Finishing mowers

[coobie]

I can tell you befco makes good products.I own a few and they have had 0 problems.coobie

 

[mikehaugen]

It's good to hear you are happy with the woods. I have a few woods products (always been used) and they are all old and still work fine though are ugly now. I haven't tried too many other things but am definitely sold on woods and will in the future always put them at the top of the list for purchase. I have never heard anything bad about them (except maybe price), but I am young and still have a long life to use them hopefully. The parts are always available too. Again, congrats on the new purchase!

 

[ironpen]

Thank you. If the hurricane (Isaac) doesn't drown me, I will give a report after a full week's mowing.

 

[ironpen]

Well, my Rhino is still in the shop and I have been mowing with the Woods 990 for about 2 weeks. It is very smooth cutting. I wish it were a little wider, but truthfully I haven't really missed the 10 extra inches too much. The anti-scalp roller is a must. I mowed a couple of times without it and did scalp a couple a places. I did have to reverse the skids to keep from tearing up the ground on turns as I mentioned earlier and that problem is resolved. That is a design flaw I wouldn't have expected from Woods. Also, the areas in around the spindles really fills up badly with clippings, so I had to remove the covers and blow it out. That is a real pain in the behind. On the rhino, I could just wash or blow it out because the gaps around the spindles is much larger and more accessible. I think the spindles are heavier and better made on the Woods. Greasing it is also much easier as well as height adjustment. I am satisfied with my purchase. Good piece of equipment. My only complaint is the difficulty in cleaning out around the spindles.

 

[Brown Dog]

... My dealer said he liked the Befco, but, the blades turn at 14,900 on it and the TM 100 turns a little over 18,000 fpm and I was afraid there would be a considerable drop off in performance. Any thoughts on that??

Old Thread - New member I know.

Befco C70-110" mower.

I wanted the WIDEST Single deck RFM I could buy for my Farm.

I too was concerned about it turning slower blade spd than my Bush Hog 84" at 18,266 rpm.
The Befco 14,998 BTS didn't cut as smooth as I was use to :-( ..... So

I ordered the 30mm Larger Gearbox Pulley for the smaller 90" mower, and replaced the stock 250mm pulley.

The stock belts fit jus fine with a gearbox adjustment.

It Now Cuts MUCH SMOOTHER with Finer Clippings.

You can hear the difference & see the clippings being slung out much farther.

I can run one gear higher where my ground terrain allows it.

I read the Govn't regulates manufactures blade speed. I wouldn't doubt it.

I'm estimating my blade speed should now be around 16,650

Btw, ONLY Whitting-Higgins makes a 4-tang socket to fit these spanner nuts. I wasn't paying $240.00 for a socket. Yea I kno - use a punch.
I did & it cracked the nut removing it, so I ordered a 30mm-1.5 HEX Jamb nut from Fastenal with red loctite.
The 3 blade spindle nuts that hold the pulleys on, are 35mm-1.5
These are impossible to find in a thinner HEX nut.
I found that a Honda CB1000 motorcycle rear axle nut is this same size BUT I didn't remove these.

I was so excited with the Superb fine cut - I jus had to share. Thanks

 

[Brown Dog]

I bought a 66hp JD 4720 that has the Economy PTO option.

In E-PTO setting, 1650 engine rpm gets you 540rpm out back on your PTO.

I run the eng speed at 2,000rpm to get just a little faster blade tip speed on my BEFCO 110" REAR DISCHARGE RFM.

It now cuts even smoother.

I'm estimating it increases blade tip speed (BTS) around 3,000rpm Faster.

All of my mowing is on my Farm & not around Homes.

I'm sure ill get sum re-percussion from the haters on this, but Quality Commercial Mowers have 18-20k BTS for a Superb Cut & Finish.

 

[ironpen]

Well, here I am 3 years later. I am back to using to Rhino as the primary mower. The Woods requires WAY MORE maintenance than the Rhino. I have to remove the spindle covers and blow out the area inside about every 2 weeks and this takes about 25 or 30 minutes....have to remove 3 covers and the center section takes what seems like forever to clean out. Also, the blades are TERRIBLE on the Woods. They last about 3 cuttings and then require replacement. They are very difficult to get to because access through the deck is basically non-existent. The old patched up Rhino takes about 45 seconds to clean out the clippings and the blades (which are MUCH thinker than those on the Woods) can make it through almost a whole season before needing to be changed. Changing the Rhino blades is done entirely on the bottom surface of the blade and is easy as pie. The deck repairs have given zero trouble. Call me lazy, but these things matter and make my life much easier. I hit those spindles with some grease and go mowing. Not so with the Woods and working at the church makes me feel bad about losing my religion with those blade changes! The Woods has good heavy duty parts, but life is too short for all the aggravation. A little thought on the engineering would have really gone a long way.

 

[Brown Dog]

I seen you have the 90" Woods.
What Size is your Rhino ?

 

[EddieWalker]

I feel bad for mine, I've never cleaned off my finish mower. I change the blades once a year with the Gator G6 blades and they have been great. I will pull the plants out that start growing on top of my deck, and I grease it fairly often, but that's about it. I don't think I know what it would look like if it wasn't covered in grass and dirt.

Eddie

 

[ironpen]

The Rhino is an FM 100 which is 100 inches wide.