Runner
Elite Member
- Joined
- May 12, 2007
- Messages
- 3,017
- Location
- Missouri
- Tractor
- 2024 Cub Cadet Ultima ZTXS5 54, 2007 John Deere 2520, 1989 John Deere 185, 1960 Panzer T70B
My tractor was scheduled to be delivered today to I took the day off which gave me some time to move stuff around to get ready for the blessed arrival. My Deere Guy showed up around 12:00 noon. As you
can see from the pics, he had a 30 foot trailer completely loaded with toys,
er, tools. Reviewing the trailer from front to back, we have the 72 inch Frontier GM1072R rear finish mower, the Frontier BB2060 box blade (the weight box is to the left of the box blade), the 61 inch loader bucket, the 47 inch snowblower (the 54 inch front blade is behind it on the pallet and the Frontier RB2060 rear blade is behind all that on the other side of the trailer). Then we have the 42 inch Frontier pallet forks (mounted on the 200CX loader, which is mounted on the tractor). Next is the 2520 itself and, finally, the RC1060 rotary cutter (which is actually hanging a
foot or so off the back).
I have had everything hitched up and working except the blower and the front blade, both of which have to have the adapter kit bolted to the front end before they can be used. So, for now the blower and blade are stored on their pallets in the shop.
My initial impressions are the the pallet forks are very handy and the 4 wheel drive is essential. It is really NEAT to have a real live forklift around the house. So far, though, I've only used the forks to move the pallets that have the blower and front blade on them, but they work like a charm.
One thing I found out real quick is that you MUST have some kind of counter
weight hanging on the back end to be able to effectively use the loader or
pallet forks. Even just the weight of the empty bucket or forks is enough
that you can't get any traction on the rear wheels. With no rear weight on,
I had to use 4 wheel drive just to get over the 2 inch curb to get the
pallet with the blower on it into the garage. Once I put the box blade on
(500 lbs or so) it made all the difference.
After I got the box blade, rear blade, blower and front blade put away, I
hitched up the rotary cutter and made a trial pass around the
pasture. It works great and it's so quiet, you barely know it's back there.
The machine didn't seem to labor at all until it got to the 3 foot high
stuff in the swampy area, then you could hear it working a little harder.
Still, no problems handling the mower weight or with having enough power to
run it. That was done with the loader frame mounted, but the loader bucket
removed. This pasture consisted of approximately 2 foot high grass/weeds, no brush and is on a rolling hills.
After that, I parked the bush hog in the shop and dropped off the loader
which took all of about 3 minutes the first time I did it. Man, I LOVE the way the loader and loader attachments mount and dismount. It's so easy that I'm sure I'll be inclined to use them a lot.
Next, I mounted about 200 lbs worth of the 280 lbs of front suitcase weights I bought to the front of the machine. This was my first notice of a setup error by the tech. He put the front weight bracket on backwards, so I had to take it off (two bolts) and re-mount in the proper orientation. Once on, the weights mounted fine. Then, I hitched up the rear grooming mower, set the cutting height and tried out the mower. It's so heavy (approx. 678 lbs) that it tries to pull the tractor sideways down hill on the steep side slopes (I
measured this slope at 17 degrees or so). I found that putting the tractor
in low range and 4 wheel drive solved the problem. Rear wheel weights or filled tires would probably help, but for now, I'm going to try and get by without them.
I also noticed that, when the rear end started to slip a little sideways, I
could just pull up on the rockshaft control and it would instantly transfer a
couple of hundred lbs of weight from the mower to the rear of the tractor,
which also helped the situation.
As for the mower itself, it seemed to do a terrific job of mowing. Very even, good distribution of clippings and no clumping. The grass was approximately 7 inches high, dry and being cut to 5 inches. One thing though, it is so much wider than the tractor that you really have to watch it on the first pass to keep from clipping fence posts, etc. Also, I'm going to need to do some tree trimming to enable me to get under the branches with the ROPS.
While having the unit sliding sideways on the slopes sounds scary (and kind
of is...), I'd much rather have it doing that than acting like it as trying
to tip over, which it never did. Since that was one of my major concerns with buying a CUT, that was a BIG relief. I didn't mow the whole yard, just the east side, which is where the worst side slope situation occurs. I really just wanted to get a feel for the way it handled that area, because I knew that if it felt halfway comfortable there, it would be OK on the rest of the yard. The only thing about it was, I pretty much had to keep the 4 wheel drive engaged the whole time on the hilly areas. The tractor seemed to have plenty of power for the 72 inch mower, but, you could hear it working harder in the higher stuff.
Also, a portion of this area is very rough and was quite uncomfortable on my lawn tractor. The 2520 and rear finish mower was a much nicer ride.
Overall, it looks like the tractor is going to be able to do what I need it
to do without killing me, so once I get the details ironed out, it should be
fine. There is a awful lot of stuff to store though.....
Many thanks to the group here for all the helpful advice. Chris2520, you talked me into the 61 inch bucket and I'm glad for that. I'd be happy to answer any questions you may have.
More pictures to come.
Happy Tractoring,
Runner
can see from the pics, he had a 30 foot trailer completely loaded with toys,
er, tools. Reviewing the trailer from front to back, we have the 72 inch Frontier GM1072R rear finish mower, the Frontier BB2060 box blade (the weight box is to the left of the box blade), the 61 inch loader bucket, the 47 inch snowblower (the 54 inch front blade is behind it on the pallet and the Frontier RB2060 rear blade is behind all that on the other side of the trailer). Then we have the 42 inch Frontier pallet forks (mounted on the 200CX loader, which is mounted on the tractor). Next is the 2520 itself and, finally, the RC1060 rotary cutter (which is actually hanging a
foot or so off the back).
I have had everything hitched up and working except the blower and the front blade, both of which have to have the adapter kit bolted to the front end before they can be used. So, for now the blower and blade are stored on their pallets in the shop.
My initial impressions are the the pallet forks are very handy and the 4 wheel drive is essential. It is really NEAT to have a real live forklift around the house. So far, though, I've only used the forks to move the pallets that have the blower and front blade on them, but they work like a charm.
One thing I found out real quick is that you MUST have some kind of counter
weight hanging on the back end to be able to effectively use the loader or
pallet forks. Even just the weight of the empty bucket or forks is enough
that you can't get any traction on the rear wheels. With no rear weight on,
I had to use 4 wheel drive just to get over the 2 inch curb to get the
pallet with the blower on it into the garage. Once I put the box blade on
(500 lbs or so) it made all the difference.
After I got the box blade, rear blade, blower and front blade put away, I
hitched up the rotary cutter and made a trial pass around the
pasture. It works great and it's so quiet, you barely know it's back there.
The machine didn't seem to labor at all until it got to the 3 foot high
stuff in the swampy area, then you could hear it working a little harder.
Still, no problems handling the mower weight or with having enough power to
run it. That was done with the loader frame mounted, but the loader bucket
removed. This pasture consisted of approximately 2 foot high grass/weeds, no brush and is on a rolling hills.
After that, I parked the bush hog in the shop and dropped off the loader
which took all of about 3 minutes the first time I did it. Man, I LOVE the way the loader and loader attachments mount and dismount. It's so easy that I'm sure I'll be inclined to use them a lot.
Next, I mounted about 200 lbs worth of the 280 lbs of front suitcase weights I bought to the front of the machine. This was my first notice of a setup error by the tech. He put the front weight bracket on backwards, so I had to take it off (two bolts) and re-mount in the proper orientation. Once on, the weights mounted fine. Then, I hitched up the rear grooming mower, set the cutting height and tried out the mower. It's so heavy (approx. 678 lbs) that it tries to pull the tractor sideways down hill on the steep side slopes (I
measured this slope at 17 degrees or so). I found that putting the tractor
in low range and 4 wheel drive solved the problem. Rear wheel weights or filled tires would probably help, but for now, I'm going to try and get by without them.
I also noticed that, when the rear end started to slip a little sideways, I
could just pull up on the rockshaft control and it would instantly transfer a
couple of hundred lbs of weight from the mower to the rear of the tractor,
which also helped the situation.
As for the mower itself, it seemed to do a terrific job of mowing. Very even, good distribution of clippings and no clumping. The grass was approximately 7 inches high, dry and being cut to 5 inches. One thing though, it is so much wider than the tractor that you really have to watch it on the first pass to keep from clipping fence posts, etc. Also, I'm going to need to do some tree trimming to enable me to get under the branches with the ROPS.
While having the unit sliding sideways on the slopes sounds scary (and kind
of is...), I'd much rather have it doing that than acting like it as trying
to tip over, which it never did. Since that was one of my major concerns with buying a CUT, that was a BIG relief. I didn't mow the whole yard, just the east side, which is where the worst side slope situation occurs. I really just wanted to get a feel for the way it handled that area, because I knew that if it felt halfway comfortable there, it would be OK on the rest of the yard. The only thing about it was, I pretty much had to keep the 4 wheel drive engaged the whole time on the hilly areas. The tractor seemed to have plenty of power for the 72 inch mower, but, you could hear it working harder in the higher stuff.
Also, a portion of this area is very rough and was quite uncomfortable on my lawn tractor. The 2520 and rear finish mower was a much nicer ride.
Overall, it looks like the tractor is going to be able to do what I need it
to do without killing me, so once I get the details ironed out, it should be
fine. There is a awful lot of stuff to store though.....
Many thanks to the group here for all the helpful advice. Chris2520, you talked me into the 61 inch bucket and I'm glad for that. I'd be happy to answer any questions you may have.
More pictures to come.
Happy Tractoring,
Runner
. aside from what some people think, it ant no baby tractor or toy....
