2502 (later turbo) vs 3902

[ajschnitzelbank]

If I were in your shoes I’d probably get an L2502. Simple basic machine that’s pretty capable and not crazy expensive (I guess that’s a matter of perspective isn’t it).

I had a B2301 and found it to feel rather tippy to me. I have an L4701 now and really appreciate the more stable feeling of it. Not sure how a B26 would feel, but that would be a concern to me.

 

[PaulL]

He’s considering the B26, which is different than the B2601.

Yup, I addressed that. It's the same size as the B2601, but has a permanently fixed loader, and I think a different backhoe than the B2601. And it's built stronger. But still quite a bit less capable than an L I believe.

 

[ajschnitzelbank]

Yup, I addressed that. It's the same size as the B2601, but has a permanently fixed loader, and I think a different backhoe than the B2601. And it's built stronger. But still quite a bit less capable than an L I believe.

Oh, you sure did. I guess I went to bed too late and woke up too early haha. My bad.

(And when I see other people not totally read a post thoroughly before replying I judge them. I should be less judgmental!)

 

[AKguy09]

Yup, I addressed that. It's the same size as the B2601, but has a permanently fixed loader, and I think a different backhoe than the B2601. And it's built stronger. But still quite a bit less capable than an L I believe.

I would say less Powerful, but not less capable, its a more industrial version...3 PT lift capacity on the B26 is more than the L2502...

 

[drumminj]

3 PT lift capacity on the B26 is more than the L2502...

I'm curious to learn what folks are doing on their 3pt where this is a factor? Round bales? Something heavier?

 

[PaulL]

I'm curious to learn what folks are doing on their 3pt where this is a factor? Round bales? Something heavier?

For me when moving from my BX to the B2601, it was really simple stuff. The BX couldn't lift a pallet of pavers. Not even a quarter pallet of pavers. If you're moving stuff around with forks on the back (many people do) the BX didn't cut it, and even the B is quite limited. It's enough for me, but if you have more land you tend to lift more stuff. It also limits the size of the rotary cutter you can lift - they're heavy, but they also stick way out - so you're lifting further back than just 500mm. A B is quite limited in the rotary cutter it can lift - an L2502, despite being the same HP, can run a bigger rotary cutter.

It's not critical, it's something to look at. If you want to do something that needs 3ph lift, then you should check the B can lift what you want to.

 

[will721]

Just tossing in my $.02,

I went with an lx2610, a bit lighter but more feature oriented version of the l2501. I have done so as part of a hopefully not longer than 10 year plan. A backhoe was not in the budget upfront but will be purchased as soon as its paid off. My plan is to eventually purchase around 20 acres of undeveloped land, and at that time a larger tractor and have a working pair to build my new homestead.

My reasoning is that the smaller tractors are more maneuverable, fuel efficient, and hst which means easier to use. You can hop on, go to work and be done in short order. Plus being a hst, my wife can easily operate it with basic instruction. The same tractor with more hp doesn't make much sense to me, because if I need the extra pto power it would be much more suited on a larger frame machine. I can give the hydraulics a slight bump if need be, but if I need more I feel a considerably larger and heavier machine would be more suited for the job.

Its been shown that these tractors can handle up to a 10' bat wing depending on manufacturer. More than that and I'd rather have a larger tractor anyway. I've also maxed out my hydraulics several times and the machine would be quite unstable with more.

So I will likely purchase an M or a grand L or something of that nature second hand when the time comes. Because that machine will not see nearly the same amount of usage and will mostly sit until the heavy lifting is needed which won't be as often. Larger machines make small jobs more difficult with reduced visibility, a larger turning radius, and gear drives in tight spaces.

So I have one smaller new machine that will do 98% of tasks that I wanted either new or close to it. And I'll eventually buy a larger machine second hand that can have higher hours because at its run time per year it won't be prone to break downs anyway. Its the same strategy, although the opposite as most farmers I know. Who buy new large tractors for the fields and keep an older smaller tractor or skid steers for the majority of tasks. But since I'm not depending on the large machine for my income, and my usage is the opposite so is my strategy.

 

[drumminj]

For me when moving from my BX to the B2601, it was really simple stuff. The BX couldn't lift a pallet of pavers. Not even a quarter pallet of pavers. If you're moving stuff around with forks on the back (many people do) the BX didn't cut it, and even the B is quite limited. It's enough for me, but if you have more land you tend to lift more stuff. It also limits the size of the rotary cutter you can lift - they're heavy, but they also stick way out - so you're lifting further back than just 500mm. A B is quite limited in the rotary cutter it can lift - an L2502, despite being the same HP, can run a bigger rotary cutter.

It's not critical, it's something to look at. If you want to do something that needs 3ph lift, then you should check the B can lift what you want to.

Thanks, that all makes sense. I only use the 3PH for pto and ground-engaging implements, so don't really think about it as something for lifting. Didn't think about being able to lift/support a larger cutter but that makes sense as well. (apparently the luxury of having more capacity than you will ever use, so never think about it being a limiting factor for some)

 

[OrangeGee]

Appreciate all the advice and conversation. I am taking @PaulL advice on his comparison chart thread and need to go sit on some machines in person. And @will721 point about nimbleness and 98% of work is important. Reminds me of sizing my heat pump system for our house. Trying to figure out what my 98% (or even 75%) is and then accepting renting or hiring out the rest.

 

[jyoutz]

Newbie here, and to tractors in general. First time buyer. Appreciate any/all advice.

I've got 5acres in Silver Spring MD, half is open field/lawn, half is wooded. Pretty wild/unkempt/unmaintained. To me, the whole place is a blank slate, but I'll mostly work with the natural boundaries of woods and not do any extensive tree clearing (if that changes, I'll rent a track loader).

My goals/tasks:
To develop the unwooded area into a hobby food forest with some camping and glamping (yurts, domes, yomes), reduce lawn with scaped areas, rain gardens. Build and maintain lit pathways through the woods, with tree house or three, maybe glamping grade if the yurts work out well. Build and maintain up to 1000ft of gravel driveway. I also process some of my own firewood for hobby heating, I keep a 4 cord stack and go through 1-2 cord per year.

Lots of the upfront work will be: clearing and digging out brush, stacking berms, grading and building driveway, planting fruit and nut trees, running power and water, building pathways through woods, establishing food/scaped areas, building new walking path to patio, grading plots for yurt decks.

My Take:
I currently have a Deere x540 grass tractor for lawn for now. I've been up and down this ladder of sizing BX23S (but then quickly didn't revisit), B2601, L2502, L3902. Arrived at probably an L TLB (backhoe will remain on most of time), plus forks, plane or blade, maybe grapple if forks don't do it for me. Given the tasks at hand, and my taste for a Takeuchi TL12R2 that my friend left here for a month, I think L series is appropriate. I'm torn between the L2502 and doing a turbo for it later in a year or two, vs just getting the 3902 and settling with clean factory power. The 2502 tuning path is uncharted since it's new, what if it doesn't have any fuel pump shims or it's next to impossible to alter. I could get by with 25hp probably.

If all my goals/projects were done, the B2601 TLB+MMM would probably be a great fit for maintaining my vision, and the allure of a compact all in one machine I can enjoy for all things is strong. But thinking I would greatly benefit from a bigger tractor frame and backhoe to build all this out. I wish the B2601 would work. LX seems expensive for the amount of tractor I get. Perhaps I could rent my way out of an L and get the B2601.

That seems like an awful lot of uses for 5 acres

 

[rc51stierhoff]

IMO if you plan to keep the green lawn mower, I would not let mid PTO limit the (different options)tractor to buy (unless need to blow snow). For that matter if you have a machine to mow with a compact track or wheel loader would be awesome but that is a lot more money. To me with the work you have ahead of you, I’d consider how much you want to be able able to lift safely and pic / price the machines that fall into that criteria. Size of property in my mind doesn’t really affect your expectations of what you want to lift…maybe think about how many bricks or blocks or something you want to be able to handle on a pallet and consider what that weighs and then see if the machines you have in mind can do the work you want it to do (lifting not acreage dependant)

 

[OrangeGee]

IMO if you plan to keep the green lawn mower, I would not let mid PTO limit the (different options)tractor to buy (unless need to blow snow). For that matter if you have a machine to mow with a compact track or wheel loader would be awesome but that is a lot more money. To me with the work you have ahead of you, I’d consider how much you want to be able able to lift safely and pic / price the machines that fall into that criteria. Size of property in my mind doesn’t really affect your expectations of what you want to lift…maybe think about how many bricks or blocks or something you want to be able to handle on a pallet and consider what that weighs and then see if the machines you have in mind can do the work you want it to do (lifting not acreage dependant)

Thanks, yeah, I had considered a used track loader but after having that TL12R2 I found out even tracks trash the grass, even if I finessed it, and it's perhaps overkill soon after I get through a bulk of work. It gave me a good reference point.

 

[jyoutz]

I w

Thanks for the feedback. My place does need to be whipped into shape! My only hesitation with the L2502 vs L3902 is:

1. An engine that's not tuned "correctly or cleanly" from factory irks me, even if I don't ending up needing the extra oomph. A turbo would be excessive but it would be fun, later,,, But the fuel and timing I'd feel compelled to do at some point. I've read about excessive soot and variability of "tune" on the 2501s. I don't have any real world experience so maybe this is all fine and it would be fine.
2. I've gathered the L2501s TLB feel sluggish with all the weight. I don't have any major hills so that helps. I don't think I'll be doing much intense PTO+hills at same time etc, so that's where 25hp is probably fine.
3. The cleanliness of the exhaust. I'll be spending a fair amount of hours on this thing and was thinking health wise the cleaner engine would be better. I am possibly overthinking.
4. How unreliable and complex is the DPF? I know there's a bit of stigma about it but maybe it's not so bad. I probably need to do more research in this area.

I should check used. I do tend to buy things new and then take care of it myself and run it into the ground. I do like the brake placement on the new 2502 so I can get tighter turns if I need.

I will answer the exhaust question in my perspective. I had a 2000 model pre-emissions tractor for 21 years. Every time I operated the machine for more than 30 minutes, I got a sinus headache. I traded it on a new MX with tier 4 emissions two years ago. I can operate it all day and no sinus headache. Sucking diesel exhaust just isn’t good for anyone.

 

[OrangeGee]

I wanted to thank everyone for the suggestions and discussions. I ended up with an L2502, got the loader, bucket, and titan stump bucket. Let the (more efficient) work begin!

My little man's jaw dropped when it was delivered. "Is that staying here?!" The best.

 

[TheOldHokie]

I wanted to thank everyone for the suggestions and discussions. I ended up with an L2502, got the loader, bucket, and titan stump bucket. Let the (more efficient) work begin!

My little man's jaw dropped when it was delivered. "Is that staying here?!" The best.

View attachment 114887

Xmas in October

 

[ajschnitzelbank]

I wanted to thank everyone for the suggestions and discussions. I ended up with an L2502, got the loader, bucket, and titan stump bucket. Let the (more efficient) work begin!

My little man's jaw dropped when it was delivered. "Is that staying here?!" The best.

View attachment 114887

Excellent. Congrats.

 

[Rdrcr]

Congratulations!
You're going to really enjoy the L2502. Great choice!

Mike

 

[PaulL]

Looks like an awesome machine. You're going to be so happy. Pics once you're using it.