Is 225 big enough for me?

[tmk]

I am looking at a used 225 with loader. Iam wondering if it has enough power for what i will need. I mow 5 acres with 6 foot finish mower. I would also end up getting a snow blower for the lane.
Do you pro's that own bobcat tractors think this will do it, or am i better off to go up to 235?
Thanks for your input.

 

[Canada_CT230]

Get at minimum the CT230. Some have had issues with the reduced HP of the CT225.

 

[tcartwri]

Bobcat recomends a minimum of 30 hp to drive your finish mower. Add another 5 HP to drive the hydrostatic pump....

 

[Gittyup]

I have a CK25 Shuttle Gear. It works fine for me. Plenty of power as a gear tractor for my uses. I mainly use it for ground engagement, digging, and loading. I don't mow with it. If I were mowing/snow blowing, and had HST, I'd want the 235.

If you went shuttle gear, then the 25 HP would be enough. Just would have to switch to Kioti instead of the white ***** cat to get one.

 

[VictorW]

As mentioned, the CT230 would be the minimum with the CT235 giving you a little extra for your finish mower. Usually it's @4 pto hp per foot. The CT230 has 24 pto hp which would run the mower and a 5ft snowblower or if you slow down a bit or don't run into much heavy wet snow, a 6 ft snowblower. The CT235 would handle a 6ft snowblower well. I don't think you'd be happy with the performance of the CT225 with what you want to do.

 

[milkman636]

I put a used ct225 through its paces last year before buying a 335. It was a nice sized machine that is well put together, but it was weak. It couldn't grab a bucket full of dirt from a settled pile without taking more than one run at it, and it bogged down when mowing up a small grade with a rotary cutter in 10" grass.

In our conversation afterward, the seller said it also had trouble pulling a 4' box blade. It sounded like he was taking about a $5000 dollar hit on the package for his 100 hours of use. He was hoping to upgrade. 5 may not sound like a big number, but it is actually 20% more when you're comparing 25 to 30.

 

[krazsk]

I have a 225 which has the new version of engine that Bobcat rates at 27 hp and Kioti rates the same engine at 28 hp. I don't really understand it, but I question how you'd get another horsepower by painting it orange instead of white. That said there isn't much difference if the numbers are 28? vs 30. How much extra are you paying for the extra 2-3 hp? I run a 6 foot finish mower and power is no problem, and a 66 inch snowblower with no problem. That said, I've run tractors for 47 years and I can't remember one time that I wished the tractor had less power, but many times I wished it had more. Obviously if it doesn't cost much, take the hp, but don't pay too much for it. I still don't think I would still pay the premium, 10% is what is was when I bought, to move up to the 230.

 

[tmk]

Thanks for all the info. Very helpful.

 

[Canada_CT230]

Just remember that he is looking at a Bobcat CT225 and not a Kioti CK25. Bobcat's do not come in gear models. Only HST. So the Kioti CK25 with gear would probably do better than the HST. All I know is that I wouldn't want to be pulling the same frame size/weight as my CT230 with 5 less HP.

I use a 66" Snowblower, 60" Box Blade, 72" S-Tine Cultivator and 60" Tiller. Although I do have to slow up a bit during certain conditions I would have to slow down too much with 5 less HP.

 

[Gittyup]

I put a used ct225 through its paces last year before buying a 335. It was a nice sized machine that is well put together, but it was weak. It couldn't grab a bucket full of dirt from a settled pile without taking more than one run at it, and it bogged down when mowing up a small grade with a rotary cutter in 10" grass.

In our conversation afterward, the seller said it also had trouble pulling a 4' box blade. It sounded like he was taking about a $5000 dollar hit on the package for his 100 hours of use. He was hoping to upgrade. 5 may not sound like a big number, but it is actually 20% more when you're comparing 25 to 30.

The comment about the 4' boxblade doesn't follow with my experience. While mine is gear, I pull a very heavy gannon 6' boxblade with little problem I'm guessing my box weighs well over 700 lbs, conservatively. Unless the teeth are engaged on rocks or big roots, tractor just goes and goes. A 4' bb under most conditions should be a piece of cake. Perhaps the seller was expecting too much there or doing something not quite right.

And as far as getting a bucket of dirt, I don't think the extra hp makes any difference. Hydraulic performance will be identical on these tractors. You aren't supposed to be using the thing like a bulldozer. Loading the bucket is more about break-out force and operator technique, driving forward while curling and lifting at the same time. I've moved over 700 tons of dirt and gravel and the lack of HP was never a question. Never really a factor in loader performance.