B7800 Mowers

   / B7800 Mowers #1  

Anonymous Poster

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I see so many posts about how wonderful the mid-mount mowers operate, and a wonderful job they do. Is anyone having the same luck with the rear finish mowers? I hear how well the MMMs do in "thick wet" grass. If the grass/weeds are over 12" tall, would I still get the same quality? The bottom line is I am trying to determine if I can get away with doing an acre of pasture with the RFM if I don't let the growth get away from me - or forget it and get a rotary mower also. Call me cheap! /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif
 
   / B7800 Mowers #2  
brooster,

It's hard to know how to respond because you don't say how many acres of finished lawn you want to mow and how many acres of pasture. There is also an ambiguity in your post, to me at least, as to whether you are asking about finish mowers vs. brush cutters (aka rotary cutters, brushhogs, bushhogs, or shredders) or whether you are asking about midmount finish mowers vs. rearmount finish mowers.

If your pasture is ONLY soft grass and weeds, you can knock it down initially with a finish mower, either a RM or a MM. It may look ugly and take several passes. You would start with the finish mower in its highest position. The RM has a big advantage here, because you can probably lift it more than a foot in the air, depending on your size tractor, with the 3ph. A MM, on the other hand, can only be lifted about 5". You would then make another pass at a lower height. Etc. Thereafter, you can maintain it with either a MM or a RM. The choice between these two types of finish mowers is a never ending debate.

The brush cutter is a necessity if you need to take down woody growth, or where you have lots of stumps, rocks, fence posts and other hard things hidden about your property. It is also more efficient for taking down really tall grasses. I have taken down 10 foot grasses and reeds easily with one pass of my brush cutter. The cutter will also atomize ... quarkize ... shred anything it can cut or knock down. A medium duty brush cutter will almost completely obviate the need for brush piles, brush burning, or expensive chippers.

Post more details on your the acreage of your lawn and pasture, and what's in your pasture. I note that you have 19 acres. Once I saw what a decent size tractor, fel and brush cutter could do, I ended up clearing a lot more of my land land than I ever thought I would.
 
   / B7800 Mowers
  • Thread Starter
#3  
Sorry about that . . . in my mind it was clear! /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif Guess I shouldn't think others can read it.

I have 1/2 acre of lawn, 1/2 acre of garden, and 1 acre of fenced in pasture. I should mention probably yet another 1/2 acre or so around all this that should be kept clipped down. The rest of the 19 acres is rented out and planted. All is cleared and tillable. If I wanted to really be adventurous, I guess it would look even better to mow around the fields.

Yes, I was tring to determine if I could get by without purchasing a separate rotary cutter. I also wanted to go the RFM route for mowing so I wouldn't have the hassle of the MM attaching/detaching. I just don't remember seeing posts regarding the quality of the RFMs.

Thanks!
 
   / B7800 Mowers
  • Thread Starter
#4  
I have a 60" Bush Hog RFM, rear discharge and am very impressed in tall wet grass and under good conditions - my wife likes the cut, so that is all that matters. The RFM has cut down on my weed wacking time too. We have many overhanging fruit trees on the edges of our lawn. If I had a MMM the ROPS would be taking branches out or the branches would be taking my head out. With the RFM I can back up and get under these trees, the same is true with the open edges. Some of our edges have a drop off that I can back up into without worry of having the tractor close to the edge. In many places I will work in reverse, just to get close to mulch edges etc and to me the RFM seems to work like one of those "Ferris" front cutting mowers. If I had a MMM for my property I would not be able to get to the same places I get with the RFM, not to mention the need to take the MMM off if I decide to go into the woods to get some firewood.

For me a MMM would not be of benefit.

LOL, Frank
 
   / B7800 Mowers #5  
That narrows it.

Let me break out your situation into the pertinent questions, as I see it. Warning: opinions differ on all things tractor and otherwise.

1. Do you need a brush cutter? No.

2. Which gives a cleaner lawn cut, a RFM or a MMM? Some argue that a suspension MMM (as opposed to a ground contact MMM) gives the best cut. I don't know about that. It is true that a ground contact MMM and a ground contact RFM will probably leave mower wheel tracks in wet grass. But the grass springs back quickly and the tracks are gone the next day. People here who have suspension MMM's, ground contact MMM's and RFM's all express satisfaction with their lawn cuts. I, personally, cant tell the difference in cut.

3. Is a RFM easier to attach/detach than MMM. As a general proposition, yes, but their are a lot of variables. The answer is definitely yes if you have Freedom Hitches and dont have to mess at all with the worst invention of mankind--the 3ph. If you dont have Freedom Hitches, then the ease of attach/detach will depend on what MMM you are talking about. Some MMM's are bears, with lots of connection points. Suspension MMM's typically have non-rotating caster wheels and are very hard to maneuver on the ground. I have a 2910, which takes the same two MMM decks as the 7800. I have the 72" MMM. I have done a lot of personal hands on research, and I believe the 2710/2910/7800 72" MMM is the easiest MMM I know of to detach and attach. That is because there are only 3 attachment points, all spring pins. More importantly, it is the only deck that has rotating caster (not scalp) wheels at each corner. Thus it rolls and manevers easily on the ground. I highly recommend it over the Kubota 60" deck for these tractors. You get it on and off the tractor in one of three ways: (1) drive over it, which is the only method stated in the manual; (2) lift up the tractor with the FEL, if you have a FEL on the tractor; (3) lift up the tractor with a good car jack. Lastly, you have to attach a pto shaft to all mowers. It is easier to attach to the rear pto than a mid pto. My conclusion on ease: with Freedom Hitches, a RFM will be easier than any MMM. Without Freedom Hitches, a RFM will be easier than caster wheel MMM decks, but it will be a close call if the MMM deck is like the 72" Kubota.

4. How often will you be attaching/detaching ANY mower? I don't know. Only you can estimate that. If you will always be leaving it on, as many do, then all of question 3 is sort of moot. I attach/detach all the time because I use my brush cutter all the time on my fields. It is a big pain.

5. What mower would I get for my property? For my 11 acres, I was absolutely convinced when I bought that a MMM was easier and better to handle than a RFM at the time I bought. And I think I bought the easiest to use and attach MMM available in the size tractor I was looking at. Now, three years later, after many hundreds of hours dirving backwards with my brush cutter and backblade "snowplow", I wish I had gotten a RFM--mainly for all the reasons fratomdev states and, less so, because I hate crawling under the tractor. I think a RFM is easier if you have to mow under lots of bushes and trees, as I do, or mow the edges of creeks or ponds, as I do. On open swaths of grass, the maneuverability of either mower is irrelevant. More points: RFM's are cheaper and have a lot more aftermarket value. My $3000 MMM is almost valueless on the market unless I sell it with the tractor.

6. What mower would I get for your property? I rarely recommend a smaller tractor, but if all you are basically doing is mowing two or three acres and maintaining a half acre garden, you may not need a tractor as big as a 7800 at all. A BX would certainly do, or maybe even a lawn tractor. If you have lifting, clearing, digging, or dirt-engaging needs that you havent mentioned, that's a different story.
 
   / B7800 Mowers
  • Thread Starter
#6  
Thanks for the input! Very helpful. I plan on purchasing a B7800 in the next few weeks. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif My wife won't let me get the BX2200, "Too small" she says. Then we looked at the B7500, "Not enough PTO horse power", she says. So we are at the 30 HP B7800! I can't say that I disagree either. I'm sure that over the years I'll find more and more to do. And yes, we are planning some earth moving, land scaping, expanding the barn, fencing, etc. already. Just trying to get my financing in order.
 

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