Mowing MMM vs. Rear finish mower

[AdamK]

Hey guys. I'm new to the forum and have been looking at a B7510 to purchase. My question is about finish mowers. Which one is most preferred, a mid mount mower or rear finish mower? I hear many people seem to have problems with the MMM? Is that true? I thought they would have the best cut?

One other question: Are the front loaders on these size tractors really useable or just expensive toys? I noticed a lot of people have got them but I'm just wondering if anyone has regretted having purchased one? Thanks for your help in advance!!

Adam

 

[Will_C]

Adam; Welcome to TBN. There has been much discussion through the years on RFM vs. MMM. The rear mount is usually easier to attach-detach, and often $1000 or more cheaper. There are trickier to mow with, and if you are fussy, the quality of cut may not on par with a mid-mount.
As far as the FEL, get it!! There really is not you can't do with one, even on a smaller tractor. I have moved yards upon yards of top soil with my BX, a smaller tractor than what you are looking at.
Good luck,
Will

 

[KubotaSteve]

I was looking at the same machine, but decided to go alittle bigger because the lift height on the FEL for the 7510 wasn't quite high enough. Believe me, if it involves me not shoveling it is well worth it. I have used my loader for more things than I ever dreamed of.
On the other item about the rear finish mower or MMM, I had the same delimma and chose to go with the MMM. I had used a rear finish mower and they are tricky to use until getting the hang of it. Mainly when you make a turn the mower swings around and can take out a fence or whatever. I like the MMM because it is under me making the distance shorter plus the big loaded rear tires aren't mashing the grass down. I can take off the MMM in about 5 minutes without any tools but installing it can take a few minutes longer. It is easier to mow around houses and fences with MMM but if you are trying to mow under low hanging trees, you can back a rear finish mower under the tree a lot easier. If you decide to mow with a MMM then you can't really have branches hanging lower than your ROPS is high (mine is about 8 feet). Good luck.

 

[botalvr]

Hi,

I dug a nice drainage ditch along the side of my whole property, spread dirt, ripped out trees (6" diameter max), and even used it as a ladder to reach high branches (not safe). All this with the smaller BX2200, so in my world the FEL was a very good value. Not a toy at all.

An excavator wanted $5000 for just some of this work and that helped justify the $$ for the tractor.
Quite a learning curve for me though, having had no experience with excavating - it's harder than it looks!

On the deck, my 60" MMM is quite the beast, although at 250lbs, can be hard to manage off and on. Now I use the FEL and some chains to carry the deck to the driveway, it is much easier than trying to roll that thing around in the grass or dirt.
Cuts nice, and I added the mulching kit so clippings are a thing of the past as long as the grass is not wet or too long.

Good luck! /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif

 

[rswyan]

</font><font color="blueclass=small">( One other question: Are the front loaders on these size tractors really useable or just expensive toys? )</font>

I have a B2910 with the 402 FEL with the 60" LM (Light Material) bucket - this tractor/loader is just a little larger than the B7510 - I'm about 20' foot short of finishing the removal my old 600' long asphalt driveway, in order to replace & relocate it. The asphalt thickness ranged from 2" to 5'+ thick and was almost all taken up with the FEL (be sure to get a toothbar), except a couple of spots (large slabs) that I had use the backhoe to tear up.

The spoil pile of old asphalt is probably 60' - 70' long, maybe 12' wide and about 6' high. My guess is there is probably at least 40 tons there. Attached is a picture from a couple of weeks ago - it's even bigger now.

Expensive toy ?

Maybe .... but they doesn't mean they won't do serious work /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[aloha]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Which one is most preferred, a mid mount mower or rear finish mower? )</font>

How much area will you be mowing? What obstructions will you be mowing around/under? I personally like the combination of a brush hog for heavy and outlying mowing, and a modest riding mower for finish work -- 2 toys for the price of a MMM.

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Are the front loaders on these size tractors really useable or just expensive toys? )</font>

Keep in mind the front end loader is designed to be a loader of loose material, not a digger. If you want to dig, a backhoe is a digger. A toothbar will turn the FEL into a respectable digger. Having said that, a lot of digging gets done, and done very well, with FELs of the B7510 size. Once you have one, you will wonder how you did without.

 

[Yankee]

Mowers: Neither is preferred. It's whatever you want and which fits the circumstances of your property better. As for rear mowers being tricky, don't you believe it. I put my wife on the tractor the other day to mow for the first time and she had no problem whatsoever - zip - with the rear mower, in spite of being intimidated at the start. She mowed the fenceline, around trees, around the wellhead, the ditch edge, backed, etc. Piece of cake. Remember, too, that the reason a rear mower swings is that the lateral rigidity of the connection leverages the tractor's movement, which can be an advantage as well as something to watch out for.

GET THE FEL! To my mind it's half the utility in "utility tractor."

 

[Jim_Becker]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( One other question: Are the front loaders on these size tractors really useable or just expensive toys? )</font>

I would go so far to say that for many of us, the FEL is the primary attachment, even on the smallest machines. In our case, Dr. SWMBO and I use the FEL for about 75% of what we do with the tractor. There is no question that it's paid for itself many times over, both in capabilty and time savings. No way we could have done many of the projects and even regular landscaping maintenance without it, at least effectively.

 

[Henro]

<font color="blue"> One other question: Are the front loaders on these size tractors really useable or just expensive toys? I</font>

Yep, just expensive toys... /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

The driveway was about 5' under the dirt but soon was exposed again...19 truck loads of this dirt is now about 400 feet away, behind my pond waiting for the grass seed...it was fun so I guess the loader is an expensive toy... /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Edit: B2910 kubota, 20-ton trucks (or better)...B7500 and larger tractor can work very hard too...

 

[Bird]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Yep, just expensive toys )</font>

Yep, don't really need one at all, if you have a good wheelbarrow, shovel, jacks, pry bars, a strong back, arms and legs, and lots of time. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif