Got my new B2620 last week and have been busy putting it to use. In the last week I've put on 17hrs and burned about 8 gals of fuel. Work this week included: stump removal, mowing, site prep for a shed (excavation and foundation building) and moving about 6 yards of dirt and 12 yards of stone, some brush clearing, ground leveling and other yard maintenance. Amazing how fast work gets done with this machine.
This is my first tractor and I'm loving it Got a few goodies for it and I'll post up my first impressions on everything.
Summary:
2013 B2620, 60" MMM, Loader w/ 3 chainhooks, BH65 backhoe w/ 16" bucket, R4 industrial tires (filled), 48" Taylor Way box blade, TSC carryall and a BXpanded Piranha toothbar for the FEL.
Purchased through Barlows, $25K @ 72mo 0% for all. Homeowner w/ ~1.5ac of flat land.
:
Pix first:
tlb:
Piranha bar:
Kids love tractors too:
Site Prep:
What an awesome machine. My previous tractor is 18yo Simplicity garden tractor w/ a 16hp Briggs gas engine & 48" belt driven mmm deck. Absolutely no comparison to this machine. Just firing up the engine gives me smiles. If anything (some of) my neighbors think I'm prolly nuts. My neighbor was mowing at one point while I was. Driving past each other it was like driving a monster truck past an F150, except I get way better fuel use. 
I was debating getting a BX vs the B, went with the B in the end and am very happy with the choice. The BX is a fine machine, but ultimately I went with the B for the following reasons:
-better ground clearance
-better loader/BH/hydraulics
-full Cat 1 3ph
-better motor (explaned below) quieter operation
-no hst fan to break
-more comfortable and better sightlines, but not being up *that* much higher
-everything seems more heavy duty
I really like how the B drives and operates. Very comfortable and easy to use. I drove a BX first, had been dead set on a BX25, but as soon as I drove the B I knew I wanted to go up.
I found the high rpms and hst on the BX very irritating after a short while. 3200 rpms on a diesel just gave me the feeling like I needed to shift gears. The HST whine was ever present. My wife drive the B and BX for a short time at a dealer and her quick impression was the B was much more comfortable and the better one to get. Was not about to argue that!
The HST whine on the B is there, but usually low in my uses. Also, aside from mowing, I never felt the need to rev the engine above 2000rpm. Plenty of power even at 1800 rpms. I'm not an old vet at the FEL anyway, so its not like I need the hyd any snappier than they are.
FEL:
The bucket and loader seem nicely matched to the size of the tractor. First project was digging out the pad for the new shed. I used a combination of the FEL w/o a toothbar, box blade, and FEL w/ toothbar.
Digging w/o a toothbar in my thick heavy clay was a workout. It can be done, but I got better results using the BB w/ the scarifiers dropped to break up the ground first. I had ordered a piranha toothbar which came mid-week and got installed asap. Installation was easy. I used a standard 3/4" drill bit to drill the two holes in the side of the bucket. Toothbar installs in minutes.
The toothbar made a huge difference (as did my better skill w/ the FEL.) The teeth cut right into the ground and I was then able to just cut ~48"x24" slabs of sod w/ the FEL rather than ripping up w/ BB. Saved these for later planting.
Once the pad was cleared, I dumped 12yds of crushed stone. Left toothbar on. Again 2000 rpms/low gear/4wd was plenty of power to plow right into the pile w/ the FEL and scoop up a full bucket. Lifting up a full bucket to 6ft was not a strain, so I could shake the bucket and settle the stone before I drove away (FEL obviously dropped low for travel.) Almost dropped no stone on the lawn, and moved 10yrds in roughly 60 mins all told.
Takes a bit of time to figure out where level is even with the indicator. Initially I was always too deep or shallow, but I've got it now where even on my lawn I can scoop up a load of dirt off the grass in one motion, scrape the load clean off the grass w/o scalping the grass itself.
Rear tires are filled and used a 300lb BB as ballast. No pucker at all lifting a full bucket. If the bucket is ~0.25 cubic yards, internet is telling me its ~600-650lbs. That's close to the rated weight at the pin and its very comfortable to do it, even at lower engine rpms.
Loader is a piece of cake to take on and off. Nice design.
