Kubota BX200: okay for arena rascal?

[arlosmine]

I’m putting together my farm “stuff”, and so far have scored great deals on a 5’ arena rascal, and now a kubota BX2200 tractor. 4 wheel drive, with a FEL and belly mower. My intention is to leave the rascal attached to the tractor for daily arena dragging, only detaching to use it for other tasks.

I’m buying a 8 acre property and building a 66x144 arena, 10-12 stall barn. I’ll have approx. 6 acres of pasture to maintain, a manure pile to shove around and small bales of hay and shavings to move.

I know this is a teeny tractor, however my next door neighbor has both a huge and a medium sized tractor in case of emergencies requiring more muscle.

My question is: will this be enough tractor for the rascal?
Will I need to ditch the belly mower in order to drag the arena? That won’t be heartbreaking for me, I’d just get a riding lawnmower instead.

The deal I’m getting on the tractor is so good that I can sell it for more than I’m paying for it, but I would love to know if anyone has this kubota and a rascal…and how it worked out for them.

[ShotenStar]

We have a similar model Kubota (maybe even the same model - can’t remember the model # at the moment). It handles the Arena Rascal just fine. I bought an Arena Rascal specifically to fit this smaller tractor. I do think you will need to drop the belly mounted mower in order to get close enough to the arena sides to drag out the track nicely, but you can experiment to see how your configuration works.

We use a rear-mount Bush Hog mower and Husband Person has built several wheeled dollies to hold the Arena Rascal, plow blade, and stone rake. Makes it ever so much easier to swap equipment around.

star

[Jim_in_PA]

As long as you are not a commercial operation, the BX2200 is a very capable machine. (I own a BX22, which is the equivalent with a backhoe) ShotenStar is correct that working with the mower deck attached is not the best idea. Frankly, I sold my deck and bought a ZTR for lawn mowing purposes…that deck weighs over 300 lbs and you need a smooth surface to get it on and off. The newer generation of the BX2xxx tractors have easier on/off for mower.

BTW, when you are using the FEL for any kind of real work, you need weight on the back of the machine for balance and traction. I keep my backhoe on for that purpose, but any heavy implement or a weight box will do the job.

[arlosmine]

Thanks, guys…looks like it will work!
I think I’ll sell the mower, and for sure make sure I’ve got a weight box on the back. The little guy looks tippy to me…