Mowing 3pt mower preference question

[Jorasz]

I am looking into possibly purchasing a John Deere 272 3pt finishing mower and I'm not sure if I like the idea of no wheels in the front. I have always seen the finishing mowers with 4 tires on them but not just the 2 in the back. Is there a reason (cutting or mowing) that they have mostly all gone to the 4? Should I look for the 4 wheeled type?
What are your opinions?

 

[r porter]

my next door neighbor had a john deere with just 2 gauge wheels in the rear and he hated it. good luck -ray

 

[stuckmotor]

My brother said he had problems using a shreader because his 3pt hitch drifts down. I believe he also said the 4 gauage wheels prevented this problem with the finish mower.

 

[GManBart]

I don't like the idea of just 2 wheels. You want a finish mower to follow the ground, not how the tractor is moving. There are times when the tractor is moving up, and the mower is still level, or maybe moving down. If the mower has four wheels, it follows the ground, giving you an even cut. If you have only two wheels, the front of the mower will pull up with the tractor, and you won't cut anything. If you run a brush hog for any length of time, you'll see how that can happen, because they usually only have rear wheels.

The other thing is that with only two wheels, you're constantly adjusting the 3pt height to match the ground contour. With four wheels, you drop the mower, and that's it....it already follows the ground contour.

 

[LD1]

I had a JD 261 mower with only the two gauge wheels. It was a great mower. But it all depends on your terrain. They dont do well on a rolling property with lots of little "knolls". But mostly flat and or a flatish hillside, they are great.

I did use check chains though. Attached to the front of the mower and up to the tractor. That allowed you to just lower the 3PH lever and forget about it. Those mowers also have the swinging toplink mount, so it does follow the ground a little. If its in good shape, $600 or so is a fair price. Any less and its a heck of a deal IMO. Any more.....judgement call.

 

[Jorasz]

Thanks for your input. That's what I was thinking about the 2vs4 wheels. I don't really want to depend I the tractor keeping a set hight and have to avoid scalping or raising the mower because of the terrain. $600 would be a great price. This one has seen very little use and the asking price is $1,600. Which happens to be a ballpark price for what I've seen.

 

[LD1]

Wrong time of year to buy a mower. But thats why I said judgement call. I believe they made those mowers for quite some time. So it could be 25 years old, or just a few years old. If it is a newer one, and looks like new, then maybe $1600 is justifiable.

 

[chim]

I haven't had any Deere mowers, but do like the 4-wheeled RFM's because they mow without scalping on uneven ground.

 

[Steve in MT]

A finish mower with only 2 wheels? Yeah, I would have to pass on that. I would imagine that if you bought it at the right price then there is a chance that a person could modify it and add 2 more wheels to it. A big chance of course. I bought a used woods 72in mower that only had one season on it for $2500.00. I really hated to spend that kind of money for a mower but I have 2 seasons on it and am really happy with it and glad that I bought it.
Steve

 

[MHarryE]

My finish mower has the usual 4 wheels and an anti-scalp roller in mid-front. I consider this a minimum.