New 2320 on the way and Questions

[UpstateNYMarine]

Okay...so my fiance and I moved to Upstate NY from Hawaii (no jokes) and we purchased 40 acres up here. We are building a house and we needed a tractor so we decided on the 2320 with 200CX FEL 62" MMM and 54" Box Scraper (we pick it up this weekend ). I read lots of posts here before we bought but now I have a few questions of my own.

As for trailering the tractor around...we bought a single axel 6'x12' trailer from lowes with the 3500lb axel on it. Should that be sufficient.

As for the rock rake. We will definately need one to rid the place of rocks before the yard goes in (after the house is done being built) but how often do you all use your rock rakes. Trying to decide whether it would be better to rent one as opposed to buying one. I would like to have all the implements in the world but we have other things, with us building a house that we may need more. But if it is something that I will continue to use then I would rather put my money into purchasing the rake.

Last Question....we are definately going to need a rotary mower. What is the largest one that can effectively go on the 2320 and which one do you all suggest?

Thanks

 

[johndeere_2210]

Okay...so my fiance and I moved to Upstate NY from Hawaii (no jokes) and we purchased 40 acres up here. We are building a house and we needed a tractor so we decided on the 2320 with 200CX FEL 62" MMM and 54" Box Scraper (we pick it up this weekend ). I read lots of posts here before we bought but now I have a few questions of my own.

As for trailering the tractor around...we bought a single axel 6'x12' trailer from lowes with the 3500lb axel on it. Should that be sufficient.

As for the rock rake. We will definately need one to rid the place of rocks before the yard goes in (after the house is done being built) but how often do you all use your rock rakes. Trying to decide whether it would be better to rent one as opposed to buying one. I would like to have all the implements in the world but we have other things, with us building a house that we may need more. But if it is something that I will continue to use then I would rather put my money into purchasing the rake.

Last Question....we are definately going to need a rotary mower. What is the largest one that can effectively go on the 2320 and which one do you all suggest?

Thanks

Welcome to the club and I hope the move turns out to be what you guys wanted.

I don't have a feel for how "many rocks" or the amount of time you might be looking at (don't know the area), but I purchased a 6' rake for around $200 a few years ago from Rural King and personally I wouldn't think of renting for such a small cost coupled with the easy of "ownership".

As for the trailer, personally I have a double axle (I tow the 2210/loader and rear implement) and rated much higher (8,000 lb). The 3500 lb rating on your trailer is the total weight which it can support, so you need to subtract out the trailer itself and I would guess the trailer weighs 1000 lbs?, so you got 2500 to play (JD 2320 weighs 1660 lbs, plus loader adds another 500-600 lbs, so your all over the 3500 total limit and this doesn't account for any implements) and that in my opinion is cutting it too close.

Brush hog, given the PTO hp, I would say 4' is the best choice for a great performance.

 

[mx125]

I get my new 2320 tomorrow. Although the weather and ground conditions in Ontario won't give me the true feel but I ordered a 5' JD rotary mower and own a 60" tiller. I would have gone with the 2305 but I wanted to make use of my tiller and thought the 4' would take too much time for the very light brush (grass really) that I will be cutting.

A lot of back and forth . . and realize the 18pto is arguably too low, but the JD site recomends up to a 5' rotary and 55" tiller. The dealer has sold a couple with that setup and says the chassis is fine, and unless you go deep (till) or overly thick (brush) . . . or too fast ... it works. Therefore I chose to stretch the 2320. I couldn't afford the 2520.

So . .. I wil now by the end of the weekend at least how a 5' hog and 5' tiller run. I likely won't have insight on any real brush "cutting" given the lack of growth . . but tilling I will.

 

[UpstateNYMarine]

Thanks for the reply. The trailer is rated at 2250 so I will be okay with hauling the tractor and loader around. Do you know what the exact weight of the loader is for a 200CX? I checked the JD site and couldn't find anything on the weight. As for implements I will just make sure there are no extra implements on the tractor when I tow it.

And MX...if you could let me know how the tractor handles that 5' cutter that would be great. And if anyone else out there has feedback about a 5' cutter on a 2320 please let me know as well.

Thanks alot everyone...

 

[johndeere_2210]

Thanks for the reply. The trailer is rated at 2250 so I will be okay with hauling the tractor and loader around. Do you know what the exact weight of the loader is for a 200CX? I checked the JD site and couldn't find anything on the weight. As for implements I will just make sure there are no extra implements on the tractor when I tow it.

And MX...if you could let me know how the tractor handles that 5' cutter that would be great. And if anyone else out there has feedback about a 5' cutter on a 2320 please let me know as well.

Thanks alot everyone...

Upstate I just looked the sales manual, sell this machine often. Tractor 1660 lbs and loader with 53" bucket is 650 lbs, plus you have to add 80 lbs for the hardware to accept the loader, so the machine plus loader is 2390 lbs. As you know, this doesn't account for any rear ballast etc.

I would agree with the above poster, a 5' can be used in thin (non dense) materials, but if you need to get nasty it will most bogg down considerably, but again, it depends on your conditions.

 

[mx125]

Upstate I just looked the sales manual, sell this machine often. Tractor 1660 lbs and loader with 53" bucket is 650 lbs, plus you have to add 80 lbs for the hardware to accept the loader, so the machine plus loader is 2390 lbs. As you know, this doesn't account for any rear ballast etc.

I would agree with the above poster, a 5' can be used in thin (non dense) materials, but if you need to get nasty it will most bogg down considerably, but again, it depends on your conditions.

I'm betting it will bog in heavy stuff . .but I'll try to get comfortable enough to give that a try. Dealer called to give me delivery time. He wanted to let me know that his service guys said it should run it without problems . . that the "caution" is really related to lifting the unit. The sheer leverage (when raised) of a cutter that big and that far back off the hitch can be iffy. I will need to be carefull with the cutter elevated on any grade. The front very light. He recommends I keep it on it's wheel whenever possible.

They say that that issue would not change on the 2520. Unless I move to a larger frame (3000 series etc), that particular issue will exist with a 5'. I'll update when I can.

 

[Mayor]

I have a trailer that now has to be sold to get one to work with my 2305. I am looking to hold the 2305, FEL, weight box, and box blade at the same time. If your going to try and use that tractor with out any weight on the back you will learn quick that it will not work to well. As the others said a duel axel 7000 up trailer is what you want.

 

[mx125]

As an early update, I can tell you that I received my 2320 today. I had about 2 hours to play. In general, I am thrilled and thoroughly impressed with the power and capabilites of these (little?) tractors. I almost can't control my excitement . . but I'll leave that for another review.

As it relates to the 5' LX cutter . ..

Although the sheer size of a 5' rotary cutter needs to be seen in the flesh to appreciate (at least for me!) . .it didn't look completely out of place on the 2320. A little big . . but a good width for the tires. It carried well when elevated and had no trouble pulling and turning. I only made a few runs through early season meadow grass uncut from last season. Probably no more than knee height . .but it was soaking wet from morning rain. The cutter had no problems at a fast clip. I actually find the low range to be quite snappy. I didn't notice any labouring or bogging . .just ran like it was on bare ground. I'm sure it will be different in thick tall stuff . .but that alone gave me confidence. It did slow a couple of times when digging into sod undulations and scalping. And i did have that strange side carving/cutting of the sod by the side of the frame on a couple of turns. Although I can't really tell why.

As another testament I tried my 60" tiller. I'm coming off a MF202, which should have approx 37PTO, although I doubt it was making that at it's age. The tiller worked as good on my 2320, and it was wet heavy stuff. Soft and sandy but I did till virgin sod as well as some pretilled soil. I actually found it MUCH easier on the 2320 overall. Due in large part to the easy of the hydro and definitely the 4WD. The only limitaiton on my old MF was the muddy areas causing resistance to the entire tractor . . making deep ruts . .and ultumately getting stuck. The 2320 (tires not weighted) just floated and cruised. The one deep rut from the that started to slow things . .was simple with the diff lock engaged. And position contol was quick and easy to keep the right depth.

So again . .not a true test, but I was expecting to just barely get through things on the 2320 with two 5 foot implements. As it turned out, the performance was effortless. I'm shocked, frankly.

So I'm not saying . ."yes definitely buy a 5'" . . but I haven't seen a reason yet to say "don't".

 

[orlo]

Hi:

Just wanted to note if you'll be trailering the mower with the 2320 that'll add 200lbs also.

I got a 10,000 trailer for my 2305. I could have gone with a 7500 but I wouldn't have gone much lower than that. My 2305 is 1450 + the loader is over 2000lbs + 200lbs for the deck = 2200 + my 700lb ballast block is about 3000lbs plus I loaded the rear wheels and that's got to be good for 150-200lbs. So over 3000lbs and that's just a little 2305.

I wouldn't chance it on a small trailer.

 

[Nuru]

Well, i bought my 2999 GVWR trailer before I got my 4310, so I am kinda looking at trading it in on a 10k GVWR. But here is the kicker, i don't have any vehicle that can safely pull that weight!