318 four $1900 or 455 for $3500

[LBrown59]

If you decide not to get the 455...let me know...I'll buy it. Just let me know where to pick it up!

Here is the deal.
I bought the CC GT2554 to put a front blade and a rear tiller on and keeping it set up like that all the time.
I didn't really need the 54'' deck but it Came with the 2554.
I have my BX23 with a 60'' MMM to mow most of my 2.33 acres with except for the smaller tight areas that I can't get to with the BX23.
I was mowing these places with my PowerCraft so didn't really need a deck on the CC.
Well, the powerCraft blew up and died and now I'm left without that piece of equipment for those spots.
I have been looking for a used CC 2554 without a deck to put my deck on to replace the powercraft.
Now that the JD 455 became available for $3500 I became interested in the 455 as a replacement for the power craft especially since A new CC 2554
cost around 4200 or 4300 dollars.

 

[jeffinsgf]

1*What years were the 455s produced?

1993 to 2001

I don't know how old this one is.

See this thread at Weekend Freedom Machines:
455 Serial Chart If you have the serial number, you can figure out its age.

2* IF I was to get it I would need a tiller and a front blade for it.
3*What's the Chance of finding a tiller and front blade for it?

Check it for 3 point hitch and rear PTO. At that price, I would be amazed if it had either one. Both are still current products with JD, but a little pricey. I just added a 3 point and PTO to my 455. The PTO was some pretty serious wrenching, but I got it done in a day. Don't bother with eBay. The PTO kit goes for 95% of new price and you have no support. Buy it from a dealer. Once you are 3pt and PTO capable, there are plenty of options for tillers, JD's 450 and 470, JD's 42" hydraulic (does not require rear PTO), and the King Kutter XB series to name just a few. The 54 front blade is readily available both new and used. I just got a used one from my dealer with the quick hitch and full hydraulics for $500 -- looked like it had been mounted once or twice in its life.

4* Were all the 455s four wheel drive or did they come in 2 wheel drive also?

None of the 455's are 4wd. SOME of the 455's are 4 wheel STEER. The 4 wheel steer is a great option for mowing, but limits some rear implements. For traction, there's a foot pedal for differential lock.

See also JD Noncurrent page

 

[LBrown59]

1993 to 2001
1*Check it for 3 point hitch and rear PTO. At that price, I would be amazed if it had either one.
2*Don't bother with eBay. The PTO kit goes for 95% of new price and you have no support. Buy it from a dealer.
3*Once you are 3pt and PTO capable, there are plenty of options for tillers, JD's 450 and 470, JD's 42" hydraulic (does not require rear PTO), and the King Kutter XB series to name just a few.
4* The 54 front blade is readily available both new and used.
I just got a used one from my dealer with the quick hitch and full hydraulics for $500 -- looked like it had been mounted once or twice in its life.
5*None of the 455's are 4wd. SOME of the 455's are 4 wheel STEER.
6* The 4 wheel steer is a great option for mowing, but limits some rear implements.
7*For traction, there's a foot pedal for differential lock.

jeffinsgf thanks very much for your helpful and informative response.


1*Even if it don't have these at $3500 it still would make a great replacement for the Wards PowerCraft over a new CC GT2554 at $4100 to $4300 don't you think?
2*I read you on this.
3*Do you have any ideas what new and used tillers might cost for a JD455?
I'm trying to decide if I would want to put my CC tiller on the 2554 or get a tiller for the 455 and sell the new CC tiller.
4*This would give me the option of going with the JD blade on the 455 or installing my new blade for my CC2554 on the CC and rigging it up like the Johnny Plow.
5*That's OK as 2 wheel drive is fine.
6* I prefer 2 wheel steer.
*****************
I'm trying to take 2 tractors and set one of them up with a front blade and a rear tiller and leaving both attachments on that tractor all the time and the other tractor with just a mower deck on it for mowing the areas I can't get the BX23 into to mow.
What I'm trying to decide is which set up for the JD 455 and which Set up for The CC 2554.

 

[Nufarmer01]

I would definitely go with the 455. I just got one with 4ws, 316hrs, 1997 model, runs great and believe me and everybody else when they say it is a fuel sipper. Mowed for 2hrs and filled it back up and I managed to get 9\10 of a gallon in it. Half a gallon an hour is not bad, I don't think. That's my .02 Anyway good luck!

 

[jeffinsgf]

1*Even if it don't have these at $3500 it still would make a great replacement for the Wards PowerCraft over a new CC GT2554 at $4100 to $4300 don't you think?

Yes, I do, but I am green biased. I have never seen any LGT that worked as hard as my 455. It is amazing what I can push with the front blade and a little bit of ballast on the rear.

3*Do you have any ideas what new and used tillers might cost for a JD455?

a 42 hydraulic just went for 1400 on eBay. It was absolutely immaculate. That particular model has some unique advantages given your goals. You don't need rear PTO. The hydraulic pump mounts under the tractor and drives off the mid-PTO (same as mower deck). You do need a 3 point, but that is less of a deal than adding PTO. Another feature I like about the 42 hydraulic is that it can run either forward or reverse, where PTO tillers run one direction only. An equally clean 450 just went for about a thousand. That would be my second choice -- now that I have my rear PTO, I am watching for the first one of those two that I can find at a real bargain. Those were fair deals, and brought market prices. I'm looking for one or the other that is a little more experienced and a little less expensive.

I'm trying to take 2 tractors and set one of them up with a front blade and a rear tiller and leaving both attachments on that tractor all the time and the other tractor with just a mower deck on it for mowing the areas I can't get the BX23 into to mow.
What I'm trying to decide is which set up for the JD 455 and which Set up for The CC 2554.

I am not that familiar with the Cub Cadet, but in my opinion it would border on sin to get a 455, put a deck on it and leave it set up for mowing its whole life. I could, however, see a 455 with a 54 dual hydraulic blade on front and a 42 hydraulic tiller on the back as one lean mean landscaping machine.

 

[LBrown59]

I am not that familiar with the Cub Cadet, but in my opinion
1* it would border on sin to get a 455, put a deck on it and leave it set up for mowing its whole life.
2*I could, however, see a 455 with a 54 dual hydraulic blade on front and a 42 hydraulic tiller on the back as one lean mean landscaping machine.

1*But it would last a lifetime used this way right!
2*Almost as mean or meaner than a tooth bar on my BX23 perhaps.

 

[RickO]

Am I missing something here or are you actually telling me you own a BX23 Kubota (sub-compact tractor) with 3pt. and rear 540 pto. You are actually going to buy a Garden tractor and put a over priced tiller and front blade on the 455 to till and push snow/dirt. You have a SCUT!!! IT will do at least twice as good as the JD455 at either tilling or pushing/snow or dirt.

Anyone who disagrees probably has never owned a SCUT and used it like it was meant to be used. Buy the JD455 and mow with it. Buy a $900 48" King Kutter Tiller from TSC for your BX and if you really gotta have a front Blade, Kubota sells em for the BX.

 

[RickO]

a 42 hydraulic just went for 1400 on eBay.

You can buy a really nice rear 3pt. tiller for the BX for a lot less than this.

 

[LBrown59]

1*Am I missing something here or are you actually telling me you own a BX23 Kubota (sub-compact tractor) with 3pt. and rear 540 pto.
2*You are actually going to buy a Garden tractor and put an over priced tiller and front blade on the 455 to till and push snow/dirt.
3*You have a SCUT!!! IT will do at least twice as good as the JD455 at either tilling or pushing/snow or dirt.
Anyone who disagrees probably has never owned a SCUT and used it like it was meant to be used.
4* Buy the JD455 and mow with it.
5*Buy a $900 48" King Kutter Tiller from TSC for your BX and if you really gotta have a front Blade, Kubota sells em for the BX. Better yet, Get a front end loader for the BX.
***************

1*I do have a BX23 with 3pt. and rear 540 pto.
2* Not exactly. I have a CC 2554 and am thinking about buying a JD 455. I haven't decided yet which one of the 2 to put A front blade and rear tiller on.
3*I agree but The BX23 won't Dig with a BH and till at the same time. Hence the purpose of another tractor.
A smaller tractor Such as The CC 2554 or the JD 455 set up with front blade and a rear tiller will be able to get into the areas that I can't get into to operate/use the BX23.
4* I thought of that, but I'm also considering using the CC 2554 for that. Which one to mow with won't be determined until I decide which on to set up with a tiller and front blade.
5*The BX23 has a FEL but there again I need the blade on something smaller for operating in tight areas.

 

[jeffinsgf]

a 42 hydraulic just went for 1400 on eBay.

You can buy a really nice rear 3pt. tiller for the BX for a lot less than this.

Possibly, but it will require rear PTO. The 42 hydraulic does not.

Not to start a paint war here, but your comment about the BX23 doing "twice as good" leads me to believe you've never worked with a 455. I tested a BX2300 when I bought my 455, and I am not sure I agree with you at all. At least as far as mowing goes, I think the 455 cuts faster and with equal or more power. Once you equip a 455 with 3pt hitch and PTO, 4wd is the only advantage the BX series has. If I had been buying new, I probably would have gone with a BX2300 (have hoe and loader on my CUT) over a new John Deere X5XX or X7XX, but finding a used 455 for less than half what I would have spent on the BX made it a "no-brainer".