I just went through that process with my TC45DA. I considered many factors and I really wanted the 7 ft mower at first. I didn’t mind spending money on a quality product as long as I was getting my moneys worth. My deciding factor was I needed to be able to trailer the tractor with mower and FEL + forks. I have a 20-foot trailer and it is 7ft 2in wide. No matter where I go, or what I’m doing I always seem to need to FEL and forks so I needed to be able to put them on. The forks only take up about 6 inches because I load them first on the front and spin them around where the forks face the back and but up against the front rail. I then lay the FEL on top of them for securing them. I tried a few configurations to fit these things on and I found that without the forks on, I could probably get the woods 7 ft premium discharge mower on with about 1 inch to spare on the back if I roll my bucket down toward the floor I gained about a foot. Another factor is my 2 ramps on the back fold up, so it can’t hang off the back at all. The Woods premium mowers have the wheels on the outer edges so it would have been tight with the ramps. What I finally did after measuring was load the thing up in it’s best configuration and take it to the dealer. If it would fit ok I would buy the 7ft mower. If not, I would opt to downsize to the 6-foot heritage one and save several hundred dollars. When I arrived at the dealer I noticed the tongue was way overloaded. I’m ashamed I didn’t notice it before I left because it is a major safety violation. By rolling the tractor up the extra distance it really changed my trailer balance. I know the mower would counter balance the trailer some but I didn’t know if it would balance it enough. I also noticed the heritage model has the wheels in the center, which would fit between my ramps when towing. I plan on adding a quick hitch in the future, which will extend the length a little more. All factors considered I went with the 6-foot heritage. Got it home, mowed with it once and I am completely satisfied. I’m relieved too because I like many here like to get a value and research the product for a while. Once it is purchased I don’t have to dig for information any longer, it is over.
In short (I know too late) you can probably get the mower on your trailer with the bucket only with a small amount of space to spare. I believe your tractor has the HP to push the 7 ft deck. I would do exactly what I did if you really plan to buy the mower, take your tractor with you and size it there at the dealer to make sure everything will fit.
It was also a blessing because the mower they sold me had a defective pto shaft. They were going to set the crate on my trailer and send me on my way when I realized my tractor / forklift was up front and I could not get the mower off. I drove the tractor in the back and they mounted it and found the shaft would not go on. They had another shaft right there and it went on fine. That would have been disappointing to get home and fight with it before ever cutting the first blade of grass. Good luck. Paul
