merits of rear discharge mower

   / merits of rear discharge mower #1  

ccatfish

Member
Joined
Dec 22, 2000
Messages
31
Location
north texas
Tractor
JD 4300
in looking at finish mowers, i have a few questions:
1. what are the benefits of rear discharge? i can see the obvious benefits like in mitigating the issue of which direction to mow so that cut grass isn't thrown into the uncut grass. i can also see the benefit of mowing close to trees and such from either side. is there something else i am missing? i am trying to determine whether the extra cost is justified.
2. are there any drawbacks?
3. is there any reason, other than cost, that i shouldn't buy / add a mulching kit?

thanks
 
   / merits of rear discharge mower #2  
I have a 60" rear discharge woods mower and everything that they say about rear discharge is correct. But one drawback is in the fall when the leaves are on the ground and I used to use the side discharge to blow the leaves in to a windrow and then pick them up. It is real hard to drive backwards in blowing the leaves. otherwise the rear discharge is great.
 
   / merits of rear discharge mower #3  
I have a LandPride FDR2572, which is a 6' rear discharge mulching mower. The benefits you mentioned are worth the extra money to me because they save time due to less turning around. I haven't come across any drawbacks to a rear discharge mower, but there is one that might affect some people, and that would be backing up in tall thick grass. I mow in reverse once in a while to mow up under trees or just to save the time (why turn around just to mow a 10' long section when I can just back into it real quick?). If the grass is tall and thick, a side discharge mower would work better because you wouldn't be throwing the clippings on top of the grass you're about to mow. A mulching kit is not needed, but can save you the time and trouble of having to rake in certain situations. I never rake the grass, since the clippings are small enough they don't cause any trouble. I have to disagree with ddl on the leaves. I can back up easily and blow the leaves. I start at one end and back up just like pushing snow with a grader blade facing backwards. Most of the leaves never touch the blades, the wind coming out the back of the mower acts like a 6' wide leaf blower and blows the leaves back. Then, I pull up and over another 5' (for some overlap) and back up again. It works great! I just blow mine into the edge of the woods along my property, but I'm sure you could blow them into a row that way also.
 
   / merits of rear discharge mower #4  
Interestingly, the reason I like the side discharge is so that I can "windrow". I wouldn't want the center, but I can see how not worrying about the discharge chute on the side would be nice.
Rear-discharge don't necessarily cut any better, do they?

mark
markcg_sig.gif
 
   / merits of rear discharge mower #5  
While I have never had a finish mower on my "real" tractor I have owned both a rear discharge and side discharge mower decks on lawn tractors. In my opinion the rear discharge is far superior unless you intend to bag the clippings. The side discharge always seems to manage to pile them up. If I had it to do over I would go back to a rear discharge deck.
 
   / merits of rear discharge mower #6  
I wanted a 4-foot finish mower because I have trees to go between, so I looked for a mower which was just as wide as the tractor. I couldn't find a 4-foot rear-discharge mower so I bought a 4-foot Bush Hog side discharge. I went to my friend the blacksmith and bought a piece of flat steel and bolted it over the discharge. This seems to work well. I rarely leave any kind of a windrow and the mower has never clogged up even though I have mowed native grass a foot or more in height. I'm suspect that my setup wouldn't work in grass that was lush and tall, but in our semiarid conditions in mid-Texas that's not going to happen soon.
 
   / merits of rear discharge mower #7  
I've been promising my wife a trip to Fredericksburg for over 2 years now. We can't seem to get past the home place in Bastrop. Have a daughter & husband moving to San Angelo in a coupla months - with help from her parents - might be a good time for a side trip. Can you recommend a B & B ? you can reply email.
mike
 
   / merits of rear discharge mower #8  
Catfish -- I have a LandPride FDR2572 on my L3010. In the past on a smaller tractor I used a side discharge mower. Went with the rear discharge this time because I got tired of the windrows. Disadvantages? The owner's manual says to be careful of objects thrown out the rear, but I've never noticed this happening. In fact, my chickens generally trot right behind the mower snapping up bugs, etc, and they've never been hit by anything. The manual also says RDs require more HP than SDs, but I must have plenty of power because the tractor has no trouble mowing in thick grass up pretty steep slopes.

Pete

www.GatewayToVermont.com
 
   / merits of rear discharge mower #9  
Hi, Pete! You just touched on a subject that I was going to ask you about! I just got my chickens. 25 balls of fluff and growing fast! They're still confined to the henhouse until they get bigger. But taking your advise, I'm going to free range them when they get big enough. The question is, do they interfere with the mowing? Do they ever run in front of the tractor, or do they stay out of the way? I certainly don't want to squish any or chop them up with the mower!!/w3tcompact/icons/shocked.gif
As usual, thanks for the advise, buddy!

Rich
 
   / merits of rear discharge mower #10  
Rich -- Never had a chicken run in front of the tractor, but they sure do like to hang out behind it! Unfortunately, a red fox killed all but four of my chickens last week...in broad daylight with some of the birds within ten feet of the house!!!

The new recruits are safely locked in the brooder box now, but for the next several weeks we won't have any free ranging on Luce Hill.

Pete

www.GatewayToVermont.com
 
 
 
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