A Nice Tractor If You're Gentle
Model Year: 2016
This is somewhat of a combination review. First, a review of the tractor itself and second, how it was or was not able to handle my particular needs. What I purchased was a B2650 with a front-end loader, backhoe, rear blade, and 72-inch snow pusher. I've since added SSQA forks, a 65-inch snow blower, LP 1860 bush hog, and post hole digger. My use case is twofold: snowplow for winter parking lots and general purpose landscape and maintenance tasks during the warmer months. Overall, the B2650 is an excellent compact tractor. Fit and finish are top shelf, controls are ergonomically located and it is very comfortable to use for extended periods of time. The maneuverability is also excellent which helps in my particular use case. Where I suffered with was a lack of horsepower. The B2650 with a 72-inch snow pusher worked really well when the snow had low water content. We had over 300 inches this winter and it handled most of it well. Where it struggled, however, was when the snow was wet (i.e. moderate to high water content). In this case, the tractor could barely keep up. Another short coming for this particular use case is the length of the loader arms. They are short (as you would expect) but in snow moving application, short arms limits how high you can pile snow. This is no problem if you have tons of snow storage. It is a major problem if you do not. As for my summer utility tractor needs, the B2650 performed well in most cases. The one severe limitation was its ability to bush hog slopes property. In my case, the high engine temp would turn on after approximately 20 minutes of use, and then I would have to wait for things to cool down. What should have been a 2-hour job turned into an 8-hour job. I also found the loader's lift capacity to be limiting. The loader is rated at 1100 pounds of lift at the pins but I felt the tractor struggled at a much lower weight. The loader's short arms also caused issues when trying to lift heavy items out of the bed of my full-size pickup. Using the backhoe for this task, however, worked well...at least up to 700 pounds, which was the most that I tried to lift. As a result of the tractor's shortcomings, I've had to trade it in for something bigger (more horsepower). Resale value, for a less than 1 year old B2650 was not great. Note: I did put 210 hours on it over 8 months and that is apparently more than most. I was told the average is 75-100 hrs per year. I paid $27,000 for the tractor with backhoe and loader and the resale price was $22,500 and trade-in offer was $19,000. So, is the B2650 a good or even great tractor? I would say absolutely. It does not like to be pushed, however, so light to moderate applications on flat ground should be fine. If you plan to push heavy snow, lift heavy objects or bush hog sloped property then I would highly recommend that you consider a tractor with 40-50 horsepower. Lastly, don't do what I did and buy an undersized tractor for the application and then have to sell within 12-24 months. The loss in resale value hurts. Hope this helps.
Pros: Excellent quality; extremely reliable in all weather conditions; ergonomic operator station, comfortable
Cons: Not appropriate for moderate to heavy snow removal; not a good option for bush hogging on sloped ground unless your just mowing short grass