Curious if BX23S seems appropriate? .58 Acre, Many Projects

[Chevca]

This thought process began when I realized my sunroom has sunk due to a drainage issue I thought I fixed last year. The problem with my house and really most in my area is the soil seems to be mostly clay so water collects very easily. Plus for whatever reason block is used in most older home construction up until about the '80s as I understand it, which is what my house has and it can move when water gets behind it, so keeping water away is sort of crucial.

So the first big project I have is each and every downspout needs to be drained away from the house, to the street with french drains. At the same time, the back corner of my lot is a low spot that needs to be drained either to the street, with a dry well, or possibly a combination (still trying to research this). My rough calculations for the ditches that would need to be dug are about 200 feet total. One thing I am uncertain about with those trenches is the house had a septic or mound system at one time, but that was at least disconnected because it is on public sewer and has been since I moved in, my fear is somewhere in my yard are remnants of that system, but don't really know for sure.

So while the above would be a lot of large single-time projects I also have some reoccurring work. I have what I consider a fair number of large planter spaces, basically areas with various plants scattered all around my yard. For reference getting these cleaned out by someone professionally is about $1800 which is more than what it cost last year.

Some smaller items that I have thought about is I have a small utility trailer that my current lawn tractor can move but makes a lot of noise when I do, it is well within what the BX is rated for and I am thinking the lawn tractor may be on borrowed time each time I use it to move the trailer.

So curious if this application seems like one that would make sense for this machine? Any other thoughts would be great as well as I am sort of back and forth on whether this makes sense?

 

[fried1765]

This thought process began when I realized my sunroom has sunk due to a drainage issue I thought I fixed last year. The problem with my house and really most in my area is the soil seems to be mostly clay so water collects very easily. Plus for whatever reason block is used in most older home construction up until about the '80s as I understand it, which is what my house has and it can move when water gets behind it, so keeping water away is sort of crucial.

So the first big project I have is each and every downspout needs to be drained away from the house, to the street with french drains. At the same time, the back corner of my lot is a low spot that needs to be drained either to the street, with a dry well, or possibly a combination (still trying to research this). My rough calculations for the ditches that would need to be dug are about 200 feet total. One thing I am uncertain about with those trenches is the house had a septic or mound system at one time, but that was at least disconnected because it is on public sewer and has been since I moved in, my fear is somewhere in my yard are remnants of that system, but don't really know for sure.

So while the above would be a lot of large single-time projects I also have some reoccurring work. I have what I consider a fair number of large planter spaces, basically areas with various plants scattered all around my yard. For reference getting these cleaned out by someone professionally is about $1800 which is more than what it cost last year.

Some smaller items that I have thought about is I have a small utility trailer that my current lawn tractor can move but makes a lot of noise when I do, it is well within what the BX is rated for and I am thinking the lawn tractor may be on borrowed time each time I use it to move the trailer.

So curious if this application seems like one that would make sense for this machine? Any other thoughts would be great as well as I am sort of back and forth on whether this makes sense?

If you can afford it, it makes TOTAL sense!
You will find all sorts of additional uses as well.

 

[Rdrcr]

^^^^
Many times agreed.

Mike

 

[jeff9366]

 

[rademamj1]

The BX23S can certainly handle anything you need to do, just will be doing it much more slowly than a large tractor. Since it's a true TLB, it should hold its value very well over time.

My thoughts on a potentially buried septic system after your house was moved to a municipal sewer system, is nobody typically digs out the old septic tank and drainage fields. You can probably spot minor surface variations on your lawn caused by the old buried septic system. If you can find the old septic tank and locate the opening, pump out any remaining fluid and proceed to fill it with clean sand, as a safety precaution. The old drainage field is not an issue, as it most likely is down four feet deep, and no french drain will ever go to that depth.

The BX23S midmount mower may actually outperform your basic lawn tractor on mowing the lawn, and also tow any work trailer around your property with ease.

 

[check]

I don’t like the skid steer attachment on the new BX 23S. It reduces the front and loader lifting capacity too much.

 

[Fallon]

That's a small machine, but it's also a small lot. Digging stuff might be a bit slow, but getting a bigger machine in would likely be problematic. Probably a good match.

If you find a septic tank, fill it in & leave it.

SSQA does eat up lift capacity. But I find my pallet forks on more than my bucket. I love being able to swap in 1-2 minutes & find it well worth the capacity tradeoffs. I had/have bigger machines (L3200 & L4060) though so the hit wasn't as bad as a B or BX.

 

[BXer]

I have a BX25. Basically the same thing as a 23S in terms of hp, pto and lift capacity. As others have said, your biggest limitation, with any project, is time. That is not to say get a bigger machine. You still need time, maybe just less of it. The greatest strength of buying any machine is having the ability to use it at any time at a moments notice for any length of time.

I have about an acre property and I would not go to a compact b-series because even the BX size is enough to rut the yard where I need to travel repeatedly and a lot of my projects are on finished yard. If you planned to redo the yard after all this work then a larger machine might be better.

When I purchased my machine, used, it came with the 60 mower deck which I sold off. I would never consider mower a residential yard in a 2000lb machine week after week. Also you would want to remove the loader and backhoe every time you mow. So on and off that stuff needs to go repeatedly. If you had acres of 'field' yard then I'd do it, but still stay away from your proper yard.

 

[Egon]

For a quick fix for the downspouts a rented trencher might work?

 

[Code54]

If you can afford it, do it. I have a much larger tractor, a Mini X and I still use the BX on certain jobs around the house. For your lot size, it will work great and fit a lot of places other machines will not.

 

[rScotty]

Agree on Kubota's TLBs. They are amazing....all of them. Several companies have tried to build a line of compact TLBs, but only Kubota has been successful long term. The big downside that you always see mentioned is the price, but maybe that is because with the TLB they are deliberately marketing top quality more than lower price. If you do get one, see if they offer a hydraulic thumb. That is a very useful feature.

However, unless you plan to also use the BX as a lawn mower you should also check out the B26 TLB. It's quite a bit more machine. If you do go with the BX or the B26 on a lawn, consider that either one can be ordered with turf tires.

As for concrete block construction, I won't even go there. We had one once in a nearby town with clay soil - so I know what you are dealing with when it comes to pressure against the foundation.

It's probably worth your time to study up on how to build a good long-lasting drainage system that can be cleaned out. I've put in several drainage systems to dewater saturated and low areas around our property & others. They all worked well at the start, but after a few years my early designs gradually failed and had to be replaced. There's no substitute for experience, so our later versions work a lot better.
rScotty

 

[AHNC]

I’ve been very pleased with my BX23. ‘I’ve had it for 10 yrs.I had only a couple digs where the tractor was not up to the task. One was a very Bonney hard pack that I simply could not get into. The other was a clay bank taht was hard and again could not break it down. The hoe was moving the machine rather than the other way around. The rented excavator had enough weight to deal with it. I welded hooks on the FEL and the BH bucket which has made rigging things up very simple and much safer. I have a 2660 for mowing, BB, tiler, etc, so the 23 stays in its configuration. Great little machine, very capable and for .5 ac, the right size.

 

[check]

I don’t like the skid steer attachment on the new BX 23S. It reduces the front and loader lifting capacity too much.

I agree. Get Jerry Dunn’s system instead.

 

[check]

Gheez, I just agreed with myself - must be losing it!

 

[scaredychicken]

I absolutely love my BX23S for the multitude of jobs that it can do. It is perfect for my use, and it's capabilities surpass what I dare to do. For a smaller property it is a very nice fit, not overkill. If there are bigger jobs, i know people ... with larger tractors.

 

[civilian]

We have both a BX2230 and a B26TLB backhoe. We love the both and use the accordingly for the job at hand. Even though with 80 acres, we use th BX for mowing the small clearings, snowblowing a 3/8 mile drive, and either hauls the 275 gal water tank to water the newly palnted trees. The backhoe is used for digging holes for trees, digging big rocks out, hauling logs for the sawmill and firewood. Both were used for back filling around the foundtions during construction. Jon