Just When I Thought My BX25 Was Enough...

[oldballs]

At this point, I'd stay with the BX. Your next move looks like needing an "L" series which you could postpone until you get a better feeling for your needs. I moved from a BX to a "B" series, but that's the end for my needs.
Cheers,
Mike

 

[Fi-Q]

Off course bigger and a large collection of tractor is the wish of most guys around here ( count me in) but as for many of us, money is an issue.

With my dad Bx2350 we mow a total of 6-7 acres, maitain two 600 ft driveway ( including snow clearig) handle all the firewood for the 2 house and kind on maintaining the trails and fallen trees on a 60+ plus acre wooded lot. Tilling 2 large garden and moving a lot of dirt with the combination of the loader and a home made dump trailer. Dad keep saying that the bx this is the best tool he ever got in his life. So you can do it. Or at least tou can give it a try. 1 or 2 extra year and 2-300 hours exta won't affect much your trade in value I think. And if you buy a 48 in rotary cutter and decide to upgrade with a larger one later, should eb easy ro get decent money for it

 

[radioman]

I wouldnt put anything larger then a 4' on BX. It will start to be back tippy when lifting the 5' or larger rotary cutter, needing more hp in thick stuff if plowing thru a full 5 foot swath. showroom shine makes a really good point -- whats an extra pass to finish cutting with 4'?
I see you are having reservations on needing a larger machine - if you are feeling it now, chances are you might just will upgrade. There is nothing wrong with staying with BX if you are happy with it, perhaps renting or borrowing a rotary cutter might be the way to go for first time. might as well start on thread on that :thumbsup:

 

[Gary Fowler]

My biggest hang-up in the short term is the rotary cutter. I need to get one, and I'm not sure the BX can handle anything larger than a 48", can it? 48" seems awfully slow, and time is money these days. If it can handle a 60" or 72", then maybe I'd give it a shot since I will at least be future-proofed on the implement. I wouldn't want to limit myself on the size of the mower, and then have to sell that as well if I need the bigger tractor.

FOR 8 acres of lot size, house & barn will take up 1/4 acre of that, I cant see wanting a72" mower. I mow 6 acres about ever 4-5 days with a 52" ZTR mower in 2.5 hours of easy mowing. It sure wouldn't be worth it to me to buy a $20K tractor with 60" mower deck to gain an hour less in mower time. If I were buying another piece of equipment, it would be a ZTR mower to speed up your mowing times. YOU already have perfectly sized tractor with backhoe for all your other needs and a 4ft bush hog will handle your preliminary clean up to get the pasture in good shape for a lawn. Sure it may be a bit slower but one foot extra per pass isn't going to speed you up more than 25% and if you are talking even 4 hours vs 3 to mow 8 acres, I would have to think very hard to spend the money on a larger tractor. A lightweight bush hog is less than $1000 for the BX and will do all you need to do. The only drawback to using a BX to cut heavy cover is the HST cooling fans that are vulnerable but can be properly shielded for much less than the cost of another tractor.

I have a large 70HP tractor that sits in the shed 95% of the time and my B26 TLB and ZTR mowers do all the work. I use the 70HP maybe once or twice a year to mow the pasture when the cows don't do their job right. Sometimes if I am just mowing down random patches of bitter weeds, I will just use the ZTR as I can do it faster than the 7 foot bush hog due to all the turning.

AS after thought, if you absolutely have convinced yourself that you need a bigger tractor, don't get rid of your BX. The backhoe will be invaluable for all the little landscape jobs needed with a new house. I know I must have planted over 100 trees, shrubs and flowering plants in the 5 years of ownership and I rarely get out a shovel to dig a hole in the last couple years of owning a TLB.

 

[Tompet]

When you wrote upgrade did you mean upgrading also to a larger BH and FEL?

If not, maybe consider a larger used tractor for heavier ground engaging work. With the hours you probably would take a little larger hit on a trade or sale of your BX. And that difference would probably be similar in total to upgrade to something completely new. I mean the difference in money would probably pay for a larger used tractor to run a brush hog, tiller, rear blade etc. as opposed to trading up to a new TLB. And you would still have the BX for all of the other chores.

Anyway, just a thought on how to have two tractors for the same money!

Anything from an older model of: MF 135, Kubota L, Ford etc. There are many choices and many available.
For fun scan through tractor house for some ideas.

 

[GolfAddict]

One other way to go for you to consider. Would a pull type cutter work? Keep your BX and MMM for the lawn mowing, and add a larger cutter for the pasture?

I cut a fair amount of waterways and open meadow ground and use a pull type. I can pull my 57" Kunz rough cut mower with ease. The thing is awesome! I've also used it to hog some serious brush. The best part is that I can use it behind the RTV as well, which is much more comfortable mowing, and my wife loves riding along. I am so glad that I decided to go this route instead of a small 3pt I had been thinking of.

It may not work well for your situation, but something to consider - especially if you have, or may be adding, a side-by-side for your acreage.

 

[savaytse66]

One other way to go for you to consider. Would a pull type cutter work?

I'm not familiar with these. How do they work? Are they lighter than the PTO-driven rotary cutters? Do they just not connect to the 3-pt?

 

[bucktaker]

Why not Old IRon for a dedicated Bushhog machine a lot of older fords and massey's can be found that handle the larger mowing requirements and leave you with the BX and plenty of pocket change

 

[bcp]

This is larger than you would want, but illustrates the idea. It pulls like a trailer, with very little weight on the tractor, compared to one supported by the 3pt hitch.

http://cdn-lp.greatplainsmfg.com/cd...314/sites/default/files/lp11_rcf2784_03_0.jpg

Bruce

 

[GolfAddict]

I'm not familiar with these. How do they work? Are they lighter than the PTO-driven rotary cutters? Do they just not connect to the 3-pt?

For the BX, they just hook up to the draw bar, the hole in the frame in back. For the RTV, I use the hitch with the ball removed. You just pull it around.

You can pull it directly behind the tractor or RTV, or pull 1 pin, slide the tongue out and flip it over, slide it back in and replace pin, and now you are mowing with it offset to the side of you. You're driving where already mowed and the cutter is over cutting the next pass. Really nice to just look to your left to see where you're mowing.

As for weight, I'm sure it's a fair bit heavier than the small 3pt cutter (it's really heavy duty) but you don't have to lift it. On the down side, it's not quite as nimble as a 3pt. That is, like for backing into corners or that kind of stuff. You can back it fine, but it's like backing a trailer rather that something rigidly attached.