BX2200 or Something Bigger?

[marrt]

I’m trying to decide on which tractor will work for me. Here are a few details on my needs:

- I only have 3.5 acres of mostly level field and lawn to mow. I have mowed the field a couple of times previously with my Home Depot "Made by John Deere" 42" riding mower, but it was slow going as the ride was too rough (the cutting went fine though). The field has no rocks, ditches, slopes, or obstacles, but the small wheels and short wheelbase of my lawn mower resulted in a very rough ride and meant I had to go so slow that it took 3 hours. Also, I'm not sure if I could get by with a MMM for the field mower, or if I will have to use a rear mount finish mower.

- I need to use a post hole digger to plant trees and put up a fence. Prefer to use augers up to 12” but could get by with 9” if required.

- I need to do a lot of landscaping and need a bucket than can help me dig a 4' deep ornamental fish pond (with help from a plow to loosen the dirt, and lots of patience), move and place several large mounds of dirt and mulch, move and place several large stones, etc...

- I need to bury several runs of 5" black PVC pipe/hose from my gutter down spouts. I have a "middle buster" plow to help dig the trenches.

- Etc, Etc.....

I know I could definitely get by with a midsize B series. My question is, can I get by with a BX2200? I am worried the ride, for my field cutting, would not be much better than my current mower. And if I need to choose a finish mower over a MMM, will the BX22000 handle a finish mower well? In case I need to lift the mower, even a 5’ finish mower will weigh more than the lift capacity of the BX.

 

[TresCrows]

Hummmm, I think you are convinced you need a larger tractor so then I think you should get the larger tractor. When I got my BX, I mow most of 6 acres I was real happy with the mowing quality in my yard but when I got in my back field area I got the "rough" ride. I too blamed it on the smaller wheels and tires. Well, now I got a 2410 also with R4 tires and guess what, the ride is at least as rough and bouncy and maybe more so. Now it could be that with turfs on the 2410 the ride would be softer since the R4 have a very stiff side wall. That I can only speculate about. You might check out a thread posted by Nuru under the JD forum where he bought a JD4100 with turf tires and was dissappointed somewhat by the rough, bouncy ride which he said was worse or no better than his previous lawn tractor. Installing weight or liquid ballast may help out.
Did you see the thread about the XB implements I just posted? The BX can lift a 60 inch rear finish mower or a 4 foot hog. Without the loader up front weigts will be required possibly to improve balance.
Rock moving, I moved some big rocks with the BX flipping and rolling them using the FEL until I got them rolled onto a skid and then drug them with the BX, mulch moving no problem, digging a four foot deep pond--how big???----FEL are better for scooping than digging--not sure what to tell you but that any small tractor is not suited to digging ponds. Post hole digger, again, many old threads on this, the BX works fine with some diggers and less so with others, a 6/9 inch auger would be the limit and I beleive that is the limit on my 2410 also, 9 for sure.
With only 3 acres I do not think you can justify something like a 2910 unless just owning the tractor is something you want or desire as a hobby then go for it but realisticly a BX or a 7500 would be a more reasonable purchase. There is also the BX22TLB, tractor backhoe, these should be available soon. Now that could dig your pond, in other words even with a larger tractor the backhoe would likely be needed for substantial digging.
OK, some will say the BX loader is to small and so is the backhoe--poppy cock----- compared to my contractor type wheel barrow I can comfortably and repeatedly carry about 80 lbs of soil or a bit more. Say you need to move a full dump truck load of garden soil, it used to take me about a month of weekends and afternoons to move that amount of soil any distance, in one easy afternoon a BX with FEL and box blade can move and spread that soil, each scoop of the bucket is about 5 wheelbarrows. I lifted some slightly damp and thus very heavy soil over the edge of my neighbors old Ford PU. He was not impressed with the BX thinking like many the bucket did not carry much per load, I dumped that first load into the old PU and the back end of his trucke dropped so much he nearly fell out. The BX can easily lift about 500 lbs and that amount of damp dirt smacking the bottom of the old truck impressed him, we moved a huge pile of dirt from one side of his property to another and then I spread it with the BX in a few hours, it would have taken him weeks or months by hand. Any tractor, even a small one will be a work multiplier.
Oh, you might also consider the new JD4010.
J

 

[Nuru]

Tres, how about the almost all metal 4100. I looked at my unit and found that it has very few plastic parts, and I hear the newer ones 4010/4110/4115, have more plastic. i wonder if they also have less weight?


Boing, reading your post, I wish i had a front loader and could get a JD one cheaper than they are going for right now.

 

[Steelfan]

Welcome Marrt. I think you are going to find it doesn't matter much what you buy the ride isn't going to be great. I've driven Garden Tractors forever it seems. I thought a bigger tractor would be better on my back, but it wasn't. The big thing about compact tractors are they're uses, and how much faster, and better you can get the job done. The Kubota BX2200 is a great tractor, but beware it won't take a lot of attachments the way a 7500 or higher compact tractor will. I could most likely got away with the BX, but I wanted to be able to use a bigger variety of attachments with my tractor. I hope this help you. The best of luck in your soon to be purchase. Kent

 

[marrt]

TresCrows, thanks for all the info. You have certainly given me more to think about. To be honest, some of your original posts lead me to consider the BX in the first place. TX.

If I were to get a 2410, I would definitely get R4's. Interesting that the ride did not improve much with your 2410.

I did see your post on the XB implements. However, when I went over to the King Kutter site (briefly), I didn't see any additional info on them. Know where I can get some additional info?

Regarding the pond, it would be very small, like 5'X12'. I agree that no tractor (w/o a backhoe that is) would be good for pond digging. It's just another reason I’m trying to use to get past the WAF (Wife Acceptance Factor) on a new tractor purchase. I am somewhat interested in the BX22, but at "something under $16K" according to what I have read (and that’s w/o a MMM), seems like a big premium given that I would not use the hoe that much.

Given some of your posts I have read, it seems you can get like 90% of the “2410 work” done with a BX2200 at something like 70% of the price.

 

[TresCrows]

True, Marrt, the KK site does not have any info on the XB stuff but Atwoods has some of them and the others are for order. They also have the 4 page brochure I showed the cover from in their info rack. Phone number for KK is 205-487-3202. You may find implements pricey, do not be fooled into thinking that by getting a 7500, 2410 or even a 2910 you are going to be able to go to a farm auction and pick up nice used implements, I have found nothing at such places that are useable on anything smaller than about 50 horsepower, you may have better luck than me however.
Yes, Nuru is on the money, it may still be possible to get a closeout deal on a JD4100 since it is being replaced this year, most likely they are all gone, the hydros anyway.
Maybe you shoulf take a careful look at the 7500 also, the main thing I have against it and the 2410 is the MMM, if mowing is a primary use the BX is oh so much better at it and much more conveneint. It is a compromise you are going to have to weigh carefully for sure.
Good luck.
J

 

[john_bud]

Marrt Marrt Marrt,

<font color=blue>Regarding the pond, it would be very small, like 5'X12'. I agree that no tractor (w/o a backhoe that is) would be good for pond digging. </font color=blue>

Not so. Here is a picture to say the 1000 words needed for a reply. The ground used to be level before application of the L3410 and about 20 gal of fuel.

John Bud