Is a B2401 or L2501 too small...

[tacotime]

Looking at a smaller open station unit to mow tighter places and under trees that an available larger 63 horse cab tractor can't get through easily. No more than a 5 ft. shredder to be used, in some thick tall grass at times but no real brush shredding. But the tractor needs to be able to pull some stacked piles of cedar (not tiny piles) maybe 1/4 mile, and move a large round bale of coastal (4x5, I assume about 1,000 lbs.). Is a 24 horse tractor adequate for this? Too lightweight if pulling piles? Will I very quickly wish I had a L3301 or L3901?

 

[OntheRidge]

My 2 cents, I think you will likely lose traction before you lose power. Low range of course.

 

[Shawn T. W]

I don't think the B will pick up those bales, unless you use a spear on the three point ...

 

[chim]

I ran a 5' rotary cutter on the B7500 years ago. It was a 21HP tractor with something like 16HP at the PTO and the weight was similar to the B2401. It was on the low end of power to run the cutter well. The tractor would not have handled the cutter without the loader. It was too light. My guess is that the L2501 would be a better match than the B2401 for the weight of the cutter, and you'd be happier with the extra HP of the L3901.

No experience with bales.

 

[SDT]

Looking at a smaller open station unit to mow tighter places and under trees that an available larger 63 horse cab tractor can't get through easily. No more than a 5 ft. shredder to be used, in some thick tall grass at times but no real brush shredding. But the tractor needs to be able to pull some stacked piles of cedar (not tiny piles) maybe 1/4 mile, and move a large round bale of coastal (4x5, I assume about 1,000 lbs.). Is a 24 horse tractor adequate for this? Too lightweight if pulling piles? Will I very quickly wish I had a L3301 or L3901?

Neither is large and heavy enough to move 1,000 Lb. bales.

 

[Shawn T. W]

I have a SCUT (BX size) 25 HP with 19.6 PTO HP ... It will power wise run my 5' brush hog, but really needs weight in the bucket to steer reliably!

Of those two choices I'd take the L, it should run the brush hog and it has enough weight, and buy a hay spear for the 3 point for occasional moving as long as it doesn't need to be picked up too high, otherwise you'll need to step up to the MX size if you want the loader to lift higher ...

 

[Runs With Scissors]

Looking at a smaller open station unit to mow tighter places and under trees that an available larger 63 horse cab tractor can't get through easily. No more than a 5 ft. shredder to be used, in some thick tall grass at times but no real brush shredding. But the tractor needs to be able to pull some stacked piles of cedar (not tiny piles) maybe 1/4 mile, and move a large round bale of coastal (4x5, I assume about 1,000 lbs.). Is a 24 horse tractor adequate for this? Too lightweight if pulling piles? Will I very quickly wish I had a L3301 or L3901?

No way my 2501 could lift a 1,000 lbs. bale. My Max is about 850’ish lbs, and even then I can only get it a foot off the deck.

When I was looking at machines, the 33 and 39 hp machines had basically the identical lift capacity as my machine.

In order to get more lift capacity, they told me I had to go to the 47(?) hp machine.

I’m not sure if thats still true, but I think so.

 

[Caden]

available larger 63 horse cab tractor

Keep current tractor and get a zero turn for cutting around the trees.

 

[jimh406]

Depending on how tight the bale is, you might be able to lift with a L. A better choice is probably a Grand L3560 LE with the LA805 series loader.

 

[tacotime]

Good advice although that smaller tractor sure seemed like a fun idea...

 

[GrumpyFarmer]

OP,

good day.

for me I would wonder frequency of moving large bale before deciding.

next I would wonder do the low branches need a healthy pruning?

small machine definitely more maneuverable, how ever for larger tasks I would want some SWLL for error, especially if frequent/repeating tasks.

depending on size of area to mow and available time it might make sense for small mower for trimming around obstacles and then not have to crowd with your tractor…really depends on your scope and expectation of time to complete IMO.

id normally say get a size bigger than you think you need, but you know your place best.

 

[tacotime]

The zero turn would make sense, except some areas to mow are far from the garage and with rock hazards. Far too many trees to trim higher.

The specs on the lifting capacty of the LA525 are confusing with 4 different capacities shown... but the only spec that is below 1,000 lbs is the 820 lbs at "500mm forward at maximum height" which I would never expect to raise a bale that high. Is that the spec that disqualifies the L series from moving 1,000 lb bales?

Is anybody moving the big round bales with the L tractors? Really talking about moving bales short distances, not lifting to load on trailers.

Thanks for all opinions so far and more welcome!

 

[Shawn T. W]

Here is the spec sheet ... 500 mm = 19.5"



Where the "problem" or "challenge" comes from is they are using the "pivot pin" as a reference point ... This causes two issues, first it does not include the weight of the bucket/forks/spear ... And the "load" will start much farther forward than the pins, which reduces the effectiveness of those numbers.

Here is the "pin" on mine ... Notice where the actual load starts ...



What you need to do, is figure/guess a few things ...

1. How heavy is the hay spear?
2. How far out from the pin is the closest the hay can be?
3. Where is the halfway point from #2 to the farthest away the bales is? (What size bale?) I believe you have to use that distance from the pins for the "weight limit".
4. How high do you want to lift it?

 

[Shawn T. W]

Here is my story of my discovery of this "make believe" lift capacity ... But to be truthful, all the manufacturers that I know of use "the pins" as a reference point, this helps people compare them ...

Back in 2022 I was new tractor loader buyer ... Here is a picture of the brochure ... Wow! Over 900 Lbs, GREAT!!!



I went to unload a full pallet of wood heating pellets, I knew it wouldn't lift the whole pallet, so I was prepared to restack "some" of them ... But this is all it could lift, and this was as high as it could lift that's 600 Lbs of pellets! What's wrong? !!! (Did Massey Ferguson lie to me?)



I then decided to stack the next load different ... I discovered that I could get one more 40 Lb bag on, but not lift it any higher ...



Then I started reading and researching ...

I weighed my forks - 347 Lbs (Rated for 4000Lbs!)

The hardwood pallet is roughly 50 Lbs ...

So the last picture I was actually lifting 1000+ pounds, but just not very high!

If I had a more compact 1000 pounds, it would be closer to the "pins" and I could lift it higher!

Same as if you take a 10 Lb sledge hammer, picked it up with one hand by the head, stretch out your arm ... Now set it down and grab the other end of the handle, but keep the handle horizontal at arms length ... !

 

[tacotime]

Clear as mud! Has anyone lifted a 1,000 bale with an L series tractor?

 

[Runs With Scissors]

Clear as mud! Has anyone lifted a 1,000 bale with an L series tractor?

IF by some miracle they did it with the loader, it was only lifted an inch or 2…..But I doubt it even then.

Just an FYI sir, from my understanding, the loader number (printed on the side), is the maximum rated lift capacity in Kilograms, .

Therefore a LA525 is only rated at about 1155 lbs (~2.2 X 525=1,155'ish) …….Now subtract off the weight of the forks, then account for the distance of the load (from the pins)….

That leaves you “just at, or just below” 1,000 lbs.

Hope this helps.

 

[chim]

Clear as mud! Has anyone lifted a 1,000 bale with an L series tractor?

I don't know the weight. Here's a picture my BIL took of my tractor when he borrowed it to do some work while his L4740 was waiting for a replacement hose. He was worried my loader wouldn't pick the bale, but both tractors have the same model of loader. There IS a difference in the physical size of the two tractors. once while using his L4270 I almost did a faceplant when I stepped out of the cab because of the higher step.

 

[Trustable]

Technically the l2501 loader could lift that by itself but add an attachment, plus accounting for the length from pivot point i doubt it could do it. I’ve lifted 750lbs with the bucket and weld on hooks. I’d prefer not to do it again, even with the load close to the ground and a counterweight. If you’re going to be under trees you will need to fold ROPs or get hit in the face when a branch bends and slams back at ya, evergreens branches are like a spring I’ve learned. It sounds like you almost need two machines for this.

 

[McMXi]

Same as if you take a 10 Lb sledge hammer, picked it up with one hand by the head, stretch out your arm ... Now set it down and grab the other end of the handle, but keep the handle horizontal at arms length ... !

It's a bit more complicated than that. The load moves in an arc in the vertical plane viewing the tractor from the side and it actually moves away from the tractor initially. Then there's the breakout force phenomena which is due in large part to the much smaller moment arm that the load has in relation to the pins. Also, when curling the bucket, forks, bale spear or whatever, the load is moving closer to the tractor and not away from it.

Often times, a load can be curled back enough to get it off the ground and closer to the tractor such that the loader can then raise the load a few inches more.

I was helping a prospective MX buyer unload large round bales from a trailer a few years ago and the only way to get the top bale off was to roll the bale spear upwards since even though the loader could go higher, there simply was too much load to allow it.

 

[NCL4701]

Looking at a smaller open station unit to mow tighter places and under trees that an available larger 63 horse cab tractor can't get through easily. No more than a 5 ft. shredder to be used, in some thick tall grass at times but no real brush shredding. But the tractor needs to be able to pull some stacked piles of cedar (not tiny piles) maybe 1/4 mile, and move a large round bale of coastal (4x5, I assume about 1,000 lbs.). Is a 24 horse tractor adequate for this? Too lightweight if pulling piles? Will I very quickly wish I had a L3301 or L3901?

The two tasks I bolded above appear to me to be the most taxing. Brush usually isn’t what requires the most HP with a shredder, thick tall grass is usually what requires the most HP. for A 5’ shredder the L2501 should be adequate if you don’t mind going slowly through heavy tall grass. For the bale, 1000lb is at the upper edge of practical capacity and based on your post, you aren’t sure the bales are exactly 1000lb. If they’re really 900lb, maybe OK to get them off the ground and move them, but not to stack. If some or all of them are really 1150lb, it may not move them at all. There’s just not much, if any, excess capacity there for bales that are unlikely to be of entirely uniform weight.

If you’re thinking of buying from a dealer and are seriously considering a L01/02 model with the LA525 loader, I’d ask them to bring one out to your place for an afternoon to see how it performs with the bales and heavy tall grass. Unless they don’t think you’re serious, that’s not an unreasonable request on a significant purchase.