No fel no problem

[aginn]

I wouldn't have a tractor without a FEL. It is the most useful thing I have ever bought.
Don't you have some bad habit you can kick that would make up the difference in cost so you can have the FEL? I quit smoking to afford a new Kubota--with FEL. Just stopping the cigarettes pays for 3/4 of the tractor payments with the side benefit of feeling better. Worked for me.
Good luck with whatever you decide.

 

[k0ua]

I wouldn't have a tractor without a FEL. It is the most useful thing I have ever bought.
Don't you have some bad habit you can kick that would make up the difference in cost so you can have the FEL? I quit smoking to afford a new Kubota--with FEL. Just stopping the cigarettes pays for 3/4 of the tractor payments with the side benefit of feeling better. Worked for me.
Good luck with whatever you decide.

Wow!, and win win situation for sure!:thumbsup: Congratulations on kicking the cigi habit.

 

[shu]

I will not say: "Don't get a tractor without a FEL."

Get what you can afford, and learn to use it well and safely.

I will say:
..with a FEL you can do so many things; many that can be done also with specialized 3-point attachments, but without changing attachments.
..if you have a FEL you should also get FWD; even with a box blade or shredder on the back to balance the weight of the FEL, when the bucket is full balance is forward and you lose rear wheel traction.

I have not had a tractor without a FEL or FWD. I conceive a 2WD tractor without FEL to be a very different machine - handling quite differently, etc.

And, yes, when I am working the side of a ditch and one wheel comes up, it is the bucket in front that stops the tip-over. When a rear wheel is up, it is the FEL that levers the machine toward level, and pushes forward or back to return to safe ground.

 

[MESSMAKER]

And, yes, when I am working the side of a ditch and one wheel comes up, it is the bucket in front that stops the tip-over. When a rear wheel is up, it is the FEL that levers the machine toward level, and pushes forward or back to return to safe ground.[/QUOTE



Good point.

 

[RaydaKub]

And, yes, when I am working the side of a ditch and one wheel comes up, it is the bucket in front that stops the tip-over. When a rear wheel is up, it is the FEL that levers the machine toward level, and pushes forward or back to return to safe ground.

I'll just point out that while the bucket is a safety device in this situation, it may also be a huge part of why the wheel came up in the first place.

I don't know the ratios of how a BX compares weight- and dimension-wise with larger tractors. I have loaded rear tires, add 50 lbs of wheel weights to each rear and 275 lbs on a bar on the 3ph, FEL on the front. I drove to a spot on my hillside where it started to feel tippy. I parked and got off, then pushed on the rollbar. I lifted the rear wheel easily with one hand. I went back to the garage and stripped the weights and removed the FEL, then parked there again and could not push on the rollbar hard enough with one hand to lift the wheel. The BX FEL transfers a lot of weight from the stable rear axle to the tippy front axle. How much transfers forward on your tractor is an exercise left to the reader. But it is contributing to your rear wheel lift.

 

[shu]

True enough. I've only taken the bucket off once or twice, and put it right back on - just to learn how it is done. On a small tractor it does not seem to hinder maneuvering even in tight quarters, and it's just too handy to have for nudging obstacles out of the way, trimming off high spots, grading close to a curb, etc.

Lifts up enough to clear the fences when making tight turns shredding, BUT you have to keep it low to keep the overall center of gravity down anywhere off flat level ground.