Which Brand Finish Mower?

[Kelvin]

After putting it off for almost two years, I have decided to go ahead and buy a 72" rear discharge 3-pt finish mower. It will be used on my Kubota B2150. I'll finish mow about 4 acres, mostly gently sloping with a small area slightly steeper. I am currently using my older B7100 with mid-mower to mow the area, and will continue to use the B7100 for the steep parts if need be.

Brief Summary of Reasons for mower selection: (1) I like mid-mowers a lot but don't like the design of the mid-mower for the B2150 and am not ready to trade tractors, (2) 3 point mowers are cheaper, and (3) The 72" rear discharge should still fit on my 6.5' wide trailer whereas 60" would be the maximum width side discharge that would fit.

My Options at local dealers for rear discharge mowers are(prices before any bargining):

Bush Hog RDTH-72 (72"; 588lbs) - $1525
Woods (72"; >600lbs) - $1525 (same price & dealer as Bush Hog)
Farm King (72"; 618 lbs) - $1200
Land Pride (72"; 594 lbs) - >$1600 (lost my notes)

The first three mowers are in stock items; the Land Pride dealer does not like rear discharge mowers and doesn't keep them in stock (said he had too many complaints...it that a Land Pride problem?).

Bird...I know that you have a Bush Hog brand 5' rear discharge mower on your B2710 and like it a lot. Did you also use that same mower on your previous B7100?

I think that any of the first three will do just fine (I am currently leaning towards the Bush Hog brand). At this point I am mainly looking for problem areas that people have had (or heard about) with these mowers. And comments on prices wouldn't hurt either (how much bargining should I do?).

Thanks in advance...
Kelvin

 

[Muhammad]

Kelvin,

I've heard great things about the Woods and also the Bush Hog is going to be top notch all the way. I personally like the red paint on the Bush Hog /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif and the quality is going to be there on either. I think the Woods has a slightly faster blade speed and is going to be heavier (would assume a thicker deck) ... a top-3 brand mower will hold its own, in terms of quality, durability, etc. Very similar overall.

Can't say a lot on the prices - except that traveling any distance to purchase at >$100 less on any of them probably wouldn't make a ton of sense. ($100 is probably the range you'd see if you looked far and wide, if that even)

Good luck…

 

[Bird]

Kelvin, I find it curious that your dealer doesn't like the rear discharge mowers. My dealer told me the price was the same on either the rear discharge or the side discharge (and he had both in stock - Bush Hog brand), but said he and his customers preferred the rear discharge. I'd never used a rear discharge mower before, but I think he was right.

From my experience with the 60" mower, I have no doubt that the B2710 would handle the 72" one just fine, but I do wonder whether that size is adviseable for the B2150 (and I really have no idea - it may be great).

Bird

 

[Kelvin]

Bird,
Apparently my local Land Pride (Kubota) dealer has had various customers return and/or trade out of the rear discharge mowers. I don't know how recent that problem was, or whether the mower's problems were related to the manufacturer (I'm assuming either Land Pride or Kubota brand).

Prices: I vaguely remember the rear-discharge Land Prides(which are flat-deck design) being about the same price as the equivalent width "Air-Tunnel" side discharge model. The "Flat Deck" side discharge models were cheaper.

Also, what width is your trailer? Being able to trailer my tractor & mower is very important to me as well. My trailer is 6.5' wide x 16' long and I think that the 72" will fit just fine...but that's one of the tests that I'll perform this week before I turn loose of the money.

Anyone have comments on the Canadian built Farm King brand (www.buhler.com)? I'm afraid that saving $325 on the initial purchase may cost me in the long run. Apparently the company builds a lot of stuff (loaders, mowers; they even have a European tractor in their line up).

 

[Bird]

Kelvin, you say your trailer is 6.5' wide; that's 78". Mine is 76" wide inside the rails, and 16' long. Now a 72" finish mower might have fit; I don't know for sure, but it would have been tight. I don't know the overall width of the 72" mower, but my 60" mower actually has an overall width of 62 5/8", so if the 72" mower only had another 2 or 3" overall width, it would have fit if I were always lined up exactly straight. The dealer didn't have one in stock and I figured this 60" one was plenty anyway for what I wanted, so I just didn't check any further.

Bird

 

[Vernon]

I recently mowed a man's lawn(while he and his family went away for three weeks)and he had the Farm King 60" side discharge mower. All I can say is that it worked great. I had no problems at all. It was even very simple to clean afterwards. I've never seen or tried a rear discharge mower before so I can't help you with that part. Last year i did the same thing and he had a 5 year old 60" Land Pride side discharge mower. It worked well and was relatively easy to clean but the Farm King is built heavier than his Land Pride
model.

 

[Bird]

That's another thing I like about the 3-point mower I have. The Cub Cadet was a fine mower, but grass, mud, etc. had a bad tendency to build up under the deck, and this 3-point mower doesn't have as much build up, and what little there is, is easier to clean out with either the air hose or the water hose.

Bird

 

[Alan W.]

Kelvin I have a 60" Beefco rear discharge on a B-2150. It pulls it just fine even in the heavier stuff and being a rear discharge it doesn't plug up. I think I paid about $999.00 of course that was about 4 years ago. Now for the bad part the mower is used commercially and hasn't held up very well. Its to light for commercial use. Spend the money and get a heavier unit like Land Pride or Bush Hog you'll never regret it. In normal yard mowing the B-2150 should pull a 72" mower just fine. Another thing about the rear discharge I like is that I can put a piece of belting across the rear and not worry about throwing rocks and it doesn't windrow the grass.

 

[Bird]

Now I put some belting on my brush hog (rotary cutter), but the Bush Hog RDTH 60 came with a chain guard on the rear. And from what the manual shows, I'm sure it's standard equipment now; not an option.

Bird

 

[MikeF]

Kelvin,

I have a 16' X 6'6"(w) trailer w Know side's. And last week I demoed a used Landpride 2572 side discharge mower with my new 4310 it fit on the trailer with a little room to spare! I too am going to buy a new mower but I need a rotary cutter first and have a squealer 720 on order, but when I get a rear finish mower it will be a Landpride 25-84" ( and it will fit on the trailer because yesterday I had to lengthin the trailer by 2' to fit the new bush hog! anyway hope this helps.

Mike