ADin
Silver Member
I continue seeing a number of posts of people agonizing between the 2305, 2320, 2350 tractors just as I went through so I figured I would share some of my initial thoughts on my 2305 after my first 25 hours.
As background, I have ~2.5 acreas roughly 50-50 woods/lawn. A little more than half of the woods has been thinned of most trees smaller than one's thumb. Tree spacing varies widely, with no point in the thinned woods being more than 10-12' from a tree. I mow this "thinned woods" about twice per month which can be tricky. Me, the 2305, and a commercial chipper will be going to war against the hawthorns this week for "round 2" of the thinning process. (See end of "Chipper Designs - Hammers vs knives" in Attachments for a good laugh on this).
Setup & Usage:
===========
JD2305 w/ turfs, 62" MMM, 200CX (53"), Ballast Box, Toothbar, Pat's Easy Change, Ripper/Sub-soiler, Carry-All
FEL:
Moved couple tri-axles of dirt, one of mulch, moved my boulder pile consisting of a number of rocks from rif-raft sized to oversized watermelons sized. Rip small area up (sub-soiler) as part of another landscape bed. Also minor chores like pulling up 6' tree stacks no longer needed. And finally used as general transport of material between bed of truck and around yard (e.g. stepping stones, terrace blocks, etc.).
MMM:
Mow ~1.25 acreas/wk + .75 acreas thinned woods 2/wk.
Impressions:
=========
First of all I must say I've been able to accomplished everything I've wanted and am overall impressed. Handling, power, speed, and stability are very good. Fuel consumption is seems to be a little better than 1 hr/gal on average.
Mowing ability is outstanding: fast, relatively quiet (compared to my JD335), plenty of power, stable on steep slopes, no rutting, no clumping or needing to rake. I do use a short tie-down to keep the discharge chute up, both to eliminate the risk of windrowing and manuevering through the gates and the woods. Turning circle is very tight; tighter than you would thing this size tractor should be capable of (~ equal to my old JD335). More importantly, the 2305 does not seem to tear the grass up making those tight turns my neighbor's Kubota (BX series) has created permanent damage in certain areas of his yard. Not sure if his needs some kind of adjustment or if it's inherent to the bota design. Overall quality of cut is very good on my bluegrass.
FEL strong and will lift more than I feel comfortable moving on this sub-compact. I have ~650lb ballast on the rear which does a good job keeping things stable moving dry dirt. Everytime I do anything with the loader I can't help but think that the front tires are too small. I suspect the loader would pick up enough to flatten the tires to the rims if I wasn't paying attention. Loader speed is nothing steller and downright slow if doing simul operations like lift/curls, etc. That said this operator is neither loader proficient enough or time constrained to the point that the speed matters, but if I was out in sub-zero weather moving snow, I might would like the response to be a bit snappier. Good visibility on the 2305, I wonder about the 2320/2520.
The non-folding ROPS are a royal PITA for me because of my woods and their days are numbers. I would investigate dealer installed folding ROPS upfront if I had it to do over.
The plaster fans, exposed filter positions are a bit disappointing but no problems so far.
I'm sure there is a good technical reason the the current air flow design on the JD2305, but as it is the front hood and radiator screens collect grass clippings badly which needs to be blown out after any use (somewhat annoying), but also as a result of of the air direction I seem to get occasions of hot air blowing on my legs. In January I might not be complaining. If I'm in a hurry, lazy, or forget blown clear the clipping before I park the tractor I get grass clippings dumped in the garage when I park and kill the engine thereby removing the suction (Really annoying - arrghh..).
Front/rear tire sizes seem marginal for FEL work, at least for the turfs. I'm sure they will outlast me, but I would like to have seen the fronts maybe 2" larger and rears 3-4".
Front lights seem to be partially blocked by hood guard but are still usable.
I haven't used the Markham toothbar yet as evidently their jig slipped when welding and the side bucket attachment arms are too narrow at the bolt end. I think I got them pryed apart enough with the hydraulic jack and will attempt install tomorrow.
What would I buy if I had to do over?
Still a tough call. When doing loader work I would "like" the 2520. When mowing it's definitely the 2305 given my tree situation. When I look at the ROPS, tires, or 3pt I like the look/size of the 2320. When it's parked in my garage I'm glad it no bigger and when I pay my bills I'm glad I didn't spend more.
My "rule of thumb" on purchases decision assuming it's down to "the small three" with hard decision boundaries (even though I fully realize every situation is different) would be:
- If you have 2.5+ acres look strongly at the 2320/2520.
- If you have a 1.5-2.5 acre lot but are in a new construction type situation with a lot of upfront projects planned or specialized projects consider the 2320/2520 with bias toward 2320.
- If you have less than 2.5 acres with a still reasonable number of ambitious project, stay with the 2305.
- If you absolutely know you want a BH look very strongly at the 2320/2520.
- If you will be almost exclusively mowing, with some loader work, and little/no serious 3pt work, go with the 2305 regardless of lot size.
- If money is no concern always choose the 2520 over the 2320.
Again, I realize one could make a valid argument against any of the above, and heck, I seldom follow my own rules. The important point is to consider long and hard exactly what tasks you need to accomplish and what capabilities you need to have in the near and long term when possible. The trick is to recognize and delineant wants versus needs and not get too far beyond yourself.
Attached are the only pictures I have of the 2305 still clean on day 1...
As background, I have ~2.5 acreas roughly 50-50 woods/lawn. A little more than half of the woods has been thinned of most trees smaller than one's thumb. Tree spacing varies widely, with no point in the thinned woods being more than 10-12' from a tree. I mow this "thinned woods" about twice per month which can be tricky. Me, the 2305, and a commercial chipper will be going to war against the hawthorns this week for "round 2" of the thinning process. (See end of "Chipper Designs - Hammers vs knives" in Attachments for a good laugh on this).
Setup & Usage:
===========
JD2305 w/ turfs, 62" MMM, 200CX (53"), Ballast Box, Toothbar, Pat's Easy Change, Ripper/Sub-soiler, Carry-All
FEL:
Moved couple tri-axles of dirt, one of mulch, moved my boulder pile consisting of a number of rocks from rif-raft sized to oversized watermelons sized. Rip small area up (sub-soiler) as part of another landscape bed. Also minor chores like pulling up 6' tree stacks no longer needed. And finally used as general transport of material between bed of truck and around yard (e.g. stepping stones, terrace blocks, etc.).
MMM:
Mow ~1.25 acreas/wk + .75 acreas thinned woods 2/wk.
Impressions:
=========
First of all I must say I've been able to accomplished everything I've wanted and am overall impressed. Handling, power, speed, and stability are very good. Fuel consumption is seems to be a little better than 1 hr/gal on average.
Mowing ability is outstanding: fast, relatively quiet (compared to my JD335), plenty of power, stable on steep slopes, no rutting, no clumping or needing to rake. I do use a short tie-down to keep the discharge chute up, both to eliminate the risk of windrowing and manuevering through the gates and the woods. Turning circle is very tight; tighter than you would thing this size tractor should be capable of (~ equal to my old JD335). More importantly, the 2305 does not seem to tear the grass up making those tight turns my neighbor's Kubota (BX series) has created permanent damage in certain areas of his yard. Not sure if his needs some kind of adjustment or if it's inherent to the bota design. Overall quality of cut is very good on my bluegrass.
FEL strong and will lift more than I feel comfortable moving on this sub-compact. I have ~650lb ballast on the rear which does a good job keeping things stable moving dry dirt. Everytime I do anything with the loader I can't help but think that the front tires are too small. I suspect the loader would pick up enough to flatten the tires to the rims if I wasn't paying attention. Loader speed is nothing steller and downright slow if doing simul operations like lift/curls, etc. That said this operator is neither loader proficient enough or time constrained to the point that the speed matters, but if I was out in sub-zero weather moving snow, I might would like the response to be a bit snappier. Good visibility on the 2305, I wonder about the 2320/2520.
The non-folding ROPS are a royal PITA for me because of my woods and their days are numbers. I would investigate dealer installed folding ROPS upfront if I had it to do over.
The plaster fans, exposed filter positions are a bit disappointing but no problems so far.
I'm sure there is a good technical reason the the current air flow design on the JD2305, but as it is the front hood and radiator screens collect grass clippings badly which needs to be blown out after any use (somewhat annoying), but also as a result of of the air direction I seem to get occasions of hot air blowing on my legs. In January I might not be complaining. If I'm in a hurry, lazy, or forget blown clear the clipping before I park the tractor I get grass clippings dumped in the garage when I park and kill the engine thereby removing the suction (Really annoying - arrghh..).
Front/rear tire sizes seem marginal for FEL work, at least for the turfs. I'm sure they will outlast me, but I would like to have seen the fronts maybe 2" larger and rears 3-4".
Front lights seem to be partially blocked by hood guard but are still usable.
I haven't used the Markham toothbar yet as evidently their jig slipped when welding and the side bucket attachment arms are too narrow at the bolt end. I think I got them pryed apart enough with the hydraulic jack and will attempt install tomorrow.
What would I buy if I had to do over?
Still a tough call. When doing loader work I would "like" the 2520. When mowing it's definitely the 2305 given my tree situation. When I look at the ROPS, tires, or 3pt I like the look/size of the 2320. When it's parked in my garage I'm glad it no bigger and when I pay my bills I'm glad I didn't spend more.
My "rule of thumb" on purchases decision assuming it's down to "the small three" with hard decision boundaries (even though I fully realize every situation is different) would be:
- If you have 2.5+ acres look strongly at the 2320/2520.
- If you have a 1.5-2.5 acre lot but are in a new construction type situation with a lot of upfront projects planned or specialized projects consider the 2320/2520 with bias toward 2320.
- If you have less than 2.5 acres with a still reasonable number of ambitious project, stay with the 2305.
- If you absolutely know you want a BH look very strongly at the 2320/2520.
- If you will be almost exclusively mowing, with some loader work, and little/no serious 3pt work, go with the 2305 regardless of lot size.
- If money is no concern always choose the 2520 over the 2320.
Again, I realize one could make a valid argument against any of the above, and heck, I seldom follow my own rules. The important point is to consider long and hard exactly what tasks you need to accomplish and what capabilities you need to have in the near and long term when possible. The trick is to recognize and delineant wants versus needs and not get too far beyond yourself.
Attached are the only pictures I have of the 2305 still clean on day 1...
