2002 BX2200 & RCK60B MMM

[2002-BX2200]

I know that it is hard to believe, but I have owned my BX2200 for five years and never checked alignment of the MMM until this weekend. The left front anti-scalp wheel was worn completely flat, the right front wheel was worn about 50%, but the back two wheels were near perfect. After being shocked at the cost of replacement wheels, I was told that the wheels should not make constant contact with the ground. It never occurred to me that something was wrong because the cut height on the used B6100 that I had previously owned was set by setting the height of the wheels, and because, even out of alignment, the BX2200 cut so much nicer than the B6100. Additionally, I had the dealer service the tractor annually for the first three years, so I had assumed that everything was setup and tuned correctly.

Anyway, while I will admit that I am not much of a mechanic, the instructions for aligning the mower were of little help. The tech writer who wrote them must have had a substance abuse problem because they are close to undecipherable. It took me all weekend, but I did manage to figure out how the deck is aligned.

With that said, I found a few things that bother me beyond belief. The first is that whoever assembled the deck did a horrible job of installing the sway bar. They had the bottom washer on the left-hand side of the deck cocked in the slot such that half of was below and half was above the slot in the mounting bracket, resulting in the bolt cutting a shallow groove in the mounting bracket. I ended up having to remove the sway bar (which is simpler than it looks) to fix this problem. Another problem that I discovered is that mower height cannot be made to match the height on the dial. The closest I could get it was within 1/8 of an inch by screwing the right lift arm linkage all the way down, but then the lift mechanism would not go high enough to lock the mower in the "top" position. As no matter how much the mower is adjusted there is a 3/8" difference between the left and right stops, I am assuming that the right stop is too low (has anyone had to adjust their stops?).


In closing, I learned a lesson the hard way, and, that is, never trust a dealer to do the work correctly. While the owner may be a “straight up” guy, the guys in the shop may be clueless idiots or just plain lazy. IMHO, with an $11,000.00 price tag, there was enough margin in the sale to set the machine up correctly (and, at $350-$500 each year for annual service, this problem should have been caught). Also, if I had known what was involved in keeping this thing running and setup correctly, I would have purchased a large homeowner-friendly garden tractor. IMHO, the BX is the worst of two worlds. It has the maintenance schedule of a compact tractor without the power/strength of compact tractor, and the build quality on the new Kubotas is nothing like it was on the older ones—not even close!

 

[Volfandt]

know that it is hard to believe, but I have owned my BX2200 for five years and never checked alignment of the MMM until this weekend.

Welcome aboard. 5 years? The cut must have been pretty good to not have had to adjust the MMM. I didn't want to wait on my MMM so I took delivery of my BX23 w/o it. And since I didn't wait I had to pick the MMM up and set it up myself.
I know what you mean about the MMM manual being hard to cipher but after a few re-readings I followed the instructions and it worked out pretty well for me. When you set up the MMM you want the leading (front) wheels to be slightly lower than the rears. I set mine about 1/4" lower. I also keep my anti-scalp wheels a notch higher than the manual calls for as I don't want them constantly makeing contact with the grass & ground.
Funny you mention the anti-scalp wheels, I lost my left rear one while mowing my 4 acres Saturday. I went back looking but couldn't find it so I'll be having to purchase another this week. This is my 3rd season and this is the 1st time I've lost one so I"m not going to complain much, that is until I pay for a new one

 

[mjarrels]

I recently had a spindle on my RCK60B replaced after it fell apart... dealer said it was installed incorretly from the get go.

mark

 

[Tom_H]

Welcome to the board.

The syntactical structure of the Japanese language is radically different than English. The manual is more of a transliteration from Japanese to English, when what is needed is a translation. In other words, the words were changed from Japanese to English, but the structure of the sentences was not revised to follow the patterns of our sentence structure, which reflect the way in which we organize out thoughts. The sentence structure would make perfect sense to someone who is fluent in both Japanese and English. I don't think it was necessary to make statements like The tech writer who wrote them must have had a substance abuse problem or the guys in the shop may be clueless idiots or just plain lazy. I have made all those adjustments to the MMM on my BX2200 and frankly, I don't find it all that difficult or complex. In fact, I find the BX to be the best of both worlds, not the worst.

I hope that you will find information on this board useful, but it is possible to be objective in critiquing something, without accusing people of being drug abusers, lazy, and idiots.

 

[2002-BX2200]

Welcome aboard. 5 years? The cut must have been pretty good to not have had to adjust the MMM.

I do not have a golf course lawn, so I was happy as long as the machine cut grass. To be honest, at tad less than four acres, my property is small enough to mow with a large garden tractor. The only reason I went with a small tractor is because the builder we contracted to build a house on the land that we purchased separately only agreed to grade and seed one acre. The other three acres were a mess of Canada thistle, multiflora rose, left over corn stalks, Johnson grass, and a host of weeds and whatever had been planted in the years that it was tenant farmed after being subdivided.

In hindsight, I should have just contracted one of the local farmers to spray and seed the three unseeded acres. However, being an overly enthusiastic homeowner, I thought that I could finish the property myself over time, which has just not happened due to long work hours coupled with a long commute and a lack of funds necessary to complete the job (I was downsized when my old company sent my business unit's work to India, and my new job pays 60% of what my old job paid).

The BX2200 is now just used as an oversized lawn tractor, and the maintenance is getting to be a drag. I had my neighbor take it to his shop and do the 300 hour service because I just did not want to deal with having to dispose of that much fluid. He has been a godsend because I absolutely hate working on machinery. I especially dislike working on the BX because I am big guy (I wear a 52 jacket), which makes coupling the MMM PTO shaft a pain the butt. From now on, I am going to have my neighbor handle everything other than greasing the deck and changing the air filter. His rates are very reasonable (he charges actual time, not book time when working on my tractor). I save my knuckles and my children will not have to listen to me swear at a machine.

 

[Tom_H]

The MMM was not designed to cut that rough stuff. I cut about a half acre with my MMM. The other 4 1/2 acres grows up tall weeds, sapplings, etc. I have a GearMore Heavy Duty 40" rough cutter (aka brush hog, rotary cutter), that is powered by the rear PTO on the 3ph, that I use for that. It will cut clusters of 2 inch sapplings without even slowing down. That is the appropriate implement for your rough vegitation. Mine cost less than $700 new. Today, you should be able to get one for around $800. Several manufactureers make a 36" light duty, and several make a 48" medium duty. GearMore is the only one I know of who has a small heavy duty model. There is a world of difference between the MMM and the R.C. One is for a fine finish, the other is a machine of highly destructive power and there is nothing "fine" about the cut. Each attachment does a very specific job, and the BX powers each very well. This is why the BX is the best of both worlds.

As far as paying a neighbor, if you put the MMM on a 1/2" plywood dolly with about 16 two inch casters, you can roll the deck abound very easily. Learning to attach the mid-PTO was a challenge, but now I get it coupled in about 5 seconds. I do not need to rotate the anti-scalp wheels on the corners so the entire on of off of the MMM is approx. 3 minutes. The rough cutter also has a dolly. The on/off time for it is a little under 5 min.

 

[2002-BX2200]

I hope that you will find information on this board useful, but it is possible to be objective in critiquing something, without accusing people of being drug abusers, lazy, and idiots.

In the case of this shop, I believe that the "lazy" and/or "idiots" description fits. The dealer has had to clean house more than once due to bad service. There is absolutely no excuse for any new BX leaving a dealership with a misaligned deck (I will not even go into the problems that they created while fixing things under warranty, which is why I stopped taking my machine there for service). I would be out of job if I provided that level of service to my customers.

One last thing: the average person purchasing a BX is not a mechanic, nor do es he/she have extensive experience with agricultural machinery. The BX is being marketed to “Harry Homeowner Exurbanite” with a large yard. Hence, he/she is at the mercy of his/her dealer. Many of the BX owners who post on this site enjoy working on machinery; however, from my personal experience, they exception not the rule. I thank God that these people exist because mechanically-challenged people like myself would be lost without their help.

 

[Tom_H]

I am not a mechanic. I am a school teacher. The basic work on a BX does not require the skill of a mechanic. It just takes a little patience and the willingness to learn.

 

[2002-BX2200]

I did not cut down my field down with the BX2200 MMM. I had a farmer make the initial pass with a 100HP tractor and rotary cutter, and I used a LandPride 42" rotary cutter on my B6100 for the first year. The BX2200 was straining to lift that cutter, so I sold it and sprayed round-up on the tough stuff. My field is now mostly a plethora of small weeds (when I do not get the opportunity to spray) and crabgrass with patches of fescue, orchard, and Timothy grass. I mow it every other week, so it does not get too tall to cut with the MMM.

 

[Tom_H]

...I used a LandPride 42" rotary cutter...The BX2200 was straining to lift that cutter...

Something was wrong then. The BX is capable of lifting almost 1200 lb. at the hitch, and 680 lb. if the center of gravity is 2' behind the hitch. My BX2200 has never had any difficulty lifting anything I put on it. I am sorry you have had so many problems with your BX2200. Mine has been a dream.