Ah, this of course, was the question I started this whole thread with...which is whether you can come up from the bottom with the filter pliers. Someone stated that you cannot. It's good to know that this might actually be a possibility ... I'll check it myself next time I'm at my tractor. I'm feeling pretty optimistic about the claw action end cap tool, but it's good to know there are other options. Thanks for confirming that it's not just my tractor that has the tight first filter.Not to muddy waters, but the plier/channel lock type worked good on my BX. First filter change it was real tight.
Could get a bite on it straight up from below, and I got good leverage on the pliers. They're also narrow enough I can get to the filter pretty easy with the shroud on.