GC 2300 on hills?

chrisKy · Sep 8, 2004

Hi I'm a new member, and I have already learned alot from your posts. I am seriously considering a GC 2300. But I have some big hills that i need to go up and down to get to parts of my property that need brush cutting. My neighbor goes up and down with a ford 600 with no prob. Has anyone taken their GC 2300 up any big hills?
Also I read in a previous post that the hyd. filter is in a bad place underneath and can be crushed will this be a prob while brush cutting. I know I'm bound to hit a rock or two or three.
chris

Nasty135 · Sep 9, 2004

Hello and Welcome to TBN, First let me say I don't own a gc2300,But it is a 4wd tractor and should be able to handle hills, Are your hills extra steep? what is the grade of your hill?
If you fill out your profile TBN members will be able help you better in the future... /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif Your name chrisKy mean Kentucky?
Are you going to cut brush on a hill ? How many acres? What kind of uses will you have for a tractor?
Ha you thought you going to get an answer instead of twenty questions... /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif Sorry but when someone asks for advice,To give the best advice possible ,so you end up with the best possible unit ,some questions must be answered as in normal conversation /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif As far as the filter thing goes I don't think I would worry alot about bushog throwing debris into filter isn't it protected by the rear axle?

chrisKy · Sep 10, 2004

Hi nasty,
Thanks for the welcome. Yes ky means kentucky, I see your from Md. I'm originally from Randallstown Md. Then I moved out to Carrol county. Now I'm in Kentucky, I love it out here. I have 30 acres goats and alpacas. I will be using the tractor for primarialy mowing using the 60" mmm and rough cutting with a bush hog. The hill I'm talking about I would guess maby 55-65 degrees I'm not sure. I will not be mowing the hill just traveling. I also need the FEL for mucking stalls, grading, moving some ground, snow removal,ect.. Now I went to the dealer yesterday and looked at the hyd filter and I see what they were talking about. It's right in the open right in front of the rear axle. Now I wasnt worried about tossing rock with the bushhog I was worrried about just running over something. the brush gets tall quick around here and there is all kinds of junk you can't see that can be hit. The dealer also answered some if not all of my questions in the first post. He said he just sold a 2300 to a church which has a very steep hill in front and they mow with it just fine. He also told me he would load the tires for me and told me how to make rear ballast with a 55 gallon bucket and concrete now I mentioned the filter to him and he said all tractors can be damaged from hitting things so its just part of owning a tractor. Now i dont know if I belive the last comment becouse my neihbor hits stuff all the time with his ford and the only thing that takes damage is his bush hog. well this turned out to be a long post. I look forward to your input even though I answered some of my own questions.

Nasty135 · Sep 10, 2004

ChrisKy, With 30 acres I would personally be looking for a little larger tractor 1428 or even 1433 because it seems with that much ground a GC2300 may be a little bit limited in some of the bigger jobs.. However if your not thinking of rearranging bunches of soil the GC2300 will clearly be more manuverable in a barn stall. I have a 1433v with a 60" bucket which is narrow enough to get in some of the tighter places and I have noticed it will turn much sharper than my old Massey 135 tractor. A lot of the guys here on TBN have bought the 1428 because its in between the GC and the 1433 and offers a great compromise of power and manuverability and with the larger tires and weight would be a little more capable of a larger job if need be. /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif
The GC2300 w/MMM and the 1428 tractor alone are priced the about the same.
Now if you know that you will never have need of a larger tractor get the GC, But with thirty acres I feel that you might be a little limited(I know its a good tractor )...
And as far as your 55-65 degree slopes you better just let the goats on that hill, On a tractor that would look like a sheer drop almost . Hopefully your off on that estimate because that is STEEP /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif Just my thoughts ... My wife went to Kentuck last year for a week with the church group and loved it . I am trying to find a retirement weather friendly state to maybe buy some ground to build a place on someday,30 acres would be enough to keep me busy for awhile /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

chrisKy · Sep 10, 2004

here is the hill I'm talking about.

Bob_Skurka · Sep 10, 2004

Chris, from the look of the picture, the path portion of the hill looks like it is probably more in the 15-to-25 degree range. As you said you are only looking to climb it, not actually work on it, I think the little tractor should have no problems. Now if you want to work a steep spot, while running the PTO at the same time, then I'd be looking to a different machine. But transporting yourself and some implements on the path shown should not be a real challenge.

The small GC2300 will be nice inside the barn too, where a larger machine would be much slower to work.

Many tractors, even small ones can climb really steep slopes, working them is another issue altoghter. I think it is safe to say that a tractor can easily go places that it should not work.

I have steep slopes, not nearly as tall as yours, and I can get up and down them without problems with a Kubota, a Cub Cadet and a New Holland, I just can't turn sideways on them unless I use my Ventrac. By the way, when I go down my slopes I put the tractor in low gear range and 4wd. I forgot to do that about a week ago and started down a short but steep drop, the tractor started running and I locked up the brakes, I skidded all the way down to the bottom of the hill tearing up the turf for about 15' and the only reason the tractor stopped was because it reached flat ground. Be careful on the slopes.

chrisKy · Sep 10, 2004

Thanks Bob and Mark,
as you can see in the pic my goats keep the hill to the right of the trail in the back very clean. I will be fencing in almost half of my property so the goats will clean the rest of the hills. As far as big jobs go I have been here 5yrs. and most of it is done. just have some little things left to do. My neighbor has a buldozer as well so I can always get him to push some dirt around and then just clean up after him. This being said I think the 2300 should be enough tractor for my farm. My neighbor will not agree /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif but I think it will be enough. Thanks again for your help I can post more pics if anyone is interested.