Relative ride/comfort of BX-25D versus Kubota B2601

[Utopia Texas]

Do yourself a favor and beg, borrow or steal a tractor powered tiller or good heavy disk/disc set up and till that land about 4 inches deep, then run a tooth harrow or a blade turned backwards and smooth everything out like a table top. In the long run this is your best option. Smooth land = happy spine!
PS- If you are just looking for a excuse for a larger tractor tell your wife I said it was ok to buy something huge!!!

 

[mike69440]

Just so you don't get confused plowhog,

Virtually all lawn mower and tractors use some form of coil seat suspension. The coils are in different sizes and support levels and are stiff. Then there is whats called spring suspension which is an additive to coil suspension. Spring suspension is far less stiff than coils and is designed to reduce the roughness that just coil suspension offers.

Think of it like a car or pickup. You have the very stiff susension on the rear axle which gives one form of suspension . . but then you also have shocks which soften the leaf spring harshness.

The massey gc1715/1720 seat offers both coil and spring suspension. Rough washboard ground on my zero turn is very very harsh and noticeable and on the GC1715 it is very smooth and pleasant.

Seat suspension plays a big part. test each tractor carefully before buying.

Before I sold my B7200, I removed the seat suspension and swapped it out on the terrible seat of my new Max28. The new owner's back is younger.

The other thing is tire size, followed by tire type, loaded/ air pressure, wheelbase, & load distribution.

SCUT is bad over rough ground due to tire size.

 

[jenkinsph]

Do yourself a favor and beg, borrow or steal a tractor powered tiller or good heavy disk/disc set up and till that land about 4 inches deep, then run a tooth harrow or a blade turned backwards and smooth everything out like a table top. In the long run this is your best option. Smooth land = happy spine!
PS- If you are just looking for a excuse for a larger tractor tell your wife I said it was ok to buy something huge!!!

Very good advice, smooth the lawn out and any of the mowing machines will be easier to ride.

 

[dodge man]

Regrading your yard might help if you don't have any moles. With my yard it would be a waste of time. My yard is pretty rough, I have a BX with loaded tires. I think it beats the heck out of me when I mow but I am probably always mowing a little faster than I should. If I slow down a little I know it improves a lot.

 

[Botaskinner]

Hi Plowhog,

40-hour user of a B2320 I just bought in August of this year.

I have a 5-level spinal fusion of L3, and despite that, I can spend a couple of hours on the tractor doing FEL and grading with no back pain. Sure the ride is bumpy, but the seat makes up for it, and this with much of my time spent twisted around watching the sides of my box blade while trying to grade close to buildings and fences.

 

[dragoneggs]

Regrading your yard might help if you don't have any moles. With my yard it would be a waste of time. My yard is pretty rough, I have a BX with loaded tires. I think it beats the heck out of me when I mow but I am probably always mowing a little faster than I should. If I slow down a little I know it improves a lot.

And so does the cut... But I suppose if you have a rough yard that doesn't matter so much.

 

[tlj87]

We added a suspension seat to our Kubota bx2370-1 with loaded turf tires. The suspension seat makes the ride slightly less jarring. If we could have tried the BX out on our property prior to purchasing, we probably would have decided to move up to a 2320/2301 due to the larger tire size, presumably affording a better ride. Orherwise, the BX is a great little tractor and compliments our RTV and Ford 3000 well.

 

[jenkinsph]

I am often at a loss trying to understand the members here who have to deal with rough lawns and property. I would think that one of the main reasons for buying a tractor would be for improvements such as grading and smoothing. While I understand everyone has a different approach it would seem that reworking a rough lawn or pasture into a smooth and properly graded one would be a prime use for the equipment. It seems that a lot of people choose to buy seat and suspensions rather than fixing the inherent problems. It doesn't take that much equipment to make a lawn or small field super smooth, and then mowing in the years to come is much easier to do.

 

[TripleR]

I am often at a loss trying to understand the members here who have to deal with rough lawns and property. I would think that one of the main reasons for buying a tractor would be for improvements such as grading and smoothing. While I understand everyone has a different approach it would seem that reworking a rough lawn or pasture into a smooth and properly graded one would be a prime use for the equipment. It seems that a lot of people choose to buy seat and suspensions rather than fixing the inherent problems. It doesn't take that much equipment to make a lawn or small field super smooth, and then mowing in the years to come is much easier to do.

Valid points, but for some of us, in spite of having done this more than once, moles, armadillos, dogs and a grand kid or two eventually turn my smooth lawn inro a bone jarring obstacle course. It "looks" smooth with a good covering of grass, so you often find the holes by feel and not sight.

 

[tlj87]

I am often at a loss trying to understand the members here who have to deal with rough lawns and property. I would think that one of the main reasons for buying a tractor would be for improvements such as grading and smoothing. While I understand everyone has a different approach it would seem that reworking a rough lawn or pasture into a smooth and properly graded one would be a prime use for the equipment. It seems that a lot of people choose to buy seat and suspensions rather than fixing the inherent problems. It doesn't take that much equipment to make a lawn or small field super smooth, and then mowing in the years to come is much easier to do.

If only it were that easy! We have 100 acres, about 8 of which are grass that gets cut every 1-3 weeks during the months it needs to be cut. While we could cut down all of the pine trees and grind out the stumps and roots, we're not going to do that ($). We're also probably not going to till, level and replant all of our grass areas ($). We do maintain the main driveways and repair trails but keeping up with "emergencies" like fallen trees, washouts, etc. along with regular tasks like mowing, snow plowing, firewood, boundaries, maintaining 15 structures and related systems is enough. All this only on weekends and some evenings with just the two of us, occasionally some volunteer help. We have to prioritize. Having a better seat is easier than leveling 100 acres.

If we were on a three acre lot and it had a couple rough spots, trust me, they'd be fixed and I'd be fixing all of the neighbors rough spots too.