jetblue4400
New member
- Joined
- Oct 25, 2010
- Messages
- 18
- Tractor
- Kubota Bx2200
The GR2120 diesel is new as last week .With tax NY state , I paid $10109.00 .
I have had two Kubota tractors before a BX2200 and now a 2011 BX 2660 which both were bought new.
I just recently had a zero turn 1998 Grasshopper with the Kubota 21 Hp diesel engine in this with a 60 inch deck. This was a good unit for several years and in great shape with all the manuals but for some reason I cleaned it up and sold it on craigslist in one day to a guy in youngstown ,ohio for $3800.00. So now I needed to buy a new lawn tractor and was leaning toward a John deere 5 series or maybe a 7 series. with a efi engine . I bought my first two kubotas through the same dealer and have known the main technician who works only on kubotas for the last 20 years so I talked to him first because they also sell cub cadet and gravely higher end tractors. He said the new cubs have lots of maintenance on them and His choose would be a Diesel GR2120 even though the cost is high.
I drove the gr on the parking lot grounds for about 15 minutes and with the glide steer and the diesel engine seemed like I had a zero turns tractor with lots of power and great steering. All the issues with the bearings in the transmissions and others with the brake he said had been resolved so not to worry about those issues which were in the earlier versions.And also on both my compact kubota tractors I have never had them in the shop for anything and I performed my own maintenance . Now as we all know the warranty is for 2 years and thats ok with me because I never had a problem with the other bx series I have had. The 500 series john deere which has a good rating has a 4 or 5 year 750 hour warranty which I thought was great. The problem I had in my mind with the 500 series deere was that it had a drive belt instead of a drive shaft and I thought paying around $8000.00 for a lawn tractor with out direct drive versus a belt was to much money.
Oh, I never drove the John deere 500 series which i should have to get a comparison of comfort , cutting ,and engine performance. Both dealers have a area you can make a few passes for cutting.
With the Kubota I would have to go way in the back of the dealer and on a small hill which I did not do ,Just drove it in the parking lot.
Now with the Pros and cons on this Gr2120
When they delivered the tractor and left .I got on the tractor and rode it around the property for a short time. The first thing I noticed was you needed almost two hands to move the throttle up or down but a little lube spray under the throttle linkage they have a locking nut ,sprayed that and that solved the problem. No big deal there. The next thing I noticed at least on my property the ride was really bumpy even with with the seat suspension knob under in front of the seat adjusted.It did not seem to help at all. The manual calls for the front tire pressure to be 24psi and the rears 22Psi and those pressures were correct. so I lowered the the fronts to 17 psi and rears to 15 and this helped a little without cupping the tires.
The other problem i noticed right away was When I get off the seat I put my left hand on the fender to get off the tractor . When I did this i felt the fender give a lot and I only weigh 155lbs.
I looked under the cub holder assembly and there is no support for the fender if you happen to put you left hand on to get off. its awkward for me to get off a tractor without supporting my self on something other than the steering wheel or rear tire. I than checked out a cheap craftsman ,cub cadet and husky and I will say they all had better support of the rear left fender when getting off.
Another thing that was troubling was that the hood has no rubber bumper guards under the hood or on the black plastic instrument case and without rubber bumpers on either its wears gouges in the black instrument case where the hood touches in several spots . All other manufactures much cheaper units all have rubber guards on the hood to prevent this from causing these gouges to happen. Another point that seems 20 years behind the time is that the headlamps are the old Incandescent lamps #1156 and not leds. These lamps will operate on 12VAC or 12Vdc and At about 12.5 vdc they each draw a current of about 2.1 amps and get very hot .Now There is a exact replacement led ,socket being the same and at 12.5vdc draws about 240MA one tenth the current draw of the original 1156 lamp and don't get hot. With this amount of heat which the old incandescent produces it it likely after a period of time if used a lot that the clear plastic headlight housing will discolor and turn yellow after time. Also the output dc voltage charging the battery and to the headlamps varies with the throttle rpm . For a example at idle the dc voltage will be about 12.5 volts dc and at full throttle will be 14.5 vdc. You would think they would install a regulator to make sure the charging voltage is the same. forward speed is 62.mph any faster might throw you off the tractor on a rough surface. Only a snowblower and grass collection system avail.
Pros
Great diesel engine
wonderful zero turn like steering
All wheel drive.,Just great on Hills
Great on fuel
Cons
Rough ride on uneven surfaces
Headlamps are over 30 years old,no leds
No support for left fender when getting off tractor
No hood rubber protection mounds
Charging system is not a 12 vdc regulated system
Light duty ball hitch mount bracket
Seat suspension adjust seems useless
High cost of tractor and few implements
Note: The exact replacement led lamps are Part: GRV Ba 15s 1156 1154 high power car led bulb 102-3528 SMD DC 12V super bright cool white pack of 2
Amazon $9.88
I put my own hood bumpers on
I make up my own support bracket mounted under the left fender and the bracket mounted to the frame.
If anyone wants some info on how to built the fender bracket email me rrwitt@verizon.net
The above article is only my thoughts on this tractor and many of you may think I'am to critical of this tractor but for 25 year owner of a kubota I thought the quality would be better
for this amount of money. Note :The salesman told me the price of the tractor went up last year because of the cost of steel going up .Maybe that is why the fender is to thin.
Finally I should have checked out the John deere 500 and 700 series more.
Please reply to all of the above and tell me your thoughts.
I have had two Kubota tractors before a BX2200 and now a 2011 BX 2660 which both were bought new.
I just recently had a zero turn 1998 Grasshopper with the Kubota 21 Hp diesel engine in this with a 60 inch deck. This was a good unit for several years and in great shape with all the manuals but for some reason I cleaned it up and sold it on craigslist in one day to a guy in youngstown ,ohio for $3800.00. So now I needed to buy a new lawn tractor and was leaning toward a John deere 5 series or maybe a 7 series. with a efi engine . I bought my first two kubotas through the same dealer and have known the main technician who works only on kubotas for the last 20 years so I talked to him first because they also sell cub cadet and gravely higher end tractors. He said the new cubs have lots of maintenance on them and His choose would be a Diesel GR2120 even though the cost is high.
I drove the gr on the parking lot grounds for about 15 minutes and with the glide steer and the diesel engine seemed like I had a zero turns tractor with lots of power and great steering. All the issues with the bearings in the transmissions and others with the brake he said had been resolved so not to worry about those issues which were in the earlier versions.And also on both my compact kubota tractors I have never had them in the shop for anything and I performed my own maintenance . Now as we all know the warranty is for 2 years and thats ok with me because I never had a problem with the other bx series I have had. The 500 series john deere which has a good rating has a 4 or 5 year 750 hour warranty which I thought was great. The problem I had in my mind with the 500 series deere was that it had a drive belt instead of a drive shaft and I thought paying around $8000.00 for a lawn tractor with out direct drive versus a belt was to much money.
Oh, I never drove the John deere 500 series which i should have to get a comparison of comfort , cutting ,and engine performance. Both dealers have a area you can make a few passes for cutting.
With the Kubota I would have to go way in the back of the dealer and on a small hill which I did not do ,Just drove it in the parking lot.
Now with the Pros and cons on this Gr2120
When they delivered the tractor and left .I got on the tractor and rode it around the property for a short time. The first thing I noticed was you needed almost two hands to move the throttle up or down but a little lube spray under the throttle linkage they have a locking nut ,sprayed that and that solved the problem. No big deal there. The next thing I noticed at least on my property the ride was really bumpy even with with the seat suspension knob under in front of the seat adjusted.It did not seem to help at all. The manual calls for the front tire pressure to be 24psi and the rears 22Psi and those pressures were correct. so I lowered the the fronts to 17 psi and rears to 15 and this helped a little without cupping the tires.
The other problem i noticed right away was When I get off the seat I put my left hand on the fender to get off the tractor . When I did this i felt the fender give a lot and I only weigh 155lbs.
I looked under the cub holder assembly and there is no support for the fender if you happen to put you left hand on to get off. its awkward for me to get off a tractor without supporting my self on something other than the steering wheel or rear tire. I than checked out a cheap craftsman ,cub cadet and husky and I will say they all had better support of the rear left fender when getting off.
Another thing that was troubling was that the hood has no rubber bumper guards under the hood or on the black plastic instrument case and without rubber bumpers on either its wears gouges in the black instrument case where the hood touches in several spots . All other manufactures much cheaper units all have rubber guards on the hood to prevent this from causing these gouges to happen. Another point that seems 20 years behind the time is that the headlamps are the old Incandescent lamps #1156 and not leds. These lamps will operate on 12VAC or 12Vdc and At about 12.5 vdc they each draw a current of about 2.1 amps and get very hot .Now There is a exact replacement led ,socket being the same and at 12.5vdc draws about 240MA one tenth the current draw of the original 1156 lamp and don't get hot. With this amount of heat which the old incandescent produces it it likely after a period of time if used a lot that the clear plastic headlight housing will discolor and turn yellow after time. Also the output dc voltage charging the battery and to the headlamps varies with the throttle rpm . For a example at idle the dc voltage will be about 12.5 volts dc and at full throttle will be 14.5 vdc. You would think they would install a regulator to make sure the charging voltage is the same. forward speed is 62.mph any faster might throw you off the tractor on a rough surface. Only a snowblower and grass collection system avail.
Pros
Great diesel engine
wonderful zero turn like steering
All wheel drive.,Just great on Hills
Great on fuel
Cons
Rough ride on uneven surfaces
Headlamps are over 30 years old,no leds
No support for left fender when getting off tractor
No hood rubber protection mounds
Charging system is not a 12 vdc regulated system
Light duty ball hitch mount bracket
Seat suspension adjust seems useless
High cost of tractor and few implements
Note: The exact replacement led lamps are Part: GRV Ba 15s 1156 1154 high power car led bulb 102-3528 SMD DC 12V super bright cool white pack of 2
Amazon $9.88
I put my own hood bumpers on
I make up my own support bracket mounted under the left fender and the bracket mounted to the frame.
If anyone wants some info on how to built the fender bracket email me rrwitt@verizon.net
The above article is only my thoughts on this tractor and many of you may think I'am to critical of this tractor but for 25 year owner of a kubota I thought the quality would be better
for this amount of money. Note :The salesman told me the price of the tractor went up last year because of the cost of steel going up .Maybe that is why the fender is to thin.
Finally I should have checked out the John deere 500 and 700 series more.
Please reply to all of the above and tell me your thoughts.
