Kubota BX Series VS. B Series - YouTube

Neil from Messick’s here.

One of the most common questions that we’ve been getting

since we started doing YouTube videos is to compare one tractor to another.

We’ve done a lot of technical overviews on a BX series

and a lot of overviews on a B Series

but there are certain things that will cause a customer to opt

for one tractor over another.

We’re going to do a quick walk around and explain some of the demands

that your application may have

that would push you into a potentially larger

or smaller machine.

I should stress that it’s pretty plainly obvious

that when these two are sitting side by side

that one is obviously quite a bit larger than the other.

One thing that always gets a little frustrating

for a salesman of tractors is

when a customer does too much Internet research.

There is such a thing.

When you’re standing beside a machine,

you can very quickly start to see

that one may just physically be too large for you,

given the chores that you have a hand or may not fit your rear end well

when you place it in the seat.

We always want to stress that when going into the process

of evaluating two different machines,

there is really no replacement

for getting out and getting on a tractor,

looking at it and kicking its tires.

That said.

I’m going to go through a couple things here

that we do often see

that will sway people one way or the other.

In a BX Series tractor, a BX is the beginnings of a real tractor.

We’re talking of machine with four-wheel drive

and a three-point hitch and a diesel engine

and power steering and all the features and qualities

that a real tractor has

granted it’s scaled down really, really far to make it

as accessible as possible.

If you’re somebody who’s coming from a lawn and garden type tractor

and moving into the world of real tractors,

a BX is going to feel like a very comfortable machine for you.

It doesn’t sit all that far off the ground

but it has all these real tractor features.

It’s a nimble machine that’s easy to get around.

This is typically your, you know, half to two to three-acre properties

for the most part and customers that are really coming from smaller

equipment for the very first time.

The one limiting factor that we’ll have on this tractor

that does often push us into other applications

is ground clearance.

For somebody that works in a wooden lot or is going

to be using the tractor to pull trees of the woods

and those kinds of chores,

a subcompact tractor like this simply doesn’t’ have

a whole lot of ground clearance.

If you look under the machine with the mower deck attached.

You got six, seven, eight inches underneath of it

when the mower deck’s raised up the whole way

to go to the extent of pulling the mower deck off.

You’re going to get another two inches,

three inches underneath there

but not a whole heck of a lot.

Not enough to really feel comfortable to go crashing through the woods,

not to say that many people don’t do it.

They absolutely do

but you’ll hear horror stories of sticks punching up

in the transmission fans or some of the softer bits

of the tractor being damaged from the guys that will do

that kind of stuff.

It’s in that application that we start to say,

"Maybe you do it a little bit more and come on over here

to a B Series machine."

Another limiting factor on a subcompact can be

the size and dimension of the three-point hitch.

These are machines that are made to be intentionally low to the ground

because we’re coming out of lawn and garden type equipment.

We don’t necessarily want some huge high sitting tractor.

A lot of guys also have slopes

and that kind of stuff on their properties.

The higher you sit off the ground, the more unstable you are.

Low machines are really preferred on those applications.

That said, when things are compacted, so low to the ground,

there are some limitations of the size implements

that you can now fit on the three-point hitch.

This is a full category, one-three points.

Technically, a whole world of stuff can pin up to the back of this

but that doesn’t mean that the tractor is going to be

adequately sized to lift and manipulate those implements.

Typically, we’re looking at 42-inch rotary cutters

or a rear blade in a landscape rake at five feet

rototillers around the 48 to 52-inch mark.

Generally, with all those implements

we’re sizing them for the smallest ones that we can find.

They’re going to cover the track of the tractor.

This is going to use a 48-inch loader bucket

which generally means what right about 45, 46 inches

across our back tires.

Every set of tires, depending on their tread pattern

can vary a little bit.

If you really want to hone in on that,

put a tape measure across the back of your machine

but those implements were always going to be sizing it

at a capacity of the three-point hitch

and the track of the machine.

If you’ve got, say, six acres that you need to go bush hog

and a 42 inch bush hog is simply going

to take you too long to get it done

and you like something a little bit bigger.

That’s when we need to consider moving to the B Series.

When it comes to doing a tractor work,

the power of the transmission and the weight of the machine

is a factor.

You need a gutsy grunt of a transmission

and good tractor weight in order to get a good traction.

All these machines are four-wheel drives.

Subcompacts are typically more than adequate for the applications

that they have but you’re going to find those things on any tractor

that is going to push it a little bit.

The transmission in most subcompacts and many other small tractors

are two ranges.

When we start to really want to do those demanding applications,

I go back to pulling logs and stuff out of the woods again.

Many tractors will have a three range transmission

including the B Series.

You would have a low, medium, high instead of just a high, low.

Typically, those three range transmissions

are geared a lot lower.

When we go out and we throw a chain around our logs,

when we want to yank it out of the woods,

the additional weight and the additional transmission

gearings from bigger tractors are going to allow it to do

bigger tractor work.

From having a physically bigger tractor,

you can also have a physically bigger loader.

We’re scaling up all of our implements.

A B Series is going to start with an LA434 loader

where the BX is going to use an LA 343 loader.

That difference there, gives the larger loader more capacity,

bigger buckets, and more functionality.

If you need to, say, transport 13 yards of mulch

every year from one side of your yard to your flowerbeds

like I do every year.

A bigger tractor with a bigger loader and a bigger bucket is going to do

those chores more quickly.

Having a larger tractor with a higher capacity is going

to enable you to do those things.

We do need to watch that we don’t get too hyper-focused

on those load of capacity numbers.

Typically, as you move up into a larger loader,

you’re also getting larger buckets to go with it.

In operation, when you take a BX into a pile of dirt, you crawl,

you break it out and you drive the operation of the tractor

doesn’t really feel that much different

than what a bigger machine does

and that’s because we’ve optimized and performance match to the sides

the buckets to the capacities of the loader.

One is not necessarily going to lift the load, a bucket load,

say, mulch stone, those kinds of things

that another one wouldn’t.

Simply because those buckets are sized

to the capacities of the loader

but we're going to work more quickly, more productively

with a bigger bucket, with a higher capacity loader.

One thing that is not different between these machines is

the horsepower of their engines.

We’re all very programmed to hyper-focus on horsepower.

Well, what horsepower we’ve got under the hood of our car

or every other person that walks up to our parts counter

says, "I’ve got a 23 horse Kubota with a 16-inch motor deck."

Thinking that, that explains everything about what the machine is

and in today’s tractors, the same engine is often used

in a lot of different machines for different applications.

In this case, the BX Series uses a 23 horse engine.

The B series also uses a 23 horse engine.

We’ve got the same amount of horsepower.

Now, that said, the bigger tractor is going to be mated

to a larger hydraulic system and a more capable transmission.

It is going to be capable of doing more tractory type work.

The horsepower of the engine doesn’t determine

the lift capacity of the loader, say, in this B Series tractor.

This will come in 23 in the 26 horse variant,

that extra three horsepower doesn’t make the loader

lift more weight.

It’s the hydraulic system and the pressure of those fluids

that determines the performance of those implements,

where the horsepower does help and does change things

is going out the PTO.

If we had a rototiller or a mowing application,

now attract with more horsepower

is going to be physically more productive.

We’ve got to be careful

when comparing purely horsepower between tractors.

Not every horsepower is created equal.

It comes down to the capacities of the hydraulic system,

the weights of the tractor, PTO horsepower is very, very important.

That’s a measure of the efficiency of the tractors driveline.

You’ll notice, some machines that might be 23 horse at the engine

but only putting, say, 15, without the PTO.

While another machine could be 23 horsepower at the engine,

putting 20 of it out the PTO,

more efficient engine and more efficient transmission

is going to get more work done.

There is a lot more numbers to dive into on your spec sheets

when looking at these tractors to get an idea of what kind of work

they’re capable of doing

and to be honest, horsepower is one of the least important of those.

One of the few functional differences between these two tractors

is the way that they’re three-point hitch works.

You’ll notice most things on these two machines,

your range selectors, your loader stick,

your hydrostatic pedals, your PTO’s.

All work very, very similarly.

There is a difference in the way

that the three-point hitches function.

BX Series machines use what’s called a quarter wrenching valve

to move their three-point hitches up and down.

You have a control to pull up and a control to pull down.

Typically, when you want to, say, have that the three-point hitch

somewhere in the middle of its range,

you kind of have to look behind you and eyeball where your hitch is at

and stop at the right point.

A B Series tractor is different.

It has a regular position control three-point hitch

with a one through eight on it.

If you’re using , say, a box blade and you want to return back

to the same position that you were in before,

you can pull your lever back to, say, position number two

and the implement is going to drop to that same point.

The BX Series is not capable of doing that.

It has that up and down control.

Most of the time, that’s not problematic

for our customers because you usually

have your implement up for transport or down for work

and not somewhere in the middle

but there are some applications where that can be problematic,

rating typically, being the most important of them.

That’s something you see yourself doing frequently

that could be something to consider pushing you up into

the B Series tractor to get the more deluxe

three-point hitch control.

As you can see, there’s really nothing

that a B Series tractor can do that a BX Series cannot do.

It’s typically what you find with this kind of equipment.

It’s not that one tractor is going to be able to accomplish a task

that another one simply cannot do.

It’s going to be a question of efficiency.

A bigger tractor is going to use bigger more capable implements

and do things more quickly.

Where a two to three-acre customer could be really well-served

by a BX series tractor.

Somebody who’s got eight to 10 acres to mow is going to be really out

for like two days straight with this machine.

At which case we start moving into larger series tractors

to pair the customer with the right machine

for their application.

If you’ve been staring at these spec sheets

and going through the PDF files and trying to determine

what is the right tractor for me rather than looking at the tractor.

Turn around and take a look at your application.

Question, "How much acreage do I have?

How much mowing do I need to do? What loads do I need to lift?"

Start to pair the machine to your application, in that way

and really based upon the amount of time

that you’re willing to invest in it.

If you need to mow five acres

and you want it to be done in an hour.

You need a lot bigger tractor than if you’re willing to spend

two hours mowing those same five acres.

Application really is everything

when it comes to purchasing the right tractor.

If we can help you through your needs and identifying the right machine

for the chores that you have at hand.

Give us a call at Messick’s.

We’re available at 800-222-3373 or @metricks.com.