Buying a new loader for my BX- 2370 vs 2380?

NoBiffBetter

Member
Oct 30, 2018
193
7
16
Silver Creek, NY. USA
Hey guys, like the title states, I have a 2013 kabota bx2370 that I bought used off a guy, it has 400hr on it, it came with the loader valve, the hydrolic manifold off the side of right side, as well as a 60 inch deck. I picked it up for $6,500 and am very very happy with it.

I was told this tractor was purchased this way by the pervious owner and has never had a loader installed which that does appear to be true by the looks of the mount holes and loader valve.

QUESTION:

I am about to order a loader for it from my local kabota dealer and was told that the bx2380 loader will NOT fit, I wanted the 2380 because of the quick detach as well as for the skid steer bucket mount. Is this really true? Cuz to me it looks like a loader from a bx2380 would fit right on it as the mounts and chassis looks identical.

They quoted me $2900 if I paid cash which I didnt think was bad at all for the factory bx2370 loader and I plan on ordering it tommarrow ONLY if it is true that a 2380 loader will not fit/work.

I just wanted to check in with you experts here on this forum before I finally bit the bullet on a brand new loader.

Any help is greatly appreciated!!
Thanks, mike.
 
Last edited:

NoBiffBetter

Member
Oct 30, 2018
193
7
16
Silver Creek, NY. USA
So basically all I am wondering is if a bx 2380 loader and loader mounts will fit onto a 2013 bx 2370. The dealer said he would order a 2380 loader for me but only if i was certain that I knew it would fit, otherwise it would waste their time and my money lol.

Thanks guys!
 

esloser

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working on BX1870-1
Oct 30, 2015
76
1
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43
Millville, NJ
I’m not sure it will fit. They did more to it than just the quick attach loader valves. They also made it so you can disconnect the loader without getting out of the seat. This would lead me to believe they’ve modified other attachment points.

Undoing and redoing the 4 loader hoses isn’t all that hard or complicated. I have the 1870 with loader and the only problem I have with it is remembering to drop the landing gear before trying to remove it.


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JackJ

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BX1870-1
Mar 14, 2016
264
3
18
Indiana
I'm with esloser here: getting the older loader on / off is a piece of cake, once you've done it a few times. With stories of some of the newer hydraulic connections leaking, I'd stick with what I've got if needed to replace mine. As long as you've got a flat spot to work on (and I assume that's as important for the newer ones, too) it's a very simple task.
 

JeepinMaxx

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BX2660, LA243 FEL, RCK54P-23BX MMM, BX2751 QH Subframe, BX2750D 50" Blower
Mar 27, 2018
296
8
18
Columbia, CT
The BX2370 uses the LA243A loader

The BX2380 uses the LA344 loader

The difference on the LA344 other than the skid steer style bucket quick connect is the hydraulic connections. The LA243 used standard Pioneer style fittings. The BX2380 and LA344 uses newer "flat style" skid steer type connections and have a quick disconnect hydraulic manifold. The mounting pins may different as well

If I have time tomorrow, I'll stop by the local Kubota place and take some pictures. My brother in-law works the parts/service there
 

PaulL

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B2601
Jul 17, 2017
2,130
1,130
113
NZ
I agree that I saw a Messicks video where they'd put the 80 series loader on a 70. I'm pretty sure the hard attach points are the same, they have to change the couplers. That's not hard/expensive. I'm taking my loader on/off a lot more than I used to, and detaching the hydraulics is the slowest bit, it's also a bit messy with pioneer couplers. In tractor terms it's not a big deal, but being able to take your loader off without having to go find a rag to wipe your hands on (and having hydraulic fluid residue until you get around to actually washing them) would be worth a few dollars to me. I'd check with Messicks, or at least check the video and associated comment thread. I think it was the video on lift capacities.
 

NoBiffBetter

Member
Oct 30, 2018
193
7
16
Silver Creek, NY. USA
Awesome guys! Thankyou everyone for the help, I knew I wasn’t crazy, I checked out the manuals for both the 2370 and the 2380 and I knew that the chassis and mounts were the same.. which told me that the quick detach loader would come with the quick detach mounts which again I knew that those mounts would fit the 2370, I also knew that the skid steer bucket mount wouldn’t have anything to do with the fitment of the loader mount to my 2370, and I knew that the newer loader had the quick detach hydrolic manifold but I figured it couldn’t be that hard just to swap out the quick detach manifold fittings for regular pressure coupler fittings as Neal from messiks stated.

You guys really helped me out and helped me to realize I wasn’t over thinking this.. in most cases manufacturers like John Deere and kabota really don’t differ the design a whole lot from one series tractor to the next. It’s usually done in very small steps and being thay my 2370 is one 1 series behind the 2380 i had a feeling this could work. :)


Also as Neal from messiks stated.. the old 243 loader is on back order and even the dealer told me today that he couldn’t even locate one, I was told that I may not see the 243 loader till mid December because kabota would have to manufacture one from scratch!

Now that I have the info I needed I will deffienlty be calling the dealer back Tommarrow to tell him to order me the quick detach loader!

I will deffienlty let you guys know how it all plays out!

PS. I searched for an hour on google for anyone with info about this matter or if anyone had ever asked this same question hoping to find my answer and I couldn’t find anything.
I’d be pretty surprised if I was the first one to ask this question on a forum so if anyone can pull up any other good reads about this matter please share it! I think it will not only help me out but Hopdfully it can help out many others in the future as well.

Thanks again guys,
 

NoBiffBetter

Member
Oct 30, 2018
193
7
16
Silver Creek, NY. USA
I agree that I saw a Messicks video where they'd put the 80 series loader on a 70. I'm pretty sure the hard attach points are the same, they have to change the couplers. That's not hard/expensive. I'm taking my loader on/off a lot more than I used to, and detaching the hydraulics is the slowest bit, it's also a bit messy with pioneer couplers. In tractor terms it's not a big deal, but being able to take your loader off without having to go find a rag to wipe your hands on (and having hydraulic fluid residue until you get around to actually washing them) would be worth a few dollars to me. I'd check with Messicks, or at least check the video and associated comment thread. I think it was the video on lift capacities.
I couldn’t agree more with you. I will absolutely spend the little extra cash to adapt my 2370 to the quick detach hydro manifold.. long as it’s not like a 400-600$ part.. otherwise I will prolly have to live with just the common couplers as the loader alone is gonna about tap me on cash.

Anybody know a rough difference in price between the 243 loader and the 343? Hopdilly it’s not a HUGE price jump.. I’d be ok with spending an extra 800-1000$ for sure tho. He quoted me $2900 if I paid in full with cash for the 243
 

JeepinMaxx

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BX2660, LA243 FEL, RCK54P-23BX MMM, BX2751 QH Subframe, BX2750D 50" Blower
Mar 27, 2018
296
8
18
Columbia, CT
Good luck & post when you get the loader and adapt the fittings
 

PaulL

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B2601
Jul 17, 2017
2,130
1,130
113
NZ
Anybody know a rough difference in price between the 243 loader and the 343?
I don't know the answer, but I wouldn't expect there to be much difference. I'd have guessed a couple hundred base price difference, and probably $200 of parts to make it fit. Much more than that, yeah, I'd think twice.
 

NoBiffBetter

Member
Oct 30, 2018
193
7
16
Silver Creek, NY. USA
Hey guys, So I ordered the LA344 quick attach loader today from my local dealer. The guy I was in the phone with didn’t want to believe me that it would fit. I had to explain to him why it would. He told me he was still going to check into it and find out for sure before he ordered it for me.

About 2 hours later he called me back and told me it does work, he said that he I had just finished installing an La344 loader onto one of their 2370’s himself and he said other than swapping the hydronic couplers abs changing the angle of the lines that everything went right into place and that he tried it out with the Machine running and all worked flawlessly!

He then continued to tell me that he would order one in for me and that it will be ready next week.

Just to let you guys know, after tax the LA243 was $2999 and the new LA344 quick attach loader was gonna cost me roughly $3999 and that includes swapping the couplers over to the regular couplers and also includes the labor for both loaders installed.

So your gonna be looking at roughly a $800-$1200 difference in price between the LA243 and the LA340/LA344 for any of you who were wondering about doing this upgrade yourself.

Thanks again for your help guys and I will keep you posted next week when I “hopfully” get the new loader installed for the first time on my pure virgin kabota bx2370.
 

NoBiffBetter

Member
Oct 30, 2018
193
7
16
Silver Creek, NY. USA
I don't know the answer, but I wouldn't expect there to be much difference. I'd have guessed a couple hundred base price difference, and probably $200 of parts to make it fit. Much more than that, yeah, I'd think twice.
I also forgot to mention in my last post that the quick coupler manifold conversion would cost me well over 500-700$ between parts and labor (so I was told my the dealer)... with this high of a price tag I am totally fine with reverting the loader back to the old style hydrolic couplers and getting off the tractor only once to disconnect them as it isn’t the end of the world for me :)

I’m more or less happy as heck that I’ll have the quick attach loader and possibly the best feature being the skid steer front bucket mount. I can deffienlty live with out the quick detach manifold... at least for now. Haha
 

RCW

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For what it’s worth, we’ve seen several folks here that are having leakage issues with the flat-faced manifold on the new-model BX loaders.
Staying with the older style singular QC’s is a good choice in my book.


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Missouribound

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B2320, FEL, BOX BLADE, FINISH MOWER, QUICK HITCH
Jun 17, 2014
646
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When the buyer knows more about a product than the dealer it's time to find a new dealer.
 

PaulL

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B2601
Jul 17, 2017
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113
NZ
The new manifold was the bit that made it quick attach in my book. The skid steer coupler is also very worth having, but in terms of the taking the loader on and off, I think the only material difference was that manifold.

For the money you mention, yeah, I agree I'd go with the pioneers too.
 

esloser

New member

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working on BX1870-1
Oct 30, 2015
76
1
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43
Millville, NJ
I think they also did away with the bolts that slide in from the side and implemented a connector similar to the John Deere that flips up and down. It was that connection point I didn’t know would be compatible or not with the new loaders. My bx19870 has a pin on each side that connects the loader to the tractor.


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groomerbuck

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Nov 14, 2015
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Palmerton, Pennsylvania,
Yes ive heard of several people having minor leakage issues with the manifold coupler. If it were me, id still probably chance it being that manifold setup is the cats meow!

You could however just get the standard pioneer setup and exchange them out with individual flat face couples. Thats what i did on my b2650. They are far superior to the pioneer couples.