Here's a list of upgrades and modifications I've made to my BX23 since purchasing it used 5 years ago with 168 hrs. Has 880+ hours now.
Bucket Hooks: Ditto on the earlier comment about the bucket hooks. One of the best add-ons out there. Significantly increases the carrying capacity/volume of brush you can tote around w/o dropping half of it on the way to the woods. Also great for carrying stumps, logs, and other large bulky items.
Alternator Upgrade: This is highly recommended for the earlier BX's with the small generator. The Alternator is a tight fit, but well worth the price.
Gator Blades: Upgraded to gator blades on the 60 inch deck. Far superior lift and mulching compared to the OEM blades. I don't pick up leaves anymore on our property, just mow in circles and mince the leaves to small bits.
Bucket Extender: I also fabricated a simple 5/8" plywood bucket extender with 2x6 sides that bolts inside the bucket with 2 -3/8" bolts. It's great for carrying brush, bags of mulch, loose mulch and whatever; and as a mobile work bench when doing chores around the house.
Wing Plow: Since you plow snow... a wing plow has been a big plus for me because we have some sharp drop-offs along the edge of our 450 foot driveway. The wing plow allows me to push the snow back 2 feet or so further the side than what I can do with the front snow blade w/o getting a tire off the edge of the driveway. Did that once and had to get my pickup with chains to get it unstuck... Can check out the wing plow on youtube - search on "BX23 Wing Plow" The attached pics are before final painting and some touch-up on the mechanicals. A bit awkward in appearance, but works well.
Extra lighting: Have a set of 55 watt halogens on the ROPs bar (which will be replaced soon with high efficiency LEDs), along with two sets of el cheapo LEDs from Advance Auto Parts (two pointing forward and two backward). The LEDs are not spectacular, but all together everything works well.
Warning strobes: Installed a set of yellow LED strobes on the ROPs bar too. They help get folks attention, which is a challenge here in N. VA. The current draw is negligible.
Canopy: Fabricated my own canopy with some trim boards and orange rip-stop nylon. Worked great for 3 years till a vine tore broke the boards at their mounts a few months ago. Staying out of the sun in the summer is a big plus. Working on a cab now.
Manual Fuel Shutoff Wire: Installed a stiff wire with a loop on the end through the front grill that is attached to the manual fuel shut off lever on the fuel pump. Should the fuse on the rear accessory electrical circuit fail there is no way to shut off the tractor. The wire provides a remote way to manually activate the shut-off lever. Read about this trick from a previous thread a few years ago. Have not had to use it yet, but it's cheap insurance just in case.
Design Shortfalls (on BX23):
Air filter mount: On my 3rd air filter bracket in 4 years now. They keep breaking at the mount. The bracket is prone to stress fracturing and failure if the engine is left at low idle too long. I've learned to bump the idle up a bit to reduce the vibration, but should not have to do that. There is vibration harmonic at low idle that really moves the air filter around a lot. Perhaps this has been resolved with newer models, don't know.
Agree with the other comments about the brake lock lever and rear differential lock lever. Both are hard to engage with boots on.
