Outdoor Power Equipment (Lawn Mowers, Snow Blowers, Chain Saws and more) Discussions

Any 1st-hand use/knowledge or 3rd party comments about the Kubota lawn tractors...?  Have not seen one in operation...

Models:                    T1570A     T1670A     T1770A     T1870A                           www.kubota.com

Kohler engines:     15hp-1     15hp-1          17hp-2     19hp-2  

Deck:                         40"          40/44"               44"          48"

$$$                         2,400          ???               3,300          3,700

Build/quality seems good... single pedal hydro-drive is nice... (cruise control optional)...  pretty tight turning radius... mecanical steering is easy... mechanical PTO engagement... seems as good or better than equivalent Deere models... the 15hp 1-cylinder I tried was pretty quiet...quieter and less (no) rattles than the Deere...

All but the base model have the whole seat pan supported by 2 shock absorbers...

No need to go into intended use...

Thanks...

Dave...

C

Marty

Looked at Husqvarna lawn tractors today... The YT1848XP has an 18hp-twin Kawasaki engine... 48" cut... hydro lever-controlled drive... for $2,300... beats the equivalent Kubota by ~~$1,400 on price... but not quality...  

Also looked at the Ariens zero-turn riders... look like pretty good values !...

Toooooo many makes & models to consider & choose from... price... build quality... overall value... performance... etc... 

Cutting grass should not be so complicated !

Dave...

Including My Kawi powered Scag.......MM

You genius... you !

I never considered a large-cut commercial walk behind for the VT lot... That may fit the bill quite well !   ...a 48" deck gives a good amount of side trimming space... (better than a tractor)...

Now... that I only have "trimming" to do there... (now cutting with a 3-point-hitch 72" finish mower... 2 1/2 hours...)  (30 minutes trimming with the vintage 5-foot deck Gravely garden tractor...) ...a 40"+ cut walk behind would do the job... and I have my small yard here in CT... and one elderly couple's yard I do here with their 21" mower...  so a commercial walk behind can easily be transported in my pickup bed to/from VT...

Ahhhh... another good option to ponder ! ...perhaps the best solution to more than one mowing job... !

There's been a local ad for a little-used 48" Gravely commercial walk-behind... I'll see if I can find the ad...

Thanks for the idea Rob...

MM... yeah... the Kawi seems to be "the choice" for commercial mowers... !

Dave...

Not to get off the subject but I read your great review on the bcs tractor.I just purchased a used 830 with a tiller but was wondering how rugged the snow blower is as I live in Maine and get lots of snow here.I read one post somewhere a guy said the auger was very cheaply made and was destroyed just by hitting a small rock in his driveway.I have a long gravel driveway and would like to use the bcs to take of it  this winter .Any advice you might have would be greatly appreciated before I go out and buy one as I have yet to see one.

Thanks ,

Herb

See my reply to your seperate BCS post...

Have not seen the 2-stage blower... so no comment on it...

My 1-stage has beefy augers... thicker that many / most /all dedicated walk-behinds... (no impeler on a 1-stage)... and a very very substantial gearbox the commercial dedicated walk-behind blower match... no problems with obstacles / damage... have only picked up and thrown chunks of ice... and some smaller stones... it's a "animal" of a snow blower!

Dave...

Mowers... still researching...

Sadly... ruled out a commercial walkbehind...  $$$... and the walking...  checked out the Exmark / Toro's... excellent machines!

Checked out Cub Cadets this weekend...  The 1000 series... forget it for me !  Looked good... Operated "cheap"... Too noisy... blade engagement is very "rough"... deck / machine is noisy...

The consumer Zero-turn mower is nice to operate ( on concrete anyway)... is much more solid feeling and sounding than the 1000 series... $1,000 more at $3,000... for the models I tried... definately not a commercial build/quality...

The 2000 series Cub lawn tractors with shaft drive from engine to rear-end are smooth... quiet... better features... cast iron fron axle... cast iron transmission... EZ cruise control... a far cry ahead of the 1000 series...   but at a cost... $500 -  1,500 more... worth it in my opinion... doing more researxh on the 2000 series... based on a a short... sweet... test ride of all three...

Dave...

The 2500 series hits the mark for me... better then the 20xx... the 2544 (20 HP 44" cut) at $3000 - $3,100... a seemingly better value than the equivalent spec top-end Kubota lawn tractor at $3,750... and all the others I checked out...

Dealer I visited today had one standing on-end so the entire underside was visable/touchable... he knows his stuff... went thru all the construction details... seems a pretty well built tractor for this price range...

I know it will not perform in tall-wet grass like the Gravely does... so... this is a definate consideration in getting a New Cub 2544... dealers say about 6" tall grass is the max to cut with the Cub tractor... taller if you go slow... but I dunno about deck clogging... the Gravely does not clog... and does not labor much either...

So... more thinking to do... shiny and new... or old and rugged...  if I do buy new... i will not sell the Gravely until the new machine proves it handles the higher grass...

Dave...

Dave,

We have 2 2544's on our street.  The machines are very nice.  I have only done some very minor maintainance to one.  Little things the lady can't do herself, like sharpen blades ect.  The one I have seen the most is older and only has a 12.5 Kohler.  But, if there was one weak point with the machine, it would be the mowing deck, and how it is driven.  The deck seems to clog easily.  She is mowing in some bad, but not extreme conditions.  She has become so frustrated, I have finished the bad sectons with my Toro.  And another personal observation of mine that sort of bugs me sometimes.  A horizontal engine, while maybe prefered as an engine layout, usually does not transfer power to the deck as well as verticle engine, unless it is driven by a shaft from the transmission.

Nice machine, just make sure it cuts what you want it to cut.  Plowing, pulling, tilling, mowing, that's one thing, take the good with the not so good.  Just mowing, I think there's better machines.  Please take it for what it's worth, I only have exposure to two.

Thanks for this information.. I need a mower that mows taller... wet... grass... I get to the VT lot to mow "when I can"... 3" to cut... sometimes 10"... 24" once this year... grass which is at least quite moist...

I do not want a machine that has an easily clogging mower deck... My vintage Gravely doe not clog in any conditions it's faced... The old iron may be my best solution... versus spending $3,000 + tax to find out it dosen't  work well...

I also will eventually find out how the 3-point-hitch finish mower works in tall.... wet grass... I know the Gravely handles it...

The Cub Cadet 2544 looks like a good deal otherwise...

Man... a pain "in the grass" figuring this out !   I enjoy the research though...  ...sometimes the best solution... is to keep things as they are... but usually... things change...

Dave...

Yeah... deliberating tooooo much ! LOL...

Anyway... it's "fun" checking out the machines !

Dave...

Herb

Do you think the BCS for snowblowing fits your needs ?

Dave...

Not  sure if the bcs snowblower is what I want or not.I have a big kubota tractor , the m5400 with a bucket  but I can't put a blower on it as it won't go slow enough for our big storms up here in Maine.I tried one but it wouldn't work,had to keep riding the clutch which is  no good for sure.The m5400 doesn't have creeper gears and no kit for them.I am looking into the self powered blowers that go on pickup trucks instead of a snowplow also .I have about 450' of drive way and a parking area, it would be nice to have a blower to get all the snow blown out of the way.I may end up buying a smaller hydrostatic drive tractor and put a blower on it if I don't buy a blower for the bcs.It takes me a good 2 or 3 hrs. to clean up all the snow with the kubota using the bucket .I have lots of room to blow the snow.I had a plow truck but the snow banks get to high to fast and I end up pushing them back  with the tractor anyways,a blower seems to be the best alternative.

Herb,

450' + parking... I would not want a walk-behind snowblower for that... tooo much time...

I assume the blower on the Kubota was/is a 3-point-hitch mount... maybe too much much snow in low speed for a full-width cut... OK... so leave some snow... then do partial cuts with no clutching... taking just enough cut for the ground speed...

Option... try a 3-point rear blade along with the loader... will speed things up.. rear blade can pull or push snow while you go forward or reverse... without changing the blade direction...

The tractor & blower w/ loader should handle it all...

Dave...

I usually plow going forward with the rear blade... even though the tractor goes over the snow 1st... it works pretty well... then use the loader to move the snow pile(s) left from the rear blade... depending on snow depth... I pull the snow 50-100' before raising the rear blade... the rear blade has side wings so it's a box blade design...

Dave...