Rear Finish Mower VS Mid Mount Mower

[Volfandt]

The 2 used tractors I am most interested in is a B7800 HST with a 72" RFM. And a JD2320 that does not have a mower on it yet.

The B7800 is a whole lot more tractor than the 2320 but they both have similar footprints. In your case, the main advantage I see w/ the 7800 over the 2320 is the 7800 has a 3 range (speed) HST whereas the 2320 only has 2. In your wide open spaces the advantage of chooseing a faster mowing speed goes to the 7800.

The B7800 was the largest of the B class. It has just recently been replaced by the B3200 which is alittle more refined. With the 7800 you get more pto hp, more FEL and 3ph lift capacity and the already mentioned 3 speed HST. The 3ph has a 1/4" valve which is an improvement over the std 3ph control.
The 7800 is also pretty light on it's feet considering it's power. This gives it an advantage in finish mowing and additional weight can be added via implements etc when more weight is needed for ground engagement type work.
The rear wheels of the 7800 can be set out wider to give alittle more stability on hills and you can gain even more stability if you fill the rears with rimguard or similar liquid.

The advantage of the JD2320 is that it has a position control (PC) 3ph which gives it a more precise control of the 3ph implement. You'd have to move up to a "premium" B series (B2630, B3030, B2410, B2910) to get PC.

I would also highly recommend you include an FEL on whatever tractor you choose. They are invaluable in all the chores they'll perform, keeping your back pain free all the while

Since you've already got a riding lawn mower you could use that for "touch up" and close in trimming where the B7800 w/RFM either can't reach or is too slow to manuver around.
Although a MMM is more manuverable, a RFM provides a great finish cut and coupled w/your riding mower you' have a great one/two punch for your estate maintenance.

Good luck

 

[swmpbgy1]

The 2 used tractors I am most interested in is a B7800 HST with a 72" RFM. And a JD2320 that does not have a mower on it yet. Thay are both about the same age. I think I can get the smaller John Deere with a new 52" or 62" drive over MMM for about the same money as the much larger B. I would have to pick up a 4' or 5 brush hog though. 'Something as small as a BX does not have the ground clearance for working my fields so a 2320/2620 Kubota or John Deere is as small as I want to go. Seeing as I will be mowing the lawn every week and the fields only a couple of times a year maybe the smaller tractor with a MMM would be better for me. I have seen the used B7800 mow 1' high grass with the RFM and it seems to do very well. It just looks too big to mow my hilly not very smooth lawn. I know I would have to keep my garden tractor if I buy the B where with a 2320/2620 I could sell the garden tractor and just have one machine to maintain.

VtCatRules:

Where are you located? Sadly, I'm parting with my 2007 B3030, 58 hours, 60" bucket, 60" belly mower, 60" rear finish mower, and 48" brush hog. I'm asking $18,700 for it all!

Swmpbgy1

 

[AJE]

I use a B7510 with a 5' rear finish mower on about 4 acres. If I bought it new I probably would have went with the MMM, however, I like the RFM better than I thought I would, it just takes getting used to. If you do a little trim work (I still have my push mower) around some of the smaller trees, the well, a lap or two around the house and deck, it's great.

 

[Tom_H]

All B series tractors have mid mount mowers available...

I was looking over Kubota's page for the B3200 a couple of days ago. The tab for attachments available other than FEL and BH, lists no mowers of any kind. Perhaps they haven't listed it yet???

 

[07 LMM LTZ]

If you go to the build MY Kubota page for the B3200 they offer a 60 or 72 MMM as long as you select the mid pto option.

 

[BXpanded]

Lots of ways to approach the mowing when you have brush and rock free fields and lawn as the OP. MMMs will mow foot high grass quite nicely if set to the highest cut level. I do that several times a summer. They'll also chop down some 1" brush but somehow that just doesn't seem right considering the cost of an MMM. I do that very infrequently and always feel guilty afterwards.

I know a guy that mows his lawn with a Murray lawn mower and his farm fields with some big, ugly, Deutz tractor with a Woods 72" RFM. His fields look great and the Woods has been doing it for years with no complaint.

The ease of removing the RFM is pretty widely acknowledged. The thing that seldom gets mentioned is the fact that it has to be removed to do ANYTHING else. The MMM can stay on for most activities.

Personally, my attention span, or lack thereof, would have me tearing down the house and anything else around if I had to contend with that thing swinging around back there. Of course, I've never had a place that wasn't crowded with trees and WPOs (Wife Planted Obstacles).

Mostly just for fun I admit, I borrowed a 4' brushhog and ran it over a pretty rough field WITH my MMM still mounted. I thought it would be really sweet if I could have a Mid Mount Rough Cutter and a Rear Finish Mower instead of the other way around. I could hog and finish cut at the same time. LOL (Like I really have much of that to do.)

Not much useful info here. Thanks for indulging me... Just babbling on...

 

[vtcatrules]

I checked with the dealer on the JD2320 and they will put a new 54" drive over MMM on it for $1100 less then the B7800. Plus I can probably sell my garden tractor for $1000. $2100 less sounds pretty good in this economy and worse case it will be a little slower then the Kubota. 72" is just to big for my yard. Besides mowing the field is fun, I don't want to get it done to fast . I just can't justify buying a tractor that isn't used for mowing the lawn and the only MMM availabe for the B7800 is a 72". A new B2620\B2920 would be ideal with a 60" MMM but I would have to borrow money for that purchase and I am hesitant to take on a payment right now. I can always trade up later. Still have not made up my mind yet but getting closer.

 

[phyxer]

The new B series (B2320, B2620 and B2920) all have fully adjustable decks from the seat and they are full floating decks that ride on the linkage suspension and NOT on the anti-scalp wheels. Hope that helps to clear up the MMM capabilities on the new Kubota B series tractors.

Troy

 

[ChuckinNH]

A 60" mmm has been available for both the B7800, and the new B3200, but they are not the drive over type, and don't stick out very far for trimming around things on that size tractor. For mowing I do think you would be much happier with the JD.

 

[628pm]

I have both for my b2620. I will be using only the rear finish mower this year due to the fact that I will be using my backhoe attachment alot. I know you can leave the mmm on with the backhoe, but I need the ground clearance, also you cant use the mmm while the backhoe is on anyway. I'm lucky that I have a 61' zero turn also. The B is just used for a pasture I keep mowed. If I didn't have the backhoe attachment I would use the mmm because it does seem to mow better.