Buying Advice 2320 or x530

[AKfish]

Reading some of the posts here... is like attending a "Tractor Anonymous" meeting! Folk's are confessing their addictions of buying one machine and then another and another and finally having 2 machines!

I feel right at home!! :drink:

We've got 20 acres and another leased 10 acre hay field. Started out wanting that "one size fits all machine". The Swiss Army knife of tractors; tractor-loader-backhoe.

Bought one - sold it. Too small and not heavy duty enough for tree clearing work.

Bought another one - Bigger. (That's always better!) Too big for mowing... indentations and tire marks after 3-4 mowings in a summer. Wife says - bigger is not always better! :thumbdown:

Bought an X300R. Much better...

Now have 2 machines. :drink:

21 acres... Get a 3320. And we'll be very happy to have you in the fold -- 'cause you'll be back in 2-3 years asking for the latest info on a dedicated mower tractor. :thumbsup:

AKfish

 

[jenkinsph]

I support the view of dedicated mower, dedicated tlb and dedicated tractor without a fel in the way. The tractors that are small enough to mow with are too small to provide enough traction for heavier work. Tractors big enough to start filling in for the heavier work are overkill for lawn mowing.

New buyers it seems come back looking to upgrade on a regular basis around TBN. My middle sized tractors have worked out very well, I need to upgrade the field tractor and lawn mower.:thumbsup:

 

[Rob-D]

Bought another one - Bigger. (That's always better!) Too big for mowing... indentations and tire marks after 3-4 mowings in a summer. Wife says - bigger is not always better! :thumbdown:

........

21 acres... Get a 3320. And we'll be very happy to have you in the fold -- 'cause you'll be back in 2-3 years asking for the latest info on a dedicated mower tractor. :thumbsup:

AKfish

It's the story of my life!

Rob

 

[Rob-D]

Buy a mower and a real tractor - you will look smarter than me. I did the 2210 route. It sucked and I ended up with a 757 ZTR and a 4720. Not saying those are the exact models, etc that you should get but here is the deal. You will probably end up hating the compromise and end up spending more money because you bought the stuff twice.

D.

Smarter than me too! I agree D.

 

[Rob-D]

Glad to know I'm not the only one here whose dealer offered him a corner office and his daughter in marriage!

 

[Magilla1]

Rob in western NC: I live near Afton Mountain, which is a bit east of Waynesboro, Va. If you know some dealer reasonable distance of here who is aching to dump a 2320, let me know! For the dealers I've talked to w/in 45 minutes of here or so, seems like they focus on the small residential applications (ZTRs, riding mowers) and/or the bigger ag applications (e.g., 4000 series and bigger). I'm just a fella with 18 acres of woods and 3 acres of rolling grass, a little garden and a dozen peach trees. I want to play some, mow better, fix my trails, take care of my gravel driveway and occasionally push the snow that suddenly seems to like sunny Virginia. So I'm kinda in between, which is why I'm looking at the 2000 series -- or, following the sage advice of some on this site, perhaps two machines!

 

[bxowner]

I keep stirring things up, but had a new thought that you might want to consider... a FEL equipped 3032e is less expensive than an FEL equipped 2320 and more capable. Unless you have to take off the loader altoghether, people on this site report it's a better loader. You can always drop the bucket off to lose weight or reduce the bouncing effect. You lose a couple of nice features from the 2320, but they are features you may not actually need - i.e. cruise control, split brakes, etc. It might be just the compromise between the models that some have suggested would be appropriate for a 20+ acre homestead. Certainly worth looking at if you're traveling a distance to other JD dealers.

I'm sticking with my comments from last week as far as the mower's concerned... a used x585/595 or x700 series all the way!

I'm impressed that you've been patient - even if it's a function of the dealer not having what you want in stock. But, this homework is saving you money several times over - I can only pass along that if you make the right decision now, you're going to save a bundle later.

 

[AKfish]

I'm just a fella with 18 acres of woods and 3 acres of rolling grass, a little garden and a dozen peach trees. I want to play some, mow better, fix my trails, take care of my gravel driveway and occasionally push the snow that suddenly seems to like sunny Virginia. So I'm kinda in between, which is why I'm looking at the 2000 series -- or, following the sage advice of some on this site, perhaps two machines!

We're all constrained by our individual budgets (and wives..). And quite a bit of the banter back and forth here is "shuckin' and jivein'" but the opinions are certainly an outgrowth of our individual progression thru time owning and using tractors.

The 2000 series is a very good mowing platform and will suffice for moderate field duty. It won't do well replacing a dead peach tree or clearing more woods for a larger garden, bigger lawn/field or expanded orchard or food plots or extending your trails.

A 3000 series would be much better for those types of field work. As bxowner advised - the 3032E (3038E, too) is a very good fit for heavier field work and has many of the features of the 3000 series but with a price within range of the 2000 machines.

With 3 acres of finish lawn to mow - the X360 would give you an affordable mowing platform that would do a great job and likely last 15 years or more.

I haven't "penciled out" what a 3032E and a X360 would cost versus a 2520 with the attachments you'll need but it might be an interesting exercise.

Good luck.

AKfish

 

[Cidertom]

While it has been hinted at, one item for the discussion is the FEL. While the poster refered to the small amount of current use, I can say that once you have a FEL you never go back. You will try things you wouldn't. Being able to get home and do things rather than waiting until you have a full days work to make it worth to rent is priceless. I have two units a 4520 for heavy work, and a 2305 for mowing and light yard work. I would agree that alone a 2305 will be out tasked on 20+ acres (unless it is all lawn). Look at the height and the clearance issues.

 

[Artesia Aggie]

Ok for what is worth I just went through some of this recently. So here goes.

The 2320 with a 200cx loader is about $1,000 less than a 3032E with a 305 loader. The 2520 with a 200cx is about $1,000 more than the 3032E.

However, if you are putting 4' implements, in my case a rotary cutter and tiller, on the 2520 and 5' on the 3032E the cost of the implements starts favoring the smaller tractor.

For example the 4' rotary cutter was $300 less than the 5'.

This is all based on the assumption that both the 2520 and the 3032E will do the job for you and as has been mentioned there are a lot of people who buy small and trade for larger.

Also, I decided not to get rid of my JD317 lawn tractor for mowing. It is old but still runs great and the more I looked at this the more I decided two machines would work better than one for me.