Buying Advice First Tractor

[ramman666]

Hello all this is my first post I have read many post as a non member but just signed up. A little backround of what I am looking for and hoping some people can shed some light and direct me to the best choice for my needs based on your experience.

I live in New England small property right now under an acre but wife and I are looking to build on 5+ in the near future.

I am only interested in a Kubota mainly Subcompact. I am torn between BX2380 and BX23S.

My needs are light digging, mowing, moving dirt and mulch, possibly snow removal. I am not sure if the backhoe is worth the cost my father has a Mahindra with a backhoe and says he always finds uses for it. On the other side My grandfather and uncle both have JD's and neither have ever had a backhoe with the 40 acre property. They always said if you plan the job you can rent it for a day.

Has anyone bought a subcompact with the backhoe and regretted the extra almost 5K for lack of use or just to small for a given task and needed to get bigger equipment?

Thank you for you help.

 

[bazman82]

I am not sure if the backhoe is worth the cost my father has a Mahindra with a backhoe and says he always finds uses for it. On the other side My grandfather and uncle both have JD's and neither have ever had a backhoe with the 40 acre property. They always said if you plan the job you can rent it for a day.

Has anyone bought a subcompact with the backhoe and regretted the extra almost 5K for lack of use or just to small for a given task and needed to get bigger equipment?

I can't speak for the Subcompact you are looking at but I can comment on the backhoe usage. My wifes grandfather has a backhoe and it gets used maybe once a year. He used it more when he was clearing trees and burying stumps but since all that is done that backhoe just sits. I have the opportunity to buy it from him for 3500 but it would just be another tractor to upkeep and keep it running and for the little it would be used, it would just sit and rot. I must agree with your grandfather and uncle if you plan it right you can rent one for a day and get the proper size needed for the job. If you think you would be using it several times a year then maybe but how often do you dig ditches or holes...

 

[jeff9366]

ramman

I live on New England property under an acre but wife and I plan to build on 5+ acres in the near future.
I am only interested in a Kubota mainly Subcompact. I am torn between BX2380 and BX23S.

If your potential five acres includes woods, you will likely find 3" of ground clearance with MMM attached, 9" of ground clearance with MMM removed, limiting. The difference between 9" of ground clearance with a subcompact and 12" of ground clearance with a compact tractor has a considerable effect moving across ground.

Compact tractors tractors with larger diameter wheels/tires have more tractive power pulling ground contact implements, pushing a loader bucket into dirt and pushing snow. Larger wheels and tires permit heavier tractors to bridge holes, ruts and tree debris with less operator perturbation. Compact tractors have much greater FEL lift capacity.



My needs are light digging, mowing, moving dirt and mulch, possibly snow removal. I am not sure if the backhoe is worth the price.

Digging, moving dirt/mulch and light snow removal are typical Front End Loader applications.

None of the applications above utilize the tractor's Three Point Hitch, so you would not be taking the Backhoe on and off. Backhoe makes excellent counterbalance weight to max FEL lifts.

Backhoes excel at trenching. An unadorned tractor can trench down to 14" with a $350 Middlebuster (AKA Potato Plow)or a $350 Subsoiler, along with minor spoil removal with a trenching shovel. Trenching deeper than 14" a Backhoe excels.

Five reasons owner/operators trade up from Subcompact Tractors​

More tractor weight.
More FEL lift capacity.
More ground clearance.
Three-range (3) HST (Lower LOW, Higher, HIGH) ~~ rather than two-range (2) HST.
Larger wheels and tires yield more tractive power pulling ground contact implements and logs, pushing a loader bucket into dirt and pushing snow.
Larger wheels and tires permit heavier tractors to bridge holes, ruts and tree debris with less operator perturbation.

VIDEOS (2) Kubota BX Series VS. B Series - YouTube

Kubota B261 VS Kubota B265 - YouTube


Consider a Kubota B2650 without a Backhoe..

 

[oosik]

I have 80 acres and a mile long gravel driveway. I've had two tractors in the 38 year I've lived out here. A 26hp Ford 1700( 28 years) and now, a 62hp Kubota M6040( 10 years ). In ALL this time I've never had the need for a backhoe.

I see a lot of new tractor buyers get a backhoe. It's used for various project for the first year or so. Then it sits and collects dust.

That's an awful expensive attachment for such little use. If I ever need a backhoe - I will rent or hire out.

 

[rScotty]

I am not sure if the backhoe is worth the cost my father has a Mahindra with a backhoe and says he always finds uses for it. On the other side My grandfather and uncle both have JD's and neither have ever had a backhoe with the 40 acre property. They always said if you plan the job you can rent it for a day.

Has anyone bought a subcompact with the backhoe and regretted the extra almost 5K for lack of use or just to small for a given task and needed to get bigger equipment?

A backhoe or not comes down to financial vs convenience. The good news is that it isn't an all or nothing decision. You can always add the backhoe later & rent in the meanwhile.

When we were just starting out, a nice compact tractor with a 3pt hitch and a loader was so handy for us that we used it everyday for everything.....for projects we didn't even know we had. A compact isn't like a farm tractor. A compact - or subcompact - probably gets the most use not as a tractor at all, but as a sort of powered wheelbarrow and tool caddy for carrying things, placing things, & moving things. Lots of times we would load up the FEL bucket with garden tools, seeds, fertilizer, a tree in a pot, and anything else we might need including drinks, gloves, and a chainsaw - and go do the actual work by hand.

So I think the models you are looking at are excellent. Get the loader and implements more as needed. The advantage of a 3pt hitch is that everything fits. Probably get the optional QA on the loader as well so you have a choice of buckets. if you also want it to mow with a belly mower then either of the models you are looking at seem very nice - but be sure to get either turf or industrial tires for mowing.

Personally I'd give a pass to the backhoe at this point. For the little bit you will use it for digging you can rent one. And if you decide that having a little hoe on the property is worth the investment you can buy one at anytime and hook it to the tractor.
BTW, when you do buy a backhoe attachment, get one with a hydraulic thumb. The thumb makes it into a completely different implement for picking up and placing heavy things. We use the BH& thumb as much as we do the loader. If our backhoe only had a bucket and no thumb it would only be good for digging and so it wouldn't see much use at all.
rScotty

 

[Milo]

I don't have a backhoe myself mostly because the ground here is so rocky my contractor's big Case hoe struggled so I knew one on a B or L wouldn't accomplish much. A neighbor bought one for his MF and after using it once took it back off. After shifting it around in his barn for 6 years he sold it.

Ground clearance could be a BX's biggest short coming but 9" isn't too bad unless you're on pretty rutted ground, going over stumps, etc. The decks are simple to take off, not sure what's involved to remove a backhoe but I sure wouldn't want one on when mowing.

 

[Rock Crawler]

Based on your description, a subcompact would likely be a pretty good fit. You can dig with both the loader and the backhoe of a subcompact, just not as much as fast as you could with a compact. So your light digging and dirt/mulch work will be handily accomplished with the subcompact.

Buy it with the mid mounted mower, since you sound like you want a mower/loader primarily. The loader drops free in 2 minutes or so, so you can stash it in the back corner of your shed or garage and grab back onto it when needed. The backhoe is similar in respects to removal and replacement. It is a very quick and easy thing to do once you have cycled it on and off a couple times to get familiar with the fairly simple procedure.

I have the backhoe for mine (did on my BX and now do for my B) and it is something that I stash in the rear of the garage bay that my side by side resides in. When I do want or need it, it is there. I can't see me ever wearing that out with my use a few times a year, nor can I say that it was really the best financial choice. But when I need it, I just move the Kawasaki Mule and back up to it and there I am.... backhoe equipped and able to whatever I want or need.

You may hear that you should up-size, but honestly for 5 acres and the type of jobs you are envisioning with your original post, I really think that a sub is the right choice. I do not say that often!

I picture you using it with the loader (and the backhoe?) off most of the time as a super bad to the bone garden tractor, and when the need is there, slip on your loader/backhoe and go do your man work. That is absolutely perfect for a sub.

I do recommend that you get wheel spacers if you are looking at property that is sloped much, a subcompact is not very stable from my perspective when compared to the big end of the B series With rear wheel spacers (front spacers are as useless as breasts on a bull) your ability to mow and work on slopes will be greatly enhanced in ability and safety.

 

[rbtjr]

We had a 9' backhoe with our 57 hp Kubota, with the under-carriage mounting arrangement. I used it probably ten hours total, for sure less than twenty hours, mostly putting drainage pipes in roads and trails. I got all of that done within the first two months or so after we bought the backhoe. After that initial period of use, I never used it again until we sold that tractor about eight or ten years later. So in hind sight, renting a 3PH backhoe would have been a better economic choice for me, although obviously less convenient even though the rental place is only about six mile from our property. But regarding the inconvenience, if I were renting the backhoe, had been patient and had organized all of my backhoe work to be done in the same day or two-day period, the inconvenience would not have been a factor.

 

[ramman666]

Thank you all so much i appreciate all the information.

 

[HEC]

ramman

I live on New England property under an acre but wife and I plan to build on 5+ acres in the near future.
I am only interested in a Kubota mainly Subcompact. I am torn between BX2380 and BX23S.

If your potential five acres includes woods, you will likely find 3" of ground clearance with MMM attached, 9" of ground clearance with MMM removed, limiting. The difference between 9" of ground clearance with a subcompact and 12" of ground clearance with a compact tractor has a considerable effect moving across ground.

Compact tractors tractors with larger diameter wheels/tires have more tractive power pulling ground contact implements, pushing a loader bucket into dirt and pushing snow. Larger wheels and tires permit heavier tractors to bridge holes, ruts and tree debris with less operator perturbation. Compact tractors have much greater FEL lift capacity.



My needs are light digging, mowing, moving dirt and mulch, possibly snow removal. I am not sure if the backhoe is worth the price.

Digging, moving dirt/mulch and light snow removal are typical Front End Loader applications.

None of the applications above utilize the tractor's Three Point Hitch, so you would not be taking the Backhoe on and off. Backhoe makes excellent counterbalance weight to max FEL lifts.

Backhoes excel at trenching. A tractor can trench down to 14" with a $350 Middlebuster (AKA Potato Plow)
or a $350 Subsoiler, along with minor spoil removal with a trenching shovel. Trenching deeper than 14" a Backhoe excels.

Five reasons owner/operators trade up from Subcompact Tractors​

More tractor weight.
More FEL lift capacity.
More ground clearance.
Three-range (3) HST (Lower LOW, Higher, HIGH) ~~ rather than two-range (2) HST.
Larger wheels and tires yield more tractive power pulling ground contact implements and logs, pushing a loader bucket into dirt and pushing snow.
Larger wheels and tires permit heavier tractors to bridge holes, ruts and tree debris with less operator perturbation.

VIDEOS (2) Kubota BX Series VS. B Series - YouTube

Kubota B261 VS Kubota B265 - YouTube


Consider a Kubota B2650 without a Backhoe..

I agree totally with going with a compact , I would rather put the cost of a backhoe towards a compact . Better ground clearance easier to work on when changing oil etc. etc. .