Buying Advice BX2360 vs CS2410 for 60% mowing

[unbidden]

That price was the initial Kioti quote as financed at 0% for 60 mos. The cash price is now $13,000, before taxes.

Say what made you decide to go with the BX2660 instead of the 23? Just curious if you have compared it to the performance of the 23.

With the length of our gravel drive I felt at some point I wished I had the extra HP's for plowing. Also there was a 60" RFM left on the property when we bought, the 2660 has a bit more HP to the rear pto. Don't know if I really needed the extra, but didn't want to second guess myself.

 

[94BULLITT]

With the length of our gravel drive I felt at some point I wished I had the extra HP's for plowing. Also there was a 60" RFM left on the property when we bought, the 2660 has a bit more HP to the rear pto. Don't know if I really needed the extra, but didn't want to second guess myself.

Plus you got a reclining seat.

 

[unbidden]

Plus you got a reclining seat.

Oh yeah, almost took that for granted. That seat does make a big difference when on the tractor mowing for 3 hours.

 

[TripleR]

FWIW, we have a 10 year old BX2200 that has had no mechanical problems not caused by operator error, bent tie rods, broken lights, HST fan (don't loan equipment out), so we don't worry about warranty as we have had five Kubotas and still own four that have had no warranty work done. As mentioned though, you have to know the used machine such as record of maintenance which we got with our one used Kubota.

Our BX2200 has bar tires and our BX2660 has R4 neither of which tear the yard up and give good traction, I don't care for turf tires as my experience with them on other machines on wet grass and wet soil has not been good; works for some just not me, but we have a lot of hills; no desire to get another tire debate.

I can't say a Kubota is better than anything else as Kioti and others have a good reputation and I just have no first hand experience with them. We do love the seat on the BX2660 and additional power, but the cost is higher, each buyer has to decide what is best for them.

Good luck shopping and try them all before deciding.

 

[CLeman]

Thanks for all the advice - I'm leaning more towards the Kubota mostly because the Kioti has NH roots - a strike against it in my book. Would be interesting to know how much Kioti changed when they bought the tooling. From reading the forums Kioti has a great reputation.

I do hope to try both of them next weekend before making a final decision. We've pretty much decided to go with a new unit for the warranty but also for the extra life. For the small difference in price it's very hard to pass up a new machine.

Without starting a tire debate, what exactly is the difference between R4 and bar tires? I've given up the idea of turfs based on dealer advice and several of the replies in this forum, considering the road bank we will have to navigate.

 

[TripleR]

Here is our BX2200 with bar tires. The only time we can tell any difference is in mud and we try to stay out of that, so for us the R4 tires work well and have them on our BX2660, John Deere 2305 and L5740.

 

[3v0]

Found this in a 2006 posting



As I see it the ag and R4's should put more power on loose dry ground, like a field, before breaking loose. If you are not working in loose dirt turfs will do the job.

Wet ground is a different thing and I need an excuse to post this picture.

We really have not seen enough rain here to get the BX stuck since I got it. An honestly if it gets that wet I have to have a darn good reason to not leave it parked. I have turfs but I expect I would have been happy with any of the 3.

 

[CLeman]

Thanks!

 

[Gary Fowler]

Thanks for all the advice - I'm leaning more towards the Kubota mostly because the Kioti has NH roots - a strike against it in my book. Would be interesting to know how much Kioti changed when they bought the tooling. From reading the forums Kioti has a great reputation.

I do hope to try both of them next weekend before making a final decision. We've pretty much decided to go with a new unit for the warranty but also for the extra life. For the small difference in price it's very hard to pass up a new machine.

Without starting a tire debate, what exactly is the difference between R4 and bar tires? I've given up the idea of turfs based on dealer advice and several of the replies in this forum, considering the road bank we will have to navigate.

I think you are reading Kioti wrong on NH connection. None of the Big 4 tractor dealers make their own SCUT or CUT. They rebadge them from real manufacturers like Kioti, LS, Mahindra etc. Some of the small JD's are made in China but I don't recall who makes them. Kioti didn't buy the tooling from NH, they made the tractor for NH to sell under the NH name. LS Mtron was making Case and McCormick tractor but got a contract to make the NH boomer series so Kioti took up the Case series of small tractors. Kioti, Kubota, Mahindra and LS I think are the only sellers that make their entire line themselves.

 

[DK35vince]

I think you are reading Kioti wrong on NH connection. None of the Big 4 tractor dealers make their own SCUT or CUT. They rebadge them from real manufacturers like Kioti, LS, Mahindra etc. Some of the small JD's are made in China but I don't recall who makes them. Kioti didn't buy the tooling from NH, they made the tractor for NH to sell under the NH name. LS Mtron was making Case and McCormick tractor but got a contract to make the NH boomer series so Kioti took up the Case series of small tractors. Kioti, Kubota, Mahindra and LS I think are the only sellers that make their entire line themselves.

It is my understanding that this subcut model was originally made by Shibaura for NH.
Kioti recently bought the tooling from Shibaura to build the 2410

 

[simoutdoors]

Thanks for the input, sim.

What about climbing a decent grade (picture driving up a highway bank about 10 feet high) with turfs? Would it be best to remove the loader for that scenario?

Yes it will climb that fine, but I wouldn't do that on a wet day. If you are mowing remove the loader, with the loader off the BX a very nimble mowing machine. The loader goes on and off really easy if you have a level spot to set it.

 

[kiotiken]

It is my understanding that this subcut model was originally made by Shibaura for NH.
Kioti recently bought the tooling from Shibaura to build the 2410

That's my understanding as well. If you look at the CS2410, it doesn't have the same shared design traits as the CK, DK and RX lines. I do agree that it's hard to know who really builds what for who and it always seems to be shifting.

 

[CLeman]

Thanks for pointing this out - I should have been a little more specific about the TZ/Boomer model rather than lumping everything into one big NH loaf. I was referring to a few issues that come up on this forum relating to the TZ24, for one example the seat mounting brackets. It seems they may have fixed this now. In general it seems the BX series is farther along on the design evolution cycle and may have the benefit of more years in the field. The TZ/Boomer/CS2410 design is comparitively young from what I gather. But a 5 year warranty is nothing to sneeze at. Kioti seems to be standing behind their product.

Can't wait until the weekend... :licking:

 

[CLeman]

Here's a picture of the triangle of land across the creek, showing the road grade we will need to navigate...

It's the only way to reach it, unless you have suggestions for bridge-building

 

[CLeman]

Here's a picture of the beanfield turned pasture, which has since been seeded with a pasture/alfalfa mix.

 

[MessickFarmEqu]

I think you are reading Kioti wrong on NH connection. None of the Big 4 tractor dealers make their own SCUT or CUT. They rebadge them from real manufacturers like Kioti, LS, Mahindra etc.

Wow.. that really wrong.

Kubota makes all their stuff... Deere makes most of theirs, Kioti is a wholely owned subsidity of Daedong, Mahindra builds some of their models... lots of examples. Infact rebadging is the minority.

 

[CLeman]

Got a chance to run both of these units over the weekend. Long and short of it is that both are nice machines with pros and cons specific to the machine and end-user situation.

BX2360:
Pros: Forward pedal in front, reverse pedal in rear (I mixed this up three times on the Kioti, I don't want my boys mixing it up when they're 3 feet from the creek bank )
Better seat, mower height is set by a knob which I can set and forget, overall seemed more sturdy construction. Turning radius about 10-20% tighter than the Kioti.
Cons: Mower PTO made more noise kicking on and off. Hydraulics seemed to hesitate when lifting mower deck, had to raise RPMs.

CS2410:
Pros: Smooth mower engage and disengage, better lift on mower deck. Foldable ROPS. Some may prefer the drive pedals side by side once they get used to the position. If changing the mower height constantly the Kioti has a better setup.
Cons: Seemed overall to be a bit more shake, rattle, and roll. Plastic hood (though I can't remember if the Kubota was plastic as well or not). Turning radius - not as tight as the 'Bota and the tires left black streaks on concrete - tried the same thing with the 'Bota and it did not leave streaks. Loader stand a bit more primitive.

I probably would have been happy owning either machine. But in the end the features listed above and the bulletproof reputation of the Kubota machine and engine directed me to go with the Kubota. Dealer threw in a brush guard and we placed the order Now to wait until July when I can start using it

Thanks everyone!

 

[94BULLITT]

Got a chance to run both of these units over the weekend. Long and short of it is that both are nice machines with pros and cons specific to the machine and end-user situation.

BX2360:
Pros: Forward pedal in front, reverse pedal in rear (I mixed this up three times on the Kioti, I don't want my boys mixing it up when they're 3 feet from the creek bank )
Better seat, mower height is set by a knob which I can set and forget, overall seemed more sturdy construction. Turning radius about 10-20% tighter than the Kioti.
Cons: Mower PTO made more noise kicking on and off. Hydraulics seemed to hesitate when lifting mower deck, had to raise RPMs.

CS2410:
Pros: Smooth mower engage and disengage, better lift on mower deck. Foldable ROPS. Some may prefer the drive pedals side by side once they get used to the position. If changing the mower height constantly the Kioti has a better setup.
Cons: Seemed overall to be a bit more shake, rattle, and roll. Plastic hood (though I can't remember if the Kubota was plastic as well or not). Turning radius - not as tight as the 'Bota and the tires left black streaks on concrete - tried the same thing with the 'Bota and it did not leave streaks. Loader stand a bit more primitive.

I probably would have been happy owning either machine. But in the end the features listed above and the bulletproof reputation of the Kubota machine and engine directed me to go with the Kubota. Dealer threw in a brush guard and we placed the order Now to wait until July when I can start using it

Thanks everyone!

Congrats on your purchase. Nice review of the the tractors.

 

[aczlan]

Congrats on the purchase. The hydraulics on the BX dont really kick in until you are over 1300 RPMs. Not sure why, but that is how our BX2660 works too.


Aaron Z

 

[Gittyup]

I'm a Kioti fan. but, in this case I think you made the right choice. Congrats and enjoy.