Backhoe Backhoe question for JD2520

[Gizmo2]

JD says the MMM and the BH are not compatable. When I had my 2320 I also had the MMM and the BH. In order to put to BH on I had to remove the front mounts for the BH under carriage. They mount to the FEL mounts on the tractor. It wasn't that it was terribly hard to do but it wasn't "tool less" and what invariably happened is that the lawns would go unmowed because once the BH was on and the arms adjusted just right we became reluctant to remove them, besides the fact that the nuts are not designed to constantly be removed. Remember too that you have to take off the FEL unless you want to mow with that thing bouncing up and down! So there's considerable work to make the transition in my view.
On the 2720 the frony bracket arms for the BH take much more work to get off.(I don't know if the new 2320 has the better arms). I went with a Ztrak to do the grounds and I like this option much better. Several people have commented that they have done the same.
The lawns get mowed and when I take the BH off to put on 3pt. implements it's an easy transfer.
It depends on how much BH work you do and how much mowing you do but the MMM runs about $2500.00 (more if you get the hydro lift which drops out half the time) and for another $1000.0 you can get a Ztrak that is much faster, gets in and out of places better and has a wash out port for the deck and other options that tilted getting it over the MMM for me.
One more thing. I can take out the Ztrak when the lawns are still a little damp from the rain and it mows fine. I wouldn't take the tractor on the lawns if they were even slightly wet and we get lots of rain here!

Rob

I did the same, bought a Z Master, just got real tired of always removing an attachment and what I needed to use was never on the tractor. Must be a Catskill thing.

 

[Rob-D]

Thanks for clearing that up. Like I said, I did read somewhere that one of the 2000 series you didn't have to unbolt those mounting brackets and the others you did, I just wasn't sure of which. Kinda funny they would be different?

The 25 and 27 are longer tractors (about 2") for the larger engines. Also the FEL brackets that attach to the frames are different too. I couldn't use the old frame brackets when I went to the 27. The 27 fuel tank is larger too.

Rob

 

[Paystar]

"The 25 and 27 are longer tractors (about 2") for the larger engines. Also the FEL brackets that attach to the frames are different too. I couldn't use the old frame brackets when I went to the 27. The 27 fuel tank is larger too.

Rob"

Thanks Rob, that makes perfect sense why they would be different than the 2320.

 

[hemiguy]

Paystar,
The #46 is a nice little hoe and the last I knew is the largest one you can get for the 2520. When I looked into it last year I found Woods only offered the BH6000 for the 2520, not the larger hoes. I suspect their engineers feel the 2520 couldn't handle the stress from the larger ones. The #46 has got good power for its size, but its pretty inefficient for trenching. For instance, digging down 18-24" for electric lines you have to move the tractor every 5 linear feet of trench. If I was making a living with mine I'd have a bigger one, but it does fine for small jobs and homeowner use. I've dug some fairly large stumps out with mine but you have to have some patience.

I just saw the latest list price of $6700 for the #46 and thought at around $300 a day around here for a mini-X rental that's a whole lot of rentals. Honestly, if i was using my 2520 mainly for mowing (I don't even own a deck for mine) that's what I would do.

Hope this helps

 

[AKfish]

Paystar,
I just saw the latest list price of $6700 for the #46 and thought at around $300 a day around here for a mini-X rental that's a whole lot of rentals. Honestly, if i was using my 2520 mainly for mowing (I don't even own a deck for mine) that's what I would do.

Hope this helps

You should be able to beat that list price by a $1,000 or so. But - that still leaves quite a bit of money on the table to rent - when you need to..

I can rent a JD 50D mini-X (~11,000lb) with 2-buckets for $250/day up here and $900/week (40hrs).

I'd think the hassle of removing the mounts would push me to rent before buying, also. But, I've seen a pretty novel "fix" posted here by fellow TBNer - dirtworks - for his 3520. He had a local welder buddy fab up a dual mount system whereby both attachment mounts for the MMM and a front blade could remain on the tractor. He posted some very good pictures here on the JD owner forum; a search should turn up some good stuff.

It might not be that difficult a solution to have both the MMM and BH mounts configured on a 25-2720 tractor at the same time, too.

AKfish

 

[AKfish]

My bad... dirtworksequipment is the man behind the dual mount setup for the 3520. A search for his posts offers some great info.

AKfish

 

[JohnnyD2320]

See signature for my machine. We have the MMM and 46 backhoe with no special lift for the mower deck. the lever on the right fender lifts the deck. No tools are needed to change from one to the other. can do the whole process in about 10 minutes. Drop deck off, back off it, back into the backhoe, hook up hose and lift backhoe in place and put two pins in place.
The reason we went with the 2320 over the 2520 was due to the ease of change. I had read the 2520 was much more work and more time consuming. Love the machine and ease of changing implements. Well thought out.

 

[Rob-D]

See signature for my machine. We have the MMM and 46 backhoe with no special lift for the mower deck. the lever on the right fender lifts the deck. No tools are needed to change from one to the other. can do the whole process in about 10 minutes. Drop deck off, back off it, back into the backhoe, hook up hose and lift backhoe in place and put two pins in place.
The reason we went with the 2320 over the 2520 was due to the ease of change. I had read the 2520 was much more work and more time consuming. Love the machine and ease of changing implements. Well thought out.

Hi Johnny,
On my 2006 2320 the MMM hit the BH brackets that were mounted on the front loader mounts. You could get the mower on but it wouldn't go up all the way and I mow my front field at the highest point, 4".
The BH mounting brackets on my 2720 are much more robust than the 2320 brackets and require even more work to remove. Read Deere's specs they say the BH is not compatable with the MMM on 2 series machines.
Rob

 

[JohnnyD2320]

No Kidding. Didn't know that. I did always wonder why you could not get the deck up higher when mowing, but I like my lawn 2-3 inches so I never even knew it was an issue. The folks at the Deere store didn't seem to be aware, or at least made no mention to me of incompatibilities. I got my machine feb of 06. I guess I would be dissapointed if I had to mow at a higher height.
Here the thing though. you can only adjust the cut height dial to mow so high, but you could theoretically mow higher using the height control lever, and the deck lifts right up and hugs the bottom of the tractor when you pull the lever all the way back.
I find that sometime we are the first to know and instruct the dealer of these issues. It seems the company does a poor job of educating those that sell the machines.

 

[Gizmo2]

I find that sometime we are the first to know and instruct the dealer of these issues. It seems the company does a poor job of educating those that sell the machines.

The same goes for many items. The end user seems to always know more. Could it be the forums, Hmmmm..........