MMM - Floating vs. Suspended

[Ken45101]

My manual doesn't use those terms, but specifies that "adjustment of cutting height" is "gauge wheel". I guess that means floating. This is the RCK60 MMM for the B2710.

Ken

 

[scarlo101]

On my BX I find that the suspended deck front wheels sometimes dig into the turf when you do a sharp turn. This is due to the fact that the wheels do not swivel.
Also I find that the front of the deck bounces up and down, especially with the deck raised and that is because the lift arms that suspend it to the tractor are at the rear of the deck. Does anybody else notice this?

 

[rdsaustintx]

My mistake. Having reread the pamphlet it says "Self Balance". What exactly does that mean.

Not sure what Kubota meant, but I have that MMM. IMO it means you have to balance it yourself.

 

[TripleR]

On my BX I find that the suspended deck front wheels sometimes dig into the turf when you do a sharp turn. This is due to the fact that the wheels do not swivel.
Also I find that the front of the deck bounces up and down, especially with the deck raised and that is because the lift arms that suspend it to the tractor are at the rear of the deck. Does anybody else notice this?

According to my manual and the way I balanced the deck on my BX2200 and now balance the deck on my BX2660, when you have your deck height adjuster and gage wheels adjusted properly, there will be a small gap between the gage wheels and the ground so the wheels won't drag and damage anything when turning. The mark was off on my BX2660, so I had to start from the top and count the detents and mark it correctly or the wheels would drag because the height was wrong.

Your front and rear wheels should be the same height and if not you will need to adjust the deck linkage which is a bear.

 

[radioman]

On my BX I find that the suspended deck front wheels sometimes dig into the turf when you do a sharp turn. This is due to the fact that the wheels do not swivel.
Also I find that the front of the deck bounces up and down, especially with the deck raised and that is because the lift arms that suspend it to the tractor are at the rear of the deck. Does anybody else notice this?

Dude- that isn't right. I have a 60" suspended deck and it doesnt dig in turfs when I turn as sharp as I can. I set the wheels so its barely touching the grass blades after its cut. It spins only half of the time on lawn is when there is uneven terrain and bumps in lawn. It never cuts the lawn with the wheels. I will have to go look at my deck but I think its 3 and half bolt holes showing at the top when set correctly.

 

[Volfandt]

Due to the topology of my yard (front = nice finish, back = reclaimed former pasture) I run the anti-scalp wheels on my BX23's 60" MMM a notch higher than the manual spec's. In this manner they are less likely to contact the ground, roots, divots, swails and rises unless they need to "raise" the mower to avoid blade contact. After yrs of trial and error I've found that this gives me the best cut, at speed, without scalping and minimizes wear and tear on the anti scalp wheels. With the wheels set as the manual spec's I've noticed no improvement in finish cut but the increased bumping and jarring has caused what I consider to be premature wear on the wheels plus the eventual loosening of the bolts and on two occasions having the front left side wheel fall off! I've since put nylocks on all 4 btw....
My anti scalp wheels never make any divots even in sharp turns at speed and alot of my mowing is at speed

Back when I was trading for a new tractor, I picked the BX over the B (B7510/7610/2410) because of the suspended MMM. From my experience of brush hogging my back field I knew that a floating/ground contact MMM would get beat to death..... Now adays it would be a MUCH harder desicion since the new B's have went to suspended MMM's

re. self leveling on the 60" MMM. Instead of the rear lift links connecting directly and statically to the MMM frame, the 2 links connect to a bar that runs horizontally across the back of the MMM's frame and is conected to the MMM via a hinged greasable pivot joint directly in the center of the MMM. At either end of this self leveling bar are dual adjustable springs that conect between the end of the bar and the MMM frame. The combination of the center pivoting joint acting against the adjustable springs allow the MMM to rise up/down at it's ends but quickly recenter/level itself without putting stress on the tractors lift links. This allows for greater flexablilty when the anti scalp wheels encounter a rise/obstruction for the MMM to raise over it then return to level once over/around it. It's actually a very good design for the 300lb MMM.

re. a suspended MMM scalping the ground. A properly adjusted MMM should not contact the ground at any point unless it encounters a rise higher than the depth setting of the MMM. Adjusting a BX's MMM can be a chore but once properly set it'll work out VERY well and give a VERY good finish cut.
IMHO the front roller is like a last line of defense in keeping a tall obstructing from getting in contact with the blades. In normal use you don't want any rollers or anti scalp wheels coming in contact with the ground.

re. flexability in the front/rear lift links. This is highly desirable in keeping the MMM and tractors lift links from obsorbing all the punishment of finish mowing. It's better to have the assembly's disappate the punishment than it bend/break a static point.

re. the front bracket raising when the MMM is raising. this is normal. The front bracket is a pivoting point and is not static in it's design. It needs to move with the MMM and tractor to do it's primary jobs of being an attachment point for the front of the MMM while also maintaning the front to rear depth settings.

The argument of which design gives a better finish cut, the suspended or floating is endless with eitther side making good arguments in either case.
I've had both and I prefer suspended but I worked a floating MMM for yrs too.
It should be noted that the vast majority of professional series mowers, i.e. ZTR's use a suspended type mower setup

Carry on