Tractor Shopping Opinions?

[GomerPile]

that reminds me, a nice canopy attached to ROPS is a good idea and a cheap project for summer or winter, especially winter with side blowing snow.

Lot of DIY cab projects....think I might build one. This guy did a nice job:

$300.00 BX25 Cab


Toothbar
bXpanded makes a lot of very nice stuff for the BX. I just ordered a tooth bar, root ripper and backhoe bucket quick attach. My old tractor had their toothbar and it made a huge difference

 

[Mattyweb]

I got the quick connect for the front of mine and when I purchased they were offering a free attachment so I got the forks (would have free or not). I probably use the forks more than the bucket. Agree with above that most of the bobcat forks will be too heavy and eat up lift cap.

 

[calsdad]

I got the quick connect for the front of mine and when I purchased they were offering a free attachment so I got the forks (would have free or not). I probably use the forks more than the bucket. Agree with above that most of the bobcat forks will be too heavy and eat up lift cap.

I'd be interested to know how much that fork frame weighs on it's own - and how much that pair of forks weighs in at if you have the chance to get them on a scale.

 

[Mattyweb]

I'd be interested to know how much that fork frame weighs on it's own - and how much that pair of forks weighs in at if you have the chance to get them on a scale.

Good question. I’ve seen specs online that say approximately 250lbs not including the quick attach frame. Seems about right just from muscleing it around sometimes; not impossible to move but not something I would have fun clean lifting. I could probably take the forks off the frame and weigh each of the three parts on my bath scale, haha.

 

[calsdad]

Good question. I’ve seen specs online that say approximately 250lbs not including the quick attach frame. Seems about right just from muscleing it around sometimes; not impossible to move but not something I would have fun clean lifting. I could probably take the forks off the frame and weigh each of the three parts on my bath scale, haha.

That would work. If you could get a weight on the fork frame and then the set of forks, I'll weigh up the Artillian frame I have and the different set of forks I have and we'd have a good reference point on how much difference there is in the weights.

 

[Mattyweb]

That would work. If you could get a weight on the fork frame and then the set of forks, I'll weigh up the Artillian frame I have and the different set of forks I have and we'd have a good reference point on how much difference there is in the weights.

It worked. Each fork is just under 85lbs and the frame is 95, so about 265 total. Add in the quick connect which I think is about 40lbs. That is all on the tractor side so I didn’t pull it to weigh.

 

[garandman]

/ I was thinking about installing a couple magnetic base LED work lights with curly cords. Stick them on the ROPS or snowblower wherever needed. With my other tractor I used the loader quite a bit at night and the headlight blocking thing was always pretty annoying.

Not sure about BX specifically, but the LL series and maybe all Kubotas have a plug in the left fender for the factory worklights.

Bought an LED light bar and put the switch near the fender.

Tried several different mounts, all of which got destroyed in the woods. Bought two rear earth magnets and now mount the light bar under the ROPS pointing forward. But we can turn it around for rear work.

 

[PatMcD]

I had the bolt on forks for my old tractor. They'll work, but they're not great. They'll tend to sway or splay out/in unless you drive straight into a pallet or whatever. And they'll put a dimple in your bucket where they clamp down. Any weight savings from no frame is more than lost from them being that much further out on the bucket.
Get a good set on a frame.

 

[garandman]

Redline Systems - BX pallet forks.

178 lbs with 36” forks.

 

[namedpipes]

Check out this clip of a tree whomping on a tractor that was just passing by.

Is that a John Deere? It talks a licking and keeps on ticking! No... that's a watch... Anyway, not sure which one won.

 

[Tiktock]

Christmas in August!

 

[Paul455]

I have a Land Pride post hole digger for sale on this site.

Surprised no one wants it.

 

[Tiktock]

For the record, I should have bought this years ago. Ive done a year of manual labor's worth of landscaping in about 12 hours on this thing. Loving it.

 

[KBCraig]

I saw a heckuva deal on Facebook, in Bethel ME.

Kubota L3200HST (4WD hydrostatic) with ROPS and canopy and LA524 front end loader. 533 hours, looked mint. $2,200!

 

[BlacknRed]

How is the Piranha Toothbar for just digging and not clearing? I'd mainly be interested in being able to gouge earth with my bucket and not have to soften it up with the back hoe first. Have looked at this instead.

 

[PatMcD]

I saw a heckuva deal on Facebook, in Bethel ME.

Kubota L3200HST (4WD hydrostatic) with ROPS and canopy and LA524 front end loader. 533 hours, looked mint. $2,200!

Somebody missed a zero.

 

[Asaltweapon]

How is the Piranha Toothbar for just digging and not clearing? I'd mainly be interested in being able to gouge earth with my bucket and not have to soften it up with the back hoe first. Have looked at this instead.
View attachment 277603

On the tractor sites I've never read a bad thing about them.

 

[calsdad]

How is the Piranha Toothbar for just digging and not clearing? I'd mainly be interested in being able to gouge earth with my bucket and not have to soften it up with the back hoe first. Have looked at this instead.
View attachment 277603

I've had both. I had a "standard" style toothbar like the one in your pic on my BX23 which had a 48" bucket. When I bought the B3200 I ended up putting a Piranha toothbar on a 54" bucket - and that's what I used for digging on that tractor.

The Piranha is better if you want to do stuff like dig into a pile of dirt or other material that isn't full of big rocks and other junk like roots and sticks and branches. It also does a better job of doing things like digging up sod cleanly than the standard toothbar does.

The standard toothbar does a better job though if you've got a tractor that has limited horsepower and you're looking to dig into piles of dirt with a lot of rocks in them - or dig into the ground and break up soil. The individual teeth work better to dig into things than the Piranha does with less effort by the tractor.

The standard toothbar is definitely better at doing things like trying to pry rocks out of the ground. With some practice you can take one tooth (like on the corner of the bucket) and get it in and under a rock and pop it out of the ground.

It's a lot harder to do that with the Piranha.

The Piranha is better for back-dragging though - if you can get the bucket flat you can get a nice smooth backdrag using the Piranha. With the standard toothbar the teeth hang down and they'll leave grooves behind when you backdrag.

 

[BlacknRed]

Thanks for the replies guys. I am more in the popping rocks and breaking up tough soil thing. This will be going on a small Massey Ferguson 23 hp 1710 with 48" bucket so the comments about the low HP ring true. I have to say, having a tractor is really the cats balls. So many things that you can do with it and being small, it gets in all the spaces except the garage when the folding ROPS has not been folded down. Ask me how I know. Just a minor ding. Don't think the wife has even noticed....

 

[KBCraig]

Somebody missed a zero.

Yeah, me: if it had been $220, I would already have a new tractor!

 

[GM-GUY]

Since it fits here the best.

I got a Front End Loader last month for my BX2360 (bought late in 2009 iirc) - $2700 from Chappell, I do need to order a Piranha Bar, but need to measure. I had the hydraulics for the front already (snow blower) so I just needed to bolt on the mounts and stick the bucket on the loader arms - took me about an hour alone including getting it out of the truck bed.

Last year I think, I lost steering (the cylinder died with about 400 hrs on it) about $500+ for the repair and coolant flush at Chappell.

Today, I lost all travel. No forward, no reverse and when pushing the pedal with no one on the tractor it doesn't die - so I know it's linkage. Sure enough under the right rear fender/under the seat outboard of the HST filter I see the connecting rod with the eye and bushing just flopping in the breeze. I need to pull the deck to get to it, but the deck is due for a fluid change so I'll take care of all of it tomorrow. I just need a bolt, couple of washers, and a locking nut.


Other than that, over 450 hours and it's been rock solid.