Quick question Paul regarding the B2601 vs the L2502. I looked up the specs and looks like the B2601 has slightly higher engine and PTO horsepower. Your video link and feedback has convinced me that an adequately powered tractor with a digging grapple will accomplish a lot of the chores I need to complete. Why would I choose the L2502 over the B2601 if it has lower power?
Also, do you have any thoughts on the LX series with higher horse power?
Cheers
Refer this table I made a long time ago - when the LX2610 used to be the B2650 (pretty much same tractor though).
https://www.orangetractortalks.com/forums/threads/bx-vs-b01-vs-b50.36719/
Somewhere Messicks also have a video on 26hp tractors, and Neil has a lot of good information.
Let's start with the 26hp thing. There are a lot of tractors right at 26HP, because more than 26HP attracts tighter emissions requirements. Under 26hp you generally don't need DPF, and DPF is both expensive and increases maintenance and warranty claims. There are tractors from the BX through to the L that are all 26HP.
The thing is, not all HP are equal. The BX has a 1000cc engine making 26hp, the B has 1100cc engine making 26HP, the LX is a 1250cc engine, the L is a 1650cc engine. As we all know, there ain't no replacement for displacement. The L is making the 26HP at 2200rpm, the BX at 3200 rpm. The L has way more torque, otherwise known as simple low down grunt. Kubota have also way under rated that engine, I'd suspect many of them are making more than 26hp, and that engine has way more power to give with minor tweaks. All that adds up to a machine with a very under-stressed engine that will go forever.
To be honest, the BX engine will also go forever in any sensible personal use.
Next, take a close look at what you're trying to do. How many of your tasks are HP limited? To be HP limited you really need to be either driving a hungry PTO implement (a chipper, a brush hog, a snow blower), or you're moving at a reasonable speed pulling a load (pulling a trailer up a hill, pulling a brush hog up a hill). In those situations you can use all the power that the engine is putting out.
But in many other uses, you're not HP limited. Anything hydraulic is actually limited by the hydraulic pump. The BX1880, BX2380, BX2680 all have identical pumps and loaders - they lift exactly the same on the loader. Anything traction related, a BX (and a B, and probably an LX) will spin all 4 wheels in low ratio long before it runs out of power. With turfs on I used to be able to spin all 4 wheels on tarmac on my BX. They're a small machine with a lot of power for their size, and a lot of the time no real ability to use that power.
Work with a tractor often comes down to weight. A heavier tractor with bigger wheels will do more - it'll have more traction both due to tire footprint, but also weight = traction. It'll often lift more - the L appears on paper to lift the same as the LX, but actually the L lifts it quite a bit higher. Lift capacity is related to height - you'll lift a good 50% more to 1 foot than you can to 6 foot. An L actually lifts more in real life, and certainly is has more lift capacity in the bits that aren't raw lift power - a heavier machine won't tip over as easily when you lift stuff.
Think about a 3pt implement. A single bladed brush hog is basically square. A BX2680 in theory can run about a 5 foot brush hog, it has the power to run it. But it can't actually lift it - it sticks out too far and the leverage on the 3pt will tip a BX over. And the brush hog will weigh most of what a BX does, it'll push it around in ways that mean you'll never feel safe.
To use truck analogies (and note that I'm in NZ and we don't get really any US trucks, so don't nitpick my numbers here), the F150, F250 and F350 are all available with 400hp engines. That doesn't mean you can tow the same. An F150 will haul 2,500 pounds, and tow 13,500 pounds. An F350 will haul 8,000 pounds and tow 33,000. And most people would say you'd be a bit optimistic actually towing 13,500 pounds with an F150, they'll give you a list of reasons it's not really safe, even if the specs say you can do it.
I like my B2601, but I'd really only run a 4 foot brush hog, I think a 5 foot would probably be a bit unsafe. An L in theory can swing a 6 foot - certainly it can lift it and control it. That's 50% more cutting.
But, it's very true that the L2502 is kind of made down to a HP rating. That same engine in my part of the world makes 32hp, we don't have the emissions restrictions. It doesn't come with 26hp because that's a good idea, it comes with 26hp because of regulations. It's underpowered for some tasks. Plenty of people will say that running a big mower up a hill, you'll bog down. It just doesn't have the power to run a load up a hill fast. Of course, you can just run slow instead, it'll get there, it's a tractor.
The LX is an interesting machine. On paper it has all the capability of the L, and it's a more refined machine in some ways - all the castings are a bit more refined (and therefore lighter). It's a machine that does dual duty - it's reasonably capable, but not so heavy it'll rut up your lawn and generally make a mess. For your use, that doesn't seem to matter. I normally say you get an LX if: light weight matters to you (you trailer it and have a limit with your trailer or truck; you drive it on your home lawn and you're trying to have a good looking lawn), you want a mid-PTO (snowblower or mid mower), or you want a cab. If none of those are you, the L is probably better buying. The LX is a nicer machine in some ways though - nicer operator station, loader stick etc. Of course, the grand-L (L-60 series) is the ducks nuts, so if you care about refinement then that's a brilliant machine, and it's your money I'm spending not mine...
I think an L2501 will do more work than a B2601, even though it's a bit HP limited to drag all that weight around. But if you can stretch the funding, yeah an L3302 or LX3310 will probably put a bigger smile on your face.
You do really need to go sit on them and drive them. The L is a much bigger machine.
All of this though is detail and in the last 5%. The reality is that any of these machines is so much better than a wheelbarrow and a shovel that any of them would make you extremely happy. Any of the jobs you describe can be done with the B2601. Just a bit slower and with implements sized to the machine appropriately.
I think the best advice I can give to you is to buy the biggest machine you can afford. Because once you have it, everything else you buy will be sized to that machine. So for 10-20 years, the machine will set what you can do and what you can buy. And changing once you've bought those implements is painful, you have to change all the implements. If it were me I'd go with a second hand larger machine rather than a new smaller machine.
If you're not particularly worried about emissions systems (I'm not worried), then the L3302 would be a great option. I suspect it costs about the same as the LX3310. And I think it'd be better. Either would be better than a B2601.
But if a B2601 is all you can afford, buy it.
