Ordered my Bush Hog M246 FEL

[Spencer]

You better take and post some pictures for us before you start that tractor up. Once you start using that new FEL I think your going to be out there for a while and I don't want to wait that long for pictures. If your brave enough have your wife take a picture of you by your tractor so we can all put a face to the name.

 

[Mosey]

I'm pretty confident I'll be getting the tractor back today or tomorrow - it's raining and the forecast is for rain all through the weekend! I guess I'll just park it under the carport and raise the bucket up and down. I think I'll have plenty of time for pictures before I can do any work with it.

 

[thcri]

Danny,
Thanks for the pics. That will work great for what we need. We may need a longer reach.

murph

 

[Mosey]

My Boomer is back and the FEL is on. I was relieved that the control stick does not interfere at all with getting on and off the tractor from the right hand side. The color match was close, but not exact, certainly good enough. The mounting bracket was not like I expected though. There is a bar that runs from the mid point to the front of each side and they do not come off when the loader is detached, and they get in the way of checking the oil and will make maintenance more difficult. The pop off side panels will still come off. The bars come off with only 5 bolts each if I need to get them out of the way. There are also some brackets underneath that go from the mid point to the rear axle, which won't be a problem except I'll have to redo the bracket I made for the break back arm on my sickle mower. This loader is definitely not going to be compatible with a mid mount mower. It operated very smoothly and goes really high. When it dries off I'll test it under load.

Note: The red in the background is a crab apple tree, and the purple farther back is red bud trees. I don't know who named them, but they were color blind!

 

[Mosey]

Another picture.

 

[cstocks]

It certainly looks like it has a lot of reach! I know that despite the small issues you have with it you will get a lot of use and enjoyment out of it. Like other folks have said, you're gonna wonder how you made out without it!

Crabapples and redbuds abloom and you in a short sleeve shirt... guess it is finally springtime up your way! Good timing to get in some quality seat time. /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif Now all you need to do is add your FEL to your profile! /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

 

[ScottAR]

Congrads! Your tractor just got about 80% more versatile.
Enjoy... /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif

 

[hazmat]

Danny,

Congrats! You'll love it!

Spring refuses to come to New England 25 degrees this morning!

Enjoy & keep the pictures coming.

 

[Spencer]

Mosey, in the first picture I notice that your FEL has a much greater rollback angle than mine. The 7308 starts out with a measly 20 degree rollback angle but I lost 5 precious degrees adding the Kasco Unihitch. When you get a chance I would love to see a close-up of your quick-tach setup. I also notice that huge guard in front of your hood. Did that come with the loader or did you already have that.

In the second photo I can see that your loader has two braces inbetween the loader arms where the 7308 only has one. I also notice that your loader arms appear to be almost straight up and down. I will have to check my 7308 but I don't think mine go up to almost vertical. Again that rollback angle looks great. Just be careful when you have a load in that bucket up that high, it looks like it might rollback right out of the bucket and onto you and your hood. Overall it looks like everything about it is better than the 7308 so I think you made the right choice, enjoy and get some action shots when you can.

 

[Mosey]

Well, I'm getting use out of the FEL already. Attached is a picture of a rock I unloaded from my pickup and put in place.

Spencer, The grill guard came with the package. I'm not sure what the lift height difference is because according to the brochures I got, the lift height for the NH 7308 is 100.8" but it doesn't say where that's measured and the BH M246 is 103" and it says that's to the pivot pin. The dump angle on the 7308 is 39 degrees and on the M246 is 40 degrees. The rollback angle on the 7308 is 20 degrees and on the M246 is 25 degrees. The lift capacity at the pivot point on the 7308 is 875 lbs and on the M246 is 1530 lbs. But, with the added lift capacity, the FEL also weighs more. The weight of the 7308 is 839 lbs and the M246 is 1453 lbs.

Actually, I would have preferred the NH 7308, even though the BH M246 has a few better specs. If I could have gotten the 7308 for the same price as the M246 or close to it, I would have gotten the 7308, but $1000 more was too much. I really don't need the added lift capacity and would have preferred the lighter weight and the mounting brackets not being so much in the way. With the added weight of the mounting brackets, I certainly don't need the 2 front weights anymore (total of 65 lbs).

The dealer had left the installation manual for the FEL in the tool box, but there wasn't an operator's manual. I'd like to detach the FEL, but I'm not sure how to do it. I'm also missing the bucket level indicator. I need to call the dealer and get the missing manual and indicator.

The FEL is heavy and makes the tractor "feel" heavy I had to add air to the front tires. I added 6 quarts of hydraulic fluid to the tractor, since the loader cylinders and hoses sucked up a lot. Then, I used the loader to unload a large rock from the pickup. It was too heavy to roll or tip it into the bucket, so I wrapped a chain around the FEL bucket (I can see I need to get some hooks on the bucket). I didn't have anything on the back of the tractor, so when I went to lift it up, the rear wheels came off the ground! So, I went and hooked up the finish mower and then was more careful. This time it was no problem. I already weighed the pickup with the rock in it, so I'll weigh it again next week and find out what the rock weighs.