Newbie questions

dodge man · Oct 29, 2008

Looking for a few answers from a new BX 2350 owner. I bought the tractor about 4 months ago an mainly use it for mowing, but I have a FEL and a rear blade also.
I have been thinking about buying a log splitter for years, and it looks like one I would like to get as a stand alone unit would run from $1000-$1250. I know it is possible to hook one up to a BX2350, but I am not sure how? It looks like one could be hooked up to the FEL hydraulics but I have not found one that shows this being possible. Even if I did get one hooked up I'm thinking I would be disapointed with the speed. I see it is also possible to hook one up to the 3 point, but it looks like I would have to get a pump to hook up to the rear PTO. This looks like it would end up costing more than just buying a stand alone splitter.
Also what is the best way to push snow? We don't get tons of snow here, but we will get the occasional 6-12" snow fall. Some one I work with says it is best to spin the rear blade around and push the snow backwards. He says that works alot better than using the end loader.
Thanks in advance for the answers.

KeithInSpace · Oct 29, 2008

Regarding the log splitter:

It is very easy to tap into the tractor's hydraulic pump and run lines out to the back, terminating in quick connects. That is what they did when my Woods BH6000 was installed. Of course, in my case it came with the BH package, but I don't think it would take a rocket surgeon to perform the same task. I'm quite certain someone here would have an opinion on how to do it.

That said, I can't speak to pump capacity or what have you, but I'd probably think this more preferable from a cost/complication perspective, even if it is a little slower. That would get your cost down to an I-beam, a hydraulic ram, some hose, and some metal to act as a head and maul.

Regarding snow:

I've used my FEL for 3 years now for 4" to 8" snows including a really wet sleet/ice/slush snow. Haven't had a full 12" yet and I usually clear every 6" anyway.

The FEL is certainly not the most efficient thing in the world, but it actually works OK. The snow actually packs into the loader pretty well and I can go some 100 or so feet forward before it fills up with a dense snow pack. The only downside is that there are chunks that fall off to the side once the bucket fills, so instead of taking 3 or 4 "clean" passes with all the snow evenly piled on the side, I take 7 or 8 passes picking up smaller and smaller chunks each time. And good or bad, I end up with two huge piles...one at the street and one at the house end of the driveway. I do about 8 driveways on my cul-de-sac this way and nobody has ever complained. My kids love it because the pile of snow lasts 2 weeks after everything else has melted...

The rear blade would work quite well, I would think, but you must install the "shoes" at the bottom to control the blade height, like they have on plow blades. You could never control the height of the blade to be just perfect and it will NOT "glide" over the driveway on its own accord, especially if you have it rotated to one side or the other...the corner of the blade will just gouge in and make a huge mess of the driveway surface.

The FEL is not the best. But it is the cheapest...

LBrown59 · Oct 29, 2008

dodge man said:
Looking for a few answers from a new BX 2350 owner. I bought the tractor about 4 months ago an mainly use it for mowing, but I have a FEL and a rear blade also.