opinions on a used 2320/2520

[Neandertaler]

Hi all,

i am currently shopping for a used 2320 or 2520 as an upgrade from my X495. I have come across a great offer for a 2008 2320 with only 450 hours which is at least 35% cheaper then anything else around and comparable. The seller is a car dealer which does not know anything about tractors. The Pictures show new painting and after and aftercalling the dealer I found out that the previous owner was a company and they unfortunately stored the tractor in a salt storage shed. According to the car dealer the sanded and painted everything and technically everthing is ok.

Now my question is what to think about the "salt" history? Is a salty Environment only problematic regarding corrosion? If so, sanding and painting actually is OK and i do not Need anything new and shiny. But what about other stuff? Are there any additional risks regarding the longevity or reduced lifetime because of this? I am no mechanic and would not know how to do anything on the engine, but I would be well able to take care of possible further surface corrosion and repaint additionally here and there.

I have the feeling that this could be a veeeery good deal in case we are only talking about "Looks" and no other technical issues. I am currently looking at 2-3 other 2520 maschines and they are all above 1.200 hours and cost 4-5 thousand more. With this savings, I would have enough Money for an additional front end loader which could be very Handy in the future.

So it is either the 2320 / 54D deck and front hydraulics with 500 hours and FEL with coming from a salty Environment or
a 2520 / 62D with >1200 hours and no FEL

any thoughts or suggestions?

 

[Beltman60]

I would go and look at it first
if it was prepped right and shows no signs of blisters under the paint or peeling I think I would go for it
with 450 hrs. I would bring it home and dump all fluids and filters and start with fresh

 

[Neandertaler]

I will Take a Look the coming Weekend. 450 hours Sound good to me although i Do not See 1000 or even 1500 hours that Much for These Maschines. by the Way: dose anybody know wich of These two tractors have a lower ground pressure? the 2520 is heavier but has taller and wider Tires.

 

[tomd999]

Hiya,

I'll separate my reply into 2 parts.

1) Salt and an auto dealer. One thing to remember is that dealers, especially used car dealers are very good at making something look great for the sale. Make sure you get down on the ground, bring a good flashlight, digital camera and be prepared to spend the time to really look close, take pictures and write down everything you find. Then every fault can be used as negotiating leverage. I think if the paint rusted through, your going to find a lot more rust and corrosion on the lines, linkage, frame, rims and castings under the new paint.

2) The cost difference between the 2 platforms is substantial but in my opinion more than justified. Not to make anyone with a 2320/2025R cranky but when you look at the overall design of the chassis, driveline, hydraulics and hydrostat of the 2320 it more closely resembles a sub-cut like the 2305/2210 or garden tractor like the 322/430 and the 2520 with it's direct injection engine, dual hydraulic pumps, a unitized driveline with no driveshaft/ujoints, higher flow rates is similar to the 3000 and 4000 series CUT's. The way I see it the 23202025r are the last of the garden tractor/sub-cut class tractors and the 2520/2720/2032r are the first of the true CUT class tractors.

Another factor to look at is the engine side Ujoint on the 2320, there are many accounts of these coming apart without notice and causing massive damage.

Tom

 

[KennyG]

As a 2320 owner, I will differ a bit with Tom, but I would be very cautious with anything that's had salt damage. Even re-painting may not correct the problem. A tractor, with lots of castings, would be a bit less of a concern than a car, but I would hesitate.

The 2520 advantages are real. The original cost was only about $1500 US more, but I went with the 2320 to save a little weight since I mow a lot. The direct coupling does eliminate the driveshaft U-joints but at the cost of not having vibration absorbing engine mounts. If you lube the u-joints they should have a long life (fingers crossed). Where the 2520 really steps ahead is the hydraulics. If you intend to do a lot of loader work you probably want a 2520.

 

[Neandertaler]

First of all thanks for your Input. I just love TBN and appreciate it a lot. Regarding the "salty" 2320, I will just see what it Looks like and in case I have a bad Feeling will not make the deal. Also I am still not finally decided on a 2320 or a 2520. My neighbor and gvery oods friend, who is a mechanics wizard, does not underdstand my urge to upgrade and thinks my X495 is just perfect in condition, size and capabilities for my lot and i should just hire somebody 2-3 times a year for driveway maintanance. But I am planning on doing a lot of renovating the house and re-doing/grading 1.5 Acres of old lawn. With my X495 I currently have about 40 hours a year just mowing and i guess that will still be 75% of my work in the future. For me one of the Primary benefits of a larger tractor/CUT will be using a box blade for the driveway and taking care and regrading of old lawn.

But adding a 3-point and/or rear pto to the X495 does not make sense as that Kind of Money directly leads to the 2320/2520. I really like the 2520, its Looks, ist sound and so forth.....My main idea why I am thinking about a 2320 is that it actually has the same lift capacity (loader or 3-point), is slightly lighter and much cheaper when used. As i will be mainly mowing, i want the lowest possible ground pressure. Both sizes of tractor fit very comfortably on my lot. Size or turning radius is no problem at all as i have no tiny or confined spaces. I could easily fit a 4000 series here ;-), what would be a bad idea anyway.

 

[jenkinsph]

Mowing a 1.5 acre lawn and grading a 1.5 acre lawn requires totally different machines. I recommend you rent or hire a larger tractor to grade the lawn 60+ hp. and keep your mower. The problem I see is that an unballasted 2320 or 2520 might be good to mow with but, if you intend to use a fel the added ballast and weight would be much harder on your lawn. This assumes you would remove the fel when mowing but would still have the filled rear tires or rear wheel weights in place. I don't see how a 2320 or 2520 would mow your lawn as well as the x495 either, so no gain there. For grading your lawn the 2x20 series are way too small to do a good job, and a good operator with wider implements can do a much better job. Since you only need to grade it one time and then have no need for it hire that out.

For most lawn areas and small fields I start by running an S tine cultivator to find wires and buried treasures. I then run a tiller to break up the ground so that I can grade the loose dirt. If all I need to do is smooth the ground I use a land plane grader scraper (8' wide) followed by a spike tooth harrow, reseed and roll it. If I need to grade and contour the ground I run a box blade after the tiller. Once the grade is reached it may be necessary to till again before continuing to prepare for seeding. I mention all of this because if you try to patch small areas of low and or high spots the grass will be patchy at best. Much easier to fix the entire lawn area and reseed it. This would only be a few days work with the right equipment.



I recommend you hire an experienced operator with a landscape loader/box blade to grade your lawn. Have the same operator dress up your driveway and hire a vibratory roller to finish it off. If you do that your mower and attachments should be able to maintain your property. If you simply want a tractor then go for it but keep the mower to maintain your lawn.

 

[Neandertaler]

Hmm...Yes, the hiring out part sounds plausible. I thought that saving the money for hiring out those Tasks already gets me a "real" tractor and i would do the Tasks slowly over one summer in time myself. Of course about 50% of this bigger tractor is not a "Need" but a "want" ;-) What i do not want is to Keep and maintain two maschines as i only have one shed for tractor storage.

If getting a 2520, i would notfill the tires but use a rear 3-point weight in case (or when) i get a FEL. Mowing would be without FEL and without weight.

Regarding the 2320 with the salt history, I have just read all the comments regarding broken u-Joints and shafts between engine and hydro with the 2320 which could result in catastrophic and very costly failures. I am now leaning against the 2320, although I have no idea what a salty Environments does to a u-Joint. But whoever stores a tractor in a salt storage shed, probably does not grease hidden u-Joint either......

 

[Neandertaler]

..and if I would do it myself with a 2520, i would do it in 3 or 4 phases of 1/3 rd Acre each or soemthing like that, so it does not look too patchy.

 

[jenkinsph]

So you think a 2520 will pull a box blade well enough without the rear tires filled? Good luck with it, I make my living doing this work and only use a small box blade to work under low branches and close quarters work.