Mowing Mowing with Kubota

[Smokeydog]

We have tried many different machines to maintain our hilly, wooded property. We used a Kubota B20 and 6’ finish mowers for over 20 years. Upgraded to B26 a few years ago. Better in most all aspects. Installed 2” rear wheel spacers and ballast to help stability. The Woods RD7200 just turned 20 years old. Been a good mower except for the wheel spindles. With all the back and forth trimming we do and with the incredible turning capacity and traction of the tractor would easily bend the spindles. Replaced the 1” spindles with 4140 steel that helped for years but with bushing wear and use they would bend too. Replacement bushing/arm and spindles are extremely expensive and don’t last long in my use. Cut the bushings off, made plates to utilize 3500# trailer axle hubs and stubs. So much stronger than OEM. Harder to adjust height but we never did for our use. No problems for over 6 years. Takes 5-6 gallons of fuel to mow. Wife like to do most of the mowing except for real steep stuff.

 

[chim]

I'm interested in more information on the wheel replacements. They've always been the one weak link.

 

[hawkeye08]

I keep bending mine also, would like to see some closeups of the wheel swivels you modified. Thanks

 

[Smokeydog]

Hope the pictures show enough detail.

4-3500# trailer spindles, hubs and bearings cost $115 eBay.
Plate 7”x0.5” flat bar.
Used best OEM assembly as guide.
Cut worn spindle bushing off arm.
Cut slot and hub holes in plate. Welded to arm.
Cut off old spindles shafts. Shorted axle stubs and then welded them to the yokes. Standard axle assembly.

With bolts and washers/spacers could adjust deck height. I don’t need to.
Axle shafts and bearings much stronger that OEM shafts and bushings. The bearings are sealed in the hub. No notable wear or maintenance in six years.

Other than the wheel spindles, the mower has performed well. One belt and 7-8 sets of blades in 20 years.

 

[Henro]

Was the quantity of four a typo?

Not familiar with trailer spindles but from the photos it looks like you only used two of them...

Looks great and VERY heavy duty for a finish mower. :thumbsup:

Bill

 

[Smokeydog]

Only showed the rear ones for fabrication detail. Same fit the front.
Trailer axle stubs and hubs.

 

[Henro]

Only showed the rear ones for fabrication detail. Same fit the front.
Trailer axle stubs and hubs.

Makes sense. I could have picked that up from the first post photo.

I did zoom in to see who was driving the tractor! :laughing:

 

[diesel85]

I like your setup.

I can't wait to get a rear finish mower that is rear discharge. Looking at getting a 72". But I'm waiting to get a bigger tractor like a L3901 or similar.

Between that and my flail mower, I should be set mowing grasses.

 

[pmsmechanic]

I can't wait to get a rear finish mower that is rear discharge. Looking at getting a 72". But I'm waiting to get a bigger tractor like a L3901 or similar.

I didn't wait. I just converted mine. I welded the side hole shut and cut the back open. I welded a reinforcement onto the rear similar to Farm King's new rear discharge mowers. I still need to add some baffles under the deck to spread out the clippings better but other than that it works great.

 

[chim]

Thank you Smokeydog! Very clever. That was one of the most useful pieces of info I've seen. I gave up on MMM's and have been using RFM's since around '92 and bending the stems on the wheel assemblies has been a common problem for me. Two decks have been LandPride and the other two Caroni. The wheels sometimes get whacked when making a turn at the road or a sidewalk that sticks up above the ground level.

I've been able to straighten them (mis)using a large hydraulic pipe bender. The stems are inserted through holes in the bender frame and I run the ram into them. Although it's effortless for the bender, I'd prefer not having to drag it out and fix them. Just yesterday I used a straightening tool one of the guys in the shop welded up for me that slips into my receiver hitch.

Wish I'd have seen your post before finishing the restoration on my RFM The only wheel assembly parts I had to buy were some bearings and spacers, so it wasn't terribly expensive.