Chris_T
Member
I thought I'd share my impressions after demo-ing four tractors at our new house this past weekend. So far TBN has been a real help in learning about what I need and I thought I'd provide my experience for those other newbies like me trying to decide among a real sea of choices. My first couple posts are here: First post and here: Follow up
In town I have NH, JD, MF, Case and Kubota dealers. I've 11 acres that used to be hayfield that we built on: no real obstacles except for three rows of poplars with roughly 6 feet between them. Since last weekend was a long weekend I had a couple of the dealers bring out some tractors for my wife and I to demo. The goal for the weekend was to decide between SCUT and CUT and between MMM and RFM. Also, to get a feel for comfort for my wife and I because I've been informed that nothing gets bought unless she can play too!
I talked to the Kubota dealer first and he agreed to bring a BX2350 w/ FEL and MMM (new) and a B7510 w/ FEL and RFM (demo w/ 17 h) out for the weekend. We're probably looking at a 7610, but the 7510 we could try on for size. I then talked to the Case salesman about getting two similar tractors out. he had a DX25E w/ MMM and a DX23 w/ FEL I wanted to take for a spin. However, they sold the DX23 so he arranged for a DX29 w/ FEL and 72" RFM instead.
Now I know that thouse four tractors is like comparing an apple to an apple to an orange to a porkchop, but we were able to start to narrow the field a bit. We had the Cases for a day and the Kubotas for three and we tried to do the same things with them all.
The first thing that surprised me is that we both really preferred RFMs to the MMMs. We have very light sandy loam soil and no real lawn to speak of yet, mostly field grasses and alfalfa, and the MMMs absolutely covered us in dust and debris. The B7510 had a rear discharge 60" RFM (Buhler/Farm King) and the DX29 had a Case-branded side discharge 72" RFM. We also both preferred rear discharge to side for the lack of windrows and the ability to back it between the trees on both the right- and left-hand sides. Around the trees I really liked the MMM, but my wife still preferred the RFM.
Size-wise we disagreed a bit. I really liked the DX29 (that may have been his master plan from the get go!) but Andrea preferred the B7510.
With the FEL I did find that for someone who hasn't used a loader in at least 10 years, the sight line of the curved loader arms and the bucket being out further in front made it more intuitive than the B7510 FEL. However, it was obvious that the curved arms do put the loader further out in front and for moving through the trees it required a bit more attention. I also realized that for the next little while keeping the loader on for mowing will be invaluable as we have a lot of pocket-gopher mounds (molehills) that are easily cut off with the FEL while mowing.
There were a lot of other little things that we compared (3ph position control or not, etc.). Without going into specifics, we preferred the DX25E to the BX2350, but we both liked one of the larger tractors better than the SCUTs.
So ... while we're still looking, we're narrowing down what we think we want. And at the moment we think we want a CUT in the 20-30 hp range with a rear-discharge RFM and FEL. I'm leaning heavily around the 25 hp size (+/-) to get a 72" RFM and to keep it in a 'manageable' size for her.
The biggest benefit was finding out what we 'need' and what we 'want' for us (plus I managed to get all 11 acres cut). So now when we talk to sales people I can be a bit more confident in saying what I want. In fact we had so much fun, that I'd like to have all the dealers bring out more than one for comparison. Besides ... I have all summer to keep cutting grass!
In town I have NH, JD, MF, Case and Kubota dealers. I've 11 acres that used to be hayfield that we built on: no real obstacles except for three rows of poplars with roughly 6 feet between them. Since last weekend was a long weekend I had a couple of the dealers bring out some tractors for my wife and I to demo. The goal for the weekend was to decide between SCUT and CUT and between MMM and RFM. Also, to get a feel for comfort for my wife and I because I've been informed that nothing gets bought unless she can play too!
I talked to the Kubota dealer first and he agreed to bring a BX2350 w/ FEL and MMM (new) and a B7510 w/ FEL and RFM (demo w/ 17 h) out for the weekend. We're probably looking at a 7610, but the 7510 we could try on for size. I then talked to the Case salesman about getting two similar tractors out. he had a DX25E w/ MMM and a DX23 w/ FEL I wanted to take for a spin. However, they sold the DX23 so he arranged for a DX29 w/ FEL and 72" RFM instead.
Now I know that thouse four tractors is like comparing an apple to an apple to an orange to a porkchop, but we were able to start to narrow the field a bit. We had the Cases for a day and the Kubotas for three and we tried to do the same things with them all.
The first thing that surprised me is that we both really preferred RFMs to the MMMs. We have very light sandy loam soil and no real lawn to speak of yet, mostly field grasses and alfalfa, and the MMMs absolutely covered us in dust and debris. The B7510 had a rear discharge 60" RFM (Buhler/Farm King) and the DX29 had a Case-branded side discharge 72" RFM. We also both preferred rear discharge to side for the lack of windrows and the ability to back it between the trees on both the right- and left-hand sides. Around the trees I really liked the MMM, but my wife still preferred the RFM.
Size-wise we disagreed a bit. I really liked the DX29 (that may have been his master plan from the get go!) but Andrea preferred the B7510.
With the FEL I did find that for someone who hasn't used a loader in at least 10 years, the sight line of the curved loader arms and the bucket being out further in front made it more intuitive than the B7510 FEL. However, it was obvious that the curved arms do put the loader further out in front and for moving through the trees it required a bit more attention. I also realized that for the next little while keeping the loader on for mowing will be invaluable as we have a lot of pocket-gopher mounds (molehills) that are easily cut off with the FEL while mowing.
There were a lot of other little things that we compared (3ph position control or not, etc.). Without going into specifics, we preferred the DX25E to the BX2350, but we both liked one of the larger tractors better than the SCUTs.
So ... while we're still looking, we're narrowing down what we think we want. And at the moment we think we want a CUT in the 20-30 hp range with a rear-discharge RFM and FEL. I'm leaning heavily around the 25 hp size (+/-) to get a 72" RFM and to keep it in a 'manageable' size for her.
The biggest benefit was finding out what we 'need' and what we 'want' for us (plus I managed to get all 11 acres cut). So now when we talk to sales people I can be a bit more confident in saying what I want. In fact we had so much fun, that I'd like to have all the dealers bring out more than one for comparison. Besides ... I have all summer to keep cutting grass!
