new holland L250 good and bad

[hightops76]

Im looking at a 98 L250 gas model for around the house use, are they a good little machine, and what are the pros and cons with it. anything to watch for with it. thx

 

[hightops76]

well I got it, seems fine putting around in the yard. just wanted to see if anyone had one and see if they liked or disliked it. and also if any problems with them. maybe its to small for you guys and nobody had one.

 

[Tazza]

well I got it, seems fine putting around in the yard. just wanted to see if anyone had one and see if they liked or disliked it. and also if any problems with them. maybe its to small for you guys and nobody had one.

I have never run one, i'm sure it will do well for you. You'll be amazed at just how many jobs you will find to use it for, all the heavy lifting it saves you!

 

[jdlipinski]

I have never run one, i'm sure it will do well for you. You'll be amazed at just how many jobs you will find to use it for, all the heavy lifting it saves you!

I love mine, great for around the house, it's amazing what it will do for such a small machine. It's only had some small problems, oil leaks, nothing major. It might take a little longer to get the job done, but it's way better than a shovel and wheelbarrow.

 

[hightops76]

I love mine, great for around the house, it's amazing what it will do for such a small machine. It's only had some small problems, oil leaks, nothing major. It might take a little longer to get the job done, but it's way better than a shovel and wheelbarrow.

well thats good to hear, how about attachments for it, anybody using them, like im thinking about maybe a small plow from either a atv or small truck and maybe mounting some tabs onto the bucket. any other usefull attachments that work well?

 

[jdlipinski]

well thats good to hear, how about attachments for it, anybody using them, like im thinking about maybe a small plow from either a atv or small truck and maybe mounting some tabs onto the bucket. any other usefull attachments that work well?

I made up a quick tach plate and mounted an old 6' Jeep plow on mine. It works well up to about 6" of snow trying to angle and roll the snow. Any more than about 8" I just straight blade it. We usually don't get more than 4-5" per storm, so not a big deal. I ended this past winter with chains on the back tires, helps a bit on the packed snow when trying to turn. I have a set of forks to mount on the same quick tach plate, but it's been too wet to get up into the back yard to mount them up and try them out. I put some halogen work lights (2 front, 1 rear) on as I am never home in the daylight in the winter to plow the driveway. Also plexiglassed the sides and rear just to keep some of the wind out (removed sides for summer).

 

[hightops76]

I made up a quick tach plate and mounted an old 6' Jeep plow on mine. It works well up to about 6" of snow trying to angle and roll the snow. Any more than about 8" I just straight blade it. We usually don't get more than 4-5" per storm, so not a big deal. I ended this past winter with chains on the back tires, helps a bit on the packed snow when trying to turn. I have a set of forks to mount on the same quick tach plate, but it's been too wet to get up into the back yard to mount them up and try them out. I put some halogen work lights (2 front, 1 rear) on as I am never home in the daylight in the winter to plow the driveway. Also plexiglassed the sides and rear just to keep some of the wind out (removed sides for summer).

Yep, that was what I was thinking about, finding and old snow blade and making tabs or plate. 6ft is good, 7 or 8 would be to much I think. the plex glass is another good tip. forks is another good one. im waiting on a manual for it, how often do you change the oil, and is it easy to do?

 

[Earthwerks Unlimited]

Yep, that was what I was thinking about, finding and old snow blade and making tabs or plate. 6ft is good, 7 or 8 would be to much I think. the plex glass is another good tip. forks is another good one. im waiting on a manual for it, how often do you change the oil, and is it easy to do?

Lipinski, you should never run chains on just one set of tires--front or back. You are effectively making the rears taller compared to the front. The fronts are actually wearing faster and losing traction because they're effectively smaller. The only way around the size issue is to accurately measure from the ground to the exact center of hub which entails lowering the pressure in the rears. There's a local landscape supply that has two different size wheels and tires on their bog machine and can't figure out why the tires are wearing odd and they're blowing drive motors at $2000 a pop. I spent an hour describing to them what is happening and they just shrugged their shoulders. But ooooops there goes another $2000!

 

[jdlipinski]

Lipinski, you should never run chains on just one set of tires--front or back. You are effectively making the rears taller compared to the front. The fronts are actually wearing faster and losing traction because they're effectively smaller. The only way around the size issue is to accurately measure from the ground to the exact center of hub which entails lowering the pressure in the rears. There's a local landscape supply that has two different size wheels and tires on their bog machine and can't figure out why the tires are wearing odd and they're blowing drive motors at $2000 a pop. I spent an hour describing to them what is happening and they just shrugged their shoulders. But ooooops there goes another $2000!

I'm not too worried about the chains- I have all 4 new 5.70-12 chevron tread tires, the chains fall into the tread of the tire, so only the little v bars are biteing. I see your point, If it was on even semi dry/firm ground it may be an issue, but my driveway is the last one to get plowed. The wife packs the snow down a few times before I get to it, so it is rarely ever clean and dry. The bottom of the driveway is usually ice, that's the only reason I even tried the chains. I made into the beginning of Feb this winter without them, might not even get them out next year.

 

[jdlipinski]

I'm not too worried about the chains- I have all 4 new 5.70-12 chevron tread tires, the chains fall into the tread of the tire, so only the little v bars are biteing. I see your point, If it was on even semi dry/firm ground it may be an issue, but my driveway is the last one to get plowed. The wife packs the snow down a few times before I get to it, so it is rarely ever clean and dry. The bottom of the driveway is usually ice, that's the only reason I even tried the chains. I made into the beginning of Feb this winter without them, might not even get them out next year.

As far as the oil change, 50 hours would probably be OK, but for me, once a year just cause I don't put that many hrs on it around the house. I only got about 5 hrs out of the last change, as the float stuck after I parked it, filled the engine with gas. Now I am sure to shut it off at the tank every time.

 

[frogfarmer]

As far as the oil change, 50 hours would probably be OK, but for me, once a year just cause I don't put that many hrs on it around the house. I only got about 5 hrs out of the last change, as the float stuck after I parked it, filled the engine with gas. Now I am sure to shut it off at the tank every time.

Fuel filling the cylinders was a real problem for those units and ruined several motors. Electric or vacuum shut offs are available and would be a good investment. I had an L250 several years ago and it was a strong machine for it size. I picked it up for scrap price with a broken drive belt. The drive belt idler was not running true on the belt and caused the belt to wear prematurely. Also had a spring problem with the drive disconnect. Sometimes when the drive disconnect lever was released the spring would fall off. I just left the lever in the engaged position. If I remember right it would lift about a thousand pounds before it would tilt. We could unload large round bales of hay but couldnt load or move them. As a whole I didnt like it because it was too small but it was a good machine.

 

[jdlipinski]

Fuel filling the cylinders was a real problem for those units and ruined several motors. Electric or vacuum shut offs are available and would be a good investment. I had an L250 several years ago and it was a strong machine for it size. I picked it up for scrap price with a broken drive belt. The drive belt idler was not running true on the belt and caused the belt to wear prematurely. Also had a spring problem with the drive disconnect. Sometimes when the drive disconnect lever was released the spring would fall off. I just left the lever in the engaged position. If I remember right it would lift about a thousand pounds before it would tilt. We could unload large round bales of hay but couldnt load or move them. As a whole I didnt like it because it was too small but it was a good machine.

I got mine for less than scrap price ($300). Have about $800 in it total with 4 new tires. The drive belt tensioner pulley was bad on mine, got a new one from New Holland, was a redesign with no lip, would jump one belt off regularly. Got another pulley with a lip, a few washers for shims, and some adjustment attempts, life is good.