BX2360 or B Series? (I know you all get tired of these)

[robertm]

robertm, Have you called them yet? Just do it. Now! Stop thinking! CALL!!

Man, are YOU PUSHY JOHNTHOMAS! Just kidding. I test drove one last night and pretty much decided to do it. I have a few extra things I'm thinking about before I pull the trigger:

A) Having dealer weld up some hooks to plates to bolt to the loader
B) Having dealer weld up some plates in the bucket to reinforce where forks bolt
C) Trading Land Pride RB1572 rear blade for a more compatible sized 60" Woods
D) Thinking about adding Kubota ballast box

Anything else I should consider before laying down the cash? John? Ferris? Buehller?Buehller? Anyone?

 

[harpoonalt]

I was going to trade for a new B tractor and realized that the BX really was all I needed and did everything I wanted well. I mow a lot of area, some of it pretty rough with the mower all the way up. It's amazing what the BX will do. Not for everyone but unless you go in the woods and need the clearance the BX does everything a B could do just maybe a little slower. In tight areas the BX shines with it's quick tight steering and good visibility of the whole tractor. I still love the look of the B and bigger tractor but would really miss my BX. The pictures show the areas I mow. I do my lawn, A neighbors meadow while he's building and some of our roadsides and the entrance to our development. The entrance was bush hogged and weed whacked once a year when I moved in. I picked rocks, smoothed out some bumps and can mow most of it now although some has to be mowed with the deck all the way up. Everyone's amazed at what the little BX will do. Even me sometimes. The meadow in front of my house was the same. Mowed twice a year. Now it gets done every week and really looks great. A little rock picking and slow going in the beginning got it to where it is now. I don't have to mow 12" grass anymore

 

[Tom_H]

It sounds as though your berries might be a big consideration. Vintners consider their land to be so valuable that they make the rows between the grape vines as narrow as possible to maximize the plant to land area ratio. For this reason, most tractor companies make at least one model specialized for vineyard use. Kubota offers the B2320DTN (N stands for narrow), which has most B series features, except that it is only 35.4" in width, allowing vintners to plant the vine lines closer together. A drawback is that a FEL and backhoe are not available due to the exceptionally narrow width. Still, if you want your berry plants to be as close together as possible, you might compare/contrast the widths of the BX and B series models that are available. A BX2360 is 44.5" w. and a B3200 is 53.8" A difference in width of 9.3 inches would add up over a field, to the point that you could squeeze in several more rows and make a higher yield and profit.

New Holland also offers narrow tractors, however they begin at a much larger size. John Deer has several large narrow tractors for orchards and vineyards, as well as one small one that is rather strange looking, the 20A, which seems to be more for nursery and greenhouse use than for orchard/vineyard use.

Another option available from New Holland that is very suitable for orchards/vineyards is "Super-Steer" which involves a pivoting front axle. This allows an exceptionally small turn radius such that a tractor can come to the end of a row and do an extremely tight 180 degree turn directly into the next row.

A drawback to a tractor that is narrow or one with super-steer is that the tractor is unstable on slopes, especially when turning on slopes.

If your land is mostly flat, and you need to maximize the ratio of plantings to land area, you might want to consider one of of these features.

Kubota B2320DTN (click on button that says "lineup", then on button that says "B2320DTN Narrow"):

http://kubota.com/f/products/B20/index.cfm

New Holland SuperSteer:

http://www.newholland.com/h4/produc...D=000001277003&series=5154711&feature=5156311

John Deere 20A:

http://www.deere.com/servlet/ProdCatProduct?tM=FR&pNbr=020A_LV

 

[JOHNTHOMAS]

Man, are YOU PUSHY JOHNTHOMAS! Just kidding. I test drove one last night and pretty much decided to do it. I have a few extra things I'm thinking about before I pull the trigger:

D) Thinking about adding Kubota ballast box

Anything else I should consider before laying down the cash? John? Ferris? Buehller?Buehller? Anyone?

If you don't have a boxblade you need to consider one. Very useful implement and it can also be used instead of a ballast box when you need the rear added weight.

 

[robertm]

If you don't have a boxblade you need to consider one. Very useful implement and it can also be used instead of a ballast box when you need the rear added weight.

Well, enlighten me. I could use it when installing the additional driveway (about 50' X 12'), but after that, what do I do with it? The rear ballast box costs about $200, where a Woods 60" boxblade is $700. I see the weight is 495 pounds where the ballast box will be lighter. What can I use it for afterward? Stretching, I can see using it to relevel the back yard, but what else? I'd love to add an implement instead of a catch-all box!

 

[JOHNTHOMAS]

Well, enlighten me. I could use it when installing the additional driveway (about 50' X 12'), but after that, what do I do with it? The rear ballast box costs about $200, where a Woods 60" boxblade is $700. I see the weight is 495 pounds where the ballast box will be lighter. What can I use it for afterward? Stretching, I can see using it to relevel the back yard, but what else? I'd love to add an implement instead of a catch-all box!

6' BOX BLADE MADE BY WALLBURG FARM EQUIPMENT - The Smart Farmer, LLC.
Couple of places to buy boxblade cheaper than you quoted. The Landpride uses model designation of XB for their boxblade for BX tractors if you go with the BX. Local tractor dealers will be able to get you one a Landpride. The boxblade will level high or low spots in the yard, dig up roots, could actually dig a ditch with digging then removing loose material with fel and then do it again. Uses depend on needs mostly, It digs, it levels, it scrapes, it moves soil from high spots to low spots, it adds extra weight to the back of tractor when needed. It does more than a ballast box for not much more money. See you had a blade so what uses did you do with it? Also the extra drive work should have some dollar value and again if you get a couple of uses out of it vs the ballast box it should make it worth a bit more. If you have a gravel drive it's great for maintaining it. Also remember you'll be the family and neighbor that has a tractor for their needs which will for sure require a boxblade from time to time. A tractor man has to have "tractor stuff" implements.

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[Bamacummins]

New to site and need a tractor. Just purchased 5.5 acres with some trees, but spread apart. Will mow probably about 4 acres of it. Have a pond to maintain also. Wanted to stay down in price to about $10000, but see many uses for a tractor. ex. front loader as well as mowing. Mostly will mow with this machine and occassional taking care of 400 ft driveway and cutting up some trees and moving firewood. Like the pricepoint of the BX series, but just want to make sure. If the terrain is somewhat bumpy which mine will be for a while, some like the B series ride. Suggestions?

 

[JOHNTHOMAS]

The BX is the best for mowing, in my opinion, period. Acreage doesn't matter if the mower deck is the same size and you don't have ground clearance problems with the BX. In case you get the additional acres later. The BX's will do what the B's will do if ground clearance doesn't matter and even FEL work but it takes slightly longer with a BX. So, if mowing is the main use----TRADE and do it today, right now, Call them. Stop putting yourself through this and start smiling or increase smiling as I do since trading my L3240 for a B3200 even with all the nay sayers saying bigger is better. It ain't!! Each machine has it's strengths and you need a BX!!!

bamacummins. This still applies. The ride between B and BX will be more dependent on type tires and air pressure in tires. The ground clearance is the big difference between the B and BX. Not the only but the big difference.

 

[davesalisbury]

Hi all-

One more perspective on the BX versus B discussion.

We recently traded our trusty BX2230 for a B2630, and are rather pleased with the new tractor - got what I think is a pretty good price (15,500) for a new 2008 B2630 with LA403 loader - with 0.9 hours. The dealer gave a great trade on the BX2230 and I did the Kubota 0% for 4 years. I don't know how much prep he did, but I have to believe that the tractor spent a lot of time waiting for an owner indoors - I don't know that even a good wash/wax could make the tractor shine and look new like that. I noticed a little rust on one spring, and on the 3PH eyes - other than that, nada. Even the barcode stickers (which tend to fade and wrinkle up fairly quickly in my experience) looked good.

We liked the BX2230, but wanted the nicer 3PH (heavier duty, rachet link adjustment, telescopic link ends), slightly more power and greater ground clearance (and the seat is a revelation compared to the older BX). It also is easier to hook up 3PH implements, especially those with PTO. While this is a bit subjective, I seemed to feel fewer of the bumps moving around the yard and field. It was also nicer to be bit above the tall grass out in the field. Ironically, the B2630 is actually easier to get under trees than was the BX2230 (due to the folding ROPS).

Took delivery Saturday and put it in service almost immediately - mowed the lawn with the 5' RFM (really never liked attaching/detaching the belly mower) - the new tractor was easy to maneuver, despite larger size. Sunday afternoon broke in a recently-acquired used 4' Bush Hog. I like that size for the BH, especially working around trees on the property - if the tractor fits between something I know the mower will, and if it doesn't I can back the mower in. All told, about 5 hours of seat time this weekend past.

Everything worked great with the tractor - effortless. Really pleased with the purchase.

I won't knock the BX models - we got a lot of good out of the BX2230. This said, there is a difference in terms of refinement and ease of use on the things for which we use a tractor - one that we believed worth the price of admission for the B2630.

 

[davesalisbury]

Hi all-

Snipped most of previous post for brevity.

I won't knock the BX models - we got a lot of good out of the BX2230. This said, there is a difference in terms of refinement and ease of use on the things for which we use a tractor - one that we believed worth the price of admission for the B2630.

And I forgot to mention the position control, tilt wheel and nicer cruise control on the B2630.