Waiting 4 B2620 arrival. Question at end.

[James11ac]

Hi all. Thanks for the welcome messages on the new member page and for the tons of info that you all share. It was a great help in buying my first tractor. I was in love with the BX25 and it was the only one for me. Really it was what I could afford for my 2 acre yard, 2 acre pasture and 6 acres of idle fields. However moving from California was more expensive than I planned, the barn needed a new roof and the wife wanted new furniture. So, my dreams of an orange tractor were back-burnered and I bought a Cub Cadet ZTT50 (Steeler colors!!) to do the yard and a 17cuft cart to haul stuff. That keeps me outta the weeds. Well, my dad (1 acre yard, 6 acres overgrown fields, Cub Cadet LT1054) came over and I was yammering about tractors and he said, 添ou find a tractor and I値l go in half on it. What a deal.

Other brands were more expensive, had no dealer within 35 miles or just didn稚 have the appeal of Kubota so it was down to the confusing issue of which one? Wouldn稚 it be nice if the models increased in features/options as the number increased ie 2620, 2630, 2660? Anywho, after the money was spent the biggest lesson I learned was shop as many different dealers as you can.

I started with Green Valley Tractors in Fairfield, CA and Tom Green and his wife are some of the nicest people on planet Earth. They spent a couple hours with me, and Tom even convinced me to wait until I got to Ohio to buy. Some dealers never even came out to talk. In Ohio, I went to Unkefer痴 and they were outstanding. After a few hours of test driving different models, telling stories, asking questions and really getting an education, we were ready to go get the money. Then I noticed the BH was quoted more than the MSRP. I asked and was told that was for installation. I didn稚 say anything but the internet MSRP already had $500+ added in for that. That prompted me to go to another local dealer, Coia, in Ravenna. They were extremely friendly and quoted the exact same tractor for $1150 less and $1500 less than my dad found in PA. Unkefer dropped their price but it was still more than Coia. I felt bad but it came down to the dollar. Maybe we could have shopped more but my $11,850 half of a B2620, FEL, BH, 60熱MM was good for me.

We went to Coia yesterday and they said they were just uncrating everything and that we should have it by Friday. I offered to help put it together but no deal! We had to go back to my place and press on with the barn roof. The roof supports were sagging so after setting seven 4x6 posts on 1500lbs of concrete footers and busting out the old 40遅8遅8 floor with a sledgehammer and prybar we had plenty of dreams of how the new tractor would help us. The Cub Cadet hauled all of that old floor out to the back fields poor thing it can稚 wait til Friday either!!! Many projects to come.

My question is this how do you start out to change a few shingles and end up with a new foundation and a Kubota????

Hey, thanks again everyone. I値l post pics soon.
Jim
PS. Didn稚 want to leave you hanging my wife got the furniture!!!

 

[Evil the Weasel]

My question is this how do you start out to change a few shingles and end up with a new foundation and a Kubota????

Luck? Congrats on your new machine. By the way, you have some strange characters in your posting.

 

[taborekle]

I think you got a great deal with you're dad (FIL?) going in half with you.

The B2620 is a great tractor. You're going to love it. I have the 2920 and love mine. Very quick to start.

Get some heavy duty straps so that you can strap things to the FEL and lift them, or spend some money on pallet forks for the FEL. Then a quick hitch to make life easier hooking up the 3 point implements.

Ah the possibilities. I feel you're excitement!

Larry

 

[James11ac]

Weasel, you had me laughing with "Luck?" Yeah, it must be!! The crazy characters were from TBN logging me out due to my lengthy message. I did it over in MSWord and cut and pasted. I guess everything didn't convert.

Taborekle, thanks for the encouragement. One of the first projects will be reworking the drainage around my entire house and barn. This will require some grading. Would a box scraper, rear blade or the FEL work best? Maybe I should make that a new thread?

Thanks,

Jim

 

[taborekle]

I've mucked out my drainage ditch with my FEL. The problem that I see though for you, is that there is no way to induce pitch to the FEL so that it digs out a initial ditch. I can do this with the FEL because the ditch already exists and the pitch is already there. I'm not sure about a box blade, but a standard blade can have some 'pitch' induced to it by cranking on the lift arm adjustment.

The amount of pitch that can be induced by a standard blade through the lift arm adjustment is very small, and it will inhibit how high the lift arms can lift the blade. On my blade, once I have cranked on all the pitch I can through the lift arm (only about 7degrees) then I can only lift the blade a few inches off the ground.

If you're shopping for a blade, you can buy some for small tractors that allow pitch to be introduced at the blade, usually in 15 degree increments.

Here's a small blade from Land Pride that does tilting.

Land Pride RBT15 Series Rear Blades

This is the blade that I -should- have bought, as the "t" in the rbt stands for tilt. Instead I got the rb15.

Hope that helps,

Larry

 

[KU Gator]

I have a B2920. A local dealer is going out of business and had some left over Land Pride rear blades. I bought a RBT1560 for $499. I tried digging some ditches with it a week ago to bury some drain pipes coming off the gutters at my daughters house. I would say that it worked pretty well to angle and tilt the blade to the max and just drive forward. I then backed up and reversed the tilt and angle and did it again, rolling the dirt the opposite way. It eliminated most of the hand digging. This was in clay with some rocks.

I also have a quick spade which slides on the front of the bucket and then is tightened with a chain around the bucket. I used it to dig out some of the rocks that the rear blade bounced over. It saved some back breaking pick work.

 

[Evil the Weasel]

Sounds like a subsoiler/middlebuster would have been perfect for this job. I ripped a 150' trench to my wife's garden to run a water line. After several passes, I cleaned out the loose soil with a trenching shovel and that was that.

 

[linearxs]

I have visited Coia Implements as well. Were you able to get them to go lower in price from their original quote?

 

[James11ac]

Hey all! Well it showed up yesterday, and I was pacing around like an expectant dad! I took it out and dug 2 holes with the BH. Pretty smooth - except for me trying to figure out the controls. I pulled the FEL and BH last night - super easy - I was really surprised and the book instructions were dead on. One thing I lucked out on was that the driveway in my barn is just wide enough for the stabilizers to lower without hitting the stall gates on either side. Good thing.

Today I mowed 2 acres adn the 'Bota just eased thru 12" grass and it was quieter than I expected. Pulled the mower after that, another simple task - even on the dirt floor of the barn. I didn't drive over it, just turned the deck wheels sideways and rolled it out.

Then - and this is really sick - I wiped the whole thing down. My wife took one look at me and walked away! I used compressed air and a t-shirt - even on the undercarriage! Yeah, she's my new love!

linearxs - I never asked Coia about the price. When I found them $1100 cheaper I just lost my mind and paid!! Go ahead and ask tho, they have been really good to me. I even had to call back this morning and they spent all the time I needed.

More to follow,

Jim

 

[KU Gator]

Glad you are enjoying the new toy. I think of my FEL as an expensive wheelbarrow, but a lot more fun. Avoid letting your wife operate it as you will end up doing the hard work and she will be driving your tractor. Try to make it look very complicated and tiring.

In case you are not aware, I will let you know about a struggle I had putting the FEL back on. I followed the directions in removing it, including moving the control around after shutting off the engine and prior to removing the couplings. I removed it to mow and when I went to put it back on, I had trouble getting the middle two coupling back on. The loader was sitting on the driveway in the sun and the hoses built up some pressure. I now keep a large bolt in the tool box and if I can't get them to go on easily, I just press it against the center of the coupling of the hose on the loader and it then will go on easily. I would not suggest doing this with your face to close to it or wearing your favorite T-shirt.

As you start getting some 3 pt equipment, I would also endorse the Pat's quick disconnect advertised on the website. It makes removing and hooking up equipment much easier. The bar that you can get to hold the arms apart when hooking something up works ok, but a piece of 3/4" PVC cut to the width and a notch to allow it to be removed works better.

 

[Evil the Weasel]

I think you'll discover the cut quality improves if you don't let it get too high. This will give you more seat time also! I don't drive over my deck either. I turn the scalp rollers sideways and roll it right out. Then I pop the mower axles in and stand it up. Easy. I'm approaching 100 hrs and as happy as can be with my 2620. Enjoy it and posts some pictures of it getting dirty

 

[James11ac]

G'day everybody. Just wanted to say that I re-installed the FEL and BH this evening. I'm almost disappointed at how easy it is. Really, it's a nice change from how things usually go in this world (Oh, it'll be super easy...then you find you've walked into a nightmare!) I told my neighbor (Green guy all the way) what I was going to do and he said, "Come get me when it doesn't line up."

2 things the book doesn't mention (or I didn't see) First on the FEL, as I dumped the bucket slightly to seat the upper pins, one side sat in the cradle and lined up perfectly but the other became misaligned. I fiddled with the lever trying to get it to align but then I just drove forward an inch or two. that worked. Then for the BH, I had a bit of struggle pulling the upper pins. I just worked them and they backed out. Seemed like the same thing on the install but I got the idea to adjust the stabilizers and both pins just slipped into place. I'm ready for tomorrows digging!

Taborekle - thanks for the info on the Landpride blade. I'm going to look into it

KU Gator - hilarous comment about trying to make it look complicated. My wife loved it - I think it comes naturally for me sometimes!!

Evil - I was waiting for the Kubota to show up before I cut the pasture!! That's how it got high. The Cub Cadet cut it a month or so ago when it was higher than the hood! Don't want to do that again. I'd like to get some animals to graze it but for now I'll keep it shorter. I'm just amazed at how smoothly the kubota moved through the grass (except for the massively bumpy ride) and I simply love the sound of letting out the clutch and hearing the mower spin up.

My dad and I had a good debate over whether to get a brush hog or the MMM. I'm not sure I made the right choice because the Kubota seems too big for my treed yard but the MMM won't cut my overgrown fields. I tried to just make a path around the property but the MMM just laid the high stuff over and let it spring back up. Kicked up a lot of dust too.

We also had good discussions over going with the 2620 or 2920. I wonder if a novice would notice a difference? In the end we hoped the 26 would be slightly easier on fuel and save some on the price. That was tough.

Anyway, can't wait for tomorrow!

Jim

 

[KU Gator]

One thing I would suggest that you watch out for if you are mowing high stuff is that the grill in front of the radiator does not get full of grass, seed or whatever. We try and stop ever so often and brush it off to keep then engine from overheating.

We have a 5' Bush Hog Squeeler and the MMM. On the property we have for recreation, we mow about 6 of 12 acres. The 1st time we mowed this year or any time we are going into areas we don't know what is in there, we use the Bush Hog. The other times we use the MMM as it is much easier to keep at the height we want and doesn't leak down as the Bush Hog does. With it you have to frequently be adjusting up the 3 pt to keep the front off the ground. We live on 3 acres, and most of the time I mow it with the J.D. garden tractor as it has turf tires and is easier on the grass in the turns plus don't want to let it set.

As far as 26 horse, we bought the B2920 because there wasn't that much difference in price and the dealer had it setting there, but I doubt it would make much difference. Maybe in tall grass the bigger engine would be a little less likely to bog down, but you just slow down a bit sooner with the 26. With stuff you pull like a box blade, you'll probably run out of traction before you run out of horse power.

 

[628pm]

Ku Gator mentioned Pat's Easy Change. That really made the difference, but I went one step farther and replaced my turn buckles for the 3 point hitch with the telescoping ones. You don't even need to use the rod or pvc to line up the attachments them when using pat's system. This has made the job of changing the attachments a breeze. Also for me with a BH, I can just drop a couple of pins in the telescoping stabilizers instead of taking the turnbuckles all the way off.

Bill