Used or new BX 1880, older 2360, or just wait

[eastvt]

I started a thread last week when my neighbor was going to sell me his BX 1800. That was a roller coaster that flopped, but got me wanting a 4WD Kubota with bucket pretty badly.

My neighbor went hot then cold then hot then cold again on the sale. He's pretty confused about what he wants to do. I give up on him. So I'm looking at a BX 1880 from a dealer, a BX 1880 slightly used, or an older BX 2360. The 2360 is 2011 and comes with the older LA243 loader (not the A) model. Some things I think about the older 2360 are that I might be able to find a more affordable snow blower for it (the new ones for the BX 1880 seem out of sight, not sure if I could use an older used snowblower on it?)

The used BX 1880 doesn't come with a mower deck, so I'd have to add that on later. Maybe a direct purchase from the dealer not too far -- maybe they would even deliver it. Does not seem to be any used availability for the mower for this tractor?

So I live in Vermont, just a few acres, mix of open, trees, and big garden. The bucket would mostly be used for firewood, mulch, compost and such. Right now there are a lot of big rotten logs lying around, because over the last 5 years I've hurt my back a few times -- often trying to work with logs. And we've got some big trees near the house that are going to come down soon.

For snowblowing, I've got a 90s Honda walk behind, which is fine, but if I could cut some time off my time in the driveway in the winter, that would be good.

The 2360 is pre emissions -- maybe simpler? But also old enough that some stuff is going to start going wrong and I'll have to deal with it? Cheaper than the slightly used 1880 with a deck added, and also more power.

 

[eastvt]

And of course I put the "just wait" in the title of this thread because if I cool my jets I'm sure I will find a better deal in the future. But I've already got use for it.

 

[Fordtech86]

The 2360 is pre emissions -- maybe simpler? But also old enough that some stuff is going to start going wrong and I'll have to deal with it?

You won’t have to worry about emission controls on any BX, including the current 80 series.

 

[85Hokie]

Any of the BX series will perform your tasks. I would (as an owner) stay away from the '50 series - they are made of plastic and the sun will cook them quickly like and in a hurry - one piece of wood falling on the hood and it is game over. The other series are steel.

I would watch craigslist and marketplace daily - you never know what will pop up. WHATEVER you do - have the cash IN HAND and be ready to jump and go to the owners location. Most BX have the MMM up under - so finding them that way should not be hard.

When you do find one - climb under and see if the HST blades are all there....... obviously check all the other items. Hours will be important too. Service records are a huge plus too.

I would not piece the machine together - you will spend a lot more that all the pieces bought at the same time.

 

[PaulL]

The 2360 sounds like a good buy. Make sure you get a loader on it. A mower is a bit easier to find than a loader - nobody with a loader is gonna sell one separate from the machine. No emissions on any tractor under 26HP, age makes no difference to that.

If you're looking used, I still recommend looking at a B series. A lot more capable machine, a BX is small if you have a few acres. Still way better than a wheel barrow or a ride on. But small.

 

[eastvt]

Thanks everyone! Yeah, I've been using a wheelbarrow hard for years, so a BX would be a step up. Not seeing many B tractors out there (of course not many tractors at all out there)

 

[Goz63]

I would HIGHLY recommend a SSQA bucket no matter what. You said your back is giving you trouble. All those logs will turn to fun with a grapple Instead of a whole bottle of vitamin “m”.

 

[GreensvilleJay]

definitely get SSQA ! you can change bucket, pallet forks, snowblower in seconds... forget about the mower,jes dedicate a 'rider' for grass cutting. A MMM is a PITA to remove/install and really a pain 'offroad' in the bush. How much grass do you have to cut, and with what now ? Having 'dedicated' machines isn't costly and if the mower dies ,you can still move logs, brush, etc. When an 'all-in-one' machine is busted, waiting for parts, well yer in TROUBLE.....

 

[eastvt]

Yeah, the mid mower for the BX 1880 is probably 2/3 the value of my existing GF1800, which is a grass cutting monster. Maneuvers great, has a 60” deck. I suppose knocking the mower off the purchase of a new BX 1880 and getting a QA instead. Keep both tractors. Yeah, maybe.

So how does it work to attach a snowblower to the QA loader on a BX 1880? Which snowblowers would work for that? In the “Build“ section of the Kubota site if I add a front snowblower to the BX1880 it adds the BX2830 and some other attachments which bump up the price quickly to over an extra $5k. I may be aging and I may live in the land of snow, but my driveway is pretty short and I’ve been macho about walking behind my own snowblower for about 35 years now, even with much longer driveways. (That said, I would love to sit on a tractor instead if it were not too crazy expensive)

 

[PaulL]

You don't attach the snowblower to the loader usually. The loader comes off, there's a whole snowblower mount package. It's quite complex, it has a shaft coming back to the mid-PTO to drive it all.

Or you can get a rear snowblower - easier to find, easier to attach. Pain in the neck (literally) to watch it while you drive. You can get rear mount that you reverse to drive, rear mount but forward driving (drive over the snow before you blow it), I've heard of rear mount with a mirror so you don't have to turn so much. Lots of options. Snow blowers are expensive, some people just use a snow push box or bucket or blade. Depending on where you are and amount of snow, that can be much cheaper and quicker.

 

[xrocketengineer]

Yes, you might want to have more than one option when it come to mowing or any other regular critical activity.

Floor Pan Rust

Last Saturday was a weird day with the tractor. It started with weird color and smell Diesel that is being checked by the State's Consumer Services (but that is another story) and then I found my floor pan had rust everywhere. I initially saw a rust spot by lifting the corner of the rubber...

www.orangetractortalks.com

 

[eastvt]

The main highly critical activity is snow. Grass can grow, logs can sit. Even with snow I could hire it, but I'm not on anyone's customer list. The tractor's bucket is going to be a backup for my ancient but solid walk behind snowblower. There's also a thing that happens where snow on a shallow pitch metal roof can thaw and freeze before sliding or getting pushed off, and the resulting pile of ice chunks can potentially block the only door into my woodshed. In the last 11 years I haven't had those chunks be so big and solid that I can't attack them with the snowblower auger and eventually chew them up and blow them away -- but last year was close. They were tough. I'm not sure a bucket for a small tractor will be strong enough to pry them apart and lift them when they get to that state, but I'm hoping.

I'm not sure, never done it, but I also imagine the bucket will be a preferable method to removing those two or three inches of really wet slush when we get those storms. It does seem we are getting more rain with snow or after snow than we ever did here. Sometimes the snowblower is real hell, trying to clear the compacted slush out of the auger every few feet.

 

[eastvt]

I’m going for the new one. I’ll go over to the dealer this afternoon. All the used prices were crazy high. Going to get the BX 1880 with QA FEL and might as well get the mower deck in the package so they will deliver it and I’ll have it instead of having to hunt for one in the future if I want one.

The salesman had made an error on my quote, which we only found after I hounded him a bit. He gave my neighbor a lower quote for nearly the same tractor (the neighbor was quoted for a pin on bucket though). I kept asking why my quote was so much higher than my neighbor. Sales guy didn’t really want to engage on it at all. Only after I kept pushing on it and pushed hard he figured out that there was a $400 credit that had been accidentally applied as a fee instead. So $800 mistake.

I’m going to spend time with the Kubota “build” site to try to see what options are so I can ask him about them. For example on the loader there is an extra “Hydraulic Valve Kit PNF” and “Third Function Valve” — I don’t think I will need those?

I’m also going to ask about a snow pusher. I don’t know whether to try just using the bucket and see how much I’m missing, or take advantage of free delivery and just have it for the winter. My driveway is not long, and I also have a walk behind snowblower I can use to attack piles of snow or deep snow.

 

[xrocketengineer]

Make sure to not get the R1 tires. They destroy the lawn when wet. If they slip, they only get traction by digging in. The traction on concrete is also poor. The only other choice might still be the turf tires.

 

[ve9aa]

I was in the same boat as you some months back.

After much humming and hawwing, I went with the BX2380 (Bx1880 almost the same beast) and I splurged on a K-connect front-mount snowblower. In Atlantic Canada, on a large hill where I am, we get lots of blowing snow.

The snowblower was a lot of $$, but I only bought the machine to do some of the mowing and lotsa (all) blowing. I also got a rear blade for cleanups of slush or pushing banks back or getting close to the house, shed etc. where a snowblower can't get. I just put chains on the rears this week, as a precaution...just in case. It's 4wd (as you know) but on ice, it'll be nice to have that insurance policy ;-)

I cleared the driveway here a couple times a long time ago in really big (slushy) snowstorms with my neighbours old 1960's International w/ front bucket and rear weight box (model 240?? 320?? something like that) 2WD Farm tractor and it was nearly impossible. I don't know the HP of those things, but it has to be more than a BX. It was all I could do to take small bites and make it through the thick slush or heavy packed drifts.

I can't imagine a BX could've done a very good job at it with just a bucket. (I stand to be corrected).

I've not blown snow with my setup yet, so I could be singing a different song 6 months from now, but I think it'll be OK.

 

[dirtydeed]

I’m going for the new one. I’ll go over to the dealer this afternoon. All the used prices were crazy high. Going to get the BX 1880 with QA FEL and might as well get the mower deck in the package so they will deliver it and I’ll have it instead of having to hunt for one in the future if I want one.

The salesman had made an error on my quote, which we only found after I hounded him a bit. He gave my neighbor a lower quote for nearly the same tractor (the neighbor was quoted for a pin on bucket though). I kept asking why my quote was so much higher than my neighbor. Sales guy didn’t really want to engage on it at all. Only after I kept pushing on it and pushed hard he figured out that there was a $400 credit that had been accidentally applied as a fee instead. So $800 mistake.

I’m going to spend time with the Kubota “build” site to try to see what options are so I can ask him about them. For example on the loader there is an extra “Hydraulic Valve Kit PNF” and “Third Function Valve” — I don’t think I will need those?

I’m also going to ask about a snow pusher. I don’t know whether to try just using the bucket and see how much I’m missing, or take advantage of free delivery and just have it for the winter. My driveway is not long, and I also have a walk behind snowblower I can use to attack piles of snow or deep snow.

Be sure to check out the ground clearance of the 1880 machines before you pull the trigger. I believe that they have smaller tires than found on the next larger engine size in the BX lineup. Living in VT with all that snow, I'd want as much ground clearance as I could get (and it wouldn't be a BX). I had a BX years ago, and it didn't take much to get it hung up in snow drifts. You can typically push yourself back out of snow with your loader, but, it can be a frustrating experience. My (unsolicited) suggestion would be for you to move up to the next frame size (B-01 series).

Best of luck in your decision.

 

[eastvt]

I would not want to clear a driveway in the snowbelt of NB or Vermont with only a front bucket on an 80 series tractor.

Yes, but...
It's a rather short driveway.
It has a bit of a tricky spot because we put a wood shed at the end of the driveway, right where snow falls off the metal roof, but otherwise it's not too bad. And like I said, I have owned a Honda walk behind snowblower since the 90s, and I think for some conditions this will be a huge step up. I think for deep powdery snow the snowblower will still be what I use. It can handle anything; I just walk a bit slow. The only two problems with the Honda snowblower are that it can only go so fast, so for just a few inches, like up to four, the machine is over-powered and not fast moving and it is pretty slow. (By over powered I mean it can handle 4 inches or less snow at top speed without breaking a sweat, and I feel frustrated that its speed doesn't match its power. On the other hand for very deep snow, it will blow anything, but move even slower. I still plan on using that Honda. I don't know what my preference will be once I get experience, but I assume the tractor is going to make very short work of slushy snow compared to the snowblower, and it will move quickly and do a wide swath for shallow snow. For deep snow I imagine the snowblower will blow it far away with relative ease, and I won't have to struggle with where to put it with the tractor.

As another note on the walk behind snowblower: I've had this Honda since the mid 90s in Vermont and NH. Some of those years with a bigger driveway. Changed the spark plug once, and one summer the auger rusted together and then blew up the gearbox. But it's still great. Before that I had a John Deere walk behind. By 10 years of age it was such a worthless worn out piece of junk. The Honda is amazing by comparison.

Trouble with a walk behind snowblower, or I guess any snowblower without a cab, is you have to work with the wind, and sometimes the wind doesn't want to work with you.

 

[dirtydeed]

The trouble with moving snow with a loader is that you soon run out of room. You have to push piles pretty far or risk trying to do it later after the pile is a frozen block of ice. I assume that you have a paved driveway?

 

[ve9aa]

The trouble with moving snow with a loader is that you soon run out of room. You have to push piles pretty far or risk trying to do it later after the pile is a frozen block of ice. I assume that you have a paved driveway?

...duly noted and even though we aren't "that" far away, our winter conditions are not identical to your winter conditions.

Also, my driveway is 220' long + a small turnabout + parking area, and it's out in the open.

I';ve been doing this particular driveway 17 years with walk-behinds.


I figured I would finally splurge and spoil myself a little.

Good comment from the other gentleman about tire sizes. That factored into my decision to go to the BX2380 and not do the 1880. (that and a few other things)

Good luck in your decision. If the bucket (or blade) doesn't work out for you, you can always add a blower (front or rear) at a later date, providing the 1880 has the PTO-HP....I don't recall it's numbers now off hand.

Brrrrr, I feel winter approaching already ! ;-)

 

[fried1765]

I was in the same boat as you some months back.

After much humming and hawwing, I went with the BX2380 (Bx1880 almost the same beast) and I splurged on a K-connect front-mount snowblower. In Atlantic Canada, on a large hill where I am, we get lots of blowing snow.

The snowblower was a lot of $$, but I only bought the machine to do some of the mowing and lotsa (all) blowing. I also got a rear blade for cleanups of slush or pushing banks back or getting close to the house, shed etc. where a snowblower can't get. I just put chains on the rears this week, as a precaution...just in case. It's 4wd (as you know) but on ice, it'll be nice to have that insurance policy ;-)

I cleared the driveway here a couple times a long time ago in really big (slushy) snowstorms with my neighbours old 1960's International w/ front bucket and rear weight box (model 240?? 320?? something like that) 2WD Farm tractor and it was nearly impossible. I don't know the HP of those things, but it has to be more than a BX. It was all I could do to take small bites and make it through the thick slush or heavy packed drifts.

I can't imagine a BX could've done a very good job at it with just a bucket. (I stand to be corrected).

I've not blown snow with my setup yet, so I could be singing a different song 6 months from now, but I think it'll be OK.

I suspect you will LOVE your blower choice.....if you have a cab!
Which of the four A/C provinces?