Here's an update on everything:
My dealer, the dealership store manager, and the Kubota regional sales manager all agree the tractor was misrepresented and that they'll take it back. Right now, it's still sitting in my driveway, but I have zero expectation that anyone is going to tell me to "pound sand" and make me keep it. I asked my dealer directly, and he said if I just wanted to walk away from the purchase altogether, there’d be no consequences to me.
The dealer and the RSM had me lined up to get a new BX right away, but I told the dealer to hold off on that. It's winter, and though I really want my tractor, there's no reason to rush anything. At the time before the BX delivery and up to now, I've already invested more time in considering the JD 1025r and going back and forth with the JD dealer. After the BX shenanigans, I started very seriously considering switching to JD. A few days ago, after spending a little time with the BX, I went back and spent about an hour looking over the 1025r, and I drove it again. Then I drove the BX a bit more. I started to make some observations that hadn’t occurred to me, and I took a bunch of measurements of the BX and the 1025R. Comparison searching, and some of PaulL’s comments also led me to also look more closely at the Kubota B2301/B2601. I have come to an interesting conclusion that I did not expect: the Kubota BX23s is, in function, a ‘big’ tractor and not as good for working in small spaces as other tractors. Here's why:
1) The ROPS on the BX23S is rather wide, 40.625" or 43.625" at the hinge point. That is nearly as wide as the rear tires. I quickly found that I had to be constantly watching the ROPS which driving tight spaces. The 1025r ROPS is about 30” wide and the B2601 is 31.5” (33” at the hinge hardware). I saw no issue with operator space while operating the 1025r backhoe. I’m not sure why the BX ROPS needs to be so wide, but it makes working in tight spaces much more difficult.
2) Fully retracted, the feet on the BX backhoe stabilizers are 49” wide, and that’s only if they’re held perfectly orthogonal to the ground. In their ‘relaxed’ state, they’re 50.75” wide. This is assuming the stabilizers are completely retracted, don’t have rubber feet, and haven’t drifted down at all. In constrained spaces, you have to watch those feet like a hawk to make sure they didn’t catch/scrape anything. The backhoe feet on the 1025r are 47” wide (exactly the same width as the rear tires), and have catches to ensure that they can’t drift down. I haven’t been able to measure the BH70 backhoe for the B2601. To be fair, I don’t have enough tractor time to know if the stabilizers drifting down is a thing, but it seems like a real concern, especially when they’re already the widest point on the BX. I feel Kubota should modify their BX23S spec sheet for the BX23S to reflect this width.
3) The smaller tires on the BX amplify problems 1 & 2. Working parallel to a fence or structure, a fairly small divot in the ground can really tip the tractor, making the ROPS and/or backhoe stabilizer smack into something. The 1025r would also have this problem to some extent, as the tires seem about the same size, however the ROPS and stabilizers are less an issue on the 1025r. I suspect a tractor with much larger tires like the B2601 would be much more stable in this regard.
3) I thought a smaller loader bucket would be better for small spaces, but the smaller 48” bucket on the BX actually makes working in constrained areas harder. The bucket barely extends beyond the 45” (which is really 49” with the backhoe on) footprint of the BX. Scooping or grading work parallel to a structure like a building or a fence is very hard because you can’t get close to anything without risking the tires/ROPS/stabilizers will do damage. I feel a wider loader bucket like the 54” on the 1025r or B2601 would be better for these constrained areas. I suppose I could put a wider bucket on the BX, but that would be a heavier wider bucket on a loader that already has pretty low lifting capacity.
4) The loader on the BX sticks out 6” further than the loader on the 1025r. This is measured from the front axle to the bucket front edge. I guess the extra length can be good when trying to reach and dump, but in a constrained space it just makes the BX turn radius seem that much bigger. The B2601 has exactly the same distance from front axle to bucket edge as the BX, but with a much more powerful loader.
5) In constrained spaces, a bigger backhoe is much better. I found several spots where access was extremely difficult and longer reach on the backhoe would really help. The 1025r wouldn’t help here but the extra length on the B2601’s BH70 would.
6) The BX has a bigger turning radius than the 1025r and the B2601. I don’t find this to be that big a deal, and the difference isn’t that big, but it’s just one more thing that seems to make the very compact BX feel not so compact. The B series also comes with individual wheel brakes but I don’t suspect the big advantage there is in making really tight turns. I suspect the wheel brakes may be really useful when working in constrained spaces, like right up near a structure or fence. Could you use the brake to stay close and parallel, but keep from drifting toward the building/fence?
Each by itself, none of these things are super deal-breaking issues, but after sorting all this out, I’m wondering what exactly I was gaining by choosing a BX. I kept thinking that the smaller narrower BX was going to be best at working in small spaces, but it actually seems to be a worse candidate for small spaces than the next two bigger options I looked at. Everything I figured turned out the have the opposite effect. I didn’t work all of this out until I got my funky tractor and then went back to look at the 1025r a couple more times and drove it again. Then my 1025r research led me into looking closely at the B01 series. Almost none of these things were obvious to me looking at and driving the two tractors at the dealership, until I had one at home to drive through some real-world scenarios, and a bogus sales situation that forced me to look more closely at the competition. I can’t recall reading anything online where anyone claimed the BX was actually worse for constrained spaces than the slightly bigger tractors (except maybe the bigger turn radius compared to the 1025r). Neither dealer pointed these things out either. I’m really surprised about the JD dealer – I told him I was leaning toward the BX because I needed something for constrained spaces. He kind of nodded in defeat, but he could have blown my mind with some of the information I just listed here.
I was fairly nervous to bring this information back to my Kubota dealer. I thought he would figure that my complaining about the condition of the BX was just a way to get out of the sale after I realizing that I chose the wrong tractor (that definitely was not the case, as I only started putting this all together after I complained about the crummy BX and I started looking at John Deere more closely). He appreciated me just laying everything out, and he setup a time for me to look at a B2601 on Saturday morning. I ran him through my list of points for why the BX was a worse candidate for constrained spaces. At first, he didn’t seem to be absorbing it, as it just doesn’t jive with Kubota’s marketing material, but I think he was hesitantly conceding after our meeting. I told him I felt pretty confident that the 1025r or the B2601 would suit me better than the BX and he said he’d put some pricing together for the 01. Though I get the feeling that he really honestly wants to get me setup and make me happy about the deal, before going too much further on this, I plan to ask him if he still wants me as a customer, just to make sure.
I guess if my factory-fresh BX had been delivered back in October as planned, I probably would have been a happy tractor guy, never knowing I could have done better. I would have actually gotten some projects done instead of having to kick everything back to spring/summer, and getting extremely frustrated all the while. In the end, I suppose the BX delays and shenanigans may end up having a positive effect in some way: now I’m probably going to end up choosing a different tractor, realizing the BX is not the best option for me. I guess we’ll eventually see if it was worth all the stress and lost hours.
One concession I’ll probably make for not going with the BX is that I won’t get a rotary broom, as the 60” brooms for the 1025r and B2601 are really expensive. This was a reason to go with the BX, as the broom for the BX is much cheaper, but I think I’m ok skipping it. That concession alone may bridge the price gap from a BX to a B. Maybe I can pickup a used broom someday. I was always attracted to the much greater loader capacity of the slightly bigger tractors, but thought that keeping the tractor smaller was the right thing to do, even with the concessions on strength and features. I’m rather pleased to realize that I can be both more effective in small spaces AND get the greater lift numbers. If I chose the B, that would also come with a number of feature upgrades, which would be great.
I welcome any feedback, especially anything to help make sure I get it right this time. I think one thing I need to do is go look at the next size up, just to really make sure that I’m placing myself correctly this time. So maybe I’ll try to go look at a B2650, which I expect will actually be too big for me with too big a mower deck, but I’d better make absolutely certain. I also haven’t been able to see or operate a BH70 backhoe yet, so I need to do that. I now have this fear that there are other tractor models better-suited to my situation that I’m not aware of.
Oh, and regarding me sending my complaint directly to Kubota using their online contact form, no one ever replied, and I still find that rather bothersome. When I spoke to the Kubota RSM, who had read this forum thread, he specifically asked me about the lack of response and he found it very problematic, and said he would be looking into it.
Oh, and the other day I noticed some hydraulic fluid on the driveway under the backhoe. So either that leak didn't get fixed correctly, or it found a new way to leak.
