Suggest a Kubota, BX, B or L?

[David9723]

I started off looking at the BX series but then thought maybe i should go bigger!

I currently have 3 acres to mow around the house and that could go to 6 acres in the future. Plus i have 16 acres of field land that i may have to mow someday would just assume bush hog it can always add that later right now a farmer makes hay out of it.

I was also looking at a grass catcher. What i hate about mowing the most is after i finish i have to go back and rake up all the grass it almost takes as long as mowing it did. I always have to rake the grass up no matter how short it was.

I also want to be able to remove snow i have a 1,500 gravel drive way that likes to drift at places i've never seen it get above 3ft deep (yet) so i wanted a snow blower it seems that only the BX and B series have a front mount snow blower the L only has a rear mount. Going backwards out a 1,500 drive way would be a pain wouldn't it? I only want to stick with Kubota brand Attachments.

I don't think the new L have a belly mower option.

Whatever i get it will be from the dealer with a front loader and when they run a 0% apr. I have seen some good deals on year old tractors with 0 hours from the dealer.

My dad has a B series and he has a loader and has been plowing my drive way with a rear mount plow but it tears up the drive way so bad it's a mud pit after the snow is gone and it's been stuck serval times when we get the deep snow. He uses turf tires. I may get turf tires as well but buy chains for the winter.


Been using a cheap lawn mower with a 46" cut and it takes me around 5hrs

Any suggestions would be great!

 

[BAP]

I have a B2920 with loader, 60 mid mount mower, rear blade, 48 bush hog, post hole digger and a pto powered generator. I have almost 15 acres. 1.75 of it is lawn the rest is woods. I have several roads thru the woods that is keep mowed with the bush hog along with some of the undergrowth in the trees. The tractor is a great mowing machine. I also use it to move snow in the winter. The advantage of the B series over the BX is a little bigger tractor and more ground clearance with the larger tires. The L series doesn't offer a mid mount mower so you would have to use a 3pt hitch finish mower. If you have a lot of things to mow around in your lawn, the mid mount mower is easier to maneuver in tight areas. The best thing to do, is to go to a dealer that stocks many models, and look them over and drive a few. That will give you a much better idea of what would fit your needs the best.

 

[ctmike]

I use one of these Swisher tow-behind mowers with my lawn tractor to get about a 7 ft. mowing width and it takes me about 3 hours to mow 2 1/2 acres of lawn. The Swisher mower probably costs less than a Kubota mower plus you don't have to drive a heavy tractor on your lawn all the time.
http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200594090_200594090

I use a rear grader blade on my Kubota L3750 to clear snow from my 600 ft. gravel driveway and it does a great, quick job. Once the gravel is frozen, the blade rides right along the top but I make sure to leave the curl of snow on the driveway, not in the grass. When the snow bank gets too high, I use a 5 ft. rear-mounted snow blower to clear it away.
If you get turf tires, you will need chains to get any traction on snow.

 

[David9723]

I have a B2920 with loader, 60 mid mount mower, rear blade, 48 bush hog, post hole digger and a pto powered generator. I have almost 15 acres. 1.75 of it is lawn the rest is woods. I have several roads thru the woods that is keep mowed with the bush hog along with some of the undergrowth in the trees. The tractor is a great mowing machine. I also use it to move snow in the winter. The advantage of the B series over the BX is a little bigger tractor and more ground clearance with the larger tires. The L series doesn't offer a mid mount mower so you would have to use a 3pt hitch finish mower. If you have a lot of things to mow around in your lawn, the mid mount mower is easier to maneuver in tight areas. The best thing to do, is to go to a dealer that stocks many models, and look them over and drive a few. That will give you a much better idea of what would fit your needs the best.

Thanks for the info i never new a pto generator existed! If i used a 3pt hitch finish mower i would still have to rake the grass. That's a - for the L

 

[Bluegill]

Sounds like you are in the middle of needing a large lawn mower and a tractor. Sometimes it's hard to get a do-all machine.

I sure wouldn't want to rake my yard every time I mow, don't have a grass catcher either. I just let it lay.

 

[beckmurph]

If i used a 3pt hitch finish mower i would still have to rake the grass. That's a - for the L

If you use a rear finish mower with rear discharge, and no chain guard on the discharge chute, you won't have to rake your lawn.
The rear discharge rfm will spread the clippings around with no windrows.
I put a chain guard on my rfm, because I cut in an area next to a road.
With out the chain guard the grass looked as though it had been mulched.
I run a 5' Woods rfm behind my B3200, and the 3200 would run a 6' with no problem.

 

[David9723]

If you use a rear finish mower with rear discharge, and no chain guard on the discharge chute, you won't have to rake your lawn.
The rear discharge rfm will spread the clippings around with no windrows.
I put a chain guard on my rfm, because I cut in an area next to a road.
With out the chain guard the grass looked as though it had been mulched.
I run a 5' Woods rfm behind my B3200, and the 3200 would run a 6' with no problem.

Really no rake the lawn? I do like the idea of the rear finish mower with rear discharge would be so much simpler to mow by a road. Plus wouldn't the rear mower be much simpler to service no more laying on the floor to remove and re-hookup.

Whats the advantage and disadvantages of a belly mower vs rear finish?

Also what's the advantage and disadvantages of a rear vs front snow blower?

Thank's again for the help

 

[chim]

I've been doing our original 2-1/4 acre yard for the last 24 years. It took between 1-1/4 and 1-1/2 hours with a Cub 154 Loboy with a 5' belly mower, a Ford 1210 with a 5' RFM and a Kubota B7500 with a 5' RFM.

Last year I bought a Kubota L3200 and a 6' RFM and I've been saying it took 15 minutes or so off the mowing time. Last mowing (mostly after dark) I timed it. Start time was 7:40 PM and completed it at 8:25 PM. So for a tad over 2 acres it was 45 minutes with the 66 RFM.

We recently added 1-1/3 acres on one side of the property and I have the grass planted and starting to come up on part of it. Another area of the new land is getting reshaped some and there's some really deep topsoil that I'm stripping for filling and recontouring before planting the rest of the grass.

I did rake maybe a half dozen times since we built here. It was in the early years and due to a combination of my work schedule and the weather preventing me from mowing until the grass was way too tall. With a side discharge deck it was possible to go back the next day and blow the grass into windrows for gathering, rather than raking the whole 2+ acres.

The L3200 is the perfect size for our place and some other outside projects I get involved in. It has worked out very well for me. It's way beefier and more capable than the B7500 was. The loader and other attachments are too useful to not have around. It has yet to prove itself in the snow - last year was a bust here, but the B7500 did pretty well with the same R4 tires and this is a heavier unit.

 

[skeets]

Well Im going to chime in here, I went the BX route because of my fruit trees and getting close to the house and stuff when mowing and I didn't want something to large to get around, now my Bud went with the B simply because he needed a little more ground clearance for getting wood of the back side of his property and his mowing is pretty much wise open, I have no problem getting wood out with my BX, (ya just has ta be mor carful),,,
Now the front mounted snow blower you are facing forward and can see, sit, and be more comfortable. While the 3 pt, well ya gota turn your self around half backwards, look over your shoulder and really limit you field of view and in MHO its pretty much a PIA. Though I believe the 3pt snow blowers are a little less money than the front mounted ones. One thing I would recommend if you can afford it is no matter what you decide on get the FEL for sure, you will find uses for it you never knew you needed it for. Again just MHO, but do dive a couple different ones and if you ask really nice perhaps your dealer might bring one to the house to let you try for a weekend before you buy

 

[Bluegill]

I mow my lawn with a cheap rider. The way it was set up it would leave rows of heavy grass and I didn't like it. I don't rake! I raised the discharge chute just a little so it blew the grass out farther and this eliminated the grass rows.

A rear finish mower w/rear discharge does spread the cut grass out even and would be my choice if I needed a finish mower on the tractor.

 

[Benhameen]

I don't have any experience with the B or the BX but I do with the L.

I used to mow my 2.5 acre yard with a small riding mower, 42" cut and it always left rows. Now I use a side discharge 6' finish mower on my L3800. It leave no rows and mows beautifully.

Once I learned to take the FEL off and change the way I mow with the finish mower, I took 45 minutes off my mowing time.

I do all the other stuff, brush hog,clear snow, etc with the L with no problem.

Good luck with your choice.

 

[Burt]

I started off looking at the BX series but then thought maybe i should go bigger!

I currently have 3 acres to mow around the house and that could go to 6 acres in the future. Plus i have 16 acres of field land that i may have to mow someday would just assume bush hog it can always add that later right now a farmer makes hay out of it.

I was also looking at a grass catcher. What i hate about mowing the most is after i finish i have to go back and rake up all the grass it almost takes as long as mowing it did. I always have to rake the grass up no matter how short it was.

I also want to be able to remove snow i have a 1,500 gravel drive way that likes to drift at places i've never seen it get above 3ft deep (yet) so i wanted a snow blower it seems that only the BX and B series have a front mount snow blower the L only has a rear mount. Going backwards out a 1,500 drive way would be a pain wouldn't it? I only want to stick with Kubota brand Attachments.

I don't think the new L have a belly mower option.

Whatever i get it will be from the dealer with a front loader and when they run a 0% apr. I have seen some good deals on year old tractors with 0 hours from the dealer.

My dad has a B series and he has a loader and has been plowing my drive way with a rear mount plow but it tears up the drive way so bad it's a mud pit after the snow is gone and it's been stuck serval times when we get the deep snow. He uses turf tires. I may get turf tires as well but buy chains for the winter.


Been using a cheap lawn mower with a 46" cut and it takes me around 5hrs

Any suggestions would be great!

David9723:

We have an L3700SU (same as L3800). We're on 6.5 acres with a small lawn...about 2000 sq. ft. For mowing, we use a walk behind mower that picks up the grass. We put the clippings in a small trailer behind our ATV and go mulch it for later garden use. This way, there are no heavy tires and significant weight on the lawn to dig it up.

For field mowing, we have 2 solutions. One is the DR trimmer tow behind mower which will work with an ATV or a lawn tractor. We use our ATV. It has a lower profile and I do cut down some hills that I believe a tractor could be a high pucker factor on. The ATV is highly maneuverable as well.

The other solution for cutting down the fields is a three point mower that we use to cut down the flatter open fields quickly. It works great and does a good job.

Our tractor is also used for clearing snow using a rhino blade. That blade will rotate from square to the tires off to 45 degrees either way with a bolt hitch. I can clean off our 100 yard driveway with 2 passes of the rhino blade. Then, I use the loader to fix the berm the county provides with its snow blade tossed into our driveway opening.

The loader also is used to make a nice snow "jump," for nephews and nieces that come here in the Winter to go sledding.

Our box blade does a super job of clearing and flattening field moguls and leveling gravel when needed.

The L3800 has wider wheel base than the BX series although at times, I thought I'd really like to have a backhoe. For the cost of paying someone with a backhoe, I opted for this tractor we have as it has more capability without the backhoe.

For belly mowers, I read many threads on the issues with them and never wanted one. The 3 point mowers do a great job and are much easier to put on and take off.

To each his own. As mentioned before, there isn't a one size does all for everything.

I suggest that you write down what you need and want to do, look at the equipment and attachments that will do it for you, make a "T" chart...advantages on one side, disadvantages on the other to each type of tractor and attachment you are considering. Ponder it, then take it to a dealer and price them out and go from there.

Good luck in your decision making process.

Burt

 

[northcop]

I think I may have been in a similar situation as you when I was shopping for my Kubota. I have about 10 acres, about 5 of which I keep nicely mowed and a driveway that's about 1000+ feet long that needs a ton of attention in the winter for snow removal. I was using a John deer la155 "throw-away" tractor with a 48" deck for the grass cutting. That took about 4-5 hours depending on beer breaks in between.

For the winter I used my ATV, a 2011 Polaris sportsman X2 850 with a 5 foot plow on it for clearing snow from the driveway and surrounding areas for parking and such. That was an absolute nightmare especially later in the winter.

I wanted a jack of all trades type machine and settled on the bx25d. I couldn't be happier with it. With it I bought the BX2755HD front mount snow blower, 54" MMM and it obviously came with the loader and backhoe. As stated this is my first real tractor and I can't speak to the effectiveness of the bigger B or L series but I knew they would be too big for my needs and the areas I needed to maneuver around. I've so far only gotten one grass cutting in with the Mower and it did a fantastic job while shaving about 2 hours off my previous time. You are gonna hear a lot of people saying it's very difficult to add and remove the MMM from the machine, but I can honestly say I had no issues putting it on or taking it off. I can certainly imagine a 3pt unit is easier, but it just depends on how much you feel like crawling around on the garage floor. To put it in perspective I found it easier to add and remove the deck from this machine the first time than the little john deer which I have done many times before.

I agree about the preference of a front mount blower as opposed to the rear mount as well. I feel 1000+ feet is too far to drive in reverse craning my neck and trying to sip hot chocolate all at once. Again not speaking from experience as I have obviously not had a chance to use the new blower yet. Never wanted winter to come so bad before. Anyway I hope my inexperienced ramblings help you some Either way they are great machines and a blast to operate. Good Luck!!

 

[84cj]

Northcop, I completely agree with the mower. My bx1800 has the 60 inch, I can have that off in 1/8th the time it took to take the deck off my old MTD riding mower. I was very impressed at how quickly and puzzled why many say it's a pain. Turn the four wheels, lower it, disconnect 3 pins, PTO shaft and slide it out. Than use the FEL to put it away.

Also bieng new to any type of 'real' tractor, the BX1800 has proved to be very useful.

 

[northcop]

I hear ya, I have the 54" don't even need to turn my wheels, they slide pretty well on the paved floor of the shop, that being said I'm still finding it a bit of a PITA trying to line up and latch on those quick connect drive shafts, found the same thing with the snowblower, seems to take some patience.

 

[Tundra206]

Ive owned a BX23 and BX24 TLB and also a B2320 TLB. Everything was bigger and more heavy duty on the B2320. The loader worked easier, on the BX's you have to have it revved pretty good to operate. 2320 had 2 bucket roll back and tilt cylinders, BX only has 1. The BX could barely lift and roll back an empty loader at high rpms. But the B2320 could lift and roll back a load at lower rpms. B2320 has more powerful hydraulics. Also, the BX23 and 24 had 200-300 hours but already had broken fins on the transmission cooling fan. The B2320 has a trans cooling system like a B3030 or B26 that cools at the radiator, no argument which type is better there.

The B2320 was better in EVERY way. But it does cost more, there's your one downside.

 

[Pappy]

. . . The BX could barely lift and roll back an empty loader at high rpms. . . .

There's no argument that a B is more powerful and capable than a BX of any flavor. But if your BX had the trouble quoted above, then something was wrong with it.

 

[Tundra206]

There's no argument that a B is more powerful and capable than a BX of any flavor. But if your BX had the trouble quoted above, then something was wrong with it.

Nothing was wrong with either BX I had. They were good working little work horses. The loader, at idle, barely lifted on both units. Obviously, you don't work the unit that way, but its just an indication that the hydraulics aren't as powerful as a B series.


Here's a video of my actual tractor working, theres nothing "wrong" with it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=APTjUPBcZtw

 

[Pappy]

Nothing was wrong with either BX I had. They were good working little work horses. The loader, at idle, barely lifted on both units. Obviously, you don't work the unit that way, but its just an indication that the hydraulics aren't as powerful as a B series.


Here's a video of my actual tractor working, theres nothing "wrong" with it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=APTjUPBcZtw

I see the difference now. In your post I responded to, you said "at high RPMs", so I thought something was wrong with your BX.

I agree on the loader performance at idle. But most larger tractors don't have much loader performance at idle either, in my experience.