going to use it to its ability. When grading dirt I lost traction and bogged down a few times with the 2538 which is way more tractor than I ever thought I'd need. I'd have to raise the box blade a little and take smaller bites. So that experience is why I'm considering a bigger tractor than what my initial intent was of getting a 26 hp unit.
Based off what many experienced tractor owners say, the consensus is to get the heaviest tractor with the most loader lift capacity you can afford. For me it comes down to these two Mahindras, and the paper specs are almost a wash. Initial price is also a wash with the 1533 costing $500 more than the 2538. I would choose the 2538 but the threads about the 1500 series being more premier and a few more threads about 2538 problems have me leaning towards the 1533. The 1538 is considerably more expensive than the 2538 so it's off the list.
Down to the specs:
The 1533 unit weighs more by 34 pounds. That being said, the 2538 loader attachment outweighs the 1533 loader by 205 lbs. So in the most common configuration of having the loader attached the 2538 will weigh 4115 lbs and the 1533 will weigh 3944 lbs; a 171 lb advantage to the 2538. Is that all that much to even consider?
When it comes to horsepower, the 1533 is shy again of the 2538; 34.5 vs 37.4, 2.9 hp gain in the 2538. But referring back to my experience, I never lacked the HP, what I lacked was weight and traction.
The 1533's loader has a lift capacity of 1650 lbs and the 2538L has a lift capacity of 1634 lbs. Advantage of 26 lbs to the 1533. The 2538 loader has more crap hanging off it like the support legs and hydraulic lines; more stuff for branches to snag on and crevasses for dirt to hide in. But if I ever needed to replace a fitting or entire hose the 2538 loader would be a breeze to work on compared to the 1533 with all the hidden hydraulic lines.
The 1533 has a longer chassis than the 2538. While this results in the 1533 having a larger turning radius by 1.3 ft, I'm wondering if the loader capabilities will be less likely to lift the rear tires on the 1533 due to it's length?
All in all what I'm getting at is that the two machines are a wash as far as specs on paper. I know all too well it´s going to come down to seat feel and personal preference.
I didn't mind the side by side HST pedals of the 2538 during my 25 hrs of seat time, but sometimes when stopped and looking back at my boxblade placement I'd accidentally hit the fwd pedal when I meant to move in reverse. There's almost no way to make that error on the rocker pedal of the 1533. Just need to see if I like the rocker. It looks funky though. I've only test drove tractors with rockers and I didn't mind it, but have never truly worked with one.
The 1533 loader control is near the operators right knee whereas the 2538 loader control is a tiny bit of a reach. To each their own. The RPM throttle knob is also near the operators knee on the 1533 whereas it is on the dash of the 2538. That's where I think it should be.
The 1533 has some bells and whistles with the suspension seat, cup holders, retracting seat belt, valve stem protectors on the wheels, and overall refinement. It's the refinement of the Mitsubishi machine in the 1533 that has me leaning towards it. The 2538 is just a little more tractor for the money, but lacking in fit and finish. Neither has a terrible history, many many good reviews on both. I think there are just a couple more problematic reviews about the 2500 line than the 1500 line.
Just asking away here and getting all my thoughts out there to see if there's anything I'm missing or if anyone knows from experience which tractor they'd get for the same price and why.
