Befco Mowers

[garbageman]

Can anyone give me their input on Befco Cyclone RMM? It was between the Woods and Befco, I went with the Befco for the 7500.

 

[BigBob]

I had a 72" Befco for quite a few years. Liked it very much. Only reason I sold it was to get a rear discharge mower, which I still haven't gotten yet.

 

[Bob_Skurka]

I have an older Befco Cyclone 25 which is a 60" rear discharge finish mower and I like it. It is very heavily built, can be used to clear things it was not designed to clear, and it will keep the lawn looking like a golf course too.

The only complaint I have is that it leaves a trail of grass clumps if the grass is too tall or too wet. But I believe that is common with many of the rear discharge finish units, at least it is with several that I have seen.

I don't know about the new units, but the older units are NOT compatible with quick hitch systems.

 

[RoyJackson]

I have a 60" Befco. Nice mower...makes the lawn look really nice, well groomed.
Other then the usual maintenance...grease, sharpening and one belt change in three years, the mower has done what it's made for...and done it well!

 

[Fisherman305]

I have been satisfied with my bush hog rfm with one exception and that is the pile up of grass. Even though I would not recommeded to anyone I tied the hang down safety chains up so the grass would be more evenly distributed, I am considering removing them. What does everone else thing about this? Mine is a rear discharge type.

 

[Kelvin]

I got a good deal on a 72" rear-discharge Befco Cyclone a while back. I realized later on that the Befco mower has a high price tag when new, which made my deal a lot better than I originally thought.

I like the mower a lot, except that one of the pneumatic tires has a slow leak. I will caution you make sure that the tires have adequate tire pressure prior to mowing (assuming that you model has pnuematic tires). Running the mower with low tire pressure will cause the tire to break its seal with the rim and it is a real PAIN to get the tire re-seated.

Kelvin

 

[Bird]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( What does everone else thing about this? )</font>

Personally, I would not defeat the purpose of the chain guard, but that's up to you. No problem as long as you know for sure that there's no person anywhere around who could be hit by a flying object and no other thing (car, house, etc.) that could be damaged by a flying object. And I guess it would also be OK if you know for sure that your lawn only has grass and nothing else that a blade could throw. I just figure that no matter how diligent I am, sooner or later there's going to be a small rock, nail, short piece of wire, or something similar find its way onto the lawn so that's why I like the chains. And of course even with the chains I don't want anyone else in the vicinity when I'm mowing. Overly cautious? Maybe, but I'd find it hard to live with myself if someone got hurt because I wasn't cautious enough.

 

[DK_Farms]

I have a 72" RD6 and I like it, too. Like Bob, mine tends to leave a trail of clumps when the grass is a little long. I have been thinking about taking the chain guard off as well to see if it helps. (Please don't report me in the Safety forum) If you cut no more than 1/2 to 3/4 inch off the top each time, it does a superb job. Personally, I don't like mowing that often but then that's why they call them "grooming" mowers I suppose.

I have the high suction blades but I still have an issue with grass not being picked up real well where the R4's track. As for ruggedness, I've used it in places where I should have used my rotary cutter and it did great. And as others pointed out, unfortunately it is not quick-hitch compatible. Hopefully I will have a solution for that problem over the winter.

 

[Bob_Skurka]

REGARDING THE CHAIN GUARD. . . I looked at taking it off but I figured that it was there for a reason so I left it on. BUT I have given it some thought. I think that removing it might eliminate SOME/ALL of the grass clumping. However, I go back to the safety issue and I keep it on.

So then I thought obout removing every-other piece of chain. And I am comfortable with doing that, a good compramise with safety and may eliminate some of the clumping? I have not done that yet, but this fall when I put the deck away, I have that on my TO DO list of things to try out.

 

[DK_Farms]

I am thinking about a "partial chainectomy" on my Befco, too. The reasoning behind my reasoning may be flawed but here is what I see. My mower leaves 2 rows of piles. The piles on the right are slightly smaller and less frequent than the piles on the left. They look like they line up roughly with the ends of the blade baffles at the back of the mower. Another observation to substantiate that is the clippings that get caught up in between the chain links. They seem to be more concentrated at the ends of the baffles where the piles exit the machine. Evidently the grass collects there, builds up, and rolls out as a pile, then the cycle repeats itself. I am thinking of removing a six inch section of chain behind each baffle just to see what happens. But then, if I would cut the grass when I was supposed to, this wouldn't be an issue, would it. /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif