Buying Advice Advice wanted BX or ZD machine

[connor77]

Newbie here. Have read tons and learned plenty. Would like people's opinions on an upcoming purchase I need to make.

Here are the details:

* Small property (compared to many) - about an acre of mowing
* Some fairly large beds that need to be mulched yearly - estimate I put down 10yds per year
* Some areas of my lawn I'd like to redo - bumpy, poorly graded, look like crap so I'm thinking of renting sod cutter and re-grading and re-seeding approx 5k sq ft
* Parents are close by and have large property where my father and I will harvest some trees to cut/split for firewood. Maybe do this once every two years. Would be helpful to have a machine to potentially drag some small stuff down a hill to our splitter (or bring splitter to the wood). Parent's lot is hilly and trees are in the back of the property where it's hilly.

Issue: Do I buy a BX series tractor with FEL and MMM and use the FEL on a very limited basis or do I rent machines for some of these one or two time jobs and buy a zero turn mower which is what I'll do primarily (mow mostly).

I've recently sold a tractor that I could pull an aerator and dethatcher behind and I wonder if I'd miss the utility of the tractor if I bought a zero turn machine. Don't know what attachments are available for zero turns.

For what it's worth my lot is oddly shaped and I spend lots of time turning my tractor - not a huge deal but a zero turn would easily save me 20 minutes each time mowing.

Anybody bought a tractor and wish they bought a zero turn or vice versa?

Thoughts? Thanks in advance....

 

[Ken45101]

Anybody bought a tractor and wish they bought a zero turn or vice versa?

Well, we have used a 27 hp tractor (Kubota B2710) with mid mount mower for ten years. Originally it was bought when I had about 7 acres to mow. But in recent years, it's been about an acre to mow (and 35 acres of pasture for the bush hog on the big tractor).

We have odd areas in the yard with hills, gardens, patio, etc. We spent a lot of time turning the tractor around, not mowing, just getting it turned for the next pass.

We recently bought a zero turn (Kubota ZD323) and wow! What a difference! Mowing is fast and fun. My wife says the yard never looked so good. The only issue for us with the ZT is a couple of steep hills.

You'll have to decide if the multi function of a tractor is of primary importance or not.

For all the different tasks here (35 acres of pasture, 90 acres of woods), I have a multitude of machines.

Ken

 

[korydz]

I have a BX2660 and sixty (yes 60) acres. Don't get me wrong, most of its forest. I mow my lawn with a little Husqvarna mower (garden tractor style) since there are lots of tight spots between the trees. The entire lawn takes me about two hours. I have lots of other space that I maintain with a 4' rotary cutter, about 5 hours worth, but this only needs to be done a few times a year.

I plan to optimize my set up in the near future with a 60" MMM for the BX. This will let me cut the bigger wide open places quickly while sipping diesel (its amazing how much more a small lawnmower burns than a small diesel like the BX) and enjoying my very comfortable tractor. I'll use the little Husqvarna to get in to the tight spots for now, but eventually I think I'll buy a small zero turn. The big Kubota zero turns are great, but bigger and more expensive than this would call for. I'll likely end up with a Husqvarna zero turn. I love their products, the local dealer is superb, and the color fits in with the Kubota stuff nicely .

I would be lost without the utility of my BX. It can never hurt to have a FEL around and you can do almost anything with a PTO and a 3 point hitch. I have a rotary cutter, box scraper, blade, log splitter and a few "custom" pieces. The next on the list is a chipper/shredder.

I would strongly recommend the BX, and if you find it a little tough in the tight spots, you can either rethink your landscaping for easier access or suplement your mowing with a smaller mower for the tight stuff. I hear that there's people out there with these little mowers that you can walk behind...as crazy as it may seem.

 

[radioman]

I see you are from MA, Surely you get alot of snow. How do you currently clear it ? The Bx can help in this dept and the zero turn wouldn't. From the uses you explained, your folks and your porperty the BX makes sense.

 

[Will_C]

One thing I noticed in your post-you have an acre of lawn. It seems that a ZD would be overkill for that amount of mowing. I have a commercial zero turn (I mow a total of 9 acres on three properties), and I agree with Ken that a ZTR is the greatest way to mow.

With an acre of ground, have you considered a lighter duty ZTR? I would think that 3-4thousand dollars would purchase a new residential mower, leaving you a decent piece of change to buy a used tractor. Without the lawn mowing, you might consider a used B series, if you like Kubota. It would be better than a BX for the work at you Father's and the ground work you have planned.

Just my thoughts,

Will

 

[Will_C]

In addition, to respond to your question about regretting a purchase, I never have. I bought a BX in 2000, and did all my work for 7 years with that (for me, it was a great one piece of equipment solution). Last year, I added a ZTR for my mowing, and this year I swapped my BX for a B2620, which I use for FEL work and bush hogging. I am happy to have two machines now.

Will

 

[timswi]

In addition, to respond to your question about regretting a purchase, I never have. I bought a BX in 2000, and did all my work for 7 years with that (for me, it was a great one piece of equipment solution). Last year, I added a ZTR for my mowing, and this year I swapped my BX for a B2620, which I use for FEL work and bush hogging. I am happy to have two machines now.

Will

The zeros are great mowers, but that's all they do. When you spending that kind of money, it's nice to have one machine to do it all. The BX is perfect for cutting less than 4 acres of grass. I uses almost no fuel..The FEL will help you out more than you can imagine. I use mine for all kinds of stuff.

I vote BX.

 

[connor77]

Thanks for all of the advice guys. Ideally, I would buy just one machine. I couldn't fit two in my shed and the boss would likely have me staying in the shed if I were to buy two separate machines.

I don't have a huge driveway so I clear it with an Ariens snowblower that works just fine. Definitely couldn't justify the blower for a BX series as fun as it might be.

It would be interesting to hear how people feel their mid mount mowers perform. Meaning are they happy with the cut. I've considered with a BX series the fine cut deck because I wouldn't be mowing any fields or anything "rough" like that and would like the lawn to look nice. This is also a consideration for thinking about a zero turn mower - the nice job of lifting and cutting the grass that they do.

From the responses a BX seems to be winning and that's how I'm leaning mostly because of its utility. I'm afraid the problem if I get one will be buying every possible attachment for it because it would be cool to have it...

 

[Ken45101]

I'm afraid the problem if I get one will be buying every possible attachment for it because it would be cool to have it...

I know, I'm running out of barn space (and one of the barns is 146' long).

I really don't have all that many attachments....

Ken

 

[Jeff F.]

I intially looked into trading in my old Husky lawn tractor for my BX2660. I kept it for the $700.00 I was going to get. I let my wife use the Husky to get in the smaller places and I of course use the BX with a 60"MMM. I can get closer to the trees with the BX than what she does with the Husky-- maybe cause I don't want to get off the tractor.

In the future, I could see her using a small zero turn or one of the push type mowers.