Air Tunnel or rear discharge?

[Chuck52]

Agood,

I have an ATH600 that I use with my old Kubota L210. I've been well satisfied with it, but the problem is that it is the only finishing mower I've ever used! It does do what seems to me a remarkable job in wet grass. I've got a low spot in one field that is basically a shallow pond with grass. I've mowed that area when it had a few inches of water standing in it. I use this mower like a brush hog sometimes (the implement, not the brand) and it is amazing what I can cut with it. Because I often cut fairly tall grass, I do indeed see windrows, and perhaps a rear discharge mower would do a better job dispersing the clippings, but I'd have to use one of those to see if it cut as well as the ATH600.

Chuck

 

[HERKYEC130]

I use a 5' Land Pride FDR16 rear discharge mower deck and absolutley love the way it cuts.
I only get windrows when I set it up hight to cut my pasture fields.
Using it on my lawn it evenly distributes the clippings.
I'll use it to go over the rows of grass left by my wife with the little mower in the front yard. It spreads the clippings out that her side discharge mower leaves.

 

[agood]

What about the throwing objects....does the rear discharge throw things...like sticks or rocks easier than the side discharge?

 

[HERKYEC130]

The rear of my deck is angled down. I have more trouble throwing objects with my Troy Bilt side discharge mower than I do with the large finish mower. It just shoots it out and down as opposed to my lawn mower shooting out and back.
I have a 5 walnut trees in my yard and my wife scares the bejezus out of me when she gets them flying.
I have no problem with the finish mower.
Being objective though, I wouldn't notice as much due to the discharge being behind me as opposed to right beside me on the lil mower.

Paul

 

[Bob_Skurka]

Most rear discharge finish mowers I've seen have some sort of a deflector to prevent things from being thrown out of the back of the deck. My Befco has chains that hang down to prevent rocks from flying out the back; I've seen that type of system on other brands.

The one downside to a rear finish mower is that when the grass gets tall and you mow you will be left with clumps in your yard. The side discharge decks tend to windrow when the grass is long. Either way, the solution is to mow the grass more often. Both types of mowers are good, some prefer one, some the other. I don't like windrows from the side discharge units, but then again, when the grass is long I don't like the clumps from my unit.

The only real disadvantage I can see with side discharge is that you blow cut grass on top of uncut grass and then go over that area you are cutting uncut grass plus clippings which then can discharge onto another area of uncut grass. . . etc.

Personally, if I could find grass scented astro-turf I think that would be the solution.

 

[nomad]

Can anyone post bottom view pictures of these two finish mowers; side discharge and rear discharge to compare them for their efficiencies?

I'm thinking about to built my own finish mower either a "combined of side+rear discharge" or "a discharge upward through a duck-clippings collected in a big bag mounted on the back of tractor". Which to chose? Upward discharging seems to make more sense to me.

 

[chim]

This is kinda like Ford/Chevy, or more like RFM/MMM. You will find people in both camps who believe their setup is the best.

I have one tractor with a cheapie Caroni side discharge RFM, and another with a side discharge Landpride AT RFM. Several years ago I had an International with a factory side discharge MMM. All are 60" models. All have done a decent job when the grass was cut at the proper time.

This year I kept getting behind with the mowing, and late in the season I added small "wings" to the RFM blades on the Landpride. This made a world of difference in being able to handle tall and wet grass.

I like the side discharge because it can be used as a "rake" in the Fall to get leaves under control. If the grass gets way too tall, I have been known to mow one day, then use the RFM to gather clippings the next.......................chim

 

[Egon]

Shucks folks; the best finish mower is self controlled and has a fertilizing enabled rear discharge. It works when required and is enviro friendly. Doesn't even require sharpening of blades but does require a source of water to run properly over the long haul.

Egon

 

[JimMc]

Would that model also come with a remote control tether? /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[Egon]

Sure could use a tether but even better on the high technology side would be an electric fence.

Egon