New 2305! I'm an idiot...

KubotainNH · May 27, 2011

Comical post. I added a 4 diamond wrap to my wife's original engagement ring for our 20th. Two diamonds on each side, stepping down in size. She loves the look of it and likes that the original is part of the whole. Sentimental like that.

So, where's the pictures? It's not real without pictures

C-Range · May 27, 2011

Congrats Steve! I'm glad your wait is finally over.

You are now the newest host to a terrific incurable infectious disease! :thumbsup:

hink10 · May 27, 2011

Hey guys,

Well, I got a few hours of seat time today, it was fun to play. Mowed some and played with the backhoe. I'm going to have to look at that deck adjuster knob, tried every position and it still wouldn't stay in the raised position. Any trick to pulling off the floorboard? I didn't really look to hard when I was outside. I have yet to take off the BH and loader. Wanted to play today, not try to figure all that out. I know it's easy, just felt like driving it.

The wife came home and saw me mowing with the loader and BH on, she made an "L" on her forehead, must have been for love right? I told her that I loved her too. She did tell me to move a couple of cement planters that have been in the way since last year, I slide them in the loader and away I went, right on the front porch! I don't think she was all that impressed, but it's something! Oh, don't worry about her wanting to drive it, I'm telling ya, she has no interest.

Thanks for all of your collective help thus far, you have all been great. I'm sure I'll have plenty of questions coming. Chris, I'll be trying out the forks this weekend, can't wait!

Thanks again! :thumbsup:
Steve

ChuckinNH · May 27, 2011

Forks are a very useful tool, and I've been surprised how many different jobs I have found them good for. I just need to get my quick change loader attachment tuned so the bucket, and forks interchange more easily. My treatments now make wrestling with them very difficult, but I know it's a quick fix for my dealer. and I'm getting a liist of things together for him to look at. Of course I wouldn't be surprised if he tried gently to sell me another small tractor to use while this one is in the shop......... can't go through withdrawal can we? Johnthomas, help me out here! I know you have found ways to resist the urge!

North Country · May 27, 2011

Next time try dropping the whole FEL and BH to mow. With practice you can drop both in under 5 minutes. A 16" chunk of 8x8 or railroad tie under the BH makes it much easier. You'll be surprised how nimble the 2305 feels and how nicely it treats your lawn with the weight gone.

You don't need to remove the floorboards to muck with the knob. Remove the deck instead; it's easier. But for starters, remove neither.

Follow these steps:
Raise the deck fully.
Turn the knob to lock position.
Lower the deck.
Look at the gap between the lift arm and the stop *with the deck on.* It's between arm A and stop B in this picture. If your deck is drifting down this is probably a big gap.

Raise the deck.
Turn the knob to install position.
Lower the deck to the ground.
Disconnect linkage "C." Tigheten it until you think the gap between "A" and "B" will be about 2mm when the knob is in the lock position.
Lather, rinse, repeat until it's no more than 2mm on both sides.

The manual tells you to make this adjustment with the deck off; this will result in your deck being too low. You need to look at the gap with the deck weight on the arms. You may also need to tighten or loosen the front yoke as you do this.

hink10 · May 28, 2011

Now that you mention it, I do recall reading about that gap, I will take a look tomorrow. I'm sure the tractor mows better without all the weight. To be honest, I wanted to see what it would do to the yard. It's been very wet and the turf faired well. I don't think the extra bouncing helped the cut any however. I will mess with the deck tomorrow and practice removing the bh and loader, looks pretty easy. That's a big reason I went with the ind. lift, so I didn't have to mess with the 3 pt. hitch all the time when removing the BH. Thanks again for the advise!

By the way, I didn't feel like an idiot! In fact, I went around and cut the unsold lots (just one pass along the road) on my street to tidy it up some. When I get some time, I'll take a picture of what I was using to cut with next to the 2305.

Steve

North Country said:
Next time try dropping the whole FEL and BH to mow. With practice you can drop both in under 5 minutes. A 16" chunk of 8x8 or railroad tie under the BH makes it much easier. You'll be surprised how nimble the 2305 feels and how nicely it treats your lawn with the weight gone.

You don't need to remove the floorboards to muck with the knob. Remove the deck instead; it's easier. But for starters, remove neither.

Follow these steps:
Raise the deck fully.
Turn the knob to lock position.
Lower the deck.
Look at the gap between the lift arm and the stop *with the deck on.* It's between arm A and stop B in this picture. If your deck is drifting down this is probably a big gap.

Raise the deck.
Turn the knob to install position.
Lower the deck to the ground.
Disconnect linkage "C." Tigheten it until you think the gap between "A" and "B" will be about 2mm when the knob is in the lock position.
Lather, rinse, repeat until it's no more than 2mm on both sides.

The manual tells you to make this adjustment with the deck off; this will result in your deck being too low. You need to look at the gap with the deck weight on the arms. You may also need to tighten or loosen the front yoke as you do this.

North Country · May 28, 2011

If you thought the cut was OK with the 1200lbs of FEL & BH, you will get a BIG FAT GRIN when you cut without them. It's really a big difference!

The main trick to removing & adding the BH & FEL quickly is shutting down the engine and equalizing hydraulic pressure before you connect or disconnect hoses. With practice you won't hesitate to add or drop them as needed.

That 62C really eats up some lawn, doesn't it? Can't wait to see how wide your old deck was...

TripleR · May 28, 2011

hink10 said:
Hey guys,

Well, I got a few hours of seat time today, it was fun to play. Mowed some and played with the backhoe. I'm going to have to look at that deck adjuster knob, tried every position and it still wouldn't stay in the raised position.

Thanks again! :thumbsup:
Steve

We had the same issue with ours and had to take it back to the dealer a couple of times.

hink10 · Jun 1, 2011

TripleR said:
We had the same issue with ours and had to take it back to the dealer a couple of times.

I was going to mess with it but ended up contacting the dealer. They are going to pick it up today and bring back Friday. Figure I can be without for a couple days, looks like rain anyway. Hope they get it fixed the first time!

hink10 · Jun 1, 2011

North Country said:
If you thought the cut was OK with the 1200lbs of FEL & BH, you will get a BIG FAT GRIN when you cut without them. It's really a big difference!

The main trick to removing & adding the BH & FEL quickly is shutting down the engine and equalizing hydraulic pressure before you connect or disconnect hoses. With practice you won't hesitate to add or drop them as needed.

That 62C really eats up some lawn, doesn't it? Can't wait to see how wide your old deck was...

Well, getting pretty good at removing the BH and loader, nothing to it. It really does handle and mow better without the mass and weight. I was surprised how stable it is on the hills. There were some areas I was concerned about, but no problem at all, and yes I was wearing my seat belt! I was going to add wheel spacers, but I might hold off and see how it goes.
Steve