Exploring BX1880 - Assistance Please

[ToddH11]

Hi everyone - hoping I can get some great advice from the members of this site. I maintain my home property of roughly 1.25 acres, I currently mow with a scag ztr. It does a great job mowing but thats all it does, in addition the ride absolutely KILLS my back. At 52 I finally decided I was going to make things easier for myself and move to a tractor, which will allow all yard mainenance and snow removal easier. Primary uses will be mowing, moving mulch, yard debris/clean up, snow removal, etc. Up until today I was convinced I was going to get a JD 700 series, now I an considering a BX1880, as it has more capability if needed, such as a FEL. I never thought about using one but it sure would make moving things easier. Just a couple of questions on the mower deck, how is the cut quality? Are you able to get a mulch kit for these decks? I also only see very large spreaders for these machines, any idea on a smaller broadcast spreader for my size lot? There is a dealer less than 3 miles from my house and it seems like the BX1880 without the FEL is cheaper than a JD 700 series, definitly making me wonder and consider the BX.

Any thoughts on my use? I was going to consider a GC lawn tractor but for the price difference to the 1880 it just doesn't seem to make sense to me

 

[PoTreeBoy]

Hi everyone - hoping I can get some great advice from the members of this site. I maintain my home property of roughly 1.25 acres, I currently mow with a scag ztr. It does a great job mowing but thats all it does, in addition the ride absolutely KILLS my back. At 52 I finally decided I was going to make things easier for myself and move to a tractor, which will allow all yard mainenance and snow removal easier. Primary uses will be mowing, moving mulch, yard debris/clean up, snow removal, etc. Up until today I was convinced I was going to get a JD 700 series, now I an considering a BX1880, as it has more capability if needed, such as a FEL. I never thought about using one but it sure would make moving things easier. Just a couple of questions on the mower deck, how is the cut quality? Are you able to get a mulch kit for these decks? I also only see very large spreaders for these machines, any idea on a smaller broadcast spreader for my size lot? There is a dealer less than 3 miles from my house and it seems like the BX1880 without the FEL is cheaper than a JD 700 series, definitly making me wonder and consider the BX.

Any thoughts on my use? I was going to consider a GC lawn tractor but for the price difference to the 1880 it just doesn't seem to make sense to me

I don't own a BX, but I think you can get the larger BX2380 tires on a BX1880. You'd have to make sure the mower would still work, but larger diameter tires will ride smoother.

 

[PaulL]

Ride is often about speed - any tractor type machine will still be rough, particularly one with small wheels. You can add an after market seat that has more suspension, which helps.

Cut quality is fine. Main issue (as with any mower I guess) is keeping blades sharp, and if you go too fast around corners you get steps across the lawn.

I never had a mulching deck on my BX, and even with side discharge I didn't get much mess - I just discharged to the centre and mowed over it again on the next round. We're in NZ so our grass is reasonably lush - if you're in a dryer location then you shouldn't really need a mulching plug. But I do mow twice a week in spring - because I'd rather mow twice than bag once. But you can get a mulching plug if you really want one. There's also a fine cut deck that some people like, it looked to me like not much difference.

You should be able to find a smaller spreader, even if it's a tow behind one rather than a proper 3pt one.

I think the BX is quite a bit more machine than the JD700, so if similar price in your location then the choice is obvious. It may also be a tip that you could get the JD700 cheaper by shopping around - they shouldn't really be the same price I think.

 

[xrocketengineer]

I have the BX1880 since October 2019. I have an acre and I am still learning about it being my first tractor. I got the tractor, 48 in mower, FEL, 48 in. grapple with third hydraulic function kit all together from the dealer. I do not have room for anything bigger due to gates and shed storage. It is better to get everything you want up front. It will cost more if you piecemeal it and if it is even possible for you to get it later. I have not felt any lack of power with the 18hp engine. Th BX1880 only comes with turf or agricultural (R1) tires, no industrial R4's. I got R1's and that was a mistake if you are mowing and have soft soil. The tires destroy the lawn a bit at time and if they slip, you have a hole. I just replaced my tires with aftermarket all -terrain larger tires and wheels for the BX2380. The chassis and mechanicals are identical to the BX2380 so everything fits. I don't have a mulching kit, so I have no opinion.

 

[bx tractorjoe]

I would highly recommend getting the bx2380 or 2680 with the loader, the extra hp and tq will be needed especially for snow blowing, that and resale value will be more.

The 1880 is 12 hp at the pto, only comes with a 54 inch deck, 2380 is available with a 60 inch mower. They all have the same frame and hydraulic pump so lifting capacity is the same.

I'm on my second bx, had a 23s and now a 2670.. great tractors and excellent for mowing.

 

[ToddH11]

I don't own a BX, but I think you can get the larger BX2380 tires on a BX1880. You'd have to make sure the mower would still work, but larger diameter tires will ride smoother.

Thank you - if I move forward with a BX I will inquire about this

 

[ToddH11]

I have the BX1880 since October 2019. I have an acre and I am still learning about it being my first tractor. I got the tractor, 48 in mower, FEL, 48 in. grapple with third hydraulic function kit all together from the dealer. I do not have room for anything bigger due to gates and shed storage. It is better to get everything you want up front. It will cost more if you piecemeal it and if it is even possible for you to get it later. I have not felt any lack of power with the 18hp engine. Th BX1880 only comes with turf or agricultural (R1) tires, no industrial R4's. I got R1's and that was a mistake if you are mowing and have soft soil. The tires destroy the lawn a bit at time and if they slip, you have a hole. I just replaced my tires with aftermarket all -terrain larger tires and wheels for the BX2380. The chassis and mechanicals are identical to the BX2380 so everything fits. I don't have a mulching kit, so I have no opinion.

Good to know and glad to hear that you have a similar size lot and it is working for you. The back portion of my lot tends to be very soft and soggy so I will need to keep this in mind

 

[ToddH11]

I would highly recommend getting the bx2380 or 2680 with the loader, the extra hp and tq will be needed especially for snow blowing, that and resale value will be more.

The 1880 is 12 hp at the pto, only comes with a 54 inch deck, 2380 is available with a 60 inch mower. They all have the same frame and hydraulic pump so lifting capacity is the same.

I'm on my second bx, had a 23s and now a 2670.. great tractors and excellent for mowing.

I will have the dealer quote both for me - I am unable to go with a bigger deck on the machine than a 54"

 

[xrocketengineer]

Keep in mind that the actual mower width with the deflector is a lot more than the nominal cut. Something to consider if you have narrow areas to mow.

 

[atitus]

I have the 1880, 48 in deck and front snow blower. It does a great job at most everything. If I had to do it again, would get the 2380, for the extra HP when blowing snow. It's not enough of a problem that I would trade it in, but in heavy snow which it had a little more power. Also I would get the 54 in mower, as I don't have narrow areas, and the larger mower actually makes it easier to mow up close to things.

 

[ToddH11]

I have the 1880, 48 in deck and front snow blower. It does a great job at most everything. If I had to do it again, would get the 2380, for the extra HP when blowing snow. It's not enough of a problem that I would trade it in, but in heavy snow which it had a little more power. Also I would get the 54 in mower, as I don't have narrow areas, and the larger mower actually makes it easier to mow up close to things.

Thank you - my driveway is fairly flat so I think that the 1880 would handle it just fine. I have been doing it with an 8hp walk behind for years.

 

[ToddH11]

how is the cut quality on these machines?

 

[PaulL]

The BX mows well. It's not amazing, you could find a mower that's better if you're really fussy. But it's as good as or better any normal ride on mower. And it does a lot more. I think if you're fussy you can tune it and use it to do better

• speed of mowing matters a lot (a BX is faster than most ride ons), if you go slower you get a better cut quality
• I didn't bag when I had a BX, and that makes a difference. I didn't have the mulching plug either, I just discharged to the centre and mowed over it again. It was very acceptable to me, and very easy. I hate emptying mower bags, but bagging makes nicer cut quality. But I think mulching makes the lawn healthier
• keeping blades sharp
• there's a fine cut deck that supposedly cuts....finer. Not clear what that really means, and not many people buy it

If you're serious about having a golf course like lawn, a BX probably isn't the right machine. But if you want a good looking lawn, and machine that does so much more than mowing, yup, a BX is the machine for you.

 

[catalyst]

For the price when we got our BX1880, nothing else could touch it price-wise. That was with a MMM, the Loader (with ss quicktach bucket), and a Back blade. I have since added a box blade and a bunch of other attachments and managed to snag an older Yanmar 32" 3pt rototiller that works great with this machine. If I could do it over, I might drop the ss quicktach bucket because it drops the overall loader capacity quite a bit both with extra weight, and by pushing the load out slightly farther. That being said, we primarily use this for cutting the lawn - and i just remove the bucket for lawn duty and leave the rest of the loader on, since its a more of a pain to remove the entire loader.

I also picked up a set of gator mulching blades for ours off Amazon. They work well. It is funny you mention the 54" deck, because the dealer sold us ours already configured with the 60" deck and the 18hp tractor seems to do just fine with it, even in taller grass (but you will need to slow down). For normal grass, I can just blast through at any speed. The specs on the 23hp model were similar, so I couldn't justify the extra 3k to upgrade to the larger HP engine at the time.

If i could do it all over, i'd buy the exact same machine in the same config. I have used this for maintaining our 15 acre property, moving full bucks of driveway material, sand, dirt, mulch, boulders, etc.

The primary issue we've run into with this over 3 yrs has been:
The Hydraulic return line failed - (we think a mouse ate the hydraulic fluid return line - which was made of soy based rubber). The dealer replaced it under warranty with a metal line.

the rear right axle seal has come unlodged 3 times, typically when we take the tractor through some rough parts of our property and the tractor is bouncing up and down. When that seal pushed out, it caused the tractor to spill out most of its fluids, and SUDT2 isn't exactly cheap. the dealer "fixed" the first 2 times. I fixed it the last time with RTV on the seal. It has not failed again, but that press in seal is a pretty lousy design.

 

[PaulR]

OP, check out the Toro Myride System. Has a seat with adjustable shock absorbers. I've had it for about 2 years now and I like it. Sell the skag and get one of these would be my humble opinion.

 

[Jmsossi]

I have a BX 1880 with a 54” mower deck and a 48” HD front mount snow blower. One acre of grass to cut and a large area to snow blow in the winter. Also have to climb a steep hill when blowing snow. Never have I thought I needed more power it will blow snow 30 to 40 feet. We get anywhere from 200” to 400” of snowfall per year. It is a great little machine main reason I bought it is because of its size . Really don’t need a large tractor for such a small space.