Big tractor syndrome

ultrarunner · Mar 7, 2014

That's pretty cool for a first job...

Cherokee140 · Mar 7, 2014

ultrarunner said:
That's pretty cool for a first job...

Yea...who would have figured that little machine that can't do anything could pull out that pickup truck AND the trailer. It was a big surprise to me...thinking heh this little machine moving all that weight.

DK35vince · Mar 7, 2014

Cherokee140 said:
Yea...who would have figured that little machine that can't do anything could pull out that pickup truck AND the trailer. It was a big surprise to me...thinking heh this little machine moving all that weight.

I don't recall anyone saying the BX can't do anything. They are a nice little machine.
Many just felt it was a bit small for 13 acres. Personally I still do.

Cherokee140 · Mar 7, 2014

I guess I don't understand what the size of the land has to do with the size of the machine.....still don't, and was one reason I started this thread. Who knows perhaps now that I have this machine I will understand and it might be too small...at this point I really don't know...but at this point I still have a feeling that so much of this is a mine is bigger then yours type of thing. As of now the wife has driven it more then I have at this point.

But to reply to your statement, not flat out in so many words....but in reading between the lines in the public comments, and some of the comments in PM's and on other boards a great many people look at them as toys....and not a "real" tractor....whatever that is, that is another reason for starting this thread.....it seemed to me in my looking that people wanted to push as big of a machine on you as they could...I have x things I want to do, I saw videos showing x (type) things being done....I bought that machine. Now I guess I will see if it will really do that stuff. I hope to get off work early today....might have some updates this weekend.

ultrarunner · Mar 7, 2014

Looking forward to the updates...

The BX will impress for sure.

GManBart · Mar 7, 2014

Cherokee140 said:
it seemed to me in my looking that people wanted to push as big of a machine on you as they could...I have x things I want to do, I saw videos showing x (type) things being done....I bought that machine. Now I guess I will see if it will really do that stuff. I hope to get off work early today....might have some updates this weekend.

Obviously that's an impression, but it certainly didn't appear that anybody was posting anything like that here. Sure, the machine will do the things you saw in the videos, it's just that in some cases, a bigger machine would do a faster/better job of it.

You can put a small bolt in a big vise, but not the other way around. There are even people in this thread that bragged about the machine they had doing everything they needed it to do, and now are starting to say "oh, I have my eyes on an X" which is one or two sizes larger than the machine that "would do it all". I certainly often wish I had at least one size larger tractor. I'd also like to have something the size of a BX for smaller tasks, because it would be handy, so I'm not against any size machine.

k0ua · Mar 7, 2014

Cherokee, I am sure you will be happy with your new machine. It may do everything you want it to do. It would not do everything I would want to do on my 7 acres. However it would do some things that my 2 to 3 times the size tractor will not do. Almost all of us come up against tasks with our tractors that we wish we had a larger one. I have many times. (darn, I sure would like to lift that rock!) Or "leveling out this terrace is taking me 3 days, I sure wish I could get it done today".. But we make do with what we have, and either forget about some projects because we just can't do them or we rent something, or call a neighbor for help or we take all week to do it with a smaller machine. Ideally we would own at least 3 tractors. One the size of yours, one the size of mine, and an undefined "larger one" that will do the things mine won't" It is all relative, to what we want done, the time we have to do it in, and the ingenious work-around's or other solutions we can come up with. They say "brute force and ignorance will prevail", but sometimes there are smarter solutions to a given problem too. Good luck and happy tractoring.:thumbsup:

TripleR · Mar 7, 2014

You asked our opinion and I believe for the most part we answered as honestly and devoid of ego or as you put it, "mine is bigger". As I mentioned, we have three SCUTS and love them; don't view them as toys and agree they will do a lot of work.

You have mentioned your age and physical condition several times, so when I factor that in with distances traveled on thirteen acres, hours in the seat and my own experience with tractors, my calculator just doesn't put a BX at the top of the list. If you go back far enough, you will find posts in which I touted the virtues of he BX, all it would do and all I needed. I used a BX as my primary tractor for years, but got tired of being beaten to death and worn out at the end of the day.

It can be a great companion tractor, but with that much land, it would never be my only tractor.

I hope it works out for you, but if it doesn't just use the JOHNTHOMAS method and trade it in before you lose too much money.

grm61 · Mar 7, 2014

Cherokee140 said:
I am so far real happy....I plan on putting updates in the Kubota section.

Strange enough its first job was to pull the truck and trailer that delivered it out of the mud.

Forgive the bad video quality, I really need to tell the wife to shoot video with the sun BEHIND her.

Ya know the funny thing is...I don't see any mud, or mud on the tires, or anything that a 4x4 pickup would struggle with.:confused3:

TomSeller · Mar 8, 2014

Cherokee140 said:
I am so far real happy....I plan on putting updates in the Kubota section.

Strange enough its first job was to pull the truck and trailer that delivered it out of the mud.

Forgive the bad video quality, I really need to tell the wife to shoot video with the sun BEHIND her.

YouTube Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bbZrXktQTXU

Nice. Nobody told the BX that it wasn't a big tractor.

jenkinsph · Mar 8, 2014

Cherokee140 said:
I guess I don't understand what the size of the land has to do with the size of the machine.....still don't, and was one reason I started this thread. Who knows perhaps now that I have this machine I will understand and it might be too small...at this point I really don't know...but at this point I still have a feeling that so much of this is a mine is bigger then yours type of thing. As of now the wife has driven it more then I have at this point.

But to reply to your statement, not flat out in so many words....but in reading between the lines in the public comments, and some of the comments in PM's and on other boards a great many people look at them as toys....and not a "real" tractor....whatever that is, that is another reason for starting this thread.....it seemed to me in my looking that people wanted to push as big of a machine on you as they could...I have x things I want to do, I saw videos showing x (type) things being done....I bought that machine. Now I guess I will see if it will really do that stuff. I hope to get off work early today....might have some updates this weekend.

The BX is a good machine imo, very handy getting in close quarters and very versatile. Capable of many operations that will save you a lot of manual labor around your home. As you get some seat time over the next couple of years you will likely get a much better idea of what the size of the machine has to do with the size of the land or project. I don't think any of us intend to mislead you, most of us make recommendations based on our own experiences. I reread your thread this morning while waiting for my trucks block heater to do it's magic. It is easy to see that what you need is lots of seat time, I will be interested is seeing how this plays out after you clock 500 hours or so on the BX. Enjoy your new tractor and take care of it and it will save you a lot of labor around your property.

One of the reasons for rereading the entire thread was your notion that everyone was/is trying to upsell you on the tractor size. I felt after reading through all of this that most replies were very cautious about this and for the most part you received very good advice. By your own admission you don't know what size you need yet you remain very cynical of the advice you received. Nothing wrong with being careful and cautious when seeking information and opinions on an internet forum but it might be in your favor to be a little more receptive to other peoples opinions too.

paulfun9 · Mar 8, 2014

My experience also dictates my answer. I have operated many different tractors the BX included as well as many other machines some the same size as my JD and some bigger. As others have stated seat time defines what you know.

For me the BX ran good but couldn't get near the traction of my JD on dry ground and when I used the same machine to clear the driveway (its a long one) when my JD was down it couldn't get the snow high enough and couldn't plow threw it like my JD does because it couldn't get traction.

Tacking longer to do a job might not be a concern for some but I simply don't have the time and need a machine that can get it done and get me on to other jobs in short order. SO for me a slightly larger machine is my choice and my neighbor who after running both my JD and our other neighbors Kubota when he decided he wanted to dig up some old ( read as BIG) trees because he was having trouble moving them and digging threw some parts of the roots finally admitted what we all knew that the machine was just a tad small for his needs and sold it and got A bobcat (made by Kioti) to replace it.

I do however agree with they can do a lot of work if you have the time and don't rush the job.

Also if there was room in the budget for a second machine it sure would be nice to be able to get into the small places but in the long run it costs less to rent a small machine than it does to rent a big one so I will also let you in on what lead me to buy a machine in the first place. The rental fees add up and when you are the type that never seems to stop doing something they can quickly exceed the difference in price of the bigger machine. Not to mention will the one you need be avail for rent when you have the time to do the job.

bdog · Mar 9, 2014

I have never met anyone who said their tractor was too big and they wished they bought a smaller one but tons of people wish they had a bigger one.

4shorts · Mar 9, 2014

Well it's your lucky day because your meeting a guy here that got a larger tractor that wished he had a smaller one and had to go out and pick up a new BX25-D to get into done tight areas that the Grand L couldn't get to. I could never get a road put through to the back of our property but the BX helped us do it.
Without the BX I couldn't have done what needed to be done and I'm really happy I bought it.

k0ua · Mar 9, 2014

Little tractors have their place, and Large tractors have their place. A man needs both, and oh, it wouldn't hurt to have a medium sized one too!

I would love to have a BX25D

bdog · Mar 9, 2014

I guess in your case it makes sense. If you have a lot of trees or obstacles to maneuver around a smaller tractor could be better in those instances. I was just saying we see thread after thread of people wanting to be able to use larger implements than their tractors can handle.

Where I live there are not trees. My land is wide open. The bigger the tractor the better as it enables me to get more done faster.

k0ua · Mar 9, 2014

bdog said:
I guess in your case it makes sense. If you have a lot of trees or obstacles to maneuver around a smaller tractor could be better in those instances. I was just saying we see thread after thread of people wanting to be able to use larger implements than their tractors can handle.

Where I live there are not trees. My land is wide open. The bigger the tractor the better as it enables me to get more done faster.

Yes we all have different circumstances.. and let me be clear, I did not mean that I wanted a BX as my ONLY tractor, If I wanted that, I would have one. I need a much larger tractor for some of the things I do. Even sometimes larger than the one I have.

Cherokee140 · Mar 9, 2014

I am going to do this short, as I plan on doing a large on going thread on its adventures. As of today it has 9.6 hours on it. We removed a stump that was just driving me crazy. It did take a bit of time and I am sure a larger machine could have done it faster. But you know I am good with the machines abilities. I will likely get the post up today or tomorrow.

But yes I can see as someone said the need for a larger machine....this little guy would never run my bailer....but I have a big old 70 that will do that if I ever need to.

Anyway after about 10 hours I am very happy with the machine. It did everything I asked it to. Busting larger roots took some finesse but that is ok.

Any one last photo of the grapple pulling the stump out of the hole.

Does not look that big in the photo...but it was pretty big.