Advice needed purchase a riding mower or finish mower

[jlwilsonjr]

I'm in need of a little advice. I need to purchase something to mow my 1 acre yard. I live in a pretty rural area and although the land is mostly level there are always obstacles. I plan on getting more of my front area seeded which would push my mowing area to 2-3 acres eventually. I own a Kubota L2800 and bush hog the other 10 acres with it. So I guess the question is at what point acreage wise dictates a finish mower over a regular rider?

 

[3v0]

Have you taught about a used BX. Ones without mowers are reasonably priced even with low hours. I am biased.

 

[stuckmotor]

Have you tried using the Bushhog? A sharp slasher can do a pretty good job. I've used one to mow a lawn many times.

 

[wawajake]

Well Jlwilson..............I am making that same decision now too............I have a bit more than two acres of finish cutting , that I presently do with a 1993 Husky 17 hp gas lawntractor , and the rest of the more rough fields gets cut down with my rotary (bushhog) behind my Kubota BX2660 . I have once, used the rotary single blade bushhog on my finish type areas , but it leaves a mess of clumps (so does not distribute the cuttings very well and rips instead of cuts) Even though I call my lawns finish areas for cutting with my Husky lawn tractor it actually is rough with mole holes and clay dried cracks etc etc , but not too much scalping so as long as it is green makes me happy..........but that is a hard two or three hours of cutting every ten days bumping around and now I wore out my deck welds and 22 year old lawntractor needs replacement. I think I am almost ready to pull trigger and buy a 60 inch rear mounted finish mower for my BX2660 Kubota Tractor . I figure the 60 inch width combined with better gas mileage from Kubota and one less engine and four less wheels to maintain.............I am hoping my choice will be right ...good luck on yours !

 

[DHD]

I have a Kubota B7800 with R4 tires and a 6ft rear mount rear discharge finish mower. Initially when I got the Kubota, I wanted to have as light as possible tractor and did not get the loader, and did not have my tires filled with liquid ballast. The B7800 weighed about 1750 pounds. I thought I would be able to cut most of my lawn with this combination but quickly found that the tractor was still too heavy and I was getting depressions in my lawn from the tractor tires. Another problem was mowing around objects, the front tires would sometimes tear the turf if my steering created too tight of a turn, and forget about trying to turn when 4wd was engaged, turf damage was much greater from the front tires when steering even into gradual turns. I still use my finish mower, but it's not on my lawn, but on an old hay field that I mow a couple of times a year.

A finish mower on my Kubota B7800 did not work well for us for cutting our 2 acres of lawn. We had to use a mowing platform that is about 600 pounds or less, so the Kubota BX series or even GR series would have been too heavy.
For year used two Wheel Horse GT riding mowers but needed to find something with better traction that could handle our steep slopes, something with 4wd or AWD.
Currently my wife and I use two Husvarna R322T AWD that weigh 570 pounds each, have articulating steering (really nimble around objects) AWD for excellent traction on steep slopes and do not tear up the turf.

Good luck

 

[xtruckerbob]

We mow a lot of grass and here is our story. Our "pretty part " of our yard is 800 ft x 800 ft plus we mow 1/2 mile of road ditch and turn rows which is 9 round trips. Our road going to the barn another 1 mile of a mile it take 3 round tips, we have about 3/4 acre there which was once a cow pen. Then there is the road to the lake about 1/4 mile off the barn road. At the lake we have most of an acre where the boys camp and fish. We also have 7 acres we took out of row crop because it was inconvenient to farm. My wife has a BX 2670 FEL/MMM and she mows the yard when it is dry because like DHD said The BX is heavy. I have a Kubota Z122 which I use to mow the yard but only when it is too wet and to trim. Ever thing else is mowed with the BX and a 5 ft Landpride on my L 2600. So my thought would be get a ZTR for your yard and a finishing mower for most ever thing else. I think you would be pleased with a finishing mower on your L2800. The Kubota Commander series is fast and cuts great. I think it weighs around 450 pounds.

 

[Poopdeck Pappy]

. . . I think I am almost ready to pull trigger and buy a 60 inch rear mounted finish mower for my BX2660 Kubota Tractor . I figure the 60 inch width combined with better gas mileage from Kubota and one less engine and four less wheels to maintain.............I am hoping my choice will be right ...good luck on yours !

Jake, I just went through this same decision on my BX2660. I wanted a 60" finish mower too, and asked about it on the Kubota Owning/Operating subforum here, and got mixed responses as to whether the BX would handle it. Most of the 60" finish mowers I see weigh somewhere in the 550 - 600 pound neighborhood, and the BX2660's 3 point lift capacity is spec'd at 680 pounds at 24" behind the lift points. So, the BX should handle lifting it, but you will need a FEL or weight on the front I think.

And our BX2660's have about 19.5 PTO hp. The owner's manual says you can use up to a 60" finish mower, but it specs the max weight at 300 pounds, which is just stupid.

In the end, I decided I didn't want to stress my tractor by using something that was pushing it to its limits, so I bought a used Woods RDC 54 54" finish mower. Just bought it today and haven't used it yet, but I think the BX2660 should handle it with ease. It only weighs 400 pounds, but it has a 10 gauge deck and skirts. Mine has the optional chain shield in the back, which probably adds another 20 pounds to it.

 

[davesl708]

I am biased. I just sold my JD riding mower and mow with my BX MMM. Could not see maintaining two machines when one only cuts grass and the other does everything including cutting grass.

 

[4570Man]

I have and use both. A lawn mower of the same width will mow smooth ground faster than the finish mower. The finish mower handles tall grass better then a lawn mower. The 4wd tractor has far better traction than any lawn mower. The finish mower blades are easier to remove for sharpening. I have a tractor I use only to pull my finish mower. I would hate to hook up a mower every time I mow.

 

[Turbys_1700]

I've been running a RFM now for over 23 years. The first Land Pride 5' was hooked to a YM1700 Yanmar for 14 of those years. After I traded for my current NH 1720 I ran the Land Pride for a few more years before upgrading to a 6' PRD Woods. Both units were/are very reliable. The 6' Woods is about 200# heavier than the Land Pride and even with my 3000# plus tractor will pull the rear end around on slopes some. Your L2800 will handle either a 5' or 6'. The biggest question is how many obstacles do you have? Cost wise a RFM hooked to your tractor is a lower cost option than purchasing a zero turn even though the zero turn will mow faster. I currently mow around 3 acres.