Should I buy a Bx 2230?

rbarker · Apr 24, 2004

( The other thing is I plan on plowing out the lane with a scraper on the 3 point hitch up to about 6 inches and if it's more than 6 inches, I'll use the loader. Is this realistic, or will I need a snowblower?
)

The key component to this equation is time! A back blade and a FEL will remove plenty of snow without question. But it can take quite a bit longer than a snow blower. What tends to happen with the back blade is that it handles the first pass fine but then as the windrow grows the passes get smaller and smaller until you can't move any more snow with it. Then you must use the loader. The loader works great but it much slower. A snow blower is more of a one shot solution. I didn't check to see where you are located but if you are in a high snow area a blower may be a better option.

Lots of people here are using the BX1500 with great success, but with your acreage and use list I might be tempted to go to the 2230 if I could afford it.

Good luck and keep us posted on what you decide!

GerardC · Apr 24, 2004

I have a BX2200 and one of the reasons I brought it was the low center of gravity. My lot is part steep hill. At the time I was looking at the JD4010 as well but felt the BX would be safer on my hill.

I cut my grass with a Toro314-H. It is a 14 HP garden tractor with a 42 inch mulch only deck. I have never had any trouble with power. Even when trying to cut tall grass.

I think the idea that you need high HP to cut grass is a marketing tool. Back in the 60's there were lots of 10hp riding mowers. But now since the marters have used hp as the bench mark everyone must play along.

Take Deere for example. At the dealer they sell a GT235 garden tractor for $5,149. It is tough as nails and has 18 hp. Then go to HD and there is a Deere LT130 for $2499 but it has 23 hp. Because in the consumer market hp sells.

Okay sorry for the rant. My point was that the BX1500 should have no problems cutting grass.

Phil

When we bought our land I used a $400.00 (used) manual drive 10 HP B&S Agway brand(MTD?) lawn tractor to clear about 3 acres. It was used to cut grass, weeds, small trees etc. that were between 2 to 4 feet tall /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif. I chewed away at it everyday for a couple of weeks and had a ball doing it /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif! That tractor was a little tank. At $400.00 it was disposable, so I didn't care if I destroyed it.

I had that tractor for 4 years (2 years after clearing the land) and sold it for $100.00 (still working) /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif.
Now I own an MTD 16.5 HST (Wal-Mart) that I use to maintain the property /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif.

lstumper067 · Apr 24, 2004

I have owned both a Bx1500 and a Bx2230 the Bx2230 I now have.
They are both fine tractors, both are powerful and pull very well, however, for tall grass or alot of grass mowing I must recommend the Bx-2230, the extra power in tall grass just seems to do better. It is most important to get what you want, when it comes to tractors, not what you can afford. After I bought the Bx1500 I wished I had gotton the 2230 so I had to go back and trade and of course lost a little in the process.

stumper

Alfonzo · Apr 24, 2004

( 
I cut my grass with a Toro314-H. It is a 14 HP garden tractor with a 42 inch mulch only deck. I have never had any trouble with power. Even when trying to cut tall grass.

I think the idea that you need high HP to cut grass is a marketing tool. Back in the 60's there were lots of 10hp riding mowers. But now since the marters have used hp as the bench mark everyone must play along.

Take Deere for example. At the dealer they sell a GT235 garden tractor for $5,149. It is tough as nails and has 18 hp. Then go to HD and there is a Deere LT130 for $2499 but it has 23 hp. Because in the consumer market hp sells.

Okay sorry for the rant. My point was that the BX1500 should have no problems cutting grass.

Phil

When we bought our land I used a $400.00 (used) manual drive 10 HP B&S Agway brand(MTD?) lawn tractor to clear about 3 acres. It was used to cut grass, weeds, small trees etc. that were between 2 to 4 feet tall /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif. I chewed away at it everyday for a couple of weeks and had a ball doing it /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif! That tractor was a little tank. At $400.00 it was disposable, so I didn't care if I destroyed it.

I had that tractor for 4 years (2 years after clearing the land) and sold it for $100.00 (still working) /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif.
Now I own an MTD 16.5 HST (Wal-Mart) that I use to maintain the property /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif. )

I understand the point you've been trying to make. Most of the time I find myself espousing the same viewpoint. And, I think I have you beat.

When I first moved to the farm the Super A had a blown head gasket, and a drag behind finish mower. I put quite a few hours into rebuilding the tractor, purchasing and installing the Woods mower, and used it for the next ten years to mow about 7 acres as well as using it as a utility tractor for the other 83 acres.

My pickup truck is two '79 Chevy's and a crate engine that I built into a single mechanically sound truck.

My instinct is to buy something used hard, restore it to serviceability and use it for the next 20 years.

The problem is that I now have two children, and it's unfair to spend my time servicing old machines. Also, money is not the issue that it used to be. I need to be spending my time efficiently.

My wife has pretty much put her foot down on my taking on a project. In fact, what she wants me to do is to sell the Super A, sell the pickup truck and instead by a nice new tractor that will do all our mowing, plowing, and assist with the yard work and projects, and by a decent trailer to take on the pickup's hauling duties.

On top of the Super A, I have a John Deere Sabre with a 42 inch deck. It took me four hours to do the lawn today.

Since we're on small acreage compared to what he had on the farm, I find I really do need an FEL.

The horsefields have to be policed for manure to keep their field in shape. I've been doing this with the sabre and a cart, driving around the field, tossing the manure into the cart, etc. With an FEL I could just use some rake tines on it and scoop them up.

The new property is suffering from some really bad landscaping. I need to make some pretty sweeping changes and move a lot of earth around to fix the mistakes of the previous owner.

I think I'm leaning pretty strongly to getting the 2230.

GerardC · Apr 25, 2004

Alfonzo:

What ever it is that you decide, I'm sure it will be the right choice. Keep us posted. Good luck. /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

Bob_Skurka · Apr 25, 2004

Alfonzo . . . your profile is not filled out so we don't know where you are located so the question you have about the rear blade work on snow is going to be hard to answer as to when the snow goes over 6" because we don't know how far over 6" it might get and how often. But I'll take a bit of a stab at it. If the snow regularly gets over 6" then a blower would be a much better choice than an FEL, assuming you are in an area with frequent snows. Also, the little BX will have problems with 6" with the blade if the snow is heavy and wet. You might find the tractor slipping sideways if you try to pull the blade, you'd be better off reversing it and driving backwards. The FEL for snow will move it and pile it, but if you do that too often you will find the piles need to be moved, hence the reason people in heavy snow areas use blowers.

As for mowing, the Saber you have will mow about as fast as the BX, the BX probably won't shave a lot of time off the task. If you have extenisive landscaping or other things to mow around, you will find that one of the biggest assets in increasing mowing speed is to find something that is manuverable. The BX will turn a bigger circle than the Saber, so the Saber will mow faster around trees, bushes and buildings. The BX will mow faster in the fields because it will have a larger mower deck. The ZTR is NOT a good choice if you have hills, but certainly would mow a heck of a lot faster than any tractor from any company. There are some mowing machines with front mounted decks that will mow your terrain, Kubota makes some nice ones, and those will mow almost as fast as a ZTR, which is likely to be 20%-to-40% faster than any tractor. The downside to those units is that they are pretty much dedicated mowers, so you won't find them helping much with the horses or the snow or any other chores.

Have you looked at the Power Trac equipment? It sounds like a PT-422 would be ideal for you. With its front mounted deck it would mow faster than a BX, but still give you the FEL, Snowblower, Blade, etc that you need. They look odd, but they are great machines.

GerardC · Apr 25, 2004

Bob:

Very well said.

rosey · Apr 25, 2004

Get the 2230 ....much more tractor for only a few $$ more.

Alfonzo · Apr 25, 2004

( Alfonzo . . . your profile is not filled out so we don't know where you are located so the question you have about the rear blade work on snow is going to be hard to answer as to when the snow goes over 6" because we don't know how far over 6" it might get and how often. But I'll take a bit of a stab at it.

As for mowing, the Saber you have will mow about as fast as the BX, the BX probably won't shave a lot of time off the task. )

I live in South Central PA. We get a fair amount of snow.

As for mowing speed, the Saber only has a 42 inch deck. The Super A I'm getting rid of has a 60 inch deck. When I used the A it took me just under 2 hours of mowing, including using the Saber for some of the tight work near the house.

Will_C · Apr 25, 2004

Alfonzo; I think a BX would be a fine choice for you. I agree with Bob about the benefits of a snow blower, but I use a FEL to plow snow, and do ok. A blower would be a great implement, but it is not finacially possible for me. I would certainly buy an FEL instead of a blower if your $ are limited, like mine. good luck on your search.
Will