BX 22???

Anonymous Poster · May 25, 2003

Hi,

This is my forst post but I have done some reading here and on other forums.

My problem is that I am looking at my first tractor purchase and don't know what to get. My needs are as follows:

11 acre property (flat land, Goshen, NY)

Divided as follows:

2.5 acre- house and lawn (more like grass than true lawn /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif)
5 acre horse pasture
3.5 woods with several small horse trails (not real but small downed timber bushes etc.)
have six horses (4 stalled the other 2 are turned out 24/7 with run-in sheds) could go to 10 horses some day soon

The barn only holds 4 horses so manure management should be pretty constant even with a few additional horses. The horse pasture is kept about 75% maitained now by the horses. The edges are nasty thorny stuff that go within the first hours that I get ANY tractor (payback time for all those thorns I am plucking out of my arm).

My choices seem to be between a larger 25-30 hp compact with out the BH or the BX 22 TLB or Kioti 1914 TLB.
I think the BX or 1914 can get the job done as far as moving manure, dirt, occasional stone for the driveway,but I am not sure if they will be good for brush hogging the trails and the nasty stuff that is presently on my fence line.

The problem is if I move up to say a 30hp (was considering Kioti 3054) I can't afford the hoe. I also am realistic to know that the wife is not going to be forking over an extra5 -6,000 any time soon after I buy a tractor. It is also nice to have the hoe thrown into the original financing a Kubotas current 0%.

I also need some french drains and can think of 100 other hoe jobs if I try. Whatever tractor would see weekly manuure moving/spreading, weekly lawm mowing and monthly brush hogging. The rest would be snow moving, yearly stone driveway touch up (250ft), firewood moving and some (small) posthole digging.

Can I get by with the BX-22 or 1914? I think the BX-22 looks like a great machine and I don't mind a little extra time doing chores but don't want to not be able to complete jobs or destry the machine. Boy, but I do love the TLB package......

ANyone out there doing similar with a small machine?

HELP!

manganos · May 25, 2003

Let me chime in and give you my experiences. They may be limited as I'm only 25 and only lived out in the sticks for 3 years now. I started off by getting a Yanmar 1702d which was a neat, inexpensive 4wd tractor w/o a loader. I saw that I had some drains that I wanted to put in so I went and traded that in on a Kubota BX22. I guess I'll add here that I have the same amount of land as you do. I have about a 1/4 mile dirt/gravel driveway and a 1/2 pond or so. Anyways. I got the Kubota BX22 and used the hoe right away. It was a slow process but it did get done. I made some trails in the woods and got stuck time and time again. I got both of my Jeeps stuck in the mud and the BX22 wouldn't even spin its own wheels but hey it was worth a try. I had the 60" mid mount mower and it left a great cut! I tried to hook a chain to the tractor and pull down an old woven wire fence attatched to cedar posts. It wouldn't budge them. I finally hit 100 hours with the BX and brought it to the dealer. The dealer said "boy you use this thing hard don't you". He mentioned maybe the tractor is too small. I agree'd and spoke to the wife. I ended up trading the tractor in for a Kioti 3054. I've had the Kioti since last Wed. I hooked a chain up to a post and the tractor and put it in 4wd. In first gear, low, I gave it some gas and let the clutch out. I started to go then I wondered how much chain I had hooked up b/c I didn't feel the fence starting to move. I looked back only too see the fence dragging behind me and cedar posts poping out of the ground. The ones that were 3 1/2 ' deep cracked off at the base. I don't know hoe I got along without this size tractor to begin with. What I suggest is to get the Kioti (or similiar size) and rent a backhoe for the limited jobs. Sorry for the long posts but if I had someone tell me this upfront that owned a BX22 I would have skipped on it. The BX22 is a great tractor for the "estate" owner. I feel 4 or so acres and it would have been the ONLY tractor for me. Good luck in your future purchase. Chris

Anonymous Poster · May 25, 2003

F350Lawman,
As much as I like my bx, it sounds like you will need more weight/ horsepower than a bx can provide. Let me qualify that statement by saying that I don't doubt that a bx COULD do what you need to do, but it would take a lot more time (smaller machine, smaller bites). Manganos is right; a bigger machine will probably be best for you IMHO.
Hope this helps and good luck shopping.
DaveL

Anonymous Poster · May 26, 2003

Thanks for the advice guys.

That's sort of what I figured, but I was still kinda holding out hope for the smaller tractor to be an option.

The 3054 is very nice and withn the FEL, ph digger and hog I can get 90% of what I need done anyway.

Bigger tractor probably a better choice in the long run even if I don't get as many implements to start. I may even be able to work something out with a friend who has a construction back hoe in exchange for use of whatever tractor I get.

P.S. I think I saw an ad for your former BX?????
http://www.carverequipment.com/used_cool_seasons.htm

manganos · May 26, 2003

Yep that is the one!! One thing I can attest to is that the maitenance was done on time. It just had the 100 hr service 10 hours prior to me trading it in. Good machine!