OP
tractorshopper
Veteran Member
Updating this now after about 10 months. I'll be brief. Much more time on the machine and new learnings. I really stand by my initial post and this is a great machine and still surprisingly capable considering I downsized quite a bit.
I mentioned the dump angles on the loader. I have really got used to this and it's not such a big deal as I initially thought it would be. I have a tooth bar and that kind of extends the bucket, so I can still heap loads and have just gotten used to the smaller overall bite. It's really fine and if I hadn't had a larger tractor before, I wouldn't know any better. I'm still blown away with the capabilities for the size. Really amazing.
I mentioned the turnbuckles in my initial post. Maybe a better more correct term is check chains that I didn't like initially. I eventually got the quick hitch and love it so I don't have to keep adjusting them. The check chains are not nearly as easy to use or sturdy as the L3800. I still absolutely hate the check chains now. Being more flimsy, I have actually broken them 2 times. Both times were doing box blade work and I backed into small trees while not looking too good where I was going, but I didn't think it was excessive force at all. The eyelet bar is welded onto a nut and I broke one side of the eyelet off the nut. I ordered a replacement and fixed it and just recently have now broken the replacement. There are 8 welds on 4 nuts with this set up, so in my estimation there are 8 places susceptible to break. Some may say that's good so it doesn't mess up something else more major, but both that I've broke I didn't feel like I was doing excessive work. I talked to my brother about this and he said he's broken all 4 eyelets doing box blade work. I knew he broke one because I ordered and picked up his first one. Basically, what I'm saying is the check chains are just poor design in my opinion. This week I am ordering the check chains from an L or similar tractor to rectify this problem for good. Both breaks I've done didn't look like the weld went very deep into the nuts and the nuts could also be pretty brittle in comparison to the rest of the design. My L was completely different, easier to adjust, and never had an issue like this and I put it through much more abuse due to it's size and the tractor size that ran it.
The fuel gauge: It reads full for quite a long time, then quickly descends to one bar or zero bars and blinking light. It tricks you into thinking you're low or empty. It has a 6.6 gallon tank, but when the gauge reads empty, I can only seem to put another 3 gallons back in or so. I guess in a way this is good because I've never run it out of fuel.
Since I am also basically mowing what I used to bush hog at my property as well as my lawn, I have worn the mower blades down faster than I thought I would and have put a new set on while they were on sale. This is okay for me. I will sharpen the old set and then rotate when necessary. When the blades are sharp, this thing still puts out the best cut of anything I've ever owned or operated and is so easy and fast.
I have logged a ton of time with the grapple and I'm amazed with it. It will do more than I thought it would by a long shot. I didn't think I'd be able to root anything, but I have rooted a ton with it. Yes, it has it's limitations, but it has been very productive and a lot of fun. Only issue here is the quick hitch for the BX grapple/bucket change is not in a great position. I have bent the tabs while rooting and have to pound them back separated to get the pivot pins back out to swap the bucket and grapple. One could say I'm using it harder than intended though, so I'm really not complaining. I wish the tabs were somehow up higher or out of the way, but that's the way it is. Everything still works fine.
So, long story short, aside from the couple minor negatives, with the check chains being the one main thing I don't like at all, I am still very excited about this tractor and its abilities. I would do it again all things considered and still be extremely happy and impressed.
I mentioned the dump angles on the loader. I have really got used to this and it's not such a big deal as I initially thought it would be. I have a tooth bar and that kind of extends the bucket, so I can still heap loads and have just gotten used to the smaller overall bite. It's really fine and if I hadn't had a larger tractor before, I wouldn't know any better. I'm still blown away with the capabilities for the size. Really amazing.
I mentioned the turnbuckles in my initial post. Maybe a better more correct term is check chains that I didn't like initially. I eventually got the quick hitch and love it so I don't have to keep adjusting them. The check chains are not nearly as easy to use or sturdy as the L3800. I still absolutely hate the check chains now. Being more flimsy, I have actually broken them 2 times. Both times were doing box blade work and I backed into small trees while not looking too good where I was going, but I didn't think it was excessive force at all. The eyelet bar is welded onto a nut and I broke one side of the eyelet off the nut. I ordered a replacement and fixed it and just recently have now broken the replacement. There are 8 welds on 4 nuts with this set up, so in my estimation there are 8 places susceptible to break. Some may say that's good so it doesn't mess up something else more major, but both that I've broke I didn't feel like I was doing excessive work. I talked to my brother about this and he said he's broken all 4 eyelets doing box blade work. I knew he broke one because I ordered and picked up his first one. Basically, what I'm saying is the check chains are just poor design in my opinion. This week I am ordering the check chains from an L or similar tractor to rectify this problem for good. Both breaks I've done didn't look like the weld went very deep into the nuts and the nuts could also be pretty brittle in comparison to the rest of the design. My L was completely different, easier to adjust, and never had an issue like this and I put it through much more abuse due to it's size and the tractor size that ran it.
The fuel gauge: It reads full for quite a long time, then quickly descends to one bar or zero bars and blinking light. It tricks you into thinking you're low or empty. It has a 6.6 gallon tank, but when the gauge reads empty, I can only seem to put another 3 gallons back in or so. I guess in a way this is good because I've never run it out of fuel.
Since I am also basically mowing what I used to bush hog at my property as well as my lawn, I have worn the mower blades down faster than I thought I would and have put a new set on while they were on sale. This is okay for me. I will sharpen the old set and then rotate when necessary. When the blades are sharp, this thing still puts out the best cut of anything I've ever owned or operated and is so easy and fast.
I have logged a ton of time with the grapple and I'm amazed with it. It will do more than I thought it would by a long shot. I didn't think I'd be able to root anything, but I have rooted a ton with it. Yes, it has it's limitations, but it has been very productive and a lot of fun. Only issue here is the quick hitch for the BX grapple/bucket change is not in a great position. I have bent the tabs while rooting and have to pound them back separated to get the pivot pins back out to swap the bucket and grapple. One could say I'm using it harder than intended though, so I'm really not complaining. I wish the tabs were somehow up higher or out of the way, but that's the way it is. Everything still works fine.
So, long story short, aside from the couple minor negatives, with the check chains being the one main thing I don't like at all, I am still very excited about this tractor and its abilities. I would do it again all things considered and still be extremely happy and impressed.
