7500 vs 2710

   / 7500 vs 2710 #11  
What the others have said about power is true. Kubota has done a pretty good job of sizing their tractors to the available power. For every one that I have tried, they all run out of traction before they run out of power. So regardless of which one you get, you will generally have enough power for the properly matched implements.
 
   / 7500 vs 2710 #12  
Here's another question/concern. Yesterday I finished cutting the soft part of my land, where I had only cut the grass down to about 5 inches the first time around a couple of days ago due to the thickness and height (1 ft.!). It was a little damp from an early morning flurry even though the sun and wind had been going on for about six hours before I started to mow it.
The 7500 I am trying out started to really drop off the rpm's in certain thick areas and I had to really let the foot up on the pedal to bring them back up. It surprised me because the grass wasn't really that high, just real thick. I am using a 60 inch side discharge RFM until the rear discharge comes in. Lifting the chute up helped a little. I'm guessing a few more horses would have helped here even more or maybe a larger throw area like the rear dis. has?
But, the ground was so soft I wonder how it would have handled the extra weight of a larger tractor. The tires (R4s) are not loaded and on a slight mound or when I got close to a wet ditch I had to keep it in 4WD or I got slippage to the point that I wasn't moving. Even on areas I would consider dry, but that had a slight roll to them. I was in 4WD most of the time, is this normal?
I have gone over a bunch of posts on tire loading and balast and am really scratching my head, now. It seems like I need some weight in my rear tires, but don't want to sink in or cause ruts.

Is there some way to tie rear wheel slippage, loaded tires, 4WD, soft ground and heavier tractors together? A rule of thumb kind of thing?

thanks,
Fred
 
   / 7500 vs 2710 #13  
I beleive your tractor could not possibly laboring from thick grass but a combination of thick grass and soft ground that is entirely possible. The soft ground can increase rolling rsistance considerably.
The answer to your question, stay off of soft, wet ground and don't mow wet grass. I would have really liked to have mowed my lawn today but it was wet from the rain yesterday. It will be at least Monday and maybe Tuesday before the 2410 can venture out on to the lawn area without leaving ruts and making a mess. Good luck, patience grasshopper. J
 
   / 7500 vs 2710 #14  
But master (Tres Crows)...
So, do you think I should throw a little rear balast in the tires or continue to use 4WD in this area? Would keeping it in 2WD have more hp available to the PTO? According to my neighbor, it is always going ot be a little soft on that side of my house. That's why the grass is always thicker and I am guessing I'll always have the rolling resistance you mentioned.

BTW, is there somewhere I can go to see what certain implements are used for? I have a gravel drive (at least there used to be gravel on it) that I need to maintain/re-do and I have read about using a box blade and/or back blade, but not having any experience with this type of work I have no idea where to start. I have only been able to find threads of people doing the work, but not explaining it to someone who has never seen it being done.

Fred
 
   / 7500 vs 2710 #15  
Ah, surely you jest! Anyway, I do not think ballast will do anything but make it sink more into the ground. It sounds like a good area for turf tires--is that what you have? I do not think either that using 4WD makes a noticeable difference in PTO power available. It sound like you have a problem area there that may need some tractor'n /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif .
Your drive, no to my knowledge there is no such book, perhaps our true master--Muhummed---will gift us with his knowledge in a second volume--"Now that you Got a tractor here is what you can do with it"-----please have Byrd and JMIII contribute and edit.
I think you need a boxblade for your drive and maybe a landscape rake or my favorite a flexible tine harrow. The boxblade is designed it is said by aliens so it's use may not be entirely intuitive. To master the boxblade is like the ricepaper little Grasshopper--when you have mastered the boxblade you are a Tractorman and you are no longer the student but the teacher. J
 

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   / 7500 vs 2710 #16  
Freds,

I used a landscape rake to regrade my no so gravel driveway. I waited for it to rain, then went out witht he rake when it was damp. It worked like a charm. I reoved all the washboarding and pot holes in three passes. I then had a trucking company drop several tons of small blue stone and it looks better than new!

A box blade can do alot of damage if you are not careful. I good landscape rake is much more forgiving.
 
   / 7500 vs 2710 #17  
One rule of thumb, you can either cut very thick, tall DRY grass with a CUT, or you can cut short, wet grass, but you cannot cut very thick, tall WET grass. The clumps can clog up the mower deck and bog down the engine. Also, if it is wet, you are more likely to make ruts of tear the sod. If your grass has grown long, I suggest waiting until a warm, sunny day, after the dew has dried. Then mow it to the height you want, even if you have to mow twice (though you shouldn't have to). If you need to be in 4wd to mow, you shouldn't be mowing! Once the initial cut is over, I would think you could mow once/twice weekly during the growing season in 2wd, and mow only when the ground is pretty dry (dew on the grass is no big deal, unless it affects traction). In the fall, mow that final time in late fall to get the leaves and mow the grass down real short. When spring comes, it won't be so high/thick during the wet period. My 2710 will sink in my yard just sitting there if I take it out in March. If I wait until mid-April (upstate NY) after a few days of no rain, I can mow worry free. I was REALLY concerned about the 2710 being too heavy, but patience is the key to not ruining your lawn.
 
   / 7500 vs 2710 #18  
I would agree with MrP in that a landscape rake is much more forgiving, and a box blade used too aggressively can make any terrain worse than it was to begin with/w3tcompact/icons/shocked.gif. If you have a mature gravel roadway or driveway that has gravel scattered about, but most of it sunk down, then I recommend a rake for that job, just like MrP said. It looks remarkably like a newly graveled drive when you are done. It can take out the washboards and high/low spots, remove the edge build up and re-crown. All this is only possible IF you have enough gravel/material already in the roadbed. If your driveway has sunk below the surrounding grade (in other words is a canal during rainstorms/w3tcompact/icons/tongue.gif), or if you wish to change the drainage grading, or even if you want to spread some new material around, then you are better off with a boxblade. Granted, my rake has no gauge wheels (which I am told make a huge difference for spreading/re-grading), but still I vote for the box blade for spreading/grading and the rake for refreshing/ smoothing. No matter which you use, remember, grasshopper, less IS more. One aggressive pass with the box blade and you will understand, for experience can be the only teacher /w3tcompact/icons/clever.gif.
 
   / 7500 vs 2710 #19  
J; I have R4s on it. It's what the dealer recomended (it originally had turfs) for all around use and long wear. I wasn't digging in or leaving ruts in 2WD, just slipping when I came to a shallow grade, probably do to the casters on the RFM digging in a little (nothing major, still have grass where they've been). Maybe I'll trial and error loading the rears 25% each and see if this helps without leaving depressions in the ground.
I sure could use that kind of book, having grown up in the 'burbs and living in the city for the last 20 years.

MrP; I should have been more specific. I don't need to redo the drive as far as regrading it or getting rid of potholes, I just need to get some gravel back on it and level it out. Will a landscape rake do that? Between the dump truck and my FEE getting it close (I have overhead wires), could I lower the FEE most of the way and just drag it backwards to smooth out the rocks and pack them down a little? I saw someone dragging a piece of chainlink fence last weekend over his drive, not really sure what that was doing, I should have stopped.

Paul; I wish I could have waited to mow it, the grass was only getting higher and thicker from the mowing it got a couple days earlier. The water table on that side of the house is very high and there's a ditch/depression that runs about 35 yards, starts getting water in it as it starts getting deeper and wider and then dumps into my creek. The neighbor says it's always soft ground. Maybe when I can swing a backhoe attachment I'll dig some trenches, lay some perf. PVC, and see if I can't drain it to the creek and dry out the surface. I'd like to do that with my rear pasture anyway and get rid of all the standing water back there.

Thanks for the added input, guys. Maybe I'll rethink the turf tires and I'll stick with the 7500 over something that's going to be heavier. For now :)

Fred
 
   / 7500 vs 2710 #20  
Freds,

A landscape rake will spread stone; a box scrapper will not. If you attach wheels to your rake, it is easier to control the spreading (but not the grading). I used the rake to regrade (when wet) and spread the stones (when dry).

Once you have the stones spread to where you like, then use the chain link fence to keep the stones from washboarding. I use a boom pole with a 50' link fence folded over on itself multiple times for weight.

I also use the boom pole/chain link fience with a 5' 6x6 attached to the top to drag my pastures. It works very well at breaking up the horse piles without being too agressive on the grass.

Update your profile and let us know where you are? If you are in PWC VA, it may have been me that you saw.
 

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