Grillo 107D questions

[CodeMonkey]

I just bought a 107 D with BCS sickle bar (36"?) and Berta 26" flail mower.

I like it better than my BCS 730

I am mostly using this for mowing brush (saplings, small woody plants, brambles, etc.) and grass/etc. - much of which is currently up to my waist. I will mostly be using the flail mower.

Question #1

I want to get larger wheels/tires for it and axle extensions. I have very uneven ground in my forest and I also have about a quarter mile of ditches along a private road I want to mow. The tractor currently has 5x10.00 wheels now. Even though this is much better than the 4x8.00 wheels on the BCS, I can still get the tractor stuck in various holes and ruts, and it also moves around a lot, causing the mowing to be uneven (really only matters along the road where I want it to look nice) and to sometimes miss vegetation I want to mow.

I am thinking 6.5x12" wheels with 23" tires (with foam and I have wheel weights from my BCS). I will mostly be mowing in first gear as I find 2nd too fast for the brush, but I wouldn't mind going a little faster in first.

I am also thinking about dual wheels - but I am not sure if they are needed for mowing or if they are only better for soil working? I have a deep gully (a usually dry creek bed) in my woods that I would like cross with the tractor. There is a path leading down to it and path up the other side that I can use, but I want to mow around this path. I am not sure if dual wheels would help here or not?

Will the current 10" wheels from the Grillo fit on my BCS 730?

 

[CodeMonkey]

Q#2

I can't get the diff lock to engage. I can't get the lever to move at all, regardless of if the engine is running or not, transmission engaged or not.

What am I doing wrong?

 

[CodeMonkey]

Q#3

Will the implements from my BCS work with this tractor?

I have a BCS tiller and a Bio100 chipper shredder.

I am willing to buy adapters (the tractor has a QD connect now), but is the rotation of the PTO the correct direction?

 

[CodeMonkey]

Q#4

This is more of a general question.

What has been your experience using the "dozer" blade attachment to move dirt?

I have a number of projects where I need to move relatively small amounts of dirt (half a yard to two yards).

Some of this would be dirt/sand/etc I would be hauling in, some of it would be dirt in place.

 

[farmerboybill]

1. 6.5-22 tires are a good option for the 107d to keep it from getting stuck. You may want to put the 5-10s back on when tilling, depending on how the tilling goes. Taller tires will require you to adjust the flail mower to keep it running level. It's not a difficult task. Keep in mind you rims are adjustable, you may just be able to get a wider wheel base without extensions.

I'm not sure you could put duals on and not stick out on either side of the mower. It's not a huge deal that you're running over the next pass since the mower will suck it up anyway, but it would bother me.

1a. Yes, they will absolutely fit. Use the smaller holes in the rims. Keep in mind that tires that are taller, wider, and further from the transmission will also make it much harder to maneuver.

2. See if the cable is pinched. Try to move the lever at the transmission. You can disable the spring to make this easier. If it moves down there, someone pinched the cable as they rotated the handlebars.

3. Yes, they will both work. You'll need an adapter. When running the chipper, be very careful with the clutch, the same as with the flail mower. These two attachments are very power hungry. Also, be sure the have the reverser in the proper position. One way, it will turn the chipper forward, the olther way, it will turn the chipper BACKward. Grillos can run all rear mount attachments and stationary attachments (provided the reverser is in the right position), but cannot run front mount attachments without modification.

4. I used a dozer blade on a 715 (older version of your 730) to move gravel fines when building a patio. It did a surprisingly good job of it. It's no D8 Cat, but it'll move some material. You can use a tiller to loosen up the material first.

 

[CodeMonkey]

Thanks for the answers. That is very useful info. I didn't think about the reverser.

At this point I don't plan to get any more non-stationary front attachments driven by power, and if I do I will get the Grillo model.

I am not concerned about the wheels lining up with the mower; I don't have any fields, just a bunch of forest, so I won't be mowing in rows. About the only place I will be mowing grass in a "row" will be my lawn area, and I have a regular mower for that - I would just use the tractor for those times when the grass is too high to work with the conventional mower, and I can deal with the tires/etc. then too.

The main problem for me would be whether there are areas between trees, etc. that I want to mow, but want to keep certain vegetation and not run over it, and/or I want to get between those areas.

I may just start with the large singles for now and see if those work. If not then I can upgrade later. I am sure I need larger diameter wheels/tires though - I bottom out and get stuck all the time.

 

[jrpeterson05]

I am looking to get a 107d and I currently have a BCS 720 (just smaller than your 730). I have not been able get my eyes or hands on a grillo 107d. I don't know if there are any grillos here in Utah. What are your thoughts on the differences between the two machines? What do you like better about one or the other? Thanks.

 

[CodeMonkey]

So far it is working good. I like the brakes. I haven't used the BCS very much - just to run the chipper a little and it would not really grind up very much - anything an inch or over could stop the engine. I haven't hooked the chipper to the Grillo yet, so I don't know how much better the larger engine would work. The 730 has smaller tires too so it got stuck easier.

 

[CodeMonkey]

JP,

I used the BCS with the tiller today. I had not used it in quite a while.

I was comparing it to the Grillo.

The 730 seems much smaller, and not just because of the much smaller wheels/tires.

I do like the way the BCS does the adjustment of the handles/steering. I noticed my Grillo only allows swinging the bars to one side and locking them there whereas the BCS allows swinging to either side and more up and down positions - but the Grillo steering column/bars seem more solid and sturdier.

The Grillo seems to be made with better components that are more robust.

I will probably sell the BCS next year. I don't see myself needing two tractors and I like the Grillo better. The larger wheels and more power are nice too - but you can get those with a BCS. I was looking at the 730 and a person would need to get axle extensions and possibly PTO extensions to fit larger wheels on it, otherwise there isn't enough clearance. Larger BCS tractors may have more clearance.

Overall, I think I prefer the Grillo to the BCS - but I do wish Grillo made the steering swing both ways (pun unintended) like the BCS does.

 

[CodeMonkey]

I was just running the BCS 730 and several more things came to mind.

BCS has a better reverser setup.

Neutral is easier to find on a BCS, but shifting from one gear to another is harder, especially into first on my tractor. I had to hit the lever down by the gate to get it to go into first.

The rubber clamps to hold the levers on the BCS don't hold them securely - they often fall out of the rubber and I don't always notice that it has happened - whereas on the Grillo I have never had the levers fall out.

The PTO on the BCS is harder to engage, but it is setup in such a way that using the reverser automatically kicks the PTO out of gear, which is good. I can't remember if the Grillo does that, but I do remember that the PTO isn't turning when in reverse, so that accomplishes the same thing, and is maybe even more convenient.

 

[farmerboybill]

The Grillo is running the PTO in reverse, but the flail mower has a one way gearbox, so it doesn't turn backward. If you put the sickle mower on, it would turn both forward and reverse. There's a little toggle on the PTO engagement lever that has to be removed to run front mount attachments and installed when running rear mount attachments. The reverser lever has an arm that moves up and hits the toggle when in rear mount mode, disengaging the PTO. It can be stored in the same hole on the opposite side of the engagement lever, hopefully the previous owner did so for you.

I softened the plastic holders with a propane torch and squeezed them together on my BCS. Holds much better. As long as the levers are nice and loose, it isn't often an issue, but it can be aggravating when it does happen.

 

[farmerboybill]

double post

 

[CodeMonkey]

Some other observations/opinions:

I find the quick detach couplers more difficult to use than the BCS non-QD PTO attachments. This may be because the BCS I have uses the 3-prong PTO shaft instead of the splined shaft, but lining up the longer QD coupler on the Grillo and then getting it to insert is much more difficult IMO. Pulling the QD coupler out is even harder. It seems they are a very tight fit and they definitely need a good amount of force to insert or remove. Maybe it would be harder yet without the QD detachment and splined shafts - I don't know.

The third gear on my BCS 730 seems way too high - even just idling along I have to almost run to keep up. This probably a "transport" gear, but IMO it would only be useful for use with a sulky or wagon.

I haven't tried the fourth gear on my Grillo - it seems to blocked with the front mounted attachments so I am not even sure there is a fourth gear, although there is a marking on the plate for it. Third gear on the Grillo is just about right for walking the tractor someplace without having to run to keep up, it would even be usable for flat even ground mowing.

 

[CodeMonkey]

The Grillo is running the PTO in reverse, but the flail mower has a one way gearbox, so it doesn't turn backward. If you put the sickle mower on, it would turn both forward and reverse. There's a little toggle on the PTO engagement lever that has to be removed to run front mount attachments and installed when running rear mount attachments. The reverser lever has an arm that moves up and hits the toggle when in rear mount mode, disengaging the PTO. It can be stored in the same hole on the opposite side of the engagement lever, hopefully the previous owner did so for you.

I softened the plastic holders with a propane torch and squeezed them together on my BCS. Holds much better. As long as the levers are nice and loose, it isn't often an issue, but it can be aggravating when it does happen.

I looked and didn't see the toggle.

 

[jrpeterson05]

Thank you for your thoughts and comparisons of the two tractors. I have not had a chance to see or get my hands on a Grillo and all I have to go off of is the internet. One of my bigger concerns between them is the reverser like you mentioned. I only do tilling with my BCS 720 and sometimes getting into tight spaces I use reverse alot. It is real easy to flip the lever to switch between forward and reverse. I imagine that the Grillo wont be that easy with the rod.

I had to replace the rubber clamps to hold the control levers on my 720. Before they were falling out all the time and now it is quite difficult to pop them out. All I have is a tiller so I don't need to be switching them back and forth often.

 

[CodeMonkey]

IMO the reverser is better on the BCS, but it isn't that much nicer that I would prefer the BCS over the Grillo.

I do a lot of reversing with the flail mower too because just like with tilling, I need to mow up to something and then back away from it, or I get the tractor stuck (more so than with the tiller which tends to push the tractor along, sometimes even leaping away from me when it hits something hard). It would be really nice if Grillo adopted the same kind of reverser, but it isn't a deal breaker for me.

I don't remember if I mentioned it, but although it is easier to find neutral on the BCS, at least on my 730, it is harder to get it into gear, especially first. I am not sure why, but it is very difficult to pull it back into first, and messing with the gated shifter just makes shifting harder. On the Grillo the problem with shifting seems to be one of vagueness - sometimes it is hard to know whether it is in gear or not.

 

[TimberXX]

I completely agree on the reverser on the 107d. I may consider an upgrade to the 110. The 110 seems to be the best of both worlds.