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Neil from Messick's here with a Kubota BX70 series
and a BX80 series compact tractor.
I know you guys are going to start to think of us
a little bit as the Kubota BX channel
and, you know, a little bit of that can be explained
in the importance that this product line is to us.
Our dealership literally sells nearly a BX series tractor every day.
We sold over 250 of these machines last year
and our customers couldn't be happier.
It is the highest volume single product that our dealership
has it's subcompact tractors.
Reading through the comments that a lot of guys have left on our videos in the past.
It's one thing to walk around and point out what's new in a tractor
but it seems really useful for people to be able to go around
and look at two machines side by side
to be able to see the actual differences.
We're going to do that here with the 70 series and the 80 series
to show the things that Kubota has upgraded in this model.
We're going to start here at the front of the tractor and work our way back.
Most of the changes the most significant changes
for me happen in the loaders of these tractors.
You look over here on the back of the bucket on the 70 series machine
you'll notice that the loader arms come down and pin
directly onto the backside of the bucket.
Kubota did also have a pin type quick coupler
available for this machine
where you could come in and scoop your bucket up
rather than it being pinned directly onto the loader.
The 80 series has now
the first skid steer coupler that any company has ever
put on a subcompact tractor before.
This isn't just a coupler to be able to quick remove the bucket
it's also a universal coupler that can be adapted to other implements.
The old machine you could put things like a snow blade
and that kind of thing on but you are pretty limited into
the variety of implements that you could select.
Now with this machine sporting a skid steer compatible coupler
the whole world of skid steer compatible implements now
can be put on the front of this machine.
That, for us, is a really significant change
because a tractor really is only as functional as
the implements that you have for it
and so this can open us up now to a whole new world of things
that we can do with subcompacts.
Also new is the linkage on this tractor for the quick park loader.
You'll notice that there's some pieces right here on the inside
of the loader that are not over here on the older 70 series loader.
These pieces allow you to fold down the parking stand
without getting off the seat of the tractor.
Simply by pulling a lever you can release this parking stand
and lower it down for the removal of the loader.
You'll notice we have other BX series videos
showing the process of taking this loader on and off.
It's very, very easy it can be done from the seat
and really should take you less than a minute.
Another big change here in the loaders is the way
that you disconnect the hoses between the loader and the tractor.
In the new machine here you have this single lever quick coupler
which in order to remove all the hoses you simply
pull out a locking pin and lift a handle
which removes all the hoses in one shot and leaves this clean,
flat face couplers left over.
The older series machine uses what every other tractor literally
uses which is a simple pioneer coupler.
If you've ever done a hydraulic coupler before there's a 99% chance
that this is probably what you used.
To do this is actually fairly simple.
You pull a collar and they drop off
but when you do it they tend to lose a little bit more fluid
and they can be really finicky under pressure.
The new quick single lever quick coupler
is a really cool feature on that new series tractor
and something I really hope that we start to see
migrate into other models.
The 70 series uses a flip-up hood
like all the other BX series before had done.
A simple latch-up here and the hood will fold forward.
Not a bad solution but when you want to really dig in
and service this tractor
you also need to pull these side covers off here as well
to really access the sides of the engine,
say if you could change your fuel filters and those kinds of things
which are located behind there.
On the new series tractor now the hood is a single piece.
The grill guard here can fold front
and then you have a little lever back here on the side
that you can pull.
See if I can do this from the opposite side.
The whole hood comes forward as one piece.
You can now to get to all of your service points from the side of the machine
without having to pull off side cowlings and stuff.
Another thing too that I like about its design
is that the side panel on the hood
are all tack welded together on the inside
just removing body panels that can vibrate against each other.
You should hear some less shakes and less rattles on this tractor
because there's not as many seamed parts
as there are on the older models.
Most of the things that are down here under the hood
are the same as the older tractors were.
It's exactly the same engine,
same radiator and air cleaner set up that's been used for years.
One new thing down here though
is this canister plastic looking thing.
You may look at that and initially think
emissions equipment and it's not.
It is there solely to hold down the noise from the tractor.
When they switched to this hood design
apparently one of the things the operators were able to notice
was a difference in the engine tone and engine noise
and so this was put on here in order to quite the air intake
to keep the engine running quite.
From the operator's platform, there are a lot of changes
and a lot of updates.
Most noticeably is the dash.
When you look at the dash on the new 80 series
the gauges are all analog and they're backlit
versus the older series machine that used an analog tach
but a digital gauge for a lot of the fue l levels and those kind of things.
This was lit but not nearly as visible and nearly as easy
to read as what the newer 80 series dash is
so there is some nice improvements there.
Also on this machine, you'll notice that the steering wheel tilts.
There's a lever right here on the dash that you can do and the
steering wheel will tilt up and down
versus the older series that were fixed in place.
The one nice thing that we like about tilt wheel is that
it lets you adjust for a larger or a smaller operator.
It's not so much as a positioning thing where you want your hands to be.
If you're short and you need to be closer to the wheel
totally tilting it down brings it closer to you
or if you're a larger operator and you need a little bit more space
folding it up gets it away from you.
Having a tilt wheel can accommodate a larger
variety of operators comfortably.
You'll notice too that the loader stick has changed.
A big change for us in that now you can set your
elbow right up here on the seat
and have your hand rest right here on the loader control.
There's also a third function valve that can give front hydraulics
out the loader with buttons that will go on to this knob.
On the older series,
your loader valve is out in front of you.
This is fairly common on other tractors,
but having it to the side is usually
a more comfortable operating position.
Having those third function
options available from the factory is really nice as well.
We've been able to do third functions on these tractors
by working the hydraulics up ourselves
but when the factory makes kits available to us
it always comes out a lot cleaner and a lot nicer
and more polished than when we work things up in the shop.
Most operators are always out with their cell phone in their pocket
and their drink in the cup holder.
You can see here on the 70 series tractor
we were able to accommodate that
with a nice large cup holder right over here on the side
and a plug for your cell phone down here around the bottom.
The 80 series improves on that by keeping the cup holder
here at the side
but creating a storage compartment for your phone
and its power jack right around the back here.
One problem that we often have with those DC plugs
is that when they're exposed to the elements and they get wet
the metals that are on the inside of them tend to corrode really quickly.
They don't hold up real well to the weather.
By putting that plug here inside of the cup holder
it should last a lot longer and keep it from corroding.
Another thing that changed between the 70 and the 80 series
is the height of the ROPS.
The 70 series had a roll bar
that was just a little bit too high to pull into a standard
seven-foot garage door.
By dropping that now about three inches on the 80 series
you can now leave your roll bar up
keep your safety equipment in the up and engaged position
and still be able to pull into a garage door
without taking the door out on your way in.
Also in the top of the roll bar are pre-drilled holes for work lights.
We always get very concerned when we see customers
drilling on roll bars in order to mount work lights
because roll bars are safety equipment
once you've modified them
you're now opened a liability if that roll bar happens to fail
in a rollover
and so you'll never see a dealer drill on a roll bar.
Now in the 80 series, there are pre-drilled holes
in the roll bar that are done by the factory
and so they're certified for safety as well.
Now that gives us that place to be able to mount
work lights and stuff in different various positions
around the roll bar.
On the backhoe versions of these tractors,
we went from the BT602 backhoe to the BT603.
Really the hoe's themselves are virtually unchanged
except for one significant difference
in the way that they mount the tractor.
The older machine mounts into the tractor
with a pin probably about a large inch and a quarter pin
that goes between the backhoe and the tractor.
You can see the orange part here at the back is the backhoe
the grey part is the tractor.
This is a really common setup.
That's how most backhoes are put on machines
and to remove it you simply pick the whole rig up in the air
pushing the backhoe and the tractor together
forcing that pin into alignment and you pull it out.
The one problem that we find is that
many people don't take their backhoes off frequently
and what will happen is paint will start to stick
or things will start to corrode a little bit in place
and those pins will be a bear to get out.
Sometimes requiring you to get a hammer
or something to tap them out.
Kubota does a new cam system now
here on the new BT603.
To remove this backhoe you simply pull this lever out
rotate it into an up position removing this locking
mechanism right here
and allowing the cam to open
so backhoe can fold off the tractor.
We have several other videos showing that process done
repetitively and exactly how those pieces work.
There's an improvement here to show
basically in the way that the backhoe comes off the tractor.
Now both hoes come off
both of them aren't really that big of a deal
but as machines wear and they start to get a little bit more rusty
and things start to stick in place
hopefully the owners of the 80 series tractors
will have a little bit easier time of things.
These are some of the changes between the 70 and the 80 series BX tractors.
If you have any questions about this you can give us a call at Messick's
we're available at 800-222-3373
or online at messicks.com.
As always, we're always looking for trades for these machines.
The 70 series machines resell very, very well.
If there are improvements here in the new series that you would like
certainly give us a call
you might be surprised at the cost difference
that we can give you between these two series.
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