2520 appropriate size tractor?

[DMax2210]

I'll tell you how difficult it is next winter Really though, I don't think the blower sticks out off the front really any farther than the loader does. Haven't measure that...hmmm..... Also, as far as weight goes, the manual says it weighs 250lbs, probably another 50 lbs for the hitch components. I referred to JD's compact tractor ballast calculator, but the only front attachment option available to choose from is a loader. So either that is JD's way of saying you don't need ballast or the calculator is designed mostly for rear attachments!

 

[Gizmo2]

Bottom line. If you have the FEL you need some kind of rear ballast.
Using my 6 ft front snow blade and no rear ballast I'm not doin nothin.

 

[VTtractorguy]

Not to mention that the garage looks huge too. I am somewhat jealous myself.

What size is that garage?

The garage is 26' wide and 36' deep. It's really a three bay garage with the third bay (with it's oversized door) in the rear for the tractor. There is enough space for two cars, a 2520 (when I get one) a work bench area, all my tools & ladders, a large ski rack on one wall and 6 cords of firewood in a containment structure at the outer sidewall. It's fully insulated with 6" walls and finished with sheetrock. I haven't put a heater out there yet, but when I do it will be toasty. I'm not sure if heated garages are good for cars covered with salt-laced snow in the winter... any thoughts?

All our previous houses had rather small garages (or no garage at all) and I was determined to have some space. Funny thing is, I want more. You get spoiled. I could have a five bay garage and still want more. I really want a barn now. But at this point, the tractor comes first

 

[dannyk]

Hmmm - Using a snow blade to push and a loader to lift are different than driving a tractor through snow with a snow blower. I'll see what the dealer has to say about ballasting the blower. Where I live, a loader and blade are pretty useless in the winter. I'd say the loader is useful up to 5 months of the year, the snowblower potentially for five months, and the rest is mud season during which the tractor gets parked.

I know what you mean about loader ballast though. Once I picked up 2000 lbs of stone with my L39, flipped the tractor which landed on my head, and I haven't been able to think straight since!

Danny

 

[DMax2210]

Bottom line. If you have the FEL you need some kind of rear ballast.
Using my 6 ft front snow blade and no rear ballast I'm not doin nothin.

Couldn't agree more Gizmo2 - when using the FEL ballast is a must! I've had the rear tires leave the ground in the past, shortly after thinking "I just need to use the loader for a minute to move this giant pile of gravel, surely I don't need to take the time to put on the box scraper for ballast..." I've learned you only have that thought once or maybe twice before you never have that same thought again! :ashamed:

 

[DMax2210]

The garage is 26' wide and 36' deep. It's really a three bay garage with the third bay (with it's oversized door) in the rear for the tractor. There is enough space for two cars, a 2520 (when I get one) a work bench area, all my tools & ladders, a large ski rack on one wall and 6 cords of firewood in a containment structure at the outer sidewall. It's fully insulated with 6" walls and finished with sheetrock. I haven't put a heater out there yet, but when I do it will be toasty. I'm not sure if heated garages are good for cars covered with salt-laced snow in the winter... any thoughts?

All our previous houses had rather small garages (or no garage at all) and I was determined to have some space. Funny thing is, I want more. You get spoiled. I could have a five bay garage and still want more. I really want a barn now. But at this point, the tractor comes first

I've heard mixed comments about heating a garage and the effects of the salt on your vehicles... My thoughts - Last year I moved into a new home with 3 heated garage bays. I debated a bit if I should keep them warm or not, but after a few days of cold in the garage and seeing the heaters sitting quietly up on the walls, I quickly decided that I'd run the heat! One theory I heard and like, is that as long as you keep it warm enough so that the vehicles dry off after the snow has melted the damage potential is minimized. Any value to that theory?? Beats me... I also try to keep them washed or at least hosed off, once or twice a week. Another nice benefit of a heated garage!

 

[VTtractorguy]

I've heard mixed comments about heating a garage and the effects of the salt on your vehicles... My thoughts - Last year I moved into a new home with 3 heated garage bays. I debated a bit if I should keep them warm or not, but after a few days of cold in the garage and seeing the heaters sitting quietly up on the walls, I quickly decided that I'd run the heat! One theory I heard and like, is that as long as you keep it warm enough so that the vehicles dry off after the snow has melted the damage potential is minimized. Any value to that theory?? Beats me... I also try to keep them washed or at least hosed off, once or twice a week. Another nice benefit of a heated garage!

Good thoughts. I think the bottom line is that sooner or later the snow/salt is going to melt and work its way into the nooks & crannies of the car (on a warm winter day, etc.) whether or not the car is kept in a heated garage. So maybe there is the advantage for the cars (and tractor!!) drying off in the heated space.

BTW, DMax, what type of heaters do you have? Electric or gas? I can easily put in electric and maybe gas as well. What is the lease expensive way to heat?

 

[DMax2210]

Good thoughts. I think the bottom line is that sooner or later the snow/salt is going to melt and work its way into the nooks & crannies of the car (on a warm winter day, etc.) whether or not the car is kept in a heated garage. So maybe there is the advantage for the cars (and tractor!!) drying off in the heated space.

BTW, DMax, what type of heaters do you have? Electric or gas? I can easily put in electric and maybe gas as well. What is the lease expensive way to heat?

I'm using hot water coils that are just another zone off my heating system in the house. There are two of them, one heats the front section of the garage, which is 2 bays (roughly 30x30), and then the back section of the garage is a single bay but it's own room (about 15x30) - that has its own heater and thermostat as well. They are a Modine-type heater but were made by a local heating contractor. From what I've been told they are each rated at about 90,000 BTU's and will bring the temperature up very quickly if you want it warmer for washing or other projects. The downside, that much output between the two of them will keep the oil boiler in the house running constantly until the zone(s) satisfy!

A bit more detail - they are both fed with one pair of 1" copper from the house into the attached garage space, and then are T'd off and each heater has a zone-valve so only one circulator and run of copper could still feed two separate garage zones. I've been very happy with the setup. I'm not sure as I'd call this the least expensive way to heat, especially with oil. Around February I put in a coal boiler in the house so that is what I finished off heating with - I was a little less concerned with the cost of heating the garage after I started burning coal. Look forward to next winter's heating bill's compared to the past year with the new boiler!

 

[VTtractorguy]

I'm using hot water coils that are just another zone off my heating system in the house. There are two of them, one heats the front section of the garage, which is 2 bays (roughly 30x30), and then the back section of the garage is a single bay but it's own room (about 15x30) - that has its own heater and thermostat as well. They are a Modine-type heater but were made by a local heating contractor. From what I've been told they are each rated at about 90,000 BTU's and will bring the temperature up very quickly if you want it warmer for washing or other projects. The downside, that much output between the two of them will keep the oil boiler in the house running constantly until the zone(s) satisfy!

A bit more detail - they are both fed with one pair of 1" copper from the house into the attached garage space, and then are T'd off and each heater has a zone-valve so only one circulator and run of copper could still feed two separate garage zones. I've been very happy with the setup. I'm not sure as I'd call this the least expensive way to heat, especially with oil. Around February I put in a coal boiler in the house so that is what I finished off heating with - I was a little less concerned with the cost of heating the garage after I started burning coal. Look forward to next winter's heating bill's compared to the past year with the new boiler!

Sounds like a neat setup! I'm going to investigate gas. I have three 200 gal tanks along the side of the garage that feed our whole-house Kohler stand-by generator. I could easliy punch through the wall and run a line to a heater.

We are trying as much as possible to reduce our oil usage. We have base-board radient heating and a zone off the boiler for domestic hot water. I'm seriously thinking of putting solar water collection panels on the roof which would take care of most of our domestic needs. Last season we used 650 gal. of oil - mostly for domestic hot water. We are able to heat pretty much the whole house with our Jotul woodstove all winter (6-7 cord/yr). So if I can take the burdon off the furnice for hot water, we may get by only using a couple hundred gal. THAT would be nice.

 

[dannyk]

Personally I would not heat my garage, but that is related to my climate. When I drive home through the snow at night, the fenders and underbelly of the car are full of snow and salt. If I heat the garage, all this all falls off overnight and I have a flood the next morning to take care of. Whereas, if the garage stays below freezing, all that stuff stays on the car, and is hopefully deposited in a parking lot some day when the temperature goes above freezing.

 

[TripleR]

When we built our house fifteen years ago, we had them run regular heating/AC vents into our garage. We were told it would not work and was a waste of time and money. Our garage does not stay as warm as the house, but never gets below about 45-50 degrees. We love having our vehicles in a heated garage. I use to keep mine in an unheated one and the car and truck seem to like it.

It sure makes doing maintenance on them a lot more enjoyable.

 

[DMax2210]

Personally I would not heat my garage, but that is related to my climate. When I drive home through the snow at night, the fenders and underbelly of the car are full of snow and salt. If I heat the garage, all this all falls off overnight and I have a flood the next morning to take care of. Whereas, if the garage stays below freezing, all that stuff stays on the car, and is hopefully deposited in a parking lot some day when the temperature goes above freezing.

Agreed danny... I'm in northern Maine and can attest to the large amounts of snow that a vehicle can hold! Howerver my garage has a floor drain in it so all of the snow melts and runs down the drain - next morning I have a car, truck and tractor free of snow. Excellent point though, if you're going to heat the garage in a snowy climate, there really needs to be a drain! Then there's the issue of having your garage floor protected so the salt doesn't destroy THAT.... It's always something...

 

[VTtractorguy]

Agreed danny... I'm in northern Maine and can attest to the large amounts of snow that a vehicle can hold! Howerver my garage has a floor drain in it so all of the snow melts and runs down the drain - next morning I have a car, truck and tractor free of snow. Excellent point though, if you're going to heat the garage in a snowy climate, there really needs to be a drain! Then there's the issue of having your garage floor protected so the salt doesn't destroy THAT.... It's always something...

When I built this house 6 years ago, they wouldn't put a floor drain in either my garage or basement saying it is illegal. They said toxic chemicals can potentially get into the environment. I was not a happy camper about that. The only time it would get used is if a pipe burst or water in the garage from washing the cars. Now I have to wash my cars six feet outside of the garage letting the water drain onto the driveway

I envy you guys who have them.

 

[hink10]

When we built our house fifteen years ago, we had them run regular heating/AC vents into our garage. We were told it would not work and was a waste of time and money. Our garage does not stay as warm as the house, but never gets below about 45-50 degrees. We love having our vehicles in a heated garage. I use to keep mine in an unheated one and the car and truck seem to like it.

It sure makes doing maintenance on them a lot more enjoyable.

Just curious, isn't that against code to have heat ducts running from inside the house to the garage? The fumes and gases can get in the house through the vents. Maybe I misunderstood your post.

Anyway, I love my heated garage. I installed a high efficiency furnace hanging from the ceiling. I have a diesel truck and I keep the garage at 50 degrees all winter. Sure, the floor puddles up some, but I just squeegee that out. I do need to protect the concrete floor however, I may paint it this summer. Wish I had a floor drain! I've kept my truck in a heated garage for years, never had any rust issues. It tends to dry up pretty quickly.

 

[dannyk]

For the record, JD dealer says either wheel weights or ballast box will work with the front snowblower. This was my original question and does not relate to FEL use.

Actually though I will probably go with the iMatch and the ballast box, as that seems the easier route to take. There was some discussion at the dealer as to whether the iMatch will work with the ballast box on the 2520. Anyone know?

Danny

 

[kennyd]

There was some discussion at the dealer as to whether the iMatch will work with the ballast box on the 2520. Anyone know?

Danny

Absolutely, 100%, definitely YES-it will work perfectly.

 

[DMax2210]

Just curious, isn't that against code to have heat ducts running from inside the house to the garage? The fumes and gases can get in the house through the vents. Maybe I misunderstood your post.

Anyway, I love my heated garage. I installed a high efficiency furnace hanging from the ceiling. I have a diesel truck and I keep the garage at 50 degrees all winter. Sure, the floor puddles up some, but I just squeegee that out. I do need to protect the concrete floor however, I may paint it this summer. Wish I had a floor drain! I've kept my truck in a heated garage for years, never had any rust issues. It tends to dry up pretty quickly.

My system is hot water so I'm not actually exchanging any air with the house, but what you say would make sense. I don't know as I've ever seen a hot air system feeding a garage, that does sound like it could spell trouble!

 

[DMax2210]

For the record, JD dealer says either wheel weights or ballast box will work with the front snowblower. This was my original question and does not relate to FEL use.

Actually though I will probably go with the iMatch and the ballast box, as that seems the easier route to take. There was some discussion at the dealer as to whether the iMatch will work with the ballast box on the 2520. Anyone know?

Danny

Thanks for the info - great to know how JD recommends it be done! I wasn't planning to keep the box blade on this winter for snowblowing but it sounds like I need to rethink my plan!

 

[grainger12002]

Hello Tractorguy,
You would enjoy the 2520,its a great tractor,and its a great fit for your spread- we here in CT are also taxed to the hill, once my son is through school,I am looking elsewhere....