Rear Finish Mower My quick review of the First Choice / Sicma 72" finish mower

[tillboy2001]

History: I went from a Bush Hog RDTH72 finish mower...then to a Frontier 72" rotary cutter....then to the First Choice 72" rear discharge finish mower (Made by Sicma, the Italian company). I had the dumb idea of getting a rotary cutter since I thought it would be better for the field. Bad move. The rotary cutter was much longer, was a pain to maneuver, dug into the ground when going through certain dips and in general, cut like crap. Sure, it's a rotary cutter so it's not going to cut like a finish mower, but I didn't realize just how bad it was compared to a finisher mower.

Anyway, after selling the Frontier rotary cutter, I picked up a First Choice 72" finish mower from Ken Sweet at Sweet Tractor in KY. Since I'm in KY and only about 3 hours away, I went down and picked it up. It fit perfectly (sideways) even with the wheels on, in the back of my F150. After using it for a few hours now, I'm very happy with it. It cuts great, is quiet and sticks to the contour of our rolling hills and dips like glue and does not scalp. I did get the add-on front anti-scalp roller too.

The only thing I'd like that this model doesn't have is a self-adjusting belt (you have to manually adjust it if it gets loose...but honestly, how often would you really need to do that?).

I put some photos in my member photos: First Choice / Sicma 72" Finish Mower - TractorByNet.com Photo Gallery

 

[IslandTractor]

Italian implements are generally excellent as best I can tell. Sicma is one company and Caroni another that seem to produce very well engineered and manufactured implements. You will see a lot of OEM equipment that is sourced in Italy too, I belive that Kioti got (?gets) a lot of their stuff from Sicma. I have a Caroni flail mower that has been great.

 

[rankrank1]

Looks like a very nice and well made finish mower.

FWIW: When I first bought my place, I picked up a King Cutter side discharge 3pt 72" finish mower. I hated it. Unless, I kept my field mowed to a manicured lawn type level, the side discharge chute would constantly plug up and then the belt would slip/burn. I vowed that if I ever got another finish mower that it would definitely be a rear discharge. Heck, if/when I replace my lawn rider I would like for it to be a rear discharge as well.

Out of curiousity: Did you happen to consider a flail mower? With the right type blades on a flail they can be a good compromise between a finish mower and a bushog type rotary cutter - safer than a bushog too. There are some good threads here on TBN about flail mowers like the Caroni.

 

[tillboy2001]

I thought about a flail mower, but when I saw the price, I stopped thinking about it A sturdy finish mower is all I need. I'm only cutting about 8 or so acres of grass with the occasional black locust shoot sticking up here and there. This mower kicks the grass out from the back really well. It throws it out...it doesn't just sort of ooze out, it's thrown out and is dispersed very well. The Bush Hog RDTH72 I had before didn't throw it out at all.

 

[whistlepig]

A lot of mowers these days come with a Kevlar belt. They don't need adjustment. My Woods PRD7200 has a Kevlar belt with no way to adjust it. I have been mowing eight acres every week for four years with no issues with the Kevlar belt.