proudestmonkey
Platinum Member
BX2230, w/ 60\" mmm Mower Review
I posted a lengthy initial review on the reviews page, with first impressions after 10 hours.
Last night, with just over 25 hours, I used the 2230 to mow for the first time. So, I thought I'd post a mini-review just about mowing.
Attaching the mower:
The mower was more difficult to attach than it needed to be. In order to get the beast under the tractor, I had to turn it because the front anti-scalp wheel hit the front tire with a straight-in roll. The PTO attachment scared me, so I checked it three times before lifting the mower. In actuality, it attached easily, the first time. To get the rear linkage connected, the rear anti-scalp wheels had to be almost touching the tractor's rear tires. When attaching the front linkage lift thing, it is necessary to first insert the right side (facing the front of the tractor) before the left. The manual said nothing about this.
After checking the height adjustment and linkage lengths (all was fine), I played with the height knob, only to realize for the first time that there appears to be no way to use the mower while having my rear ballast box attached (I use it for tools, not weight, when the FEL is off). When you lower the mower, the rear 3 pt hitch goes all the way down. I tried adjusting the lifting rod to raise the 3pt hitch lowest position, but found that if I adjusted it enough to avoid the box scraping the ground, both the 3pt hitch and mmm raised back to the top (to find "neutral" position). Ideas would be appreciated on this issue.
Mowing:
First thing: when I started to mow, I thought the cut was uneven (even though I carefully checked height adjustment of the blades and linkages right after attaching the mower). I then noticed that the throttle button kept sinking back from full throttle to probably about 2200 to 2500 rpms. I ended up holding it in full throttle most of the time. When I was finished, I removed the screen under the dash, found the nuts that hold the throttle bar, and tightened them, problem solved for next time.
The end of the shoot is hard, sharp metal, as I soon discovered by coming a little too close to an aspen and cutting its trunk. Bummer. I think I will try to figure out how to add a thin piece of plastic to the end to avoid this in the future. I have lots of trees and the 60" with shoot is very wide (about 6 feet across).
The suspended deck, with anti-scalp wheels, really did a great job of avoiding too much scalping. My JD had a rigid deck, and I scalped quite a bit, even at the heighest setting. I do wish, though, that it had a setting of 5 inches. This might seem like a lot to ask, but with my hills, rolls, and varying needs, something in between 4 inches and the top (about 6-7 inches cutting height) would be helpful.
I love how easy it is to raise the deck with the hydraulic lift lever. I can quickly go over my gravel driveway in between lawns w/0 turning off the deck--when in its top position, the blades do not suck up the gravel.
On the one hand, the large size of the deck is a bummer, because there are plenty of areas I can't get in between trees, or trees and a fence. My JD L130 had a 48" deck, so I could get places I can no longer mow with the Kubota. On the other hand, having a deck so much wider than the tractor allows me to mow under low-lying branches without running them over (too much). The other thing I noticed is that the cut is actually about 60 inches on this. My JD's 48 inch deck actually cut closer to 44 inches, so I am getting swaths nearly a foot and half larger. That is a big difference and should cut mowing time down considerably.
I also love how much more agile this tractor is than the JD. I can go up and down hills I would not even try with the JD, due to traction, and better ground clearance. I actually felt alot more stable as well. Speaking of which.... With liquid in the rear tires, a 250 lb. mmm, and the engine over the front wheels, gravity is really my friend on this. I only felt tipsy once, when trying to mow the edge of a flat part of the lawn that ends in a fairly steep hillside and I took the front wheel a little to far over, but then corrected it without incident.
As to the quality of the cut, its so-so. I think that will change when things are drier here, and when I mow with the throttle not trying to slip back to a lower rpm.
I posted a lengthy initial review on the reviews page, with first impressions after 10 hours.
Last night, with just over 25 hours, I used the 2230 to mow for the first time. So, I thought I'd post a mini-review just about mowing.
Attaching the mower:
The mower was more difficult to attach than it needed to be. In order to get the beast under the tractor, I had to turn it because the front anti-scalp wheel hit the front tire with a straight-in roll. The PTO attachment scared me, so I checked it three times before lifting the mower. In actuality, it attached easily, the first time. To get the rear linkage connected, the rear anti-scalp wheels had to be almost touching the tractor's rear tires. When attaching the front linkage lift thing, it is necessary to first insert the right side (facing the front of the tractor) before the left. The manual said nothing about this.
After checking the height adjustment and linkage lengths (all was fine), I played with the height knob, only to realize for the first time that there appears to be no way to use the mower while having my rear ballast box attached (I use it for tools, not weight, when the FEL is off). When you lower the mower, the rear 3 pt hitch goes all the way down. I tried adjusting the lifting rod to raise the 3pt hitch lowest position, but found that if I adjusted it enough to avoid the box scraping the ground, both the 3pt hitch and mmm raised back to the top (to find "neutral" position). Ideas would be appreciated on this issue.
Mowing:
First thing: when I started to mow, I thought the cut was uneven (even though I carefully checked height adjustment of the blades and linkages right after attaching the mower). I then noticed that the throttle button kept sinking back from full throttle to probably about 2200 to 2500 rpms. I ended up holding it in full throttle most of the time. When I was finished, I removed the screen under the dash, found the nuts that hold the throttle bar, and tightened them, problem solved for next time.
The end of the shoot is hard, sharp metal, as I soon discovered by coming a little too close to an aspen and cutting its trunk. Bummer. I think I will try to figure out how to add a thin piece of plastic to the end to avoid this in the future. I have lots of trees and the 60" with shoot is very wide (about 6 feet across).
The suspended deck, with anti-scalp wheels, really did a great job of avoiding too much scalping. My JD had a rigid deck, and I scalped quite a bit, even at the heighest setting. I do wish, though, that it had a setting of 5 inches. This might seem like a lot to ask, but with my hills, rolls, and varying needs, something in between 4 inches and the top (about 6-7 inches cutting height) would be helpful.
I love how easy it is to raise the deck with the hydraulic lift lever. I can quickly go over my gravel driveway in between lawns w/0 turning off the deck--when in its top position, the blades do not suck up the gravel.
On the one hand, the large size of the deck is a bummer, because there are plenty of areas I can't get in between trees, or trees and a fence. My JD L130 had a 48" deck, so I could get places I can no longer mow with the Kubota. On the other hand, having a deck so much wider than the tractor allows me to mow under low-lying branches without running them over (too much). The other thing I noticed is that the cut is actually about 60 inches on this. My JD's 48 inch deck actually cut closer to 44 inches, so I am getting swaths nearly a foot and half larger. That is a big difference and should cut mowing time down considerably.
I also love how much more agile this tractor is than the JD. I can go up and down hills I would not even try with the JD, due to traction, and better ground clearance. I actually felt alot more stable as well. Speaking of which.... With liquid in the rear tires, a 250 lb. mmm, and the engine over the front wheels, gravity is really my friend on this. I only felt tipsy once, when trying to mow the edge of a flat part of the lawn that ends in a fairly steep hillside and I took the front wheel a little to far over, but then corrected it without incident.
As to the quality of the cut, its so-so. I think that will change when things are drier here, and when I mow with the throttle not trying to slip back to a lower rpm.
