Comparing small tractors (long)

[Torvy]

Personally? I'd rather have the choice of using the tractor I'm on at the time rather than driving back to the barn to switch equipment. Especially if someone else might need the other tractor(s).

As much as one can pack capabilities into a package, that's a good thing.

Also, the further I am inside the parameters of a piece of equipment, the less likely I am to tweak something.

 

[DonE0929]

Fair questions....
I plant and mow down multiple food plots several times a year... zturn not good on previously turned or tilled ground or even ruff ground. Even a lawn tractor isn't great for that. A z turn only cuts grass. It is a great tool for that purpose, but only for that purpose.
We want the second machine with a loader because my wife spends hours in her garden that is a couple hundred from the house... she loads the tractor bucket and is gone until dark... so no tractor for me to load logs on the sawmill or .... well to do anything. I do a good bit of hillside removal with the backhoe, having another machine m9ving the dirt sure would be nice. The current tractor is also general transportation around the 26 acres... it's more fun than a car or truck and it can do those little pop up jobs ( down tree limbs, scrape humps out of the path ) while on the way to something else.

The lift capacity probably isn't critical, but it needs to be able to lift a full bucket of whatever I want to put in it... maybe gravel, compost, mulch, loose dirt and I'd
Iike to use my existing forks and grapple ( for light work ). The better the lifting power the easier to use the stuff that was purchase for a little bigger machine. It will have to be for lighter work than the tool was intended, but still usable in some way. The pto lift needs to handle my existing attachments... box blade, tiller ect. they all have enough power for that.

I guess the whole story is that yes the machine must cut grass, but all the other possibilities are the reason for a tractor and not just a grass cutter. We need the grass cutting, but we want the tractor.... so we are getting the tractor with MMM.

The only question for us now, is purchasing the right machine in this category. The existing tractor is staying for the heavier stuff and all the times when a second machine is desirable.

 

[DonE0929]

Torcy,
is a "tweak" something I can just weld back together? or is that the one that requires the drive to buy parts? Lol

 

[DonE0929]

Someone mentioned Yanmar.... i got to use a new one a few years ago and I agree I would have traded my Mahindra for it on the spot.... but no dealer near by for me. Tractor Supply was selling a dumbed down model a few years ago... no more and again no support.

A cab and AC would be awesome, but not in the cards. If we were talking about an excavator or skidsteer the there would be no question.

I asked about suspension seats... kioti has them on everything except this size, 16 series in mahindra have them and Lx in Kubota have them, but they are one size larger machine. All the seating on all machines were far better than the horrible seat on my bigger tractor.... I need to put an aftermarket on it some day. Althought not true suspension seats, they are all welcome upgrades.

 

[Carl_NH]

Looking at the two Mahindra and Kubota, the BX and eMax series are smaller frame, smaller wheels (rougher ride) and lower lift capacity vs the Mahindra MAX series and B Series Kubota.

The lift capacity of the BX with the SSQA is 620, whereas the eMax is 900 - that's a substantial difference when considering the use of your existing implements.

Personally, I think the MAX series 1400-lb lift, or the B Series 900-lb lift, would be a better choice for your overall application.

 

[DonE0929]

Carl_NH,

I did look at the B series and the LX and the capacities there are much better, but unfortunately the tractors are physically larger and would negatively effect the cutting of the grass which in my situation, is the primary objective. The way our property is laid out we have a number of small areas to cut, around buildings, fruit and nut trees a small park like area along the creeks.
I need the small physical size for these areas.

 

[masseyrider]

Massey Ferguson.
Watch review videos of how much faster the hydraulics are at idle. The Kubota couldn't keep up at revs to the GC at idle.
Guy I know had a small Kubota for his landscape business. He couldn't get rid of it fast enough. Six roles of moist sod and it couldn't lift it. The dealer had to up the pump but still no go.

 

[dodge man]

I owned a BX 2350 for 10 years and put about 800 hours on it. Solid machines. I had a leak in the steering cylinder I fixed myself and went through 4 mower belts. I almost wonder if they had some defective belts because my first one lasted a long time and so did the last one I had on it. It also had plastic front body parts that broke, I’m pretty sure they are metal now.

I bought a John Deere 2025r about 6 years ago. The small bucket size, smaller tires and slower road speed of the Kubota frustrated me. The BX will lift a full bucket of anything but you will need a ballast box. I had a mulch kit on my BX and it mowed and cut well. You have a bigger tractor so my complaints on a BX are probably not a big deal for you.

 

[chim]

I can't see your property from here, so bear with me. I had a Kubota B7500 years ago. That's as small I'd go. It was a small but capable tractor. Mine was 21HP but they are now available with more horses. I started by looking at (and trying to like) the BX series, but they didn't feel like something I could be happy with.

I have an area that floods. Having experience with the B7500, then an L3200 and now an L4240HST was interesting. As the size of the tractor increases, so does the tire's footprint. My L4240 does at least as well as the smaller tractors with regard to making tracks.