Buying Advice Need Advice and Expert Opinion - B2650 tractor!

[lnapz]

Hi guys, first time posting to any sort of forum & I have a few questions and concerns regarding a particular tractor (B2650) . I can't find a "hands on expert", aside from all the dealers who claim their machine is superior, to give me some honest feedback.

I am pricing a job to snow plow 60-80km (37 - 49 miles) of sidewalk during this upcoming 2018 season. Kubota tractors are the most cost effective equipment by far but i am having a hard time getting honest feedback about its ability and reliability to plow this much snow for a 5 year contract term.

The facts:

Plow in question Kubota B2650
The average snow fall in this region will typically be under 1" but can get up to 12" on the rare occasion.
Total route in km = 60, in Miles = 37
Budget per machine 40k - 60k ( Canadian )
Blade - 60" v-Plow on the front
Metec Salt Dropper on the rear

I guess my question is:
In the event of a worst case scenario, can the B2650 handle 60km(37 miles) of 1" - 12" of snow, for a 5 year term? ( total 25 months )

 

[LouNY]

From what I have seen around here sidewalks are hard on equipment because of all the irregular joints and then the driveway cuts, the jarring that a blade will give the frame
would be my biggest concern and that jarring will be transferred into the drive train.
Have you considered a front mounted power brush for under 6" storms were I have seen those used It seemed to work very well.
Good Luck

 

[lnapz]

Unfortunately the contract requires a blade, I don稚 think the brush would work well based on the wide ranging types of snow we get here. We get Everything from freezing rain, to slush, to wet heavy, to light powder.
I should have mentioned that in the facts above.

 

[RalphVa]

Have you considered a snow blower? You can get the rear ones for a reasonable price.

I had a Gravely with big snow plow the first 3 years here in central Virginia where our snow falls are about what you experience. One time about 7 inches of sleet hit us. Could not touch it with the snow blow. Luckily, I had an old square chute snow blower for the Gravely. It did the job.

I handle snow with FEL and back blade on my JD 4010 and now JD 2025R (much like the B2650). Sometimes, when we get >8 inches or so, I wish for a snow blower. Clearing it with the FEL is slow, and more than about 8 inches is too much for the rear blade.

Ralph

 

[lnapz]

Thanks for the reply Ralph, the contract unfortunately requires a blade. I have attached a picture of a bigger machine (M7040) that handles these types of contracts with ease, however for the purpose of this new job it is too expensive for the town to agree to. I have attached a couple of pictures of the set up they have. I basically need to know if the B2650 can handle this much plowing for a 5 year term.

 

[Blue14]

From the conditions you described and the way you are going to equip the Kubota you should have no problem, the only other thing I would suggest is to fill the rear tires.

 

[nybirdman]

My son works for the local village as an equipment operator and one of his duties is side-walk snow removal.His route is maybe 6-7 miles every snow-fall.You "don't"want a snow blower for side-walk snow removal.The blade is the way to go and a "V" makes a lot of sense.
They just traded a JD 2320? for a Kubota B2650 cabbed tractor.

 

[lnapz]

So from your experience, do you think a 26HP machine like the B2650 would work well? Local competitor dealers consider this size a "hobby tractor" for people with large properties doing miscellaneous work and not for "commercial use" i just can't tell if he is being biased and wanted to upsell me a larger machine.

 

[Rock Crawler]

I use a 72" straight rear blade in Western Pennsylvania, we don't acknowledge 1" of snow, that's flurries

Your talking about a foot shorter than mine, and it's a V plow, so your never really pushing/plowing, your more sliding snow out to your sides. That will be cake work for a B2650 with fluid filled tires and around 500-800 lbs of rear ballast. Kubota makes a ballast box for this size tractor that is only about $300. You can also use a PTO drive salt spreader as your rear ballast.

All in all, that plow would be a walk in the park for my B2650 in medium range unless it was literally a 12"+ nasty, wet, heavy snow.

May I strongly suggest doing your build with the wider/heavier ballasted B3350SU R4 tires? I'm plowing paved surfaces with them and traction is never an issue while I see others talking about chains and the such. Unless I needed plow on ice or up honest to goodness steep slopes, chains are totally not needed. Because I'm on blacktop, there is never ice. Even in a 0°F day I can plow it and the sun his the visible cleaned black stripes and it heats it and starts melting. After plowing in the AM, the entire drive will be dry blacktop by the time the sun goes down. I only salt in the areas that are always shaded.

 

[lnapz]

If he is also from upstate NY you guys aren't too far from us so it's more or less similar conditions. I'm wondering if he has any dislikes of his new machine?

 

[lnapz]

I use a 72" straight rear blade in Western Pennsylvania, we don't acknowledge 1" of snow, that's flurries

Your talking about a foot shorter than mine, and it's a V plow, so your never really pushing/plowing, your more sliding snow out to your sides. That will be cake work for a B2650 with fluid filled tires and around 500-800 lbs of rear ballast. Kubota makes a ballast box for this size tractor that is only about $300. You can also use a PTO drive salt spreader as your rear ballast.

All in all, that plow would be a walk in the park for my B2650 in medium range unless it was literally a 12"+ nasty, wet, heavy snow.

May I strongly suggest doing your build with the wider/heavier ballasted B3350SU R4 tires? I'm plowing paved surfaces with them and traction is never an issue while I see others talking about chains and the such. Unless I needed plow on ice or up honest to goodness steep slopes, chains are totally not needed. Because I'm on blacktop, there is never ice. Even in a 0°F day I can plow it and the sun his the visible cleaned black stripes and it heats it and starts melting. After plowing in the AM, the entire drive will be dry blacktop by the time the sun goes down. I only salt in the areas that are always shaded.View attachment 545903View attachment 545904

This is exactly what I was hoping for, someone that is already in the trenches and making this machine work!!!! So thank you for your reply. Currently I have this quoted for me from the dealer.

B2650 with factory Cab
cellutrak GPS monitoring system ( township requirement so they know we aren't cheating )
Bulk Pro Snowex salter ( holds 9 cubic feet ) ***I am deleting this salter and replacing with a Bauman salt "dropper" its more efficient
Full motion 60" V blade in the front

I forget the spec of the tires that i requested, but they are some heavy duty high tread tires. Chains are NOT ALLOWED in Ontario so good tires are a must

 

[Rock Crawler]

If you requested the heavy duty tire, your getting the standard B2650 12" wide and 37" tall 4. I have the 40"tall and 15" wide B3350SU tire package, it was a very reasonable $450 upgrade for all 4 larger R4 tires.

I've attached photos of the tires your getting beside the tires I ordered. Sean Huegel at M&R power equipment in Butler, Pa took care of putting this package together for me. After looking at the photos.... Would you say that this monster tire version looks like a toy? I doubt it!

I'm also using the Kubota 1.5" rear wheel spacers, so that adds 3"to bring this package to 60" wide. If you skip the spacers, with these tires you'll be at 57"at the outside edges of the tread.

 

[lnapz]

If you requested the heavy duty tire, your getting the standard B2650 12" wide and 37" tall 4. I have the 40"tall and 15" wide B3350SU tire package, it was a very reasonable $450 upgrade for all 4 larger R4 tires.

I've attached photos of the tires your getting beside the tires I ordered. Sean Huegel at M&R power equipment in Butler, Pa took care of putting this package together for me. After looking at the photos.... Would you say that this monster tire version looks like a toy? I doubt it!

I'm also using the Kubota 1.5" rear wheel spacers, so that adds 3"to bring this package to 60" wide. If you skip the spacers, with these tires you'll be at 57"at the outside edges of the tread.

View attachment 545911View attachment 545912View attachment 545913View attachment 545914View attachment 545915View attachment 545916

Wow, that is very detailed and extremely useful. I am highly considering this as an option. Since you have experience in this field, I'm going to attach a picture of another piece of equipment that is german made, "Holder C992" i was told that this is the machine of choice for this type of work, but people usually steer clear of it due to it's high purchase price (over 100k canadian). In a competitive market like ours (30+ bidders) I would never win a contract with this machine. Curious to know if you have thoughts about it? I went to see one recently, here is a pic of it. It was really cool and had a lot of features, hopefully you have heard of it.

 

[Gary Fowler]

That is a nice looking machine. I really like the articulated V plow. I wouldn't think you would use a V plow to clear sidewalks in most instances. Who wants the snow pushed into their yards or against their buildings (if in the city proper). I would think that you would want to push it all toward the street but then I am not anywhere near an expert on snow removal except with a snow shovel.

 

[Rock Crawler]

No sir, I am total unfamiliar with that kind of articulating machine.

 

[lnapz]

That is a nice looking machine. I really like the articulated V plow. I wouldn't think you would use a V plow to clear sidewalks in most instances. Who wants the snow pushed into their yards or against their buildings (if in the city proper). I would think that you would want to push it all toward the street but then I am not anywhere near an expert on snow removal except with a snow shovel.

hey! i loved it when i saw it too. haha So the reasoning behind the "V plow" is that it builds up less resistance for a less powerful machine, you essentially cut your stress weight by 25%, instead of having a 60" blade build up enough snow to push it to one side, your essentially letting two 30" blades push the same material but quicker, therefor easier. In regards to your other comment, sidewalks in this region typically run "through" peoples driveways, essentially leaving a 8 foot boulevard/remaining driveway between sidewalk and road way. So if i push snow to one side, the home owners have more snow to clear on one side. If i V plow the snow to either side, the home owners will have 2 smaller lines of material to clean. I hope that made sense.

 

[lnapz]

No sir, I am total unfamiliar with that kind of articulating machine.

ah thats okay, I thought I would try, I am meeting with another Kubota rep on April 2nd, I'm definitely more confident in the machines ability and reliability after some of the talks on this forum. Thank you for all your time!

 

[nybirdman]

If he is also from upstate NY you guys aren't too far from us so it's more or less similar conditions. I'm wondering if he has any dislikes of his new machine?

Very upstate(right on the border);new machine has not been delivered so no experience with it for this year.We personally own Kubota's and have good luck with them and expect the same from the new B2650.