B1550

[jwillh]

I'm very new to kubota and a bit daunted by all the models which don't seem all that different to me (yet). Anyway I am trying to get into a small 4wd tractor with an FEL and finish mower. A local dealer has a B1550 hydro, 4wd, fel, cat1 3pt, rear pto no other hydraulic outlets, no mid pto. It is a bit beat up. Was used by a contractor for several years than sat for 3 or so. Has 1735hrs. Every piece of tin is at least a little bent paint faded and worn. Rubber tires (very good tread) / hoses look dry. There are some 3pt links he replaced. It looks like it really was used if not abused. OTOH it started right up, no knocking, 3pt, pto and fel worked fine, no leaks, smooth etc. He is asking $7400 ($100 more if he delivers). What do you think? Can I put a belly mower on this? Is the price reasonable? It will likely need parts replaced more often than one in better condition but might be worth it if the the initial cost is low enough.

Thanks
Jim Hannigan

 

[Bird]

Jim, I don't think I can help you much, but if it has no mid-PTO, I don't know how you could put a belly mower on it. And while I'm not really familiar with that particular model, the price seems just a little bit high to me. Of course, I'm old enough that everything seems too high priced to me./w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

Bird

 

[Kelvin]

Jim,
The B1550 is in the B1550/B1750/B2150 series. I save the sales brochure for the three tractors, but not with me at the moment. It seems like the B1550 was around 17-18 hp.

Mowing & Mid PTOs: All three of the above tractors had mid-PTOs; if the one that you are looking at does not have one then it has probably been removed. Without the mid-PTO the mid-mower option is not necessarily impossible, but certainly cost-prohibitive. If the mid-mower is very important to you, then I'd check and see how they disconnected the mid-PTO and check your Kubota dealer for (1) the price of the replacement mid-PTO shaft and other necessary parts, and (2) the price and availability of the mid-mower itself. While I have always been able to purchase parts for older Kubotas, complete units (front end loaders and mid-mowers) have not been available for purchase. It sounds like that particular B1550's is best suited for a rear mower. Note that (1) lot of people prefer the rear mower anyways, (2) the mid-mower sometimes gets in the way of loader operations, (3) the mid-mowers on the B1550/B1750/B2150 series, in my opinion, had poor ground clearance in the up position, and (4) the mid-mowers were not real easy to remove and install.


Price: As far as price goes, I'd guess that the price seems pretty good for a B1550 in really good shape. The problem that I have is that when I look at a tractor that has appearances of abuse on the tractor's exterior, I have to wonder what kind of abuse has occurred on the inside (motor, transmission, etc) that you can't readily determine the extent of.

Kelvin

 

[jwillh]

Thanks for the information on the mid pto / belly mower. I'll check with the dealer again about the mid pto. My first reaction was that the price was on the high side in lew of the condition. One more general question (or two) where does this model stand in the Kubota line ie what was Kubota targeting as compared with their other series. And how did it fair - were there problems and it was cut off?

Thanks again
Jim Hannigan

 

[Kelvin]

As far as I know there were no particular problems with the B1550/B1750/B2150 series (I have a B2150HSD). I think that Kubota just came out with an updated design with the "flat-deck" B1700/B2100/B2400 series.

As the "history" was told to me, the 24 hp B2150 with 4 cylinders proved to continue to be very (more?) popular than the flat deck 24 hp B2400 with 3 cylinders; therefore, they ended up keeping the B2150HSD in production along with its original replacement B2400. Kubota then came out with a new 4-cylinder flat deck tractor, the B2710, that eventually replaced the B2150.

Listed below are the improvements of the flat deck series over the xx50 series, as I remember the story...

(1) the flat deck models had power steering standard, where it was optional on the B1550/B1750
(2) the mid-PTO and rear-PTO operated with a single lever on the xx50 series; this prohibited an operator from operating the mid-mower with a piece of 3-point equipment attached to the rear PTO. The newer designs allow the operator to operate the rear and mid PTO independently or simulaneously as desired.
(3) obviously, the flat deck models had the nicer flat deck
(4) the flat deck models had improved mid-mower designs, allowing easier installation and removal as well as higher ground clearance in the "up" position
(5) the flat deck models had quieter, enclosed muffler systems
(6) the flat deck models had R-4 tire options where the xx50 series did not

Probably the closest current Kubota tractor in production now is the B7400 (16hp/4wd/manual steering). Actually, I think that the B1550 is in-between the 16hp B7400 and the 21hp B7500. I don't remember if the B1550 has "position control" or not; the B7400/B7500 tractors do not. As far as the target population goes you can ask your local Kubota dealer to see how it compares to the B7400/B7500 and make some judgements from there.

Kelvin

 

[jwillh]

Great, thanks for the perspective. I should get a chance to talk to the dealer this weekend.

Thanks,
Jim Hannigan

 

[Muhammad]

Power steering was standard on all 4WD B1550 models... the full-featured 17hp model was discontinued when the B1700 vanished... replaced, basically, by the B7500 which is an upgraded B7300/B7400/downgraded B2100... kind of an in-between model at a better price than the previous model B2100, and more powerful than the B1700, although lacking position control.

In addition to what you mentioned, the newer tractors also have wet disc brakes.

 

[jwillh]

Well I was sidetracked by a CC7205 w/35hrs. But something I found out was that the CC (and the JD650) cannot put down pressure on the 3pt (as opposed to the B1550). This seems a necessity for tilling. Having the option of floating for mowing for example also seems useful. Any views on this? Now back to the Kubota dealer.

Thanks,
-Jim Hannigan

 

[Bird]

Jim, you've aroused my curiosity. You say the B1550 has down pressure on the 3-point? Very few compact tractors have that feature, so I'm surprised to hear that, and it really isn't a necessity at all for tilling; the weight of the tiller and the tines digging in do the job.

Bird

 

[jwillh]

In my checking around I have found that you are correct that most small tractors cannot apply down pressure from the 3pt. And as you point out it usually isn't needed. OTOH it appears possible to retro fit a 3pt to add this feature. Either by adding an external hydro ram or by replacing the internal ram with a 2-way type. This is what was done with the B1550HSD I was looking at. As far as the 1550 I think I am going to pass as it is just too beat up and too big a risk to sink the money into.


Thanks Again,
-Jim Hannigan