Strengths STRONG MACHINE EASY TO OPERATE.TURNING RADIUS IS SWEET SMOOTH RIDING WHEN MOWING . CHEWS UP SYRACUSE NY SNOW WITH EASE

Weaknesses HAD TO REPLACE A HYD MALE END ON LOADER DEALER WARRANTY NO BIG DEAL.WOULD LIKE LIGHTS ON THE ROPS BAR.

Overall VERY PLEASED WELL WORTH THE MONEY. P.S. FOR EVERY ONE THAT HITS TREE BRANCHES WITH THE ROPS ..TRIM THEM..

Strengths Has good power and is fun to operate.

Weaknesses I think the seat is a pain . It is a pain to turn seat around to utilize backhoe.

Overall I bought mine as kind of a toy and some use around my four acres.

Strengths The 4WD is indispensable on my steep hills (15-25% slopes). It allows me to mow all the hills, rather than push mowing. The diesel engine bogs down only under the most extreme mowing conditions (more than 12" of thick grass in my field). The tires are large enough so that hitting a groundhog hole that you didn't see is not an issue. The FEL is great at moving deep snow in Winter or better yet, turning the compost pile regularly. It has a great turning radius, with an uncut circle of only 36". Mowing is now a pleasure, not a chore. The FEL and MMM mower can be installed or removed by an amateur like me in under 5 minutes, although the first time took a bit longer. I did the 50 hour service myself in a few hours without assistance and I am NOT mechanically inclined. All service points are color-coded for easy location. A great manual was included. My wife thinks my tractor's sexy.

Weaknesses Headlights are all but useless with the FEL installed; ROPS-mounted lighting is necessary. Seat is hard on the back because of the angle. I don't want to lean back so far. I want to sit nearly upright so I can see any ground obstacles (groundhog holes, hoses, my daughter's toys, etc.) before I hit them. Also, very bumpy ride in rough terrain (former farm fields) limits ground speed to 3-5 mph. A few minor issues during first 50 hours, such as the failure of one male FEL coupler at 3 hours (not nice). A bit pricey for your average homeowner as it costs as much as a small car.

Overall Valley Ag & Turf really stands behind what they sell. This tractor is ideal for small estates of 3-10 acres. 100% Dealer financing for 3 years at 0% interest is incredible. Money well spent.

Strengths Love the front end loader alot of fun.

Weaknesses Where do I begin. I have owned the tractor for almost a year and have used it about 3 times. The rest of the time it has been in the shop for the pto. Got a 2year warranty with it and now dealer says they if tears up again they will not honor the warranty. The tractor to me is a lawn mower on steroids and a waist of money.

Overall After owning this lawn mower/tractor and dealing with johne deere I'll never own another johne deere!

Strengths Great tractor

Weaknesses No tool box, lights poor, no 12 outlet

Overall Love this Tractor!

Strengths Incredibly strong and able machine for its size. Sold my 12-year-old 445 (mower, blade, FEL) in one week for very good resale value and finally bought my first new machine. It has to be the best investment in lawn care and maintenance I've ever made. The tractor continues to impress me and others with larger equipment and I have yet to find anything of major concern with the design or operation. The two most significant strengths over my 445 are the turning radius, which is equal to or better than the 445 and only made better with the 62" deck, and the reverse speed, which is as fast as full forward, if needed. The 445 reverse speed is slow, which becomes teadious when plowing snow or mowing. The 2305 reverse is simply wonderful. The machines power is fantastic, and I thoroughly tested similar sized Kubota's, Ford New Holland's, etc. The right-at-your-side FEL control is perfect. The JD backhoe is a blast and much stronger than I had anticipated prior to owning it. Hook-ups for all equipment couldn't be easier and I switch implements on and off regularly. I recently bought the three-point hitch reese receiver attachment to hold my lawn-vac system and move boats around the yard and it now lives on the hitch all the time. I think it was $100 and it's worth every penny.

Weaknesses Everyone talks of the tool box and the seat. Yup, a small box would be good, and the seat will everntually be redesigned and I will be first in line for our dealer-funded replacement (hint, hint) but this is it for negatives, which to me says quite a bit.

Overall I spent considerable time testing these compact machines and reading all the great information and feedback from this site prior to buying my 2305 and I am now extremely pleased to be entering my own review based on person new-owner experience. I own about 2-1/2 acres of finished lawn and this weighed in to my final decision to buy the 2305 vs. the 2320. At the end of the day I have to cut a significant amount of grass, and the smaller, more nimble size of the 2305 allows me to get in to all the areas I was able to mow with my 445 and still dig rocks, stumps, etc. when needed. Through all this, the fine folks at DH Marvin have been wonderful. I've been dreaming about a newer, larger machine for many years. They were always there for me with my 445 and although I looked at new tractors in many places, I always knew my new machine would come from them.

Strengths Extremely strong Backhoe for its class, can really dig & move rock bolders. Strong loader, Stable on hills, Overall strength & quality, Enjoyment to use and own :-)

Weaknesses The seat does not turn well to use the backhoe; The FEL can not be folded to enter the garage. When using the loader on a side slope, it is very stable, however if it decides to lean it does this very quickly and is hard to predict. Not much place to install chains.

Overall These articles helped me so much in choosing between the BX24 and 2305 that I would like to contribute my enthusiasm with this tractor. I have a country house on the side of a lake, however it is a very very hilly and rocky location. Strength and stability where a big factor. I went to dealers to try out both models with Backhoe and even do the BX24 is very attractive, the 2305 backhoe is stronger and is no toy. The 2305 is such a pleasure to use and is so agile and precise in helping with my projects. Things that where cores are now fun. I am able to do with the Backhoe much more than I expected. Now, if I could just be more often at the cottage!

Strengths See other review.

Weaknesses I noticed that my last review got cut short and the BH experience isn't shown. The dealer ended up picking the tractor up and taking it back to the shop. They found a part in the hydraulic system that was faulty (I got the impression that this was a common issue on this model) and replaced it but it took two weeks to get the tractor back. That has been my main complete; they're too slow on the service side. I suspect the dealer doesn't sell many of these and consequently doesn't stock repair items for this model. I've had three minor problems since I bought it. The BH didn't work (a major issue but one that was handled), a leaky hydraulic hose which was fixed in about four days and the throttle started slipping. I ended up fixing the throttle myself. It was just a loose nut and required the removing of about 10 screws to get to it. Basically, you take the dash apart and tighten the nuts; assuming they haven't fallen off.

Overall See previous review. I mainly wanted to mention that the throttle issue was a minor problem for me that I fixed myself; just a loose nut. Before getting around to fixing the issue, I just used a wire to hold the throttle in place.

Strengths STRONG machine! I got tired of my old Husky lawn tractor breaking down every year and needed something more to do light farmwork with. So after I got off my knees and thanked my wife, off to the JD dealer I went. When I got it home the first thing I did was mow 2 acres of 3'-4' high grass. Finished in less than an hr! It went through that stuff like it wasn't even there! Next day I put together the tiller (just light attachment assy 4 imatch) and tilled up 1/4 acre of unbroken ground, same story power to spare! Also used FEL to move and spread large manure pile on same and cleaned up an old trash pile in back of the property. Thouroughly impressed and LOOKING for somthing else to do with it, when I went in the house that night I ordered 15 Ton of #57 stone to be delivered on the next day. I could hardly wait for it to arrive and when it did I spread stone on both my driveways using the FEL, I was done too soon and it looks great! Now I want to go get the BH attachment, hope the wife is in a good mood! P.S. attachment changes are a cinch w/imatch for tiller and MMM and FEL.

Weaknesses Same as other people have noted, the ROPS is always in the way when working around trees and other obstructions, a toolbox would have been nice, and the lights (front and rear) could have been placed better. I made tight turns w/62" MMM and had NO PROBLEMS as noted by others.

Overall Great tractor! size and price were just right for use on my small farm. More power than I thought possible for this size tractor. Don't know how I ever did without it. EASY ON FUEL!

Strengths This tractor is small which makes it ideal for working in tight spots. But it thinks it is a big boy tractor because it has more than enough power for what I need. I've spent all day on it more than once and it is comfortable. All the controls are where you would naturally expect them to be. I guess the only lever I ever reach for and don't find it where I'd expect is the seat adjustment; it's a little too far back I think, ergonomically speaking. I love the four wheel drive. The loader works great and I use it all the time and the backhoe, although small is powerful enough to get the jobs I have done. I've dug trenches and large holes with it and I've dug up stumps with it, some of them large. It takes longer to do large projects with it but power has never been an issue. I just got the box blade and haven't used it yet but I expect it to live up to my expectations, just like everything else with this tractor.

Weaknesses As far as the tractor design and operation, I have no complaints. Most people complain about the headlights. I don’t have a problem with them; the FEL gets in the way but I’d expect that. I do think they could have added a second set of head lights on the ROPS bar and that is one thing I plan on adding to mine. I have had some issues; both during purchase and mechanical issues. When I first went to buy the tractor, the dealer had the tractor in stock but not the FEL or the backhoe; the salesman told me it would be about seven days. After seven days I checked back with him and was told that the FEL was going to be a month out and the lead time on the backhoe was 90 days! Well, I took that pretty hard because I was looking forward to using it. I ended up calling him back and asking if he couldn't do better. He was able to bump the lead time on the BH to something like 60 days but that was still unacceptable. I told him I was going to cancel the order (after all, I could drive right down the road from the JD dealer to the Kubota dealer and drive off with a similar tractor with the same configuration that day; they stock them like that). He called me back and said that he found a BH at another semi-local dealer and could have it in stock about the same time as the FEL; so I went through with the order. I finally got the tractor about a month after ordering it which was both exciting and disappointing. I was disappointed that it took even that long. After I got the tractor home, all I used was the FEL for the first two or three days. Then I decided to try out the BH and dig up a stump. Well, it didn't work. I got the boom and the dipper stick extended and they wouldn't retract! Man was I worried; for a few minutes I thought I was going to have to leave my tractor like that but I finally got them retracted. I called the salesman about it and he thought maybe it was low on hydraulic fluid or there was a blockage so I tried it again when I got it home and

Overall Overall, I love this machine. I'm not a tractor person; in that I've never lived on a farm or owned or even used a tractor until I bought this one. I'm building a home on a two acre lot and wanted something to use during the construction and as a mower and utility tractor after the construction. It is perfect for me. I like the size and the thing really is a work horse. There's more to it than a person might see at first glance. I have had a few issues with it which leave me a little worried but so far the dealer has taken good care of me. The leaking hose wasn't a big deal but the BH problem and now the throttle issues have given me pause. Hopefully there will be no more troubles. I have 50+ hours on the 2305 now and I use it weekly, sometimes daily.