60 or 72 inch Finnish mower

[mdj89]

Hello, I have an Kioti LB 1914 tractor and was interested in getting a 72 inch finish mower. Do you guys think my tractor can handle a 72 inch. My property is flat and the grass is mostly always cut...thanks.

 

[RjCorazza]

I believe your machine would handle a 72" rfm, as long as it could pick it up without overly lightening the front end. I ran a 72" mower behind a Kubota B8200 for years, which is slightly smaller than your Kioti.
I did have to add 150 lbs of suitcase weights up front though.

 

[Mat4644]

2100# tractor and 17hp at the PTO it would be marginal mowing at ideal conditions. Plus negative effect of additional weight and width on tractor handling. Personally I wouldn't do it.

 

[zzvyb6]

My 7' Land Pride doesn't take much power at all. I don't use a top link, I want it to float on its own 4 guide wheels. No need for me to pick it up. Just tow it around works just fine. FD2584 model.

 

[kthompson]

Not familiar with your tractor but Tractor data shows 20 hp. I have a B2710 Kubota which is 27 hp with hst transmission. I used it a lot with a 72 inch rear finishing mower and it handled it fine, vast majority of the time. Only had issue is grass was really thick due to good rains and allowed to be little tall. For our lawns the combo worked well. Now very little grade. If you hit a small area little heavier than vast part of your property you slow down or don't take a full width cut. Based upon my experience would go with a 60 inch mower.

 

[chim]

Check the weight of the decks while shopping. My little Ford easily handles a 60" Caroni and a LandPride 60" handled the Ford.

 

[3Ts]

Depends on how dense your grass is. I had a Kubota L235 (19 PTO Hp) running a 72" finish mower, it did fine most of the time, but had trouble in dense grass. You will find that cutting grass (as in lawn) takes more power than cutting a field where the stalks are thicker and more spread out.

 

[Mat4644]

Depends on mower deck design also. Rear discharge and greater deck clearance needs less HP. Once had a lower profile deck 72 inch side discharge and it was barely acceptable on a 20 PTO HP tractor.

 

[tman1020]

I had that tractor mine was gear drive. I had a 5 foot rear finish mower side discharge. I was very unhappy with it. Actually wound up trading it for a 4 foot bush hog. The tractor was able to power it OK but it was not excessive. I do not feel it would’ve handled a six footer very well.
Part of the problem was every time I had to slow down and push in the clutch the Power to the mower stopped. and I would lose all my blade momentum. If you had a hydrostatic Drive it might be a different story but then you might not have as much rear horsepower.
The only way I see this working out is if you were in wide open areas where you were not going to have to be using your clutch much. And it was a rear discharge mower. And you don’t need to go very fast. Assuming your tractor Is gear drive.

 

[stevem5215]

72" deck will work if you go slow enough and the grass isn't dense (like spring time) and you use care in not overheating the engine while doing it. See that's the problem. People are impatient and want to go as fast as they can. Bleeding edge and that's where the problem lies. I know I've done it on my 30hp 1900 and it was a problem. The problem was me. Too fast causes these things with a 72.

Steve