Buying Advice Advice on 2320 purchase for mowing and snow removal

[JJKJ]

Hello all, I've been hanging out reading and researching my next purchase. I think I have things narrowed down a bit but have some questions.

I recently moved from a home with just under an acre to an acreage with a bit over 8 acres. I will mow about 2.5 acres of the land and the rest will be hay that will be cut and bailed by a buyer. I have about 500' of total driveway to clear of snow. The property is pretty open so snow drifting will occur regularly. The driveway surface is similar to sealcoat. It is a asphalt base with pebble cover. It isn't as difficult as gravel to clear but is much more challenging than a smooth surface.

We just had our first major snow here in IA. I have a 2008 X500 with the 44" blower. I spent too many hours clearing snow over the last week. I also think the X500 would do ok with mowing, but I'd like a faster mow than the 54" deck. I also have one fairly steep hill to mow.

After research on a X748, 2305 and 2320; I think I'm most interested in the 2320. For mowing I'm looking at the 62" MMM. My questions are regarding snow removal. The dealer suggested configuring the tractor with a FEL and rear mount blade. The idea is to use the rear mount blade for most clearing and use the FEL to move drifts and snow piles. However, I spoke with my Dad who has experience clearing snow with a FEL and he thinks I would get frustrated with snow packing into the bucket. I know what he's referring to as I had a heck of a time shoveling my walkways this week as the snow stuck to the shovel more than you'd think. My Dad's suggestion is to configure the tractor with a front blade and rear blower. The blade would do the work 90% of the time and if I got to a large drift or needed to move a snow pile, I can use the blower. I did see a tractor with that configuration in the JD implement catalog and it seemed to make sense. My dealer also told me the rear blower is much cheaper than a front blower.

I guess I'm really looking for additional advice on the best configuration. I know from reading many posts here, there is great appreciation for a FEL. I know I could find reasons to use one other than moving snow, but right now I think I'd rather spend extra cash on a cab.

Lastly, what tires would be the most appropriate for my use?

Anything I'm missing or should reconsider?

Thanks,

John

 

[jenkinsph]

I am certainly no expert on snow removal but from what I have read here the rear mounted blower with front blade is a good way to go. Maybe othere can tell you more about changing from fel to blade as I recall this takes some doing.

If you purchased 8 acres to keep long term then I would consider a small cabbed tractor, the 3520 cab unit comes to mind. It seems no one regrets buying a cab tractor but lots of people regret buying an open station unit. It is far cheaper to get it right the first time than upgrading at a later date.

 

[jcmseven]

I think it depends on how much snow you need to move. Where I live in western NC, we do not get too much snow, but we get some, and frequently get some fairly decent snowfalls because it gets pretty cold where I live and it tends to be a moist microclimate. I have tried several different types of snow moving equipment. I agree in a tractor-mounted application the ultimate set up is a rear-mounted PTO blower and a front blade. Unfortunately, that is quite expensive and requires the removal of the loader to operate the front blade. Not a big deal, but when the snow is falling it delays one's start. One would have to be moving a lot of now frequently to justify the cost and storage space of such a set up. There are some companies that make loader mounted blades for the 2320 application, but I have found these boom blades to be cumbersome and prone to move the front end of the tractor around, even in larger machines. They also place directional stress on the loader arms that the arms are not intended to handle.

With regard to the loader and rear blade set up, it is adequate for most homeowners who do not have to move much snow. It is very easy to set up, the rear blade can be used for other applications, and is quite cost-effective. The problem is buckets fill up with snow, are slow, and the rear blade either has to be pulled with the tractor itself breaking up the snow banks, or reversed and snow plowing backwards which is slow, straining on the neck and potentially dangerous. The rear blades really are intended for grading, so the moldboards are low (usually less than 14") so snow tends to flow over the top, which can get frustrating.

My advice is this: the 2320 is a great little tractor. I have owned almost every compact JD sells and I like my 2320 as well or better than any. It is super stout and a bunch more capable than a 2305 for just a bit more dinero. Aside from hydraulics it will do any task the 2520 or 2720 will do. It will pull a 4' box blade better than my 3720 pulled a 5', and I think would pull a five footer fine. If I were buying a snow removal device for the 2320 I would get a 54" JD front blade which is small but quite durable and be done. Though the blade is not very wide, it is great for plowing and blade size, unless vastly differing, offers little additional speed for plowing. Of course, you could get a UTV with a plow which is the best option but also very expensive.

John M

 

[jcmseven]

With regard to tires, the only factory choices you have are R4 and R3 turfs. Neither are good for snow. I would go with the lesser of two evils and get the R4's. Unless your land is perfectly flat, you might need chains for the back mainly to prevent sliding. The tractors tend to push well, but they are heavy and will slide, especially on steep drives. Chains will fix that problem. The 2320 has good fender clearance and is easy to chain up. The 3000 series is a major pain, no fender clearance. I would recommend chains. You do not have to have them but it makes plowing much more efficient.

John M

 

[EdC]

Boy I sure don't want to start round 9,785 of the tire wars but R4s work ok for me. Don't get me wrong chains are much better. For your application I would suggest turfs with chains. My R4s do tear up my lawn a bit in spring when it is soft. That is not too much of a problem since we do have a small lawn tractor.

As far as a FEL vs blower is concerned. If it is one or the other get a FEL. If you can afford both a FEL and a rear blower/front blade setup, wow, that would be ideal. FELS do work for snow. If you get a lot of snow in one go then the FEL can lift up the snow and stack it. After the storm in the picture it took about 8 hours (with breaks of course) to do my 800 ft driveway, my neighbors 400 foot driveway, and the retired couples 600 foot driveway down the road. Do I wish I had a blower; you bet, but the FEL rear blade setup does work and can be used all year long.

If you do settle on the FEL rear blade setup try using the rear blade reversed (pushing with the concave side) you hardly move any gravel. Good Luck.

 

[JJKJ]

Thanks for the advice. My previous set-up for plowing when I lived in town was an Yamaha ATV with 50" plow. For the most part, it worked nicely but I ran out places to put snow so I ended up selling it and purchasing the X500 with blower.

My first thought when moving to this property was to purchase an ATV with blade for most snow removal and keep the X500 for the heavier snows. So the idea of an UTV with plow is not too far from what I originally considered. However, I'm not sure how much heavier the Gators are than a regular ATV but I did have issues with my last ATV having the front end pushed around when I had the blade angled. I think that the larger drifts I'll get here in the larger open area may over-challenge the lighter ATV.

I really wish I knew the plowing capability of the 2320. Will it handle the 4' drifts and alleviate the need for a blower?

Regarding the cabbed tractor; I'd love to go that route but just not enough funds right now. I do anticipate an aftermarket cab for my 2320.

Thanks!

John

 

[EdC]

John

A blower would be faster but the FEL will handle 4 foot drifts. In the picture above the snow was over 3 feet deep and wet enough that I could just scoop along the ground and pick up a large "stack" of snow. We don't get storms like this very often where I live in Eastern Washington so I did not go the blower route. Even with a blower it would be slow going if you waited until the snow had accumulated the entire four feet.

What I do now is wait until we get about a foot or so of snow then put the FEL about 1 inch or so above the ground. Then I push the snow and can clear the driveway for maybe 30 or 40 feet. The snow is either pushed off to the side or stacks up in front. Then I do a sharp 90 degree turn and dump the accumulated snow. Repeat as needed. I don't know if that would work for you or if you get so much snow that you would be outside all the time.

Will your salesman come out with the tractor so you can try it out at your place?

 

[jenkinsph]

I see that your annual snowfall is about 60 to 74 inches total oer year. How much easier would your job be if you paved the driveway instead? I think you might be better served keeping the X500 mower and taking a little time to better determine your needs for a tractor.
good luck with whatever you decide.

 

[bp fick]

YouTube - Kubota BX 24 plowing snow

Fun to watch what a blade can do, even on a sub-cut.

 

[beenthere]

Myself, I don't think you gain much by going to the 2320 over the X500.

I mow up to 8 acres with a 54" deck (would handle a 62 but I have trees to get between), and find that the AWS (all wheel steer) makes handling hills a breeze.

If I were you, I'd keep the X500, and the snowblower. Get the 54" blade for it and see how it goes. Then make the decision to go bigger.

But I'd go bigger than the 2320. But you do as you feel most comfortable for you.

Here is my 4300 with plow (7' Western) and it handled the 12" snow this past week with relative ease. There was a stretch of drive that runs E-W that was just at 4' deep on the south side, and 12" deep on the north side.

 

[jcmseven]

A Gator is NOT an ATV for plowing, it is MUCH more. Even the gasoline Gator weighes about 1450 pounds, a solid 600+ pounds more than a heavy ATV. You will not have problems with the front end being pushed around. My diesel Gator plowed as fast, or faster, and better than my neighbors 3500 Dodge dually, and that's no joke. All the UTV's are serious improvements over almost anything out there for plowing snow.

As for the 2320, I would have to politely disagree with beenthere. I am assuming you have the older X500, which is now the X700 series. They are excellent machines, I have had three of them. The 2320 is quite a step up, though. It is a true compact tractor. It has the following: two range hydro, a siamesed higher flow hydraulic pump, standard mid and rear PTO's, dual wheel brakes, bigger wheels and tires and higher axle capacities, 650# more field weight, a full category 1 three point hitch with rockshaft control, jobstick loader operation, and full lit ROPS, among other things. Needless to say there is a difference. One must ask if those areas of upgrade are enough to merit the upgrade itself. To me, yes; to some, no. Though both are excellent machines comparing a 2320 to an X500 (or 700) machine is comparing an apple to an orange. As for plowing I think the 2320 would do well. It is a heavy machine and the blade is not very large, so it would handle it in about any snowfall with ease. It would not be as fast as a UTV, though. My UTV blade is 72" and I can plow consistently at 10-15 mph v. a 54" blade at 5-8 mph with virtually any utility tractor over the same plow area.

John M

 

[JJKJ]

Regarding the driveway surface, I don't think the type of surface will have a big impact on what my plans are. The surface type comes into play with my preference for a blade over a blower, but I think I would still prefer a blade regardless as I think it would be more efficient for most snows. My plans are to eventually concrete the main drive but the lower drive will always be rock/pebble.

The big reasons I'm looking at upgrading from my X500 are:

- Moving from 2wd to 4wd. I think 4wd will remove snow and mow my hilly area better than my 2wd.

- I'd like more ground clearance than my X500 has for any work I may have to accomplish on my land. This is also why I originally considered an ATV with blade in conjunction with my X500.

- I'd like to step up to hydraulically operated implements. With my X500, if I add a blade, it will be manually angled and I think the hyd operated blade will be quicker and obviously easier.

Regarding size, I did get multiple quotes back from the dealer. He has a 2520 in stock that he could give me a pretty decent deal on in comparison to the 2320. With the same equipment, the 2520 is $1600 more.

After watching the snowblade videos, I'm seriously reconsidering my need for a blower. I think front blade would do almost all the work I need from what I saw. How hard would it be to swap between a blade and a FEL? I think if I had a FEL to move snow piles if it gets piled too high/close and for other tasks around the acreage, I would be pretty well set up.

Thanks,

John

 

[JJKJ]

Thanks for the info John, I'm going to research the Gator a bit more.

My X500 is the new version X500 (2008), not the HDGT. I bought it when I had just under an acre to mow and a 60' driveway to clear. More than adequate for that work, but undersized for what I have now.

 

[jcmseven]

It's not that tough. JD has the quick park 200CX loader (the more expensive one and the one you would want of the two--not the 200X) available on the 2320 and 2520 tractors. Once you get the hang of it, you can fully disconnect the loader in less than 5 minutes. The blade comes with a mounting bracket (don't forget to figure this in the cost) with hydraulics for angling that go to the couplers used by the loader. This takes about 5-10 minutes to mount up including the time to scoot the pieces around and hook up the hydraulic lines. Thusly, as a conservative estimate I would say you could easily swap them over with a couple times of practice in less than 20 minutes total. I do warn people not to wait until the snow is falling to do it, though. You might want to practice anyway before the snow starts to make yourself most efficient in the time of need. John Deere has done a nice job making these pieces easily swapped and used friendly, but they are heavy--even the mounting bracket weighes about 80# and those tricky hydraulic lines always seem to not seal perfectly the first time. I am including this correction factor in my time estimate. Truthfully 10 minutes is about what it took me to do the swappo (from a then 45 loader).

John M

 

[jcmseven]

Yes, the X500 you have is the former "300 series). Yes there really is no comparison between this and the 2320. As for the 2520 I like them. They have much faster hydraulics than the 2320 as they have two truly independent hydraulic pumps, one for the steering and one for the implement. They will not lift any more in weight, but the cycle times of the loader is faster. They also have a bit more torque and horsepower and a direct injected diesel engine which makes for better cold weather starts and a little more low end uumph. Unfortunately, this did not translate into better performance, at least on my property. The 2320 I bought pulled a box blade, etc., just as well--if not slightly better--than the 2520 I tested also. Since I do not use my loader that much, I really did not need the extra hydraulic speed, so I went with the 2320 and saved the money. Opinions as they are the 2520 and 2720 to me are priced at a point where one could almost justify going into a 3000 series for a bit more money. They have much heavier running gear and are more capable still--provided unlike me you have the space to use them. John Deere has this marketing gig down to a science. They price the highest end machine in each given line such that it places the buyer into the next series for a little more money. I know they got me three times into a machine that was really bigger than I wanted for this very reason.. Darn them,

John M

 

[beenthere]

My bad. I thought your X500 was a 4wd, and was either an X585 or X595. Guess Deere crept in with that oddball number to cause confusion. It worked.

 

[ChuckinNH]

My bad. I thought your X500 was a 4wd, and was either an X585 or X595. Guess Deere crept in with that oddball number to cause confusion. It worked.

Yes, even Deere is confused! If you go to their web site, and try to "build your own" X500 series, you will get options for the X700, and older X500 series Garden tractors.

 

[gwjd]

honestly if your looking for just a mowing/ plow machine go with a kabota 3060 or 3080 front mount trim mower get the 4x4 my college plowes with them kabota makes a nice hydrolic front blade im in central MO so most we ever get is a foot but they were blowing threw that ant there was ice underneth using the stock r3s they go for right under 20k new, and they mow way better than any thing and if you got a hill its even better than a zero turn. they also make other atachments there are good used ones runing around cheep theses are industrail machines and they would last a long time even if they were fairly used due to low use.

also the park i used to work at had one it mowed like crazy eazy on fuel and nor real problems minor stuff, ours had like 3000 hours machine ran great, mower needed some tlc but not to bad for that old on a deck, i only got it stuck once and that was when i slid down the hill into a swampy area and a golf cart got it out

 

[Dutch445]

All this talk about pushing snow, lifting with
the FEL, sounds like a lot of work to me.

Nobody has mentioned just getting the 2320, or even
a 2305 if it works sizewise, and using the 62" mid mower,
and just the front 54" blower. New for this year, the
54" will make quick work of any kind of snow, by moving
it once. a couple passes, and you get back inside.
when heavy snow comes, you move it once and your done.

think about this compared to what you have now, and you
have 10" wider blower, diesel with 4wd, better economy, more
weight/traction, and much quicker mowing with the 62" deck
with the higher groundspeeds of the cut.

that's my opinion, and I'm sticking to it!

 

[jcmseven]

I defer to Dutch on all JD questions. Dutch is the man. Where have you been???

John M