Need help deciding B2650 or L 3301 series

[Dfed]

I live in Western Pennsylvania and I have a lot of hills. I just bought a home in the country with 14 acres. I have 3 clear flat acres, 5 clear acres on a slope (20 to 25 degrees), 2 slope acres (powerline easement)filled with thistle, brush and ticks. And four wooded acres on a slope.

My task for now is primarily cutting grass for now, but I will cutting down and moving trees for firewood, small food plots, repairing the fence (posthole), cutting in a new driveway in the not so near future and general land maintenance.

My concern will the b2650 have enough power to mow the hills with a midmount mower and or brush hog on the large slopes. I heard it’s safer on the hills to have a mid mount mower instead of a rear 3 point finishing mower.

I like the more PTO horsepower of the L3901 but no midmount deck.

Thanks your input would really help my buying decision.

 

[bgk]

Assuming that neither will be too much of a financial burden I’d probably go larger. It’s very rare to hear of someone complaining that they went with the bigger machine.

 

[PaulL]

Will a B2650 have enough power? It'll pretty much have enough power to drive the mid mount mower (since it's sized for that machine), and plenty of power to drive any bush hog that's sized right for it to lift.

Neil from Messicks says it best if you look at the BX v's B2301 video, when talking about buckets. He says the feel of the BX and the B2301 when doing loader work is similar - the BX lifts its bucket just as well as the B2301 lifts its. It's just that the B2301 bucket is bigger.

I think bush hogs and mowers will be similar. An L won't feel more powerful when bush hogging, it'll just have a bigger bush hog that does the work more quickly - it'll mow more in a pass.

Midmount v's rear mount Depends what you're mowing, and somewhat personal preference. If you will bush hog the fields, and finish mow around the house (maybe an acre or so), then I'd get a midmount and a bush hog. If you want a finish mower that you can treat mean by mowing the fields with it as well, then I'd get a 3pt one, they're bigger, stronger and heavier. You could also perhaps look at a flail mower I think - they're sort of half way between a bush hog and a finish mower, and might do both tasks.

As to which is better on hills, if you're going up and down probably no difference. If you're going across the hillside, then I think midmount would be less likely to swing the back of the tractor downhill, and less likely to lift the front wheels. Of course, you can ballast, but then you have a heavier tractor.

Again, Messicks have a pretty good video on youtube on midmount v's rear mount mowers, worth a watch, and if you search GP Outdoors (he has a B2601) and flail mower you see about 4 videos he's done on a flail mower and how he treated it mean. If I recall correctly he was looking at a bush hog v's a finish mower v's a flail mower.

Overall The L and the B aren't that different in size and measured capacities, but they're quite different tractors. The L is much heavier, a bit more powerful, lifts more. It's also more of a budget tractor - so it's more tractor for your money, but a bit less premium in terms of features.

You're in PA, you don't mention cab or snow. The L doesn't come with a cab option, and without a mid PTO can't drive a front snowblower. Plenty of people happy driving an open station tractor in winter. Also plenty who swear that a cab is the best thing they ever bought.

You also didn't mention the B3350, which has similar HP to the L3301. Like the B2650 v's L2501 comparison, the specs between the B3350 and L3301 are very similar, other than raw weight. The L is just more tractor, and more made for doing things that need weight, such as ground engaging tasks. You don't describe any tasks that need a lot of weight....

 

[edritchey]

I'd get the L3560HST it's a much more capable tractor then the two you're looking at and you can add all the options you'll need to get the work done quickly and comfortably.

 

[sheepfarmer]

I have both an L3560 with flail mower and B2650 with mid mount mower on 15 acres, some pastures, some hills, some woods, some lawn. The B is good for snowblowing and lawn mowing and has a cab. The L3560 can go on the lawn, but I wouldn't use it for regular lawn work, although you can get flail mowers that will do as good a job as a finish mower. The L and a Caroni flail is wonderful for FEL work and mowing brush. Able to handle a heavy duty back blade. For what you describe I agree with Ed, you'd be better off with a 3560. Heavier frame, better loader, better transmission than the L01 series.

 

[Jchonline]

If you dont add ballast to a B2650 you wont be cutting in any roadway. Not enough weight to engage the ground well. You would need the rears filled and the heaviest implements for that size machine you can get.

If you add ballast to the B2650 with a mower uphill...you may struggle in much grass. Rockcrawler (TBN forums) put up videos demonstrating this very issue. Now he had larger rear tires..but on his hills the machine really choked down uphill...with almost no grass height. I think your real issue here is the hills. I would tell you B3350 but that machine’s emissions system is being redesigned by Kubota and I would not recommend the current model. The L3560 is a fine option, if premium. You would definitely be very happy with it. Get the 805 loader with it.

 

[ItBmine]

Quote: "and if you search GP Outdoors (he has a B2601) and flail mower you see about 4 videos he's done on a flail mower and how he treated it mean. If I recall correctly he was looking at a bush hog v's a finish mower v's a flail mower."

Just looked up his videos. At first I thought he couldn't spell, because I know of BEFCO flail mowers but have never heard of a BECO? LOL.

 

[Dfed]

Thanks for all your replies.. I’m leaning towards the 2650. I do like the 3560 that a lot of you guys talked about, but it might be a little heavy for my yard. I have the owner/salesman of the dealership coming over next week, but when I described my property to him he said it sounded like the 2650 to him. Thanks again.

 

[sheepfarmer]

FWIW I just got off my 3560 with loaded R4 tires, loader on and landscape rake, used the rake to try and smooth out and spread the dirt piles left over from a new septic tank installation last fall. We don't really have all the frost out of the ground but it's been dry for several days, so lawn was dry. Only marks on the lawn were where I turned the front wheels while standing still, and they are barely detectable. It all depends on when and how you drive your tractor on your lawn as to whether you will have ruts. I had to run the tractor in the pastures to haul manure when things were thawed down about 2 inches of grease. Made an awful mess. Same with the B2650. My point is any of the tractors could mess up your lawn under the right conditions.

 

[Oliver]

I think many different tractors could work for you but I'll just comment on the B2650 as that's the tractor I have for my 100+ acres. First off I don't farm so I'm not plowing or putting up hay bales. I have three small fields maybe 15 acres total I leave for animals and ground nesting birds that I mow down each Fall with the mmm, but I''m considering buying a 60" flail to do this. The 5 acres that get continuously mowed I originally did with the mmm but generally do with a ZTR now because it's a little faster. I use a 72" rear blade which tilts all ways for cleaning out ditches, working my 800' gravel driveway, and contouring some of my UTV trails.
The loader with a 60" "light duty" bucket can lift a completely full bucket of gravel or soil but I can tell that max's it out. Naturally moving lighter stuff like snow and mulch is a breeze. I have an EA grapple made for compact tractors that I use a lot. Rather than filling tires with liquid I connect a ballast box on the back when I am using the loader or grapple, when not the ballast box comes off. I haven't had a flat tire on this tractor *yet* but I had two flat rear tires on my previous B7500 and after considering what a mess they would have been to deal with had they been filled with liquid, and how the added weight could negatively impact sensitive areas of the property is another reason why I chose to use a ballast box rather than to fill my tires.

I've pondered getting something bigger like an L3901 or even MX, but in short for my application the B2650 does most everything that those larger tractors would do, maybe just not quite as fast. Plus it's so smooth running, quiet, has a comfortable sprung seat with folding arm rests, and no add on emission stuff so I don't have to be concerned about running it at higher rpm. I have turf tires which function great on grass, trails, and snow, but not in mud. For mud or mostly even dry dirt I'd do R1's. I drive my tractor all around the property including on the lawn around the houses with no damage to the turf. On the other hand my contractors JD 110 TLB with loaded R4's really mashed up the yard when they were digging a ditch for me last week.

 

[ItBmine]

That's why I like my little B Oliver. I get asked all the time to do jobs for people on my road and I get paid more per hour than guys are working their full size backhoes and loaders for. People call me because I can go in their yard and on their lawns with no turf damage or tracks.

Like you I don't have to lift round bales or pull a seeder. But the little B series can move any amount of gravel, dig ditches, grade driveways, mow and blow snow.
Sure a big tractor will do it quicker, but this one didn't cost me lots to buy and it doesn't cost me anything to run.