side or rear discharge finish mowers

   / side or rear discharge finish mowers #1  

botakix

Bronze Member
Joined
Sep 7, 2008
Messages
68
I have a landpride 5ft side discharge finish mower, and am thinking about trading it off, for a 6ft model, and have been looking at the fdr1672 landpride rear discharge model. the mower i have now cuts tall grass pretty good, and disperses the clippings fairly well, and just curious how much of a difference the rear discharge woud be. any input on this would be great. thanks guys
 
   / side or rear discharge finish mowers #2  
I'm a fan of rear discharge. I'm under the belief that it helps minimize windrows and simply spreads the clippings more evenly.
 
   / side or rear discharge finish mowers #3  
Having used both I'd have to say I like the rear discharge best, it just cut the grass and drops it were it's cut no blowing or windrowing. The rear discharge seemed to require less hp & burned a little less fuel, that coild be becaused I went to a 5' from a 6', but the 5' was about 50 lbs. heaver than the 6'. The only drawback to the rear discharge for me was that it's not very good for chopping leaves in the fall. With the open back design there is nothing to hold the material in so it doesn't get chopped up like a side dicharge when the material is moved across the width of the mower to be discharged.
 
   / side or rear discharge finish mowers #4  
I have only used rear discharge finishing mowers. I started with a Bush Hog brand RDTH-72 on loan and now have a RDTH60 of my own. Both came with rear safety chains which raked the clippings up and dropped them in piles along the way. I have removed the chains and the problem is solved for the most part. I am not 100% satisfied with the rear discharge BH and I do not know if other comparable brands like Woods do the same or not.

I might add that I have changed to gator mulching blades with little improvement and that I cut the grass while it is about 3" tall which should not cause windrowing in the first place.
 
Last edited:
   / side or rear discharge finish mowers #5  
I, too, had an RDTH60 and really liked it. I guess one big advantage of the rear discharge to me is the ability to mow close to buildings, flower beds, fences, and other obstacles on either side.
 
   / side or rear discharge finish mowers #6  
I have a rear discharge FDR2584 and a JD commercial 72" side discharge front mower. The rear discharge clears out without any clogging and the side discharge (with Gator blades), cuts the grass beter (smaller sized residue). Each is for its own purpose. The side discharge is the only way to suck up leaves and clippings if you want to run a leaf-vacuum.
 
   / side or rear discharge finish mowers #7  
I have a Woods PRD-6000 rear discharge mower that cuts just fine..... but in tall grass it does seem to leave clippings in a windrow to the left side after being discharged from the mower.

Not sure why it does this.......may need to take a look under the deck and see if it needs cleaning and see if that helps.

Stu
 
   / side or rear discharge finish mowers #8  
I have a Woods PRD-6000 rear discharge mower that cuts just fine..... but in tall grass it does seem to leave clippings in a windrow to the left side after being discharged from the mower.

Not sure why it does this.......may need to take a look under the deck and see if it needs cleaning and see if that helps.

Stu

Stu,

Sounds a lot like the same thing I get. I thought the gator blades would help this by being high vacuum and circulating the clippings back through and maybe it's better but not completely fixed. I think my next try is to put the chains back on but also put a steel rod through the lowest link hanging down and see what that does. I would imagine this is common to all rear discharge finish mowers when mowing slightly tall to tall grass.
 
   / side or rear discharge finish mowers #9  
I currently have a Landpride 1672. I have used a 4' Big Bee and a 5' Caroni in the past, both side discharge. Rear discharge is better for mowing around objects and leaves less piles and windrows, though they will both windrow in tall wet grass.

I've also tried low, medium, and high lift blades on the 1672. The high lifts were a waste of money. The cut was no better and they use more horsepower. I couldn't tell a difference in cut between the medium and low lift, but the low lift is more of a sand blade and is more expensive.
 
   / side or rear discharge finish mowers #10  
Stu,

Sounds a lot like the same thing I get. I thought the gator blades would help this by being high vacuum and circulating the clippings back through and maybe it's better but not completely fixed. I think my next try is to put the chains back on but also put a steel rod through the lowest link hanging down and see what that does. I would imagine this is common to all rear discharge finish mowers when mowing slightly tall to tall grass.

You maybe on to something with the chains.... I think I may try putting my chains back on again and see if it might spread the clippings out a little more evenly instead of windrowing them to the left.

Stu
 
 
 
Top