leaving the finish mower attached when doing loader work

[alltherage]

All,
My question is just that...am i hurting the 3 point/rear end of my compact tractor by leaving the 72", 610 pound finish mower on the back while doing loader work?

It's a new cub cadet yanmar ex2900...typical 29 horse compact in size and weight. I have the chains very tight so there's no sway, but I can't help but think that it's putting unnecessary wear on the rear end. When I get off and push side to side on the mower, i can see that there's a bit of flex there in the bushings etc.

We do sporadic mowing here because of the clay and wet ground...we hit it when it's dry. I guess it makes sense to hook/unhook it more often. I do alot with the ratchet rake so i'm often backing over small piles of dirt which jostles the mower around. We only put an hour or so on the tractor each week

So....are they made to do that...or not?

Thanks a bunch

[k0ua]

I done it for many years without incident with 2 finish mowers. Never seemed to cause any trouble.. I lived in open country and they were not much of a bother back there, only occasionally. But I live in tree and rock-ville now. and that would be a pain running into things all the time... so I built a ballast barrel, about 750 lbs and tucks in tight to the machine.

James K0UA

[JCByrd24]

Any wear on the rear end or mower is more than offset by wear saved on the front axle. Rear ballast is very much recommended for loader work.

[TrenaryDucks]

A lot of people here use some sort of three point hitch ballast when doing loader work, such as moving round bails. This helps keep weight off the front end.

[General Lee]

The only harm your doing is putting the mower at risk of smacking something or the object you hit because it hangs out from the tractor. Just remember its there when your in tight spots Its good to have ballast in the rear for loader work, so if thats what you got on the rear then so be it .

[bsinhc50]

All,
My question is just that...am i hurting the 3 point/rear end of my compact tractor by leaving the 72", 610 pound finish mower on the back while doing loader work?

It's a new cub cadet yanmar ex2900...typical 29 horse compact in size and weight. I have the chains very tight so there's no sway, but I can't help but think that it's putting unnecessary wear on the rear end. When I get off and push side to side on the mower, i can see that there's a bit of flex there in the bushings etc.

We do sporadic mowing here because of the clay and wet ground...we hit it when it's dry. I guess it makes sense to hook/unhook it more often. I do alot with the ratchet rake so i'm often backing over small piles of dirt which jostles the mower around. We only put an hour or so on the tractor each week

So....are they made to do that...or not?

Thanks a bunch

I just purchased an EX 3200 and do the same thing using the rear mount mower as ballast when I'm doing loader work. The only thing you need to worry about is your surroundings and whether or not you'll hit anything with the mower while using the loader. Other than that, I see no problems keeping it attached because its weight keeps the weight of the loaded loader off of the front end which is very expensive to repair...Bill

[cartod]

The only thing you could do worse is not use a ballast, trust me on this one.

[repowell]

The 1000 pound arena drag stays on the back of my wife's TC40DA. It is great ballast when moving round bales and dirt.

[TripleR]

Agree with the others. no harm and proper ballast is essential to maximize performance and safety.

[Ohio Paul]

I agree with the others. I leave my Woods 6' finish mower on when I use the loader. It's great ballast, just watch when you make tight turns or when backing up.