On a small tractor, like a Kubota B7300 size, what is 'too many' hours? It is a diesel engine and a lot that I come across are in the 1500 hour range. Is that 'a lot'? These have belly mowers and have been used mostly for mowing yards.

On a big tractor, that's what we call "broken in".

Depends on if it was maintained well. 1500 isn't high hours for a used farm tractor.

1500 is not a lot of hours on a unit that old (late 90's) but condition of the unit and price are the sliding factors in whether this is a good buy or not. How did they look and what's the price? How many are you looking at?

Buy and flip or purchase for personal use?

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Depends on if it was maintained well

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or at all, of course.

Seriously, it's like a car. Depends on how hard those 1500 hours are, 1,500 hours plowing a field at constant speed and reasonable load is no big deal. It's not even a full year of 40-hour weeks. It's not at all unusual to put 1000 hours on a row crop tractor in a year.

But if someone is on rough terrain, they don't do maintainence, they do loader work where the tractor is being slammed back and forth a lot....that could be a lot of hours.

A diesel engine should last into the 5,000 to 10,000 hour range, no problem.

You can probably judge a lot by checking it out. Is the paint good because the owner has been careful and kept it in a shed? Does it have fresh oil changes, fuel filters, air filter, transmission oil and filter? Are the tires good?

Not really all that much, especially if the primary purpose was mowing lawns. That doesn't put all that much wear and tear on the frame.

Look at the engine for oil leaks, pull the dipstick and see what the oil looks like, pull the hydraulic fluid dipsticks and see what the hydraulic fluid looks like (should be clear - cloudy is bad). Ask for service records (probably won't have any, but can't hurt).

Make sure it starts up good - should take no more than 3 or 4 cranks once you get the glow plugs warm. Check any hoses for wear and tear.

If it has an FEL, make sure it articulates through the entire motion and has grease at the pivot points. Run the rear and belly PTO's at full RPM to see that the operate the way they should. If it has a belly mower, the belly PTO can should have grease on the shaft. Rear one should too.

My little Kubota had about 720 hours on it when I bought it (pushing near 900 now), and it was used hard. But it still runs like a champ, and I maintain it regularly. Those little 3 cylinder Kubota engines are hell for stout, so you should be in good shape.

We use a Case 110hp tractor to mow with at my deer lease. Its got over 7000 hours on it and it runs great.

Im looking for one to buy to use and keep. That's why its hours are important. My POS box store freebie from 1991 needs parts that are discontinued, so its time to upgrade.

My Dad uses a 1980's Kubota of the same size to mow, 2,000 hours and zero issues. If it's well maintained it will be fine.

I found a BX2200 with 1490 hours, 4x4, 54" deck, FEL...but they want 7900 for it. I don't know if thats good, fair, or attempted robbery.

I should go ask our 1939 Farmall H and 1942 Farmall M how many hours they have. The H was pulling a shredder last summer.

These are a little lower priced, but the one you're looking at doesn't sound like it's that far off the price range.

I would really recommend you go up to a minimum 24 HP. The 22 HP is only going to give you about 16 PTO HP, and that has a tendency to really bog down in wet grass or grass that is not regularly maintained.

My tractor is a B2410, which is a 24 engine horse and 18 PTO horse and when I let the back acre go too long between cuts, I have to go slow and watch for overheating because the deck will bog the tractor down some. With a 22 hp, it would be pretty rough on it.

Its got a 60" belly mower. Seriously, with 22HP motor, if I have grass that this mower can't handle, then ive waited WAY too long. The wife will let me know about it WAY before that happens. Even so, if it can't handle it, my 60HP Case with 6' shredder can.

Generally speaking, the grass this thing will have to handle is primarily less than 6" tall, occasionally 12" tall grass if I feel like it, but thats a rarity. That stuff is usually reserved for my big tractor because its often got hidden limbs in it.

What about price? 1500 hours, with FEL, and belly mower...7900 bucks? It seems high, but then again, on tractorhouse, it seems right on par.

[This message has been edited by BrazosDog02 (edited 4/2/2013 2:33p).]

With the mower and FEL, I would say that you are in a solid ballpark for pricing.

Your call, but 22hp doesn't go nearly as far as you think it does. My finish mower is 60" as well, and in grass 6" tall (lots of clover, jiggs grass), it takes every bit of the 18 PTO hp to get it cut, and I'm going slow.

Just an observation I wanted to toss out there. I wish my tractor was about 26 hp with 20 PTO. And had a front end loader.

No, I appreciate the info. But in this tractor size, im pretty sure 24HP is about the max, after that you start getting into what I consider 'real' tractors. This size is still what I call a 'garden tractor'.

If 22HP is not enough, how did the B7300 with 16HP (12PTO) ever stay going with a 54" mower?? I know people don't buy them to mow their 3" tall st. augustine.

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I know people don't buy them to mow their 3" tall st. augustine.

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That's pretty much what people buy those for, and to use the FEL to move around some mulch or maybe clean out a horse stall.

I looked at those pretty heavily (I only have a couple of acres to maintain), and based on talking with some of my tractor know it type friends, salesmen, and my neighbor that has one, I'm glad I didn't go that small.

Hell, my riding lawn mower had 18hp and it was getting it's butt kicked by my lawn, and it was just a lawn mower.

My Dad's is a B5200, 11.5 PTO HP w/ a 48" belly mower. It was mowing 10 acres every weekend for for 20 years, it took a while but did a good job. I used to barrel off through the woods with it and cut trails and mow around our lake, paid for a few sets of blades as well. I never had any issues with needing more power, but you had to make a few passes on the thick spots.

With that said, he bought a zero turn mower last year and I don't think he'll ever go back.

Te B2410 would work for me, if I could find it for 8K or less. I dove into the 'overkill, but justified' pool about 5000 dollars ago. :/

I bought mine off of Craigslist. Paid $4000 for it, but it didn't have a mowing deck or FEL (does have a front push blade though).

I bought a Land Pride 60" finish mower (FDR 1660) that was on consignment at Sealy Tractor for about $1100 that was less than a year old and only had 1 season on it. Still looking for a good deal on an FEL that will fit my mower. New ones will run in the $3500 - $4500 range. I'd be happy with either a Kubota or Woods, but used FEL's are hard to come by.

Another im looking at is on consignment at Sealy Tractor. I may hang out a bit and wait for something with more juice under the hood.

Seriously, though, how can lawnmowers with 16HP gas engines hold a 54" deck and mow everything they run over, yet a 22HP DIESEL motor on the kubota is a hair underpowered? Is it the hydraulic load? Extra weight? I know the two are different animals, but im curious what soaks up so much power on the Kubota.

[This message has been edited by BrazosDog02 (edited 4/2/2013 3:59p).]

It all depends on what you are running.

Keep in mind also that a mowing deck on your Home Depot model Cub Cadet or John Deere is not nearly as heavy duty as the one you find on a Kubota or JD tractor, and most folks don't try to cut the same things with a riding lawn mower that they think can be cut with a tractor. (<-----Guilty on that one here)

My old Cub Cadet was an 18 horse gas engine with a 42" deck, and as long as the grass was short I could cut all day with it (if not slow). But let the grass get a little moisture in it or if I screwed up and missed a cut, the next one was murder.

The 22 HP Kubota will do the job, and most likely do it well. I wouldn't go anything above 54" on the deck, and if you aren't cutting your grass every week, don't expect it to be a fast and easy cut - you are going to go slow and find some bogging down.

Speed is probably another reason they can bog down in thicker grass - a Kubota or JD compact tractor is going to be able to travel 3x or 4x the speed of a riding lawn mower, so flying along and hitting a thick patch will slow the blades down considerably.



[This message has been edited by schmellba99 (edited 4/2/2013 4:15p).]

If you've already got a 60 HP Case, why wouldn't you just get a nice used commercial ZTR. I bought a nice Bush Hog ZTR at an auction for about $4K, 61" deck, 27 HP kawasaki. I can literally mow through a field of grass 3' high at 10 mph and it won't skip a beat. Sure, it doesn't have a FEL, but that's why I've got my Kubota. If you've already got a tractor, it sounds like all you need it a commercial grade mower?

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Seriously, though, how can lawnmowers with 16HP gas engines hold a 54" deck and mow everything they run over, yet a 22HP DIESEL motor on the kubota is a hair underpowered? Is it the hydraulic load? Extra weight? I know the two are different animals, but im curious what soaks up so much power on the Kubota.

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It's all about the RPMs, my ZTR turns at near 3800 RPM, PTOs on most tractors turn much, much slower. The tractor size you are looking at probably peaks at around 2000 rpm if I had to guess

Unless things have changed, PTOs are either 540 rpm with 6 splines or 1000 rpm with either 21 splines (inch and three-eights) or 20 splines (inch and three-quarters)

Here is a pretty cool site that sometimes has some reposessed equipment for a steal.

If all you are looking to do is mow, a ZT may be a better option. I'd love to have one, but since you pretty much cannot pull a trailer or have implements, I opted for the not quite as good at mowing, but better overall option of the compact tractor.

http://www.crankyape.com/default.asp?pg=DisItems&Cat=17

And a compact tractor generally tops out at about 3k rpm. I run at 2500 to get the 540 PTO 1 speeds, and PTO 2 (belly PTO) needs 2400 engine RPM to reach power. Good for fuel economy though - even during mowing season I usually only fill up 1 time a month or so.

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Unless things have changed, PTOs are either 540 rpm with 6 splines or 1000 rpm with either 21 splines (inch and three-eights) or 20 splines (inch and three-quarters)

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I was referring to the recommended operating engine rpm, not the pto, but you bring up a good point. The pto is most likely spinning at 540, so you need a bigger engine to accomodate for the slower blade speed

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The pto is most likely spinning at 540, so you need a bigger engine to accomodate for the slower blade speed

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The blades are moving at about the same speed your ZTR blades are - the PTO shaft drives a gearbox increaser, which in turn spins the blades at a very high rate of speed.

A belly PTO does not typically have the torque a rear PTO does (1000 rpm versus the 540 rpm in the rear), which means it is easier to slow the RPM's down when you hit thicker/taller/wetter grass over a pull behind implement.

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the PTO shaft drives a gearbox increaser, which in turn spins the blades at a very high rate of speed.

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I realize belly mowers are different than the shredders (some call them Bush Hogs) we run for shredding stalks in the field, but they are usually 1:1.

^Thanks, I did not know that...I always thought the 2 speed PTOs, 540 and 1000 were for mowing/shredding because people were better off shredding on the 1000 setting. What do people use the 1000 for if not a shredder?

Edit- ^meant for Schmelba

[This message has been edited by DeWrecking Crew (edited 4/2/2013 5:34p).]

Not meant for me, but:

540 rpm is the old standard. 1000 rpm PTOs did not show up until the 1960s, I think. I may be full of beans, but I think the 1000 rpm PTO was designed to carry more horsepower than the old 540s. And I have a 200hp tractor (used to be the biggest row crop JD made) that uses the bigger (inch and 3/4) 20 spline, 1000rpm PTO, designed to carry even more horsepower.

[This message has been edited by CanyonAg77 (edited 4/2/2013 6:00p).]

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^Thanks, I did not know that...I always thought the 2 speed PTOs, 540 and 1000 were for mowing/shredding because people were better off shredding on the 1000 setting. What do people use the 1000 for if not a shredder?

Edit- ^meant for Schmelba

[This message has been edited by DeWrecking Crew (edited 4/2/2013 5:34p).]

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I could not begin to speak on the bigger tractors, but on my little rig the 540 is the rear PTO (3 point hitch) and the belly can is the higher RPM PTO that would run a belly mower if I had one. I think it is 1000 rpm, but honestly I am not sure as I don't have any implements for that PTO. neither are variable speed, and both of mine are not independent (makes a difference to some people, but not me).

My finish mower is a 3 point rear attachment and utilizes a gear increaser to get the blades up to speed. I just assumed that even bush hogs had some gear increasement, though i knew it would not be to nearly the degree a finish mower has. Never realized they were a 1:1, but that explains why you can use a much larger finish mower than bush hog with the same HP.

Canyon probably has forgotten more about tractors in general than I will ever know, so I defer to him on pretty much everything.

I had a B7300 a couple of years ago and got rid of it that first year. Mine had a loader and 60 inch 3 point finishing mower. The problem with that model is it doesn't have power steering. With the loader on, it was a bear to steer at any kind of slow speed. I bought it at an auction for $4,000 and sold it for the same amount. It was pretty rough but had plenty of power for the 60 inch mower. I ended up with a New Holland TC30 and have been very happy with it.

To answer the question asked above: I'm interested in a smaller lawn mowing tractor over a zero turn because of its versatility. I want to be able to pull implements like discs or tillers.....and have it not cost a fortune. For my tractor, a good tiller 6' wide is a LOT more pricey than one to cover the kubota tracks. I don't have to disc 100 acres or till it so a small tiller would be a god send. That's my reasoning. Also, a small tractor with an FEL would be handy for lighter jobs. The wife is not a fan of clutches and bigger tractors so she would be able to comfortably use the small tractor. Anyone know about JD or kubota rebates or incentives on new equipment and when those come up?