Mowing Mowing in reverse with a Land Pride FDR 3690?

[bdhsfz6]

I recently began mowing additional acreage with my Befco C50 RD6 3pt hitch mower. To reduce the time I spend on the tractor, I'm looking to replace the Befco with a bigger mower. I would like to get a Befco C70-090H but my local Kubota dealer no longer carries Befco. He is trying to sell me a Land Pride FDR 3690 instead.

Both models are rear discharge but the Befco has a removable guard while the Land Pride does not. Due to the landscape, I mow in reverse quite a bit. With the guard removed, the Befco mows quite well in reverse as long as the grass isn't too tall or thick. I mow mostly open fields where flying debris isn't a concern.

Has anyone had any experience to share on reverse mowing with a Land Pride FDR

 

[yankeerider]

I have recently (2 years ago) started mowing with an FDR2560. It is not at its best when mowing in reverse because it can't clear the clippings well in that direction. This could be a problem if I let the grass get too long and tried to mow when wet. I tend to mow in reverse only to back up to trees or other obstacles. Pulling forward then cleans things up. Bottom line, I guess, is that I don't count on mowing the full width of the mower when I am backing up.

Hope this info helps.

Sent from my iPad using TractorByNet

 

[4570Man]

What kind of guard does the mower have? I have two finish mowers. One has a chain guard, and the other one does not have a guard. They both mow equally well in reverse, but neither works great because they can't clear the clippings.

 

[bdhsfz6]

What kind of guard does the mower have? I have two finish mowers. One has a chain guard, and the other one does not have a guard. They both mow equally well in reverse, but neither works great because they can't clear the clippings.

The Befco C50 RD6 has a chain link guard which is easily removable. The clippings tend to clump up under the mower when mowing in reverse with the guard installed. Once it is removed though, the clippings are thrown clear unless the grass is wet, too high or I go too fast. Keeping the blades sharp also helps.

I mow in reverse about 20% of the time with the Befco so I would hate to spend a lot on a replacement only to find it does a lousy job. The dealer tells me "rear mount 3 point hitch mowers aren't designed to mow in reverse". This may be true but I've been doing it for 15 years with the Befco.

 

[paulfun9]

Surely someone else in the area can get you the Befco unit.

 

[Dave M7040]

One thing many owners of larger mowers dont consider is that the blades should have a front to rear pitch. i.e. the front of the blade should be lower than the rear to achieve the best cut. The amount of pitch varies based upon the length of the blade. When you mow in reverse you defeat this design.
Further, if you consider the path the clippings must travel before they are discharged, mowing in reverse keeps the clippings under the mower deck much longer than when going forward. This leads to clumps and clogging particularly when wet.

My landpride FD72 is side discharge but it does not do well when backing up as the side linkages have a hard time keeping the mower in line.

Dave M7040

 

[chim]

I have a smaller and lighter LandPride (FDR 1672) and the design looks very similar. I don't mow in reverse very much, but there are a couple spots at the neighbor's place where I do. If the grass is cut when it should be, there's no issue with mowing in reverse. There are no guards, just an elongated sloped discharge area in the rear that prevents things from being launched.

Unless I wait too long the deck distributes clippings very well. If the grass is longer than it should be I need to mow counter-clockwise so the deck grabs the little windrow left on the previous pass. This is my 4th deck here since 1990 and by far my favorite.

 

[runharley52]

I have the 3590 and I haven't done a ton of cutting with it but the little I did included a fair amount in reverse. I didn't notice any issues. I also don't remember a guard on mine though...