First real day on new BX25D... need encouragement!

[dragoneggs]

Go straight up and down hills and keep your bucket as low to the ground as possible while traveling :thumbsup:

Hello Waxman, I have been following your new ride thread. Jealous. A little (a lot) warmer in the NW in the winter, so no cab needed but it is sweet. Thanks for chiming in. Believe me... low and slow is already beaten into my head. Better change my avatar quickly. Too bad it's dark out. Maybe I should post a pic of my baby sleeping?

 

[Grandad4]

Okay, I finally had a chance to get my new BX25D dirty today. :licking: Full disclosure first. This is my first tractor (other than a JD riding lawnmower). I have a sloping some places very steep 1.5 acre of which about 1acre freshly cleared property. Soil is very rocky. I will post some pics of the property and my challenges soon but my mission is to terrace and put in quite a bit of stone wall bulkheads. Make a gravel road down to lower property (already very rough cut by excavator), and dig a 250ft long or so ditch for a buried water line for garden and Rain Bird irrigation system. Then finish landscaping with planting orchard trees, berries, large vegetable garden, and some grass. I have a huge berm of cleared trees, debri, etc. on the low side of the clearing left by the hired excavator.

After doing much reading on TBN I outfitted the tractor with 2in rear and 1.5in front wheel spacers from Bro Tek and also installed the rear and front skid plates last night. That went pretty well. Today I spent a couple hours putzing around trying not to roll the machine and kill myself on Day 1. My main goal today was just to get used to using the FEL and BH. I started to get used to the BH and admit that was a lot of fun but I didn't get much accomplished. I struggled using the FEL and I think that had a lot to do with positioning. I seem to always be traversing the slope where I could... trying to make it level (roll wise). Not sure I am explaining my predicament well yet but I could sure use some tips and encouragement!!! :confused3:

Consider your first experience with the BX an unqualified success. You walked away unscathed (remember the old one about successful landings?) and your trusty BX lives to work for you another day. Seat time is going to give you a sense of how to get things done. Here are just some random thoughts:
1. Obviously the BX is a little fellow. You won't simply bulldoze your way through heavy material but with persistence and creativity, it's downright amazing what such a machine can accomplish.
2. You've figured out that it can get tippy on slopes and with weight in the loader bucket. The suggestion about loaded tires is a good one.
3. The FEL controls are a bit abrupt and it takes some practiced skill to operate the bucket smoothly. While the BX likes to be revved up, it helps to dial the rpm's back a little as you're getting the hang of the FEL controls. Slows the action down a bit.
4. Dirt work using the FEL is considerably enhanced with the installation of a toothbar. Stands up better to rocks, etc. also.
5. Use low range for any heavy work.
Keep up the good work!

 

[dragoneggs]

Consider your first experience with the BX an unqualified success. You walked away unscathed (remember the old one about successful landings?) and your trusty BX lives to work for you another day. Seat time is going to give you a sense of how to get things done. Here are just some random thoughts:
1. Obviously the BX is a little fellow. You won't simply bulldoze your way through heavy material but with persistence and creativity, it's downright amazing what such a machine can accomplish.
2. You've figured out that it can get tippy on slopes and with weight in the loader bucket. The suggestion about loaded tires is a good one.
3. The FEL controls are a bit abrupt and it takes some practiced skill to operate the bucket smoothly. While the BX likes to be revved up, it helps to dial the rpm's back a little as you're getting the hang of the FEL controls. Slows the action down a bit.
4. Dirt work using the FEL is considerably enhanced with the installation of a toothbar. Stands up better to rocks, etc. also.
5. Use low range for any heavy work.
Keep up the good work!

Thank you Grandad... jeez, that sounds funny, but I heed your advice. I am the patriarch in my family now as my fathers have moved on. Miss them.

Yes, I was a bit disappointed with the FEL 'out of the box' and definitely noticed how lower revs will make that a little more smooth. I am not trying to do too much but the jerkiness is not fun.

I was definitely thinking about a tooth bar after seeing the many accessories available. Any advice on brand? How easy to install? Are we talking about drilling holes, welding? I have only briefly looked at one... Piranha tooth bar from BXpanded. I would be using only for dirt work, gravel, etc. no brush. That was taken care by the excavation work I had done. On the other hand, if I don't figure out how to manage the slope, the brush and maples will be back! Photo is looking down from my deck. Steeper than it appears.

 

[Dr Dave]

What a beautiful view! The BX is nice too.:laughing:

Dave

 

[dragoneggs]

What a beautiful view! The BX is nice too.:laughing:

Dave

Thank you... no complaints :cool2: The reason why we bought the place... a million dollar view and why I have to keep it cleared!

 

[TripleR]

Great advice by all on which I can't improve, agree beautiful view. As to maintenance, JOHNTHOMAS has a good thread on initial maintenance and ongoing maintenance on these things is really easy, we have had a BX for 10 years and only had one service done at the dealer when I was too sick to do it.

Kubota BX Service

 

[radioman]

If you are having trouble trying to make dirt level when you cut into soil with FEL, Slow down/stop and think about your rear tires. which side is lower? IE: if right side is lower, your are going to cut deeper on right side regardless what your front tires are doing. The front has little impact, but with some understand you can tweak how to do your FEL with from experience using both front and back - but the plane of the rear axle ALWAYS wins on how the FEL scoops, cuts, backdrag, etc.

Quite often you are better off using backhoe leveling off with stabilizers on steep hills to START your terracing and get level area big enough for the whole tractor, then you can start using fel to smooth out the path. If it too steep, I would point FEL downhill and anchor yourself with fel jammed in ground then use BH. Careful here though - if you have too many rocks, you cant cut in and anchor your self. Not a good place to be and you could have a wild ride down to bottom and who knows what will happen.

 

[3v0]

Quite often you are better off using backhoe leveling off with stabilizers on steep hills to START your terracing and get level area big enough for the whole tractor, then you can start using fel to smooth out the path. If it too steep, I would point FEL downhill and anchor yourself with fel jammed in ground then use BH....

Agree 100%.

 

[JOHNTHOMAS]

First read this thread. Do your own Fluids and Filters on a BX - Page 19
I have about 5 acres of hillside and have been Kubotaing it for about 10 years. Started with a BX2200 FEL MMM and after a year of discovering the Kubota sub compact is to close to the ground but is a real tractor not just a lifetime mower I moved to the B7800 for the extra uumph and mostly ground clearance. I also did a lot of moving up, down and crossways in size in the BXs, Bs and one L. The L on hillsides was scary for me. I had a BX25 for almost 3 years, I think, and it was my most used and most missed tractor of all. I did lay it on its side one time and almost turned it over many times. Scary when you almost do and a bit more scary when you or me actually did.
You can't cut a level road on a hillside with a front bucket easily and almost not at all with a tractor. That's why dozers have blades that will tilt at all different angles plus they are more stable on hillsides. I've paid for some of my hillside excavation (road building across steep hillside) to be done and only cost a few hundred dollars for a few hours work that would have taken me scary weeks or months to do. Well spent money.
You can do level roads on a hillside using the BH in lots and lots of time. Place your tractor in position, get stabilized and start digging with the BH and cut the upper side down as far as your BH bucket will reach and then you can scoop it up and spread it with the front bucket and move and do it again. That's the best way I've found on steep hillside to make it level. With the tractor and FEL the bucket is angled the same way as the tires on the ground which if sloped, the bucket will be sloped. Sometimes you can do your cut with the BH and then get your wheels on level ground that you made and then go forward with the front bucket cutting the angled hillside.
NEVER push your bucket down on a sloped hillside that has ANY under cut on the slope. It will turn your tractor on its side before oyu can let go of the control stick. If you want to see pics of a BX on it's side from doing that on a not real steep slope I can post them.
The BH and FEL make your tractor even more unstable soooo be careful at all times and don't even start it without your seat belt on.
Don't mean to discourage you but want to help save your life, limb and tractor.:thumbsup:

 

[joebrocato]

Filling tires. Get a bleeder valve from any tractor supply store. Jack up the tractor so the rear tire is clear of the floor. Remove the air valve from the stem. Rotate the tire until the stem is at 12:00. Attach the bleeder to the stem and a garden hose. Use a funnel to fill the hose with anti-freeze. Attach the hose to the hose bibb and fill the tire. The tire will fill to about 2/3 full of water which is about what the kubota recommendation is.
I got my front tires filled solid with rubber at the tire place. They are heavier than water filled, but there is quite a sacrifice in smoothness of ride and some traction. Mine are turf tires, but I think that if they were industrial or ag tires the traction would not be affected as much. I would not do this if I had loose or rocky soil because of the traction.
My place sounds much similar to yours, a lot of side-hill mowing. It takes some practice. Be carefull with the bucket, and wear the seat belt. I have had some very exciting experiences on hills with a load on the bucket....BE CAREFUL. Before you try something, think it through.