BX24: MMM or Rear

[The Gardener]

Regarding the MMM or a REAR mower, can some of you help me to better understand which design is better suited for certain types of lawn and field cutting.

We have a mix of both groomed lawn and uneven, rocky field that I am cutting with a riding mower. The uneven portion will eventually be about 3.5 acres. The groomed area will remain at roughly 2.5 acres. I am looking to replace the riding mower with a tractor mower, but I am unsure which design would be better for a duel purpose cut.

I like the REAR mower design because it looks simple to access the under carriage for cleaning and/or blade sharpening/removal. The MMM design [like the riding mower] would appear to be easier to control around rocks in the field and along garden edges.

Q: Is the MMM [i.e. for a BX24] easy to take off ?

I ask because the riding mower deck is a time consuming effort to remove.

Thanks!
The Gardener

 

[roxynoodle]

I prefer RFMs because they are easier to take off. It also allows me to back into tight spaces like low hanging tree branches that I can't get under with my tractor. Likewise I can back into the corners in my pasture to cut all the grass. However, when I was tractor shopping and looked at Kubotas, the dealer told me they prefer the MMM on their small tractors (BX24 was what I looked at), though I can't remember the reason he gave. I was concerned I would tear up a MMM doing loader work. Now that I have a tractor I know I was right about that. I would have had to remove it for that. I have a stall in my corncrib that is a run in shed for my horses. It has poured cement bumps right in the middle of the doorway to prevent the doors from flying off in windy weather. To clean that floor I have to go up and over the bumps, but I think you could say I may have an unusual setup on that barn! There probably aren't a lot of people on this forum that have to do that. I would ask the dealer if there is a reason they prefer MMMs on that tractor. Could be, it was just the dealer I spoke with.

 

[Volfandt]

A good rule of thumb re. which type mower is,
If you've got to mow around many obstacles go with a MMM as it's more manuverable and can fit into tight turns better.
If you've got lots of wide open spaces with few obstacles then a RFM is the way to go.

I run a MMM and leave it on just about all summer. It doesn;t get in the way when I dig and provides protection for my BX23's vitals. When I do drop it,it only takes a few minutes and doesn't require any tools.

In the case of running a RFM on your BX24 you'll have to dismount it AND the 3PH assembly everytime you want to mount the BH.

Both give about the same cut and you really can't go wrong with either.

In thinking about what that dealer told you, it may have something to do with pto rpm. The MMM runs off of the 2500 rpm mid pto where as the RFM runs off of the 540 rpm rear pto. It may be that you get more blade tip speed on the MMM but I'm not sure about that. RFM's could have gear reduction in place to offset that.

Volfandt

 

[bird1968]

I agree with all the comments, but would recommmennd the rear mower, the quality of the machine is higher & it much easier to go on/off. The cut on the RFM is really good.

Bird