60" 7 iron vs 54" or 62" deck on 700 series

[jenkinsph]

1.Supposed to have a used x724-54 coming to demo.

2.Still have to mess with the shaft coupling so not much more difficult to swivel the wheels.

1. Still won't provide you with a comparison of the 7 iron deck.

2. The auto connect deck I thought connects everything, pto shaft included. or is that just for the 1026R?

 

[JDTank]

A 5 day mowing schedule is getting pretty tight around here and often we need to do more frequently. Dry summer we may get a break, but otherwise it's near 2x per week...

Supposed to have a used x724-54 coming to demo. I'm one that does not feel right about taking a demo on something that I don't intend to buy unless of course it is used.

I can roll my current 54" deck out the side no problem, just need to fanagle the steer tires a bit so the drive over is not really a draw for me. Still have to mess with the shaft coupling so not much more difficult to swivel the wheels.

Like jenkinsph said, this still won't give you the 7-iron experience. Your talking about spending some serious cash on a tractor, in no way would I feel bad for demoing a brand new machine. John Deere has millions of dollars to play with, you don't. You need to make the absolute right decision for you, however much money that costs John Deere is irrelevant.

I think if you drop the big coin for a X700 series machine, you will truly regret not getting the 7 Iron deck. If your financing it amounts to a few dollars a month. Cut out one fast food meal or a couple coffees and you just bought yourself a 7 Iron deck.

 

[KennedyDiesel]

The 724 will tell me if I want the 4ws option. If we can rule one way or the other on that it helps a lot.

Then if it's 2ws the question is whether the bar rear tires fit with the 60" 7 iron. From the build your own thing it looks questionable.

In 1996 I paid 13,8xx as I recall for my 455 pkg with attachments. BIG stretch back in those days. That one was financed. This one likely will not be unless we do some zero percent deal for the sake of doing it.

My lean is towards 740 7 iron bar rear tires, 540pto, 3pt hitch probably in Cat 0 as is my 455. My dilemma is not financially oriented it's no regret oriented. I want this one to be the best for my situation.

 

[CompactTractorFan]

2. The auto connect deck I thought connects everything, pto shaft included. or is that just for the 1026R?

Yeah, I think the X700 series only has a "drive over deck" not an "auto connect deck".

 

[KennedyDiesel]

Well the 724 with 54" deck is here. First thing I did was take off the blades and sharpen them. We did a little cutting Monday and Tuesday, but the plan is to do the real testing this evening.

I went through and releveled the deck on my 455. I'm embarassed to say it was pretty bad left to right and pretty biased towards the front which I now lessened to just under 1/4". Installed a new set of Predator2 blades while I was at it. Both decks are set to cut at just a tick over 3" based on a small gauge block that I made.

The 54C deck indicates 2.5" to acheive a cut height of 3".

Just need to take a tape and get the average height of our grass for my notes.

Also seriously considering trying the Meg-mo system and see if the muli blade thing helps. That or try one or two of the 18-7/8" blades (may require tip trimming) on my deck.

 

[JDTank]

Try Gator blades, you will never go back.

They offer a nice cut and they reduce clipping size so there is no need for bagging, and very little clumping.

Not only that, but they are darn tough, nice and thick, they can take a beating without losing chunks off the blade tip.

 

[KennedyDiesel]

I haven't been able to locate any direct comparison, but the Predator appear to be pretty much same as Gators.

 

[Carl Bert]

Does anyone know the blade speed of a 62C deck? Also would it change according to what tractor it is running on?

I went to my dealer the other day looking to replace my 62C deck on my X595 with a 7 iron deck. Unfortunately I was told it wasn't compatible with my machine. He also told me that the 7 iron deck had a blade speed very close to a zero turn. I believe he said it was 15,000 compared to 16,500 on a zero turn. He said the average deck is about 7000, but he could not find the speed of the 62C deck. Just curious if anyone would know. Thanks

 

[JDTank]

Does anyone know the blade speed of a 62C deck? Also would it change according to what tractor it is running on?

I went to my dealer the other day looking to replace my 62C deck on my X595 with a 7 iron deck. Unfortunately I was told it wasn't compatible with my machine. He also told me that the 7 iron deck had a blade speed very close to a zero turn. I believe he said it was 15,000 compared to 16,500 on a zero turn. He said the average deck is about 7000, but he could not find the speed of the 62C deck. Just curious if anyone would know. Thanks

Actually if I remember correctly, the yellow decks have a higher blade tip speed than the 7 Iron. I believe the 62 is 17,xxx and the 7 Iron is 16,500 I think, I am not 100% sure. Don't let this fool you into thinking the yellow deck is better, nothing out there compares to a 7 Iron.

 

[Carl Bert]

Actually if I remember correctly, the yellow decks have a higher blade tip speed than the 7 Iron. I believe the 62 is 17,xxx and the 7 Iron is 16,500 I think, I am not 100% sure. Don't let this fool you into thinking the yellow deck is better, nothing out there compares to a 7 Iron.

I'd be surprised if that was the case. According to my dealer the higher the blade speed the better the cut, and the faster you can mow. Makes sense to me. I don't think I would get such a nice cut if I tried mowing at 9 MPH with my 62C, but with a zero turn you can. So what else could it be other then blade speed?