Mowing New to tractor question (MMM or RMM)

[TripleR]

Wow what a great ressource this site is! Thanks everyone:thumbsup:
I'll be sure to read up on those articles.

We would be using the mower/cutter 2-3 times a month.

I was looking at the landpride attachements for either a RFM or a brush cutter.
Would the RFM (like the FDR16) make a noticeably nicer cut than brush cutter (like the RCR12-RCR15)?

You certainly do have a conundrum, but that is so often the case when one tries to get one piece of equipment to do the tasks ideally suited for two; compromise is almost a guarantee. The FDR16 will give a "nicer" cut, but will not stand up to the rough use of the RCR12-RCR15. Without looking at your "field" I really can't say as some fields won't destroy a RFM and some will. As KU Gator points out, the four wheels on the RFM are ground contact. They are meant for fairly smooth conditions, look at the wheels and swivels, braces on the RFM compared to the RCR and you will see they are going to be easier to bend. We have fields in which we can use our RFM and some we can't.

If you get into vegetation that is pretty heavy, you can smoke the belts on an RFM; done it many times, where a rotary cutter will just give you a poor cut.

I think either way you go you're going to have a compromise piece of equipment and there is nothing wrong with that. I am getting to the point to where our RFM is seldom used and I just live with the cut from our RCR2672 or Woods DS1260.

Good luck.

 

[riptides]

asuhurley

You should ask yourself, "Do I want a lawn look?, Or, am I satisfied with a good looking field?"

You can get a great cut with a brush cutter, and you can always let the lawn/field go a little higher and have less worries about mow/cut time.

 

[3v0]

I use my box blade as rear ballast when I need it for the FEL. It also lets you mow and smooth out a few ruts without removing anything.

There are so many ways to look at this.

 

[JOHNTHOMAS]

My first RFM was a 6' Jolle? red French $1200. It kept breaking as I used it on my field converted to yard hillside rocky treed property behind a B7800 (32HP) 1700 lbs Kubota. Talked to Steve Barlow who sold it to me and he gave me my $1200 back toward a $1700 Landpride. He is a great and wise dealer. Any way the Landpride was a tank and never broke. It was so heavy that it would turn my tractor when I made my turn at the bottom of the hill which was OK after I realized it was going to do it. The B7800 never missed a beat otherwise with it. I later traded the B7800 (1700 lbs) to a L3240 (3700 lbs) and you never knew the mower was behind it except the weight of the tractor with the amount of HP would strain the tractor at near the crest of the hill.
If you have golf course lawn then a cheap RFM MAY work/last but if you have a rough yard then get a good heavy duty one like the Landpride properly sized to your tractor. I had a B2320 and great compact tractor but fairly light until you load them with implements/attachments which need to be matched (weight) front and back for the job.

 

[asuhurley]

Thanks everyone! I think we will go for the MMM since we will need more manoeuvrability since we will plant quite a few trees (apple tree, etc) and we will have to cut around them. Also I figured out that the overall length of the RFM is quite long compared to our garage space.