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Reply With QuoteI bought the 2920 w/o the mower for 19000 change. It is a very tough little tractor, and the BH really suprised me. If you can swing it, go with the most tractor you can afford.
Kubota Conundrum...Which Model? 1st of all...I'm really frustrated with trying to decide what's the best model tractor for my situation. I have been looking for 4 months now and I still can't decide. I've read what seems like a million threads on tractor buying but since everyone's situation is a little more unique I figured I'd lay out my planned uses and just have everyone chime in. I've seen several threads where this was done and by the end of it we were all blessed with pictures of a new addition to the family. Also, I hope I don't offend anyone here but, I plan on posting this same topic on other sites as well to be able to get as many different opinions as possible.
By the way, I'm detail oriented so I'll apologize now for being long winded.
My homestead is two 1.4 acre lots (2.8 acres total) located in Texas between Houston and Galveston, and yes, Hurricane Ike recently remodeled my landscaping. One lot has the house on it and the other is clear with an old pole barn on it. I mow the whole thing regularly. I currently have a 54" deck on a regular garden tractor. The 54" deck barely fits between some of the trees I have so I'm trying to stay with that size. The vacant lot that I have was used for animals years ago. The previous owner didn't use it for anything. He just let it go and would only cut it with a bush hog once a year or so. It has A LOT of what I call "coastal hay" that grows at 3-4 times the rate of our San Augustine grass. I hate it. The lot is heavily compacted and has many low spots. I plan on eventually building a house on this property so a BH would probably help out with the site prep (trenching/ stump removal/ and w/ a thumb...) I'm going to try and attach a Google picture of my property so everyone can get a visual. The low areas are pretty apparent.
I also have 21 acres of property (mostly wooded) in East Texas. An old Ford 3000 tractor came with the property. It has the diesel engine and runs good. No power steering, no 4WD, no FEL, no BH, and the 3-Point bleeds down regularly. It works O.K. for using the bush hog up there but that's about it. When I got the place up there 2-3 acres of it looked like Sanford and Son's place. Refrigerators, washing machines, dryers, water heaters, you name it, for as far as the eye could see. I ended up hiring a couple of guys to clear the debris because it was a pretty big liability for me. They brought in a bull dozer and a TLB and hauled all the big stuff off for scrap. All the trash was either pushed into piles or buried... and there it still sits... lots of it.
The tractor I'm looking to buy will predominately be use at my homestead. I need it to be light enough to use as a finish mower but I'd like the capability to use it as a TLB as needed. I do not want to have a tractor AND a lawn mower. I want one to do both jobs. I'm limited on storage space around here and I'm getting tired of maintaining so many engines (garden tractor, push mower, generator, weedeater, chainsaw, and chipper/shredder). I don't plan on hauling this thing to East Texas all the time but it will be needed at times for sure.
I'm a total rookie at tractor operation. I've never owned or operated one (other than trial and error on the Ford in East Texas). Everything I know I learned from the internet. Pretty scary huh?
As of 2 days ago I had convinced myself that the BX25 was the way to go. Then, just as I was about to head to the dealer to seal the deal, doubt crept in. You know, the Pre-Buyers Remorse-Remorse. Am I going to regret the Sub-Compact, I asked myself? I read it about all the time on these threads. Actually, the only thing that I don't like about the Sub-Compact is the fact that the 3-Point sits so low to the ground that you are limited on what 3-Point implements you can hook up to it. Now, do I need to be able to hook up a lot of 3-point implements? Hmmm, maybe not now, but what about the future? For my vacant lot I need to do a lot of grading. I know the BX can do it... but am I going to miss the extra ground clearance when I drag this thing up to East Texas?
I started to look at the next size up from the BX. The 2320, although taller, didn't offer much more than the BX for the money. The B2620 or B2920 would be the only way to go if I "stepped up". I got a price quote today for the B2920 and it sure seemed high compared to the BX25. It looks like Kubota has raised their prices since I started looking back in September.
I got a price quote on the BX25 as follows:
$15,950 w/ R4 tires and 12" Bucket.
$225 for the 3-Point Hitch
$1450 for the 54" Mid Mount Mower.
For an "estimated" $400 more I could get another set of wheels with turf tires. (I think I would use Turfs around here mainly but for serious dirt work and my trips to East Texas I can see the R4's being an asset).
From the same dealer I got a quote on a B2920:
$23,800 w/ Turf Tires, FEL, BH, & 54" Mid Mount Mower.
That seemed high to me. It also left me scratching my head... Main reason is because I don't want to spend that much. $21K - $22K out the door max...and the $22K is pushing it. Maybe a B2620? I can't imagine the price being that much cheaper and the extra PTO HP on the B2920 would be nice to have if needed.
The BX25's price is tempting. I'm just slightly concerned about regretting not getting the "bigger" tractor. This wouldn't be a problem if the B Series Tractors didn't offer up such a small footprint and low weight. I wouldn't even be considering them otherwise. They're basically just ever so slightly larger than the BX25 but they've got that height thing going for them...
Help...
I bought the 2920 w/o the mower for 19000 change. It is a very tough little tractor, and the BH really suprised me. If you can swing it, go with the most tractor you can afford.
Having two properties of dissimilar sizes and different needs means trying to buy one tractor to solve all of your needs means that most of them will NOT be met...Originally Posted by jster804
1st of all...I'm really frustrated with trying to decide what's the best model tractor for my situation. I have been looking for 4 months now and I still can't decide. I've read what seems like a million threads on tractor buying but since everyone's situation is a little more unique I figured I'd lay out my planned uses and just have everyone chime in. I've seen several threads where this was done and by the end of it we were all blessed with pictures of a new addition to the family. Also, I hope I don't offend anyone here but, I plan on posting this same topic on other sites as well to be able to get as many different opinions as possible.
By the way, I'm detail oriented so I'll apologize now for being long winded.
My homestead is two 1.4 acre lots (2.8 acres total) located in Texas between Houston and Galveston, and yes, Hurricane Ike recently remodeled my landscaping. One lot has the house on it and the other is clear with an old pole barn on it. I mow the whole thing regularly. I currently have a 54" deck on a regular garden tractor. The 54" deck barely fits between some of the trees I have so I'm trying to stay with that size. The vacant lot that I have was used for animals years ago. The previous owner didn't use it for anything. He just let it go and would only cut it with a bush hog once a year or so. It has A LOT of what I call "coastal hay" that grows at 3-4 times the rate of our San Augustine grass. I hate it. The lot is heavily compacted and has many low spots. I plan on eventually building a house on this property so a BH would probably help out with the site prep (trenching/ stump removal/ and w/ a thumb...) I'm going to try and attach a Google picture of my property so everyone can get a visual. The low areas are pretty apparent.
I also have 21 acres of property (mostly wooded) in East Texas. An old Ford 3000 tractor came with the property. It has the diesel engine and runs good. No power steering, no 4WD, no FEL, no BH, and the 3-Point bleeds down regularly. It works O.K. for using the bush hog up there but that's about it. When I got the place up there 2-3 acres of it looked like Sanford and Son's place. Refrigerators, washing machines, dryers, water heaters, you name it, for as far as the eye could see. I ended up hiring a couple of guys to clear the debris because it was a pretty big liability for me. They brought in a bull dozer and a TLB and hauled all the big stuff off for scrap. All the trash was either pushed into piles or buried... and there it still sits... lots of it.
I would NEVER admit to that in print on an open forum...You may end being visited by the EPA and fined for creating an unlicensed dump...
The tractor I'm looking to buy will predominately be use at my homestead. I need it to be light enough to use as a finish mower but I'd like the capability to use it as a TLB as needed. I do not want to have a tractor AND a lawn mower. I want one to do both jobs. I'm limited on storage space around here and I'm getting tired of maintaining so many engines (garden tractor, push mower, generator, weedeater, chainsaw, and chipper/shredder). I don't plan on hauling this thing to East Texas all the time but it will be needed at times for sure.
I'm a total rookie at tractor operation. I've never owned or operated one (other than trial and error on the Ford in East Texas). Everything I know I learned from the internet. Pretty scary huh?
As of 2 days ago I had convinced myself that the BX25 was the way to go. Then, just as I was about to head to the dealer to seal the deal, doubt crept in. You know, the Pre-Buyers Remorse-Remorse. Am I going to regret the Sub-Compact, I asked myself? I read it about all the time on these threads. Actually, the only thing that I don't like about the Sub-Compact is the fact that the 3-Point sits so low to the ground that you are limited on what 3-Point implements you can hook up to it. Now, do I need to be able to hook up a lot of 3-point implements? Hmmm, maybe not now, but what about the future? For my vacant lot I need to do a lot of grading. I know the BX can do it... but am I going to miss the extra ground clearance when I drag this thing up to East Texas?
I started to look at the next size up from the BX. The 2320, although taller, didn't offer much more than the BX for the money. The B2620 or B2920 would be the only way to go if I "stepped up". I got a price quote today for the B2920 and it sure seemed high compared to the BX25. It looks like Kubota has raised their prices since I started looking back in September.
I got a price quote on the BX25 as follows:
$15,950 w/ R4 tires and 12" Bucket.
$225 for the 3-Point Hitch
$1450 for the 54" Mid Mount Mower.
For an "estimated" $400 more I could get another set of wheels with turf tires. (I think I would use Turfs around here mainly but for serious dirt work and my trips to East Texas I can see the R4's being an asset).
From the same dealer I got a quote on a B2920:
$23,800 w/ Turf Tires, FEL, BH, & 54" Mid Mount Mower.
That seemed high to me. It also left me scratching my head... Main reason is because I don't want to spend that much. $21K - $22K out the door max...and the $22K is pushing it. Maybe a B2620? I can't imagine the price being that much cheaper and the extra PTO HP on the B2920 would be nice to have if needed.
The BX25's price is tempting. I'm just slightly concerned about regretting not getting the "bigger" tractor. This wouldn't be a problem if the B Series Tractors didn't offer up such a small footprint and low weight. I wouldn't even be considering them otherwise. They're basically just ever so slightly larger than the BX25 but they've got that height thing going for them...
Help...(You will be either over or under tractored on most of your tasks)
Do you already have a truck and trailer to transport a tractor between the properties? Otherwise you have introduced yet another purchase...
For the 21 acres you would like the B2920 better than the BX25...your other option could be to get the BX25 for your 2.8 acre area and to help out the REPAIRED FORD 3000 at the 21 acre segment...
Brother Paul is dead nutz right here. You really do need two very different machines... and if you buy one machine that tries to meet both sets of needs, you will likely end up disappointed. That being said, any of the Kubota machines you mentioned would be a fine machine for your homestead. Personally, I would get the turf tires in your situation, but if a second set of R4 tires is in the budget, what the heck.Having two properties of dissimilar sizes and different needs means trying to buy one tractor to solve all of your needs means that most of them will NOT be met...
I don't see any of those Kubota machines being a really great match for your 21 acre property... although it's not at all clear to me what your eventual plans are for work on that property. Perhaps the old Ford will have to do given your budget restrictions (and believe me - I know all about budget restrictions).
I'm sure you know that you are going first class and paying premium dollars to go "brand new" and with the Kubota brand name. You may wish to consider a "slightly used" machine (or machines) of another, less costly brand... still under warranty, if at all possible.
Dougster™
It's starting to look like the BX25 would be the best choice for my situation. Now I'm beginning to second guess my choice in mower deck size.
I stopped by the dealer today to begin finalizing the deal. I've decided on the BX25 w/ R4 tires, 3-Point Hitch, and 60" mid-mount mower deck. I decided to wait on the additional set of wheels with turf tires and decided to get a box blade instead. The dealer is recommending a 42" stating that it fits on the 3-point better since the 3-point arms aren't as wide as most. From what I've read on the net most are happy with the 48". Will I have a "fit" problem with the 48"? Will I have a problem using the 48" over the 42"? What direction should I go here. The deal goes down this Thursday for a Friday delivery. Currently they've got me down for a 42" but they don't have my money yet...
You should talk to Kevin, he is the Kubota Expert... This sounds a little weird to me. Makes me suspect he has a 42" box blade in stock that he would love to get rid of.
If a $16K to $18K BX25 w/R4's (loaded and/or weighted, I hope) can't handle a 48" box blade, I wouldn't buy a BX25.
Dougster™
I just took a look at Kubota's website. For the new series of BX tractors, including the BX25, they list Landpride box scrapers ranging from 42 to 54 inch for light duty (BB05 series) and 48 inch medium duty (BB15 series). You will have a limited category I hitch, which means simply that it accepts category I implements but is limited in lift height. As long as you stick to implements designed specifically for subcompact tractors with their limited cat I hitch, you should be fine. The BX25 can handle any three point implement any of the other vendors subcompacts can, and implements for subcompacts are available from a number of third party vendors. The best part of LandPride is that Kubota will finance it the same as their own products, which they won't do for other third-party products IIRC.
Good luck with your new baby.
Fred
Just make sure it clears the width of the rear wheels in their widest setting. 42" may do it, 48" definitely will
'08 Kubota L 39, 2006 JD 2520 TLB, 2003 Cub Cadet 3204, 2006 Ford F-550 turbo diesel 4x4 mason dump, Wright Standers 52" mower, and a ton of attachments!
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