JohnnyProducts, LLC/JohnnyPlow for Kubota BX

Hi Everyone,

Since I never saw or heard feedback from anyone on the site on this attachment, I thought I would write down my experiance while it is very fresh in my mind.
I placed my order on JohnnyProducts.com for their Johnny Plow Sr snow plow for the Kubota BX Series. The plow arrived in four weeks as promised in three boxes via UPS. The packaging was excellent. (Being a Logistics person by profession I found this something to praise considering the packaging of most things I see).
The whole unit tips the scales at between 170 and 200 lbs so it isn't a super HD unit like the Kubota dirt/snow blade and hitch but they don't profess this to be a big dirt mover. It will move some dirt if need be but it is really a snow blade in my book. The plow width is 60 inches.
The instructions had some blips in them. There were upgrades to the hardware that weren't revised in the instructions and the pictures included could have been a little bigger and better defined. If you are NOT a handy person, you would need help installing this unit. All the hardware and units with this plow are quality and the finish should thwart the elements for awhile. Black only! No colors and they say right on the site.."don't ask". :< )

After attaching the pivot mount to the blade it was time to tackle the hitch itself. There are two different kinds of hitches for the BX based on the model and age of your tractor. Mine is a BX1500 so it took the old style. The adapter hitch for my older BX takes the place of the mower deck front hanger lever. This I didn't know and leaving this hitch on will make removing the mower deck a bit harder verses the drop and go factory hanger. The hitch will not interfere with the front end loader so it can stay on all the time.

Once installed I connected the hitch to the plow and made my hose connections which JohnnyProducts marked exactly which color connectors to attach to. It was a little over two hours to this point going slow and steady making sure it was done right and by the book. (With some trial and error).
Fired the tractor up and ran the control valves to raise and lower and pivot right and left until I got the air out of the lines. Next I had to add nearly three-quarters of a quart of Super UDT2 to bring the hydraulic level back between the lines. Took the tractor out and ran it through the loops again. This time putting down pressure on the plow. It will lift the front tires off the ground a few inches.
In Summary: The Pros:
Much less expensive than the Kubota factory setup. This is especially true for we older BX guys that can't even find the OEM plow hitch anymore for our tractors and when we do, they are asking between 600 and a grand just for the hitch! (insane)!
Good finish, pretty sturdy and quick to move on it's pivot points. Hardware appears to be quality stuff. Nice heavy cutting bar. Great down pressure and a good deal of height for moving around. Comes with a one year warranty.
The Cons:
I'll miss the factory mower deck hanger.
Instructions are tough to follow but make sense ONLY after it's installed!
Only comes in black.
Not for dirt in my opinion like the factory blade.
It hangs out well in front of the tractor so it takes up more real estate when/if your hauling it from point A to B.
The skid pads look a little cheesy but time will tell if they hold up. Looks may be deceiving.

Everything delivered to my door from their Wisconsin location was just under 1500 bucks.
Time will tell how this works out and how it does season after season. I put this together and installed it on the tractor with a record high of near 95 degrees today in Central PA so I won't be using it in any drifts soon. I'll post up how it does when the white stuff comes.
Johnnyproducts LLC also has a few accessories for this unit including wings for each side of the blade to increase the width of the blade beyond 60 inches. They have a plow flap for the top of the blade and edge markers as well.
For initial quality and function, I like what I bought. I'm satisfied. I'll like it more if it plows snow well and holds up year after year.

I have an FEL for it but with too many decades in a tractor seat to count, a snow plow for plowing snow is my preference.
I have a 2WD Wheelhorse with an FEL and another with the manual plow with angle. You can push snow with the FEL but you can't cast it to the side for long driveways. You just make a mountain in front of you. Wet heavy snow will also start to make that push a real chore. Heavy snow forces you to stop and dump over and over. For snow that isn't over 2 feet deep to start in, I like an angled plow.
I have been trimming my tractor heard down, (before I found myself on that Hoarders show), so I wanted a plow for the Kubota that had angle capabilities and good down pressure. If I would have had a newer Orange Tractor, I would have spent more $$$ and bought the BX2763A plow and a quick hitch. However the quick hitch for the "00" BX's, (BX2711), are commanding a lot of money on top of what the actual plow costs. I could have fabricated a hitch but I have no time between work and family responsibilities and the guys in our shop are "up against it" as well. There are guys I'm sure who won't put anything but orange on their Kubota but as long as an implement is right for the job and correct for the tractor, I just want to get the job done. Just my opinions. You can use an FEL for plowing snow. I just prefer an actual snow plow.

I never looked at a straight three-point blade. I bought a beat up box scraper blade shortly after I bought my used BX1500 to do some odds and ends at my house and in front of a relatives home that the township seems to ignore until election years! I wasn't interested in anything that I needed to dismount the tractor to angle for snow duty.

Follow up on the Johnny Plow.
Not much of a test but snow is scarce in Central Pennsylvania. (And I'm not complaining)!
We had our first measurable snowfall Thursday from 4 inches of fluff out of an Alberta Clipper but it was enough of an excuse to use the Johnny Plow. I think it will do alright even in heavy wet snow based on how it did with this fluff. 70 to 80 feet straight pushing and it never blinked. It even curled the snow when angled at a higher speed. The plow pads left some nice lines on my asphalt but it needs resealed next year anyway. No gouges. No leaks and no snow on the driveway.

Final thoughts on the Johnnyplow Snow Plow.
I have no regrets buying this unit over trying to find the older style Kubota hitch and then finding the original plows or modding to fit a new plow. Either way, the Johnnyplow was much cheaper to purchase and now that I have used it over the course of 6 storms including a foot of fairly heavy wet snow and I am very happy with it. Don't think about it for dirt moving. It wouldn't hold up under that kind of constant use.
I had people asking if I still liked it and how it did in deep snow. I know now it will do the job. The only thing I cannot answer is how it will age.

THE final comments on the JohnnyPlow:

It worked well all winter long. However................when it came time to put the MMM back on it, the Johnnyplow's front bracket would NOT accommodate the front mower hanger no matter what I did or tried to do. So the whole front hanger for the Johnnyplow must come off and be replaced by the factory Kubota MMM front hanger bracket when you want to mow. Just another hardware issue that they need or should address. I doubt they will since my tractor is an obsolete unit but it bears mention.