Mowing B7800 MM Mower Size?

[JPinnell]

Thanks everyone for your input . . .

Well, I inked a deal for a new B7800, LA402, and 72" MMM for $18,500. The other dealer in the area was a little better ($18K) on price, but this guy gave me $7K for my trade (Exmark Lazer Z 72" 27hp <200hrs) which was about retail market value. I figure he made his money on the new tractor price. This dealer also lets me "harvest" from his scrap steel anytime I want

I signed on the last day of 0%/24mo and I'm hoping I can move to the 0%/36mo program?

I take delivery in another week as he had tractor and loader, but no mower deck in stock.

I hope I'm happy with the 72" deck. With the height of the tractor I'll be running the trimmer more and I'll have to prune some of the trees.

- JP

 

[KubotaSteve]

I have the 60" deck on my 7800 but my main reason was for storage. My shed only has a 72" door opening and I still have to raise the mower guard on the 60" to get in the shed. I think the 72" would have been pushing it to fit on some of the trails in the back of my land.And as far as loader strength with real life situation. I moved 8 bags (94 pounds each) of cement in the loader bucket with nothing on the rear and it moved it fine but the rear was very light (glad the tires were loaded). Also when moving wet sand, dirt or stone, I've always found that I run out of space in the bucket before I run out of lifting capacity. Now using my clamp on forks, I have run into some issues (translated as stupidity on my part). I took a skid put on the forks lifted it up and had it hovering over the tailgate of dad's truck. Then proceeded to put two layers of cinder blocks on the skid. I would say I had about 20 to 25 blocks on there (a lot of weight that far away from the bucket). I raised the loader slightly and backed out hit a little rough spot in the yard and the skid nosedived to the ground raising the rear of the tractor in the air. Two problems (none of which were the tractor), I should have tilted the bucket more and not put blocks out at the end of the skid and finally, I should have had my boxblade on the back of the tractor for weight.It's an awesome machine, have fun but most importantly BE SAFE.

 

[JPinnell]

A follow up: I got the 72" MMM on the B7800 and I'm glad I went with it as it allows closer trimming. It doesn't "float" as well as I'd like but overall does a good job. I'm not running at full PTO speeds yet until the engine is broken in a few more hrs so the deck isn't lifting the grass completely and after a couple of days weeds spring back up. I may see if there's a high lift blade option for the deck. I went with the R4 tires and they do tear on the slopes when turning, but surprisingly not much worse than the Turfs on the ExMark did.

I love the loader and toothbar

- JP

 

[art]

I'd go with the 72" deck since that is what you've been using. The quality of cut on the Kubota deck will amaze you!

 

[crbr]

I have a B7800 with a 60" mmm and a FEL. I think that the 60 is probably your best bet unless you have extremely level ground and a lot of storage space. I have a 3 car garage & a shed, with one bay of my garage dedicated to my tractor, and I am still squeezed for space in the winter when I take the deck off of my tractor. You can store the deck upright if you buy/craft some stands. I cut about an acre per hour - more or less - depending on the height of the grass & how picky I am that day. I wouldn't bother with the 72", but that is my opinion. Good luck, I have no regrets with the 7800.

Same as TDF here on the MMM. I have the 60" on a B7800. It's all I'd consider now that I have used it. However I cut down an acre in about 40 minutes or even less. Mid-range gear, throttled at about 2200 RPM. Gets it done.