New BX25D-1

[D2Cat]

Jake, the best time to plant seed here is Mid September. Have your ground ready for seed then and you'll usually get enough moisture the seeds comes up and have established lawn by winter. You plant in the spring or later and you do have to water to keep it alive. I have never watered a lawn.

Yes, I live in Kansas. About 15 miles East of the Mo. line. I am about 130 miles from you. If you ever came out this way I have a pulverizer I would let you use for a few weeks. It's a Gill Mfg. 20A200. I think the 200 means it has two rear rollers. It's 6' in length. Bought it from a guy on CL for peanuts!

Check with you County Extension Agent to get any recommendations for seed. We used K31 and plant it at the rate of about 50# per acre. You then get a good thick stand since Fescue grows in clumps and does not spread out.

Here's a couple of pictures I found that give you an idea of K31 Fescue planted thick.

 

[Jake71]

WOW, if only my old farm yard looked that good. Another question: Do you think the BX frame and weight / overall size is too small to pull heavier equipment such as the soil pulverizer? If I've already crossed off the extra expense of the 25D only to get the same tractor as the 2370 with a backhoe, would I be better off stepping up to a B2301?

Thanks
Jake

 

[D2Cat]

Jake, someone else needs to give you advise on which machine to purchase. I have one for every implement, but none of them new!!

Oh, this was a cattle pasture when we started. Where that pond is...is where a terrace was broken down from a cattle path. We modified it a tad and worked around it!!

 

[1970cs]

Jake, sorry for the slow response! I have had two people pass away on me this week and third one within days will do the same.

But any ways, if you going to use your own insurance, that's fine as long as you don't leave your property! If you are planning on leaving your property several times a year then go with the KTC insurance. Good no matter where you go and whatever happens to it. Plus only $250.00 deductible when something does happen. Your sales person needs to inform you of this stuff!

If you go with BX series, also depends on how many Kubota or Land Pride implements you may loose that $1000.00 CIR by going with tractor and loader, but if you do grab anything from L.P. that will count towards the third piece.

It's more money but a larger and heavier tractor you may want to look at the B2301 with a LA434 with SSL quick tack for switching loader implements
plus a real class 1 three point.

 

[D2Cat]

I agree what 1970cs says about a bit bigger tractor. You already have a nice mowing setup, so you don't have to be concerned about being careful with tires and weight of tractor while mowing.

You can get a machine that will do all the other work you may want to do, have a little more power and weight and operate attachments easier.

If you have ever operated a tractor using an implement hooked to the 3-point you'll REALLY appreciate this, "plus a real class 1 three point."

Be sure to try the three point when it's hooked to an implement to see how it adjust and holds in place BEFORE you buy something.

 

[Jake71]

Thank you guys so much. It really helps talking to guys with actual experience rather than just sales. I'm not the kind of person that will be in the market for another tractor in a few years or even 10 years from now. I'm trying to buy the right tractor once. I'd be fine with a BX if it'll handle the type of implements I plan on running. I'm so glad you have responded with what's been in the back of my mind all along which was buyers remorse with too little of a machine.

I plan on going to the dealer tomorrow and sit down with a sales rep that's been good with replying and getting back to me via email on prices and other questions. I'll let you guys know what sort of price he hist me with on a B2301 with loader.

Thanks again. I'll post updates and decision and of course pictures upon taking possession of said machine when it arrives.

Jake

 

[Jake71]

1970cs, sorry to hear about your losses and don't apologize for not answering a forums post when real life needs your attention. Also , you may want to consider purchasing a power ball ticket soon because your luck can only get better.

I'll bring up the insurance question with the dealer. I don't plan on taking the tractor off the property but even the best plans don't always work out. I currently don't own a trailer so taking it anywhere will be extremely difficult logistically however I'm sure once the neighbors get a glance at my fancy shinny toy they'll have a project that will require its use.

Thanks
Jake

 

[Jake71]

Went to the dealer today fellas. He quickly talked me out of the B2301 and without much effort up-sold me on a B2601. Basically for not a noticeable difference in monthly payments the bigger HP is a better choice.

They don't stock any BX2370 or B2301 because no one buys them vs the BX2670 and B2601. I haven't pulled the trigger just yet. I'm going to see if the wife would let it fly if I got it early before the pond construction starts. I'll try to convince her I need stick time to practice before and well,,,,,, WHY WAIT? He did explain the differences between the 3-point hitch system and they had a BX2670 and a B2601 sitting side by side on the lot you could easily see the difference. The B2601 still falls within budget so it looks like it will be the one I end up getting.

Any reason I should shy away from one that has been parked on the lot and exposed to the weather vs one kept indoors? I'm sure it will prolong getting one if I were to order it with something that would cause them to get one from the factory.

Thanks
Jake

 

[D2Cat]

I don't own a B2601, but I was picking up some parts last week and looked at that tractor and a couple of others. It's a nice size tractor for your needs and has no Tier 4 additions required.

 

[dbolin71]

What kind of price did they say on the B2601

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[Jake71]

What kind of price did they say on the B2601

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We didn't bother to hash out the exact details and I didn't ask him to sharpen his pencil but he ball parked one for $17,000 with front loader and box blade. I can get an exact price and firm number if I ask him to? I just didn't want him to at the time I was there this morning because I know I'm not getting it until at least July and the phone was ringing and other customers were roaming around waiting patiently. Maybe the store was super busy today because it was dreary and raining off and on so I'm sure every tractor owner within 50 miles was there getting parts and widow shopping the shinny new toys in their brand new show room.

Jake

 

[Jake71]

Here's a couple of pictures I found that give you an idea of K31 Fescue planted thick.

D2Cat, When you planted the k31 Fescue did you run a core aerator over your lard the next season and over seed to help fill in gaps to get it as full and thick as your yard looks?

I have a hard time looking at your yard and comprehending all you did was plant grass in September and start mowing the following spring. I've tried that before at my last house and it simply didn't work. I had a much much smaller yard in a residential neighborhood so I had an irrigation system installed in my front yard and BOOM, perfect yard. It was several years ago and perhaps it was a particularly dry fall on my previous efforts.

My son's baseball game was cancelled tonight because of the weather so I'm going to seize this rare opportunity I have with my wife and work the "I need practice time" angle to see if I could maybe get it sooner than later. Wish me luck. She's a school administrator and is always busy and I work nights. So most of our conversations occur when either I'm exhausted or she is and everything is forgotten about the following day.

Jake

 

[D2Cat]

Jake, when I planted that K31, it was over a 3 acre patch, minus the driveway and house. All I had for any machinery was a 10HP Craftsman lawn mower!!

I pretty much hand raked the entire area with a wooden handled steel head rake. How you say? A little at a time. It had been pasture, so I needed to pick up sticks and stones. I mowed it with a Lawn Boy push mower as I cleaned. Then I seeded in late Sept. Seeded heavy. Never watered.

Three years later we had broken down the Craftsman, like a lame horse. That's when we bought our first Kubota. Soon after that I built one of these out of the pick up teeth from a square baler and some bed frame.

http://www.orangetractortalks.com/forums/showthread.php?t=17919&highlight=point+rake

I used that to de-thatch and just go over the grass. I think it probably helped to lever and smooth thing out, but that is all I have done.

Post some pictures of your yard as it is now to show how rough it is.

 

[Jake71]

I will post pictures of the yard in its current state however the pictures will NOT show how bumpy the ride is while mowing. There are several spots I have to basically crawl the mower over as to avoid breaking something on the mower or loosing teeth.

Jake

 

[Jake71]

D2Cat, more pictures of different angles.

 

[Jake71]

I'll have a ton of dirt to move around after the pond goes in. The pond will take up a majority of the lower lot. Box blade will come in extremely handy for that sort of thing. The area that has the really tall grass is too bumpy to even consider mowing and is usually standing water anyway, hence the pond.

I have a lot of work to and I'm sure I'll be hand picking rocks out of the yard and other debris for weeks but I won't be mowing much this summer/fall after the pond goes in. It should be about 3/4 or 1 acre pond and we are shooting for about 20' in depth. It's my retirement plan. Mow my yard and fish in my pond and occasionally partake in an adult beverage while doing both.

Jake

 

[1970cs]

He can send us his BX2370'S, they are our best sellers point blank period compared to any other model on our lot. The B2301 is not selling as quick as the 26 so agreed there is very little price change may $500-800 depending on the dealer.

Pat

 

[Jake71]

1970cs, they don't have any BX2370 in stock and don't stock them as a norm because the BX2670 isn't that much more money and you get a tad more HP. Same with the B-series. They only stock the B2601 vs having both the B23 and B26. The price difference just isn't enough to make most people choose the B2301 over the B2601.

The dealer also told me that's why Kubota made the L2501. He sells a ton of those models too. The L is just to big for my application and too heavy on the yard after it's grass.

Jake

 

[1970cs]

I believe you are being mislead by your salesperson. The BX2370RV-1 compared to the BX2670RV-1 is $1400 MSRP. 12%-15% depending on dealer margin is significant IMO.

The regions dictate the size of units being sold. The L2501 is a slow mover for us. Off the top of my head 3 in the last 365 for us.

Pat

 

[Jake71]

I believe you are being mislead by your salesperson. The BX2370RV-1 compared to the BX2670RV-1 is $1400 MSRP. 12%-15% depending on dealer margin is significant IMO.

The regions dictate the size of units being sold. The L2501 is a slow mover for us. Off the top of my head 3 in the last 365 for us.

Pat

1970cs, you are correct I'm sure the type of area you live in dictates the type of tractor people are buying and I'm not saying that $1,400 is chump change and I didn't mean to miss quote the dealer. I plan on financing the entire unit with zero% and I'm also not going to put a single cent down on the tractor. I figure why waste my cash when they offer 0%.

I typically only finance when things are at a promotional rate of 0% and I sign up for the longest term possible. I usually pay anywhere from $50-$100 more than the minimum payment each month with the extra going towards principal. The extra $1,400ish for the BX2670-1 over the life of the loan equates to approximately $20 more a month therefore making the the decision to get the extra HP seems logical.

The margins are even less on the B series as you mentioned with less than $20 a month difference in the monthly payments. I know I'm just spit-balling and trying to justify my decision but looking at the big picture it's $50 more a month for the B2601 vs the BX2670-1 which means if I work two hours of overtime a month it'll cover the extra cost of the larger tractor which is not figured into the budget. If you know anyone in LE then you know I average that in a week.

Right now the promotional rates are better on the BX machines than the B series. It's probably not rocket science to figure out that corporate Kubota is trying to sell more BX models this month since last month the incentives were better on the B series. I guess they seem to flip flop depending on sales and their dealers inventory. Makes sense to me they wouldn't want product sitting around to long without selling. I've waited years to buy a tractor and the dealer suggested to hold off until June to see if the promotional rates flip back towards the B series. It's less than two weeks away and the dealer said the price of the B would not go up but the rebates could possibly go up. I'll check in June and probably pull the trigger either way.

The dealer said they would come get the tractor at my house and make repairs to anything it needs for the life of the warranty which again is a plus since I don't own a trailer. Not that it's a huge stretch because I live literally 3 miles away.

Jake