# Kubota BX2200



## Bamby

My old Cub is still running but it is getting tired. I'm looking to maybe replace it with a Kubota. I've admired the BX series from a distance since they were introduced thinking they were well balanced for a homeowner with a few acres who occasionally wanted to do some work.

This particular one comes with the loader and belly mower and judging by the pictures it appears to be in pretty good shape. The only issues that came up online appeared to be hydraulic hoses failing and or leaking, otherwise they seem sound.

Anything else I should be looking for should I go look at it this afternoon?


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## Doc

BX's are great tractors.  I suppose I should admit to being a bit biased.  I was going to get a BX but ended up getting a bigger Kubota, the L series.   I love the tractor.  Have had it since 02 and it has served me well.   

What year BX are you looking at, how many hours are on it and how much are they asking?  These little boogers do hold their value pretty well.   I shopped hoping to find a used one in decent shape but ended up buying new as I could not find a nearly new one for much less than the price of a new one.  With discounts, zero percent financing and a warranty, new won out for me.

Sit in a few seats before you buy.  Visit your local Kubota dealer also (or the dealer for any brand you are considering buying).  When you buy you will end up in a relationship with the dealer.  You want one you feel comfortable with that will get what you need and help when needed.  

A front end loader is essential.  It makes the tractor so much more useful for you.  I did not realize this when buying but some folks in the know encouraged me to get the loader with the tractor (as I was going to wait a year or two so I did not have to finance as much).   I listened to their advice and acted on it.  I got the FEL cheaper since it was purchased with the tractor and I've been a happy camper ever since.  I've used that loader for things I never ever conceived of when buying.   It's great that the the tractor you are looking at already has one.  A huge plus in my book.  

Good luck.


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## Jim_S RIP

We have a BX2350 and it's great! It's small enough to maneuver around the barn and the stalls and it's powerful enough to get the job done. 

One thing that's not a big deal is you need to bump the throttle up some above idle to get enough hydraulic pressure to operate the bucket.

There was a recall on the seats a few years ago.  I don't know if it applied to the BX2200.

Jim


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## Bamby

Thanks for the fast reply. This is as much as I've got so far.



> 2003 Kubota BX2200 4wheel drive utility tractor with 615HRS.  Belly  mower, tiller and LA211 loader.  Just had a full service on tractor in  good condition.  3Cyl Diesel engine. $8,000



I'm hoping to get him down some if it checks out. After all don't we all inflate the price some to price in the dicker factor.


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## Bamby

Jim I looked yours up and it's close to the same model and maybe utilizes the same mower deck. The lower part of my yard isn't really utilized. As such at the price of fuel I tend to let it get a bit tall before I knock it down.

My Cub handles tall grass horribly. In anyone's experience do Kubota's do a better job?


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## Jim_S RIP

> My Cub handles tall grass horribly. In anyone's experience do Kubota's do a better job?



Ours does a fair job.  Beth cut some stuff that was @4 ft the other day.  The grass chute on ours is set pretty low and the grass balls up under the deck and kind of "burps" wads of grass when you turn.  The fix is a bungee cord to hold the chute level or a little higher.  In the high stuff set the deck as high as it will go and if it's thick you might need to take 1/2 or 2/3 bite at a time.

Jim


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## bczoom

I don't have a BX but something I noticed with the newer sub-compact tractors.

Watch or check the height of the ROPS.  I was on a new JD1000 series tractor last week and they made the ROPS 86" tall.  Their reasoning is safety in roll-overs but the idiots didn't think about the fact most garage doors are 84" tall.  If you pull in your garage forgetting to fold the ROPS, you're vulnerable to flipping over backwards.


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## jpr62902

bczoom said:


> I don't have a BX but something I noticed with the newer sub-compact tractors.
> 
> Watch or check the height of the ROPS. I was on a new JD1000 series tractor last week and they made the ROPS 86" tall. Their reasoning is safety in roll-overs but the idiots didn't think about the fact most garage doors are 84" tall. *If you pull in your garage forgetting to fold the ROPS, you're vulnerable to flipping over backwards*.


 
 Not really.  The BX is heavy enough that it will just nudge the garage door out of the way.

 Trust me.


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## Bamby

> Watch or check the height of the ROPS.  I was on a new JD1000 series  tractor last week and they made the ROPS 86" tall.  Their reasoning is  safety in roll-overs but the idiots didn't think about the fact most  garage doors are 84" tall.  If you pull in your garage forgetting to  fold the ROPS, you're vulnerable to flipping over backwards.


Good advice. If it is I have a welder and a cut off saw and it wouldn't be a issue for long. 



> Ours does a fair job.  Beth cut some stuff that was @4 ft the other day.   The grass chute on ours is set pretty low and the grass balls up under  the deck and kind of "burps" wads of grass when you turn.  The fix is a  bungee cord to hold the chute level or a little higher.  In the high  stuff set the deck as high as it will go and if it's thick you might  need to take 1/2 or 2/3 bite at a time.



No kids will be running my equipment and those stupid spring loaded chute extensions will come off like my other mowers.


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## jpr62902

The BX2200 has a shorter ROPS that doesn't fold, btw.


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## Bamby

Everything sounds positive.. Just sent text to owner to set up an appointment. We'll see if he gets back to me and go from there. Who knows if this one fall through I'll probably be shopping for another one anyway...


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## Melensdad

My neighbor has a BX 2??? and its a great little tractor.


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## EastTexFrank

Bamby, for the most part they are excellent little tractors and they can do real work as opposed to a lawn tractor which will cut grass.  I would have had one but I bought my B2400 before Kubota introduced the BX.  They can literally do anything a big tractor can do only in much smaller bites.  

If you would be doing much tall grass cutting I would suggest trading the tiller for a 4 foot bush hog for the PTO.  I have a tiller and it's one of those tools that I used a lot when I initially bought it but in subsequent years, not so much.  Once I had the gardens set up and tilled for the first time, I used it perhaps 30 minutes a year at most, just to run over the garden and incorporate organic matter before planting.  As Doc said, make sure you get the FEL.  Even if you never used for anything more that a mechanical wheelbarrow, it's a back saver.  It takes less than 5 minutes to take off and put on.


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## Bamby

Well I just got back from looking at it and I'm now a Kubota owner. It seemed solid mechanical wise in every way. It does have some apparent cosmetic damage but it's probably no worse than I would have done to it if I would have owned it since new. At least this way I can work and use it without worrying about scratching it up.

Machine, FEL, and rototiller for 7 G. Maybe not the best deal but it's in the lower end of the ones I found online.


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## Doc

With 600 hours on it that is a fantastic deal.  Even if you had not got the rototiller with it that baby is at least worth 7k.  and the rototiller is 800 to 1000 more.   Way to go.  And Congrats!!!!     I dare say you are gonna LOVE it.


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## EastTexFrank

Congratulations Bamby.  That's actually a great deal.  600 hours on that little diesel is nothing, almost new.  It'll serve you for many years.  When my B2400 was the only tractor I had I used it for everything from mowing the yard and pasture, tilling the garden, fertilizing, spraying, moving dirt and downed trees and was only putting a little over 200 hours a year on it.  You'll be amazed at what it can do compared to a garden tractor. 

Enjoy it and welcome to the compact/subcompact club.


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## rlk

You got a great deal Bamby.  I have a BX2200 that we bought in 2000.  It's been flawless except for a few hydraulic hoses failing.  Fortunately we have a company that comes to our house to replace the hoses.

I don't have a tiller, but have a fel and belly mower.  The belly mower is a bear to remove, at least for me.  It's tough for me to get the drive shaft connected.

I have a set of manuals so if you need anything, let me know and I'll scan the pages and email them to you.

Bob


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## Bamby

Such a warm welcome to the family is truly appreciated. 

I managed to get her home in one piece, or maybe I should say two. The belly deck had to be removed for the tractor to fit in my trailer.

Before reinstalling the deck to the tractor I went over it for grease fittings. Actually found quite a few but without the book I still may of managed to miss some. The owner just paid to have this machine serviced and it's evident in looking at the filters, etc. But it's also evident the service technician didn't grease a damn thing when he did it which equals out to pretty lousy servicing IMHO.

Anyway it was getting late in the evening but I took her down over the hill to try her out for a bit anyway. I have three phases of grass down there at the moment. From ready to mow, somewhat neglected at about 8", to it's going to seed and ready to cut and bale.

Shes performing flawlessly on the first two phases where I would expect it. But the going to seed pasture grass is proving out to be a real handful for her. She seems to have plenty of power to do the actual cutting itself. The issue seems to be in the deck actually clearing itself of all the grass without plugging itself up. But then again this is brush hog territory and asking any finish mower to handle it is expecting too much.

Now on to the roll-bar orchard and trees. Though this machines roll-bar isn't exceptionally high it's apparent it's still going to be into the lower limbs of my trees. In the Cub I could swivel and duck around to limbs and keep on going. With this machine moving me as an limb obstruction simply isn't going to work. If I were to remove the obstruction from the machine I'd be back to familiar territory on this tree issue. But at minimum I want to mow it a few times to familiarize myself with both the Kabota, and how much trimming I'll be forced to leave around all the trees.

Till later......


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## bczoom

Bamby said:


> The issue seems to be in the deck actually clearing itself of all the grass without plugging itself up.


A couple thoughts/ideas.

When my deck begins to clog, I shut down the mower.  The caked on grass then falls out.

To keep grass from sticking, next time you clean the underside of your deck, coat it with a layer of Fluid Film.

If you have a shallow body of water (a few inches), put your deck over it and start it up.  Slowly lower into the water until you get a good amount being picked up by the blades.  That will basically pressure wash the inside of your deck.


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## EastTexFrank

Yea, that one-piece, solid roll bar can get "interesting" around tree limbs.  More than once I've caught it running too close to a tree.  One minute you're looking at the ground in front, the next you're looking a bright blue sky before crashing back down on all 4 tires again.  

I adopted the 6 foot rule.  No tree branches less that 6 feet off the ground.  It's a bit hard to adhere to around some of the fruit trees but even those are trimmed high enough to get bye without hanging up.


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## Bamby

Well so far my evaluation of this machine has been positive. The pasture grass area turned out wonderful once a complete cross mowing was completed. Left no real grass clumping and achieved good overall dispersal of the clippings.

After completion of the mowing I went back to a long standing tree stump that I've been mowing around for years. A nudge from the FEL showed that it was vulnerable.  So I then nudged it a bit harder with satisfactory results. Moved the machine around about a third and nudged again. Now the stump is rocking. Another third of the way around and a nudge I then had a apx. 10" stump and some roots ready to be scooped up and disposed of.

Then while in the woodlot disposing of my prize I turned my attention to a couple of fair size standing dead dogwoods that died some time ago. I thought myself well why not? Lift the bucket up some and gave one of them a nudge and heard the satisfying sound of roots popping and had a visually leaning tree. A one eighty around and another nudge the other way I had it grounded. Then went to work on the second tree and achieved the very same results. I was then able to hook each tree by the roots with the bucket and take them on down over the hill. I'm thinking I'm liking having this FEL....

After the disposition of the trees and then pushing a few larger dead limbs out of the way. I left the mower at it's highest setting I then proceeded to mow off the woodlot, tall weeds, briers, multiflora, and all. Knocked it all down and found that the deck is suspended high enough that it cleared all the smaller limbs that littered the woodlot.

In the end I'm thinking this Kubota is going to be very useful and so far I've been happy with it's performance but a bit more time in the seat will tell. But I will say at the moment I wouldn't discourage anyone from buying one of these machines.

I had a hard time finding this online. BX2200 owners manual, a bit scrambled but may find useful. Some of the front pages are at the bottom of the PDF.

View attachment KubotaBX2200OperatorsManual.pdf

FEL manual

View attachment KubotaFrontLoaderLA211.pdf

Belly Mower

View attachment KubotaRotaryMowerRCK_60bOR54_22BX.pdf


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## Doc

Yeah, aren't FEL's GREAT!!!!!    I love pushing over dead trees with mine.


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## Jim_S RIP

Glad you're enjoying it!

Pushing trees is fun but you'll find you will be using the "diesel powered wheel barrow" function more.

Jim


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## bczoom

Bamby said:


> Then while in the woodlot disposing of my prize I turned my attention to a couple of fair size standing dead dogwoods that died some time ago. I thought myself well why not? Lift the bucket up some and gave one of them a nudge and heard the satisfying sound of roots popping and had a visually leaning tree.


This is a highly discouraged practice!!!
When you push on a dead tree with your FEL, the top of the tree is going to start to sway (back and forth if you let any pressure off the tree with the FEL).  Dead trees have limbs that break off when the tree sways.  They  always seem aim for the tractor and driver when they come down.  It's an easy way to get hurt.


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## jpr62902

bczoom said:


> This is a highly discouraged practice!!!
> When you push on a dead tree with your FEL, the top of the tree is going to start to sway (back and forth if you let any pressure off the tree with the FEL). Dead trees have limbs that break off when the tree sways. They always seem aim for the tractor and driver when they come down. It's an easy way to get hurt.



 Party pooper.


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## EastTexFrank

jpr62902 said:


> Party pooper.



Yea, I know but unfortunately he's right.  As long as the trees are relatively small then knock them over.  On bigger trees ... watch out.  I was rocking a big ol' pine tree and the top fell out of that thing and missed me by about 3 feet.  If it had hit me it would have killed me stone dead, without a doubt.  

The thing about these compact and subcompact tractors is that they are capable of doing so much when compared to lawn tractors that at times we tend to overreach.  Be careful Bamby.  We want you around for quite a while yet.


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## Bamby

I'll be careful I promise.. 

On that note, can someone answer this question?

If or should I say when I should run this tractor out of fuel are they self-priming? Or is there a special routine I'm going to need to follow to get it primed and up and running again.


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## bczoom

So, you ran it out of fuel already.  LOL.

I'm pretty sure most diesel tractors made in the last 20 years are all self-priming.


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## EastTexFrank

It depends on the model and maker but really you want to make sure that you never run them out of fuel.  My little Kubota is self priming.  You sometimes have to crank it half a dozen times before it starts.  My bigger Kubota you have to bleed the air out of the lines before it will start.  I do it through the drain valve on the bottom of the fuel filter until the filter bowl is full.  You still have to crank it a few times until the fuel gets to the engine.  I find that much easier than pulling injector lines and doing it that way.  

I haven't run out of fuel in quite some time because it is such a pain to get it up and running again.  I don't take chances anymore.


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## Bamby

I was hoping it would be pain-free and easy but you're suggesting it may be otherwise. Normally I wouldn't be concerned about it but the fuel gauge in this tractor swings wildly on the hillsides due to tractor angle and the fuel tank design on this unit. I noticed the gauge can show three quarters going one direction and show below mt going straight back the other way. Hopefully I'll get a real feel or handle on the fuel situation before I do manage to suck her down dry and mt.


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## Jim_S RIP

I agree with Frank, it's better to not find out the hard way.

I always top off the tank when I finish for the day.  I keep diesel at the barn and at the house so I don't have far to go if I think I need to top up during the day.

Jim


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## rlk

The link to the operators manual you provided above says you will have to bleed the system if you run out of fuel. See the section about fuel capacities, etc.

Bob


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## Bamby

I'm around to updating my experience with this purchase. I've now had the opportunity to mow the yard several times with this tractor, and frankly I'm somewhat impressed. Mainly meaning this unit is way more fuel efficient than the Cub ever dreamed of being, I've probably saved ten gallons of fuel (gas) already.

Tried doing some digging with with the FEL and found performance somewhat disappointing as I suspected I would. Previous experience with backhoes frustrated me also years ago. This led me searching for a solution and I'm hoping I chose wisely. Anyway I ordered one of these:






It seemed that everything I could find was positive for this unit and frankly I find the tooth design kind cool anyway. If anyone is interested I ordered it from here: http://bxpanded.com/

Hopefully soon I'll find out how well my new attachment allows this machine to move some earth.


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## Doc

You'll like your tooth bar.   I got one quite a few years ago and have gotten plenty of use out of it.


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