I am coming in on this conversation late, but the question is a curious one indeed.
I find myself in the exact same situation. Well, maybe not exactly as I have another tractor that does loader and PTO work. But I have similar acreage and similar sloped terrain to the OP. I came home with a GR2120 last spring (Fourth in a line of tractors in a progression of upgrades in quick succession). I was not happy with the transmission in the GR and now I am looking to upgrade once again. Due in part to the trauma of so many swaps in the past 3 years, I have pretty much decided to go with the BX2370 over the BX1870, but also because of reading many forums like this on the topic, and on my dealers advice.
But there are questions begging to be asked here. All advice from every quarter is saying go with the BX2370. My dealer gave me this advice not because the BX2370 was particularly better suited to my needs, but based on the fact that the BX2370 simply has more power and a better resale value for not a lot more money. Why better resale? Simple, the BX2370 has more power, and can do more with the loader, and with PTO powered equipment. TBH, the BX1870 might in my case do a bang up job of just mowing my lawn, which is exactly what I am looking for. The difference in my story is that I have an LS J2030h to do all of my heavy lifting. So I don't really need a loader on the Kubota, or the 3 pt hitch for that matter. The BX1870 seems like it would be particularly well suited to my needs. But is it?
There is nothing between the GR2120 and the BX series; therefore in upgrading to the BX I am getting loader and PTO capabilities no matter what tractor I go with. So is gimping the power and torque, and going with a smaller lighter weaker frame worth saving $1000-$1200? The choice between the BX1870 and the BX2370 is not the same kind of choice as between the other 3 tractors in the BX series is it? Think about it. The choice between the BX2370 and BX2670 is HP and torque, pure and simple. “Do I NEED more power, or not”? Or the difference between either the BX2370/BX2670 and the BX25D. “Do I NEED a Sub Cut set up specifically for a loader and backhoe”? These are choices that one can rationalize. But what is the story with the BX1870? It seems to me that there is just not enough distance between the BX1870 and the BX2370 to warrant a decision in favor of the smaller version. What can the BX1870 do better than the BX2370? One might be tempted, as I was, to think that the smaller frame on the 1870 would lend itself better to mowing. But the size difference is not THAT MUCH. It’s not as if the BX1870 mows circles around the BX2370. It may at best have some slight advantages in some cases. But is that alone enough to warrant going with the BX1870? A slight mowing advantage and $1000-$1200 in savings? But when you are spending $11000 on a tractor, is the difference between $11000 and $12200 really a clincher? We are talking a few dollars on the loan payments. On the other hand, the trade offs are significant. Resale value alone is much better on the BX2370 for obvious reasons. With the possible exception of mowing in certain cases, the BX2370 is simply better, and not by insignificant amounts either.
Why would anyone go with the BX1870? No one anywhere that I have talked to has advised me to go with the BX1870. So who is the BX1870 built for? What is the market demographic? When or in what situation would a BX1870 have such an advantage over the BX2370 that it would justify choosing the BX1870 instead?
For all intents and purposes, the BX1870 seems to be geared towards someone that wants the most frugal, lowest cost machine possible. But by every account I have read, and every person I have talked to in person, the general consensus is that the BX1870 is ultimately a disappointment, failing at making the “Savings” worth the tradeoffs.
I have given this a lot of thought, and my decision to go with the BX2370 is based not only on others advise, but that which I think I know based on experience. I do believe that the BX2370 is the better choice. Better for resale, and if you are going to have the loader and 3pt hitch capabilities, why would you NOT want more HP and torque and larger stronger frame to properly support it? Chances are, my BX2370 will never have a loader on it. I may use the tiller on it just because I can. At the end of the day, as a lawn mower, the BX1870 may do at least as good a job as the BX2370. In some cases, it might do that job ever so slightly better. But is that enough justification not to get the 2370? I don't think so.
Should Kubota axe the BX1870 from the line up? I am having trouble seeing what its niche is. The BX1870 seems like it would be a fine tractor, accept that there is an even better tractor available that you would be crazy not to go with. No one, especially the dealers who actually have a dog in the fight seems keen to sell the BX1870 to customers. I can’t help but think that the BX1870 is a dinosaur that somehow managed to survive to modern times. Like the BX1870 was where the Sub Compact market technology was 20 years ago, albeit with some extra polish. Somehow, its existence does not make a whole lot of sense.
Thoughts on the virtues of the BX1870?
