Backhoe Kubota BX2360 and Woods Subframe Question

[Bacfin]

:thumbsup:

Bruce, good deal. I'm very interested in how you make out on the Woods hoe since I was in your shoes just a few months ago. Please let us know how the install goes (assuming you do it yourself??) and take some pic's.

For me, the Woods BH was going to run roughly $6K, while a trade in cost me about $10K. My BX1860 was two years old and I decided to trade it in and apply the money I was going to spend on the BH towards a BX25. I ended up with a relatively small payment on the BX25; less than what I had on my BX1860 though the term is longer, so that's part of the difference.

Good to know you can buy the BX25 ROPS. I like the folding ROPS since there are a few trees I could not get my BX1860 under for mowing, though I mow 90% of the time with my old Wheel Horse garden tractor. I just have to remember to fold it down when entering the garage or parking it in my shed.

After scanning through the manual, the install doesn't look to bad, just looks a bit time consuming. The hydraulics look like they hook up the same way the BX25 has it too, so that looks like a non-issue too. Of course, everything always appears easier on paper.

The dealer and I measured the distances for the ROPS rollover bar, so it is a direct R&R.

So have you dug any holes yet?

 

[Tom_H]

Bruce,

There are a couple of reports here on the board by people who did this install on their own of a Woods BH6000 on a 4 digit# BX. If you use the search tool, you should be able to dig these up in the 2 main Kubota forums. If you can't find them, PM me and I'll see if I can help you find them. I think one of the reports is by Matthew (Matt) Baynard, TBN handle: Scrounger. I remember one item in the discussion relating to torquing the sub-frame bolts to the main frame at very specific tolerances. You're going to need a good torque wrench.

What size bucket are you getting? I got both a 9" and a 12" and put tiger teeth on the 9". I also got a Bro-tek thumb and ripper for the Woods. I modified the tooth on the ripper so I can dig better in my Duripan (very hard hardpan cemented by volcanic silica). I built a bolt on skateboard type dolly for the bh. If you want any details, I can point you to threads in the archives.

 

[Bacfin]

Hi Tom,

Thanks for the suggestions. I dug up an older post from you regarding some issues with the woods backhoe, see below. I will start another thread to see if anyone has done their own install recently and also to see if some of these issues have been solved by Woods in redesigns.

Thanks :thumbsup:


If you search the archives in this forum, you'll find numerous threads with several hundred posts re. the Woods bh on a BX. Virtually everyone has positive things to say. One long thread, started by ericBX1500, has numerous pics of excavation work he did with this same backhoe on a little BX1500. I would never have believed it had I not seen the pics with my own eyes. Just go to advanced search, enter "BH6000", and set it to search in this forum. Also, if you can find any post by ericBX1500, click on his name and get to his profile, then click on "see all posts by this member" or "see all threads started by this member" you can see that miniature mighty might digging away.

The minor negatives to consider are: 1.) It cost more than the price difference between a BX2350 and a BX24 (about $3500). 2.) A minority of people believe the seating is cramped inside the ROPS (esp. head height). 3.) The subframe prevents fully spread 3ph lift arms from reaching full height. They will reach full height if not fully spread, but at full spread, the lift arms strike the subframe before full height can be reached. Scrounger (Matt) has some pics of that problem on his BX2230 with the BH6000. 4.) Wallenstein and Bro-Tek thumbs will fit the bh on BX 22, 23, and 24, but not the BH6000.

That price uninstalled is too high. Someone on TBN recently got the unit for about $5150 installed. Check around. High volume dealers have lower shipping costs from Woods, because big trucks make the rout on a regular basis. Smaller dealers have stuff delivered by special arrangements on smaller trucks. I had quotes 18 months ago that ranged from $4975 installed to almost $8000 uninstalled. I am trying to save up and trade my BX2200 for a BX24. I think the cost will be worth it because the BX24 has higher 3ph lift (even than a BX2200 with no subframe in place), a tach, cruise control, the larger and foldable ROPS, electrical outlet for my sprayer, the deck/fender issue is solved-along with the BX2200 issues of that filter bracket and fuel tank, and you start out under warranty all over again. I might get more if I sell privately, than buy from dealer, though that puts me paying more sales tax. (I have thought of buying in Oregon where there is no sales tax, and bringing it home in a U-Haul.)
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Last edited by Tom_H; 05-05-2007 at 06:17 PM.

 

[CHDinCT]

:thumbsup:

So have you dug any holes yet?

Mostly I've used it to dig out and move some rock for a stone wall I'm rebuilding and also I made a shallow trench for a retaining wall near the patio. No stumps yet, but I have a few in scope as soon as I can get to them. I'm also planning to remove some of the overgrown shrubs in the front of the house. After 22 years, some of them are just too big for where they are. It's amazing the uses you start to come up with once you have a BH. Oh yeah, have some rocks that I've always had to mow around that will be going away too. :thumbsup:

Did you rent that excavator in your pic's? That might spoil you when you go to use your Woods Groundbreaker :laughing:

 

[Bacfin]

Hi Chris,

Yes it is amazing how valuable a tool it becomes. My bucket is the best wheel barrel I ever had :thumbsup: No, that is not my excavator, I had a buddy of mine come by and pull all the stumps, but my little Kubota did dig the 25 x 35 parking area 3' down removing all the sub-soil and organics. Could have used a bigger bucket for sure, but I just kept at it and eventually it got done.

I am really having reservations on buying the Woods backhoe from that place in Michigan that advertises on E-bay. I really have to rethink why they are so much cheaper. Maybe it is refurbished and they sell as new? I don't know. What gave me pause was the way they wanted payment. I could put the subframe on a credit card but not the backhoe. They want a check for that. This just does not sit right with me, so I am going to use it as some leverage buying one local.

 

[Falconjms]

I am very curious about your experience if you buy the BH6000 from that guy in MI on ebay. I too have contacted him and got pricing. He seems to be the best pricing around.

I don't have a tractor yet and can't quite afford the BX25 so I am looking at the BX2360... Some day I will be faced with trading vs by a woods decision because I know I want a bh.

I have spoken with two Kubota deales and they really discourage putting the woods on any BX model... one of them is even a woods dealer too. They try to push the BX25.

The pricing I got is;
THE BX25 WITH LOADER /BACKHOE $16950.
54 " DECK $1700.
60" DECK $1900.

BX1860 WITH 54 DECK AND FRT LOADER $12,500
BX2360 WITH 60 DECK AND FRT LOADER $14,250.

When you look at this the BX25 with 60" MMM is total $18,850

The BX 2360 with 60" MMM + approx. $5000 BH6000 (MI guy) = $19,250

Thats only $400 difference.

 

[CHDinCT]

I am really having reservations on buying the Woods backhoe from that place in Michigan that advertises on E-bay. I really have to rethink why they are so much cheaper. Maybe it is refurbished and they sell as new? I don't know. What gave me pause was the way they wanted payment. I could put the subframe on a credit card but not the backhoe. They want a check for that. This just does not sit right with me, so I am going to use it as some leverage buying one local.

I hear you but I think he doesn't take credit cards so he can avoid the 3%-5% fee he has to pay to the credit card company which is part of the reason he can offer the best prices. I do recall some testimonies here somewhere from a couple of guys who bought from him, but I don't recall names unfortunately. From what I can recall, he is a volume dealer with Woods and gets their lowest prices. Advertising on e-bay is how he generates the volume I would guess.

Nevertheless, I can see where paying up front and "hoping" your new Woods BH arrives in a few weeks is a bit risky so perhaps the peace of mind that comes with buying local is worth the price difference. Like I mentioned above, I did find one local guy who was less than $1K more than Roseels. Hopefully you can do as well or better locally. I'd check with every Woods dealer you can find within a comfortable distance. Good luck.

 

[Bacfin]

Hi Falconjms,

I am still researching prices more local before I make decision. There are allot of Woods dealers out there. What area do you live in? Are you near the MI dealer?

I ran into a few dealers that discourage putting the woods on also and steered me to the BX25. My guess is they do not want the liability issues associated with warranties. Not to mention, they can make more money if they sell the TLB. Good luck with your search and purchase.

 

[Bacfin]

Like I mentioned above, I did find one local guy who was less than $1K more than Roseels. Hopefully you can do as well or better locally. I'd check with every Woods dealer you can find within a comfortable distance. Good luck.

Chris,

Do you remember who that dealer was? I would like to give him a call. I am still cold calling all around.

Thanks!

 

[CHDinCT]

Chris,

Do you remember who that dealer was? I would like to give him a call. I am still cold calling all around.

Thanks!

Absolutely. Not sure how convenient they would be for you but the dealer was:

Woodbury Tractor in Woodbury CT
Woodbury Tractor Company, LLC

They were as helpful as they could be an tried to get info from Woods engineering to see if the BX1850 sub frame would fit. I wish I kept the quotes but they were maybe $700 - $800 more than the MI dealer.

I got the same response from any Woods dealers that were also Kubota dealers telling me the BX1860/2360 was not made for BH and I should really trade up to the BX25, which I did but not because I was convinced the other BX's could not handle the Woods hoe. There are lots of testimonials in the archives here on the Woods hoe working fine on a BX SCUT.