Turf Special owners....

[ChuckinNH]

I came across a "holdover" B7510 Turf Special recently, and am wondering what users think of this combo. Is the depth of cut easy to adjust. On the one I looked at, the pins seemed tight. The top link was also installed on this machine, and looked like a bear to remove with the mower depth adjustment mechanism in place. How about the deck itself? It looks reasonably easy to remove, perhaps easier than the ground contact one. Are you satisfied with the mower performance?

I know that there aren't a lot of these out there, but I'm trying to get all the input I can. The price on the one I looked at was pretty reasonable for a new machine.
Thanks for any input any users of this setup can provide!!!
Chuck

 

[crbr]

I came across a "holdover" B7510 Turf Special recently, and am wondering what users think of this combo. Is the depth of cut easy to adjust. On the one I looked at, the pins seemed tight. The top link was also installed on this machine, and looked like a bear to remove with the mower depth adjustment mechanism in place. How about the deck itself? It looks reasonably easy to remove, perhaps easier than the ground contact one. Are you satisfied with the mower performance?

I know that there aren't a lot of these out there, but I'm trying to get all the input I can. The price on the one I looked at was pretty reasonable for a new machine.
Thanks for any input any users of this setup can provide!!!
Chuck

Chuck, please say all of this again, in a different manner. I am not seeing what you are talking about.

A B7510 with Turf tires and a mid-mount mower? A rear finish mower?

 

[art]

Chuck, it seems that what you looked at was a B-turf special with a three point hitch mower not the factory belly mower?


The difference between the twobelly decks for this chaassis tractor is one is a ground engaging deck and one is a suspended deck like on the special.

 

[ChuckinNH]

Sorry guys, the tractor I looked at had a landscape rake attached to the three point hitch along with the mmm. The mmm depth of cut adjustment on this tractor is a bracket with a set of holes, and pin that attaches to the same point as the top link. To change the depth of cut you remove a pin, align the bracket to a different hole, and replace the pin. Since the deck is suspended like the BX deck that is how they hold it at a constant height.

Clear as mud????

Chuck

 

[art]

Now you know why they call it special.

 

[MowHoward]

Chuck,

I have had my Turf Special for around 2 years and have about 100 hours on it. I use it to Mow and also have a Leinbach posthole digger and a 4 ft grader blade. Mine also has the 302 loader which was about a $100 more than the smaller one so a no brainer.

I have not had even a hickup out of this tractor. A 10+ for reliability and quality. The Honda Accord of tractors. I plow snow in PA, fires right up in cold weather. Use the grader blade and go backward. Works great. You can destroy many things with this tractor and a grader blade...be careful.

The million dollar question. The mid mower. The mower is easy to adjust once you figure it out. Pull the pin and get a small hammer to gently tap the arm and piece of cake. Once you set it you won't ever change it. I had a ground engaging pto rear mower setup on a different tractor before this,and loved it. The mid mower, like everything has advantages and disadvantages. If ground is rough you can move fast with the suspended mower deck. No scalping is good. Disadvantage is you can't just back up to something and drop the deck. Kubota mower decks are not the cleanest cut. My John Deere mower leaves a much nicer cut, but can't move anywhere near as fast. Many have commented on the cut from Kubota.

This MM was a complete bear to remove at first. Here is the key. Find a farily steep hill, drop the bucket all the way down and lift the front of the tractor. Drop the front mower attachment, pull the pins on the back and use your foot to slide the deck sideways. Oh yeah, deck must stay on asphalt, concrete etc. Don't even turn the antiscapl wheels sideways. Takes about 1 minute to remove, 3 minutes to put on. PTO can be a pain if you move it from original postion after you take it off. You will be crawling under the back to do this. Any rear implement requires taking off the MM deck.

Tractor was heck of a buy. 4WD, HST, Mower deck and FEL for under $13K. If I had to do it over again is a tough call. I really like the L2800 but a one stage pto, the L3400 brings tears to my eyes everytime I see one, but more bucks. I can't see why a 7610 or 7800 instead of the 7510 as not much difference in size. A BX is too small and just as much coin. All in all for what it is the B7510 Turf Special is a high quality, very versatile machine. I don't need anything bigger, just love the L3400.

Hope this helps.

Mow

 

[ChuckinNH]

Mow,
Thanks so much for taking the time to respond! I was hoping that someone who actually had used one would comment. Your response was detailed, and gave me just the information that I was looking for. I too think that the 7510 is one of the sweet spots in the Kubota lineup. Right now I'm leaning towards keeping my Simplicity rider, and going with a RFM for the larger open areas, and areas that are under trees, etc. ( I like the L3400 too!)
How have the turf tires worked out for you? Are they loaded?

 

[easygo]

Chuck,

I just bought a Turf Special about 6 weeks ago and it has been a great experience so far. I was told by folks here that the tractor itself is exactly the same as the B7510 but came with the suspended MMM instead of the ground contact plus the turf tires. It worked out very well for me. I bought the 302 FEL as well and it has been a good setup. I asked them not to load the rears because that way the tractor can be "very" light if I want to go to softer areas in the woods and also over self-built small bridges on my property. It does require a weight box for any decent FEL work otherwise the rears will keep spinning or come off the ground but that is something I knew from people here. The mowing deck is easy to remove and put back as long as you don't want to do it 2-3 times a day. After the initial leveling of the deck, in my experience it is very easy to set the cutting height as well. Raise the deck with the 3ph, pull pin change adjustments by moving the little arm, reinsert pin and off you go mowing. It takes about 30-40 seconds. The MMM removal is probably the same as the ground contact model. All in all I'd buy it again. I got a good deal on mine as well, probably because there isn't that much info on these units and people are a bit hesitant to buy them.

 

[easygo]

Forgot to mention that the cutting quality of the deck is good (in my opinion!) but probably not as nice as a designated lawnmower. If you are trying to maintain a golf course, than it sure isn't the machine for that but I'd say it is good enough for a large yard. Some people here can give you recommendation on replacement mowing blades that will do a better job than the factory installed. Good luck
easygo

 

[ChuckinNH]

Thanks for the input Easygo. There is nothing like getting some help from people experienced with the equipment you are looking at!
Chuck

 

[ihookem]

I bought a 7510 hst turf dec. 2005. I have 192 hrs. Don't worry much about the mmm, once you get usd to adjusting and removing it's a breeze. The mmm cuts good enough, not as good as my neighbors bx23 though. My best cut is with sharp blades, 1800 rpm plus and not too fast. I bought a 4' Howse rottary cutter and goes through 3' high alfalfa fairly well in low. It ripps small tres and bushes to nothing,(2000 rpm minimun) The 302 fel pushes snow like crazy,lifts two fifty gallon drums of water,( 800 lbs.) I have a post hole digger and it works real nice at low rpm. I rotto till with my 4' Howard tiller, and turns topsoil into sifted soil at high rpm's if soil is moist. All in all I am very rough with my tractor. I actually beat it bad sometimes. The only problems I had are the mmm wheel broke off twice, fel joystick froze up once, and four flat tires. The front tires turfs are four ply and a little wimpy, but have had no leaks with the back tires. I would buy it all over again. It has always had enough to get the job done. The only time I wish I had more tractor(7800 hst) is when I cut the high grass for our church and that's 22 ac. of grass, weeds and alfalfa. I gets the job done but I sure get sick of cutting it three times a year. I would love to get a 7800 to pull a 6' rottary cutter, but it's not enough to justify the money. You won't be unhappy with the 7510 and most people under estimate the power of a 21 horse diesel.

 

[ChuckinNH]

Thanks for the response!
It seems your uses are more demanding than what I plan to be doing, and it's good to hear that the 7510 is up to the task!
Chuck

 

[easygo]

Chuck,
Look at it this way. You can do anything with the Turf Special as any of the BX tractors plus you have more ground clearance, a little more FEL power and 3pt lift height. Some of the guys here do some scary amount of work with the BX units so read those posts as well. It is well worth it.
easygo