Belly mower vs 3-point finish mower

[RjCorazza]

I prefer 3 point finish mowers for their ease of hooking up, and for many years I used them to back over my stream bank.
The Befco 84" mower I've had for 20 years has served me well, only needing the gearbox seal replaced once.

 

[zzvyb6]

John Deere has an Auto Connect system for the mid mount mowers on its smaller tractors. It’s pretty quick and painless and as quick as a rear finish mower hook up.

I had a Kubota BX before my JD2025r and it was a bit of a pain. The pto hookup was sometimes easy and other times frustrating.

So sell the Kubota and buy a Deere ???

 

[dodge man]

So sell the Kubota and buy a Deere ???

I did but not because of how the mid mount mower hooks up but because of age and size. I was responding more to the oft repeated arguments about mid mount vs rear finish mowers. I know Kubota has its own auto connect setup up now too.

 

[chim]

My first tractor had a belly mower. It did a good job. The biggest problem was the design. The tractor was a Cub 154 LoBoy. It didn't have a 3-point hitch. It did have a very heavy duty front blade. The front blade and belly mower used the same rock shaft to raise/lower both implements, so it could only wear one of them at a time. It was a challenge to swap them without losing a finger with the heavy floppy steel mounting hardware. This was before our driveway was paved, so dressing up the gravel meant spending a couple hours to do 15 minutes of work. A couple years of that convinced me I'd never have a tractor without a 3-point hitch.

The next four tractors have all been equipped with rear finish mowers (5' side discharge, 6' rear discharge and 7-1/2' rear discharge). I really prefer mowing with the rear discharge type because I can mow in any direction without piling clippings or blowing them into the mulch.

I have kept one 5' side discharge for the Ford for just-in-case and rough work. I made one set of blades modified for blowing leaves. It was pressed into service last week and did a good job. However, right now the 5' deck is on the back of the L4240. The little deck looks wrong on the larger tractor BUT the cab keeps me from breathing dust and having leaf debris go down my shirt collar.

 

[Torvy]

+1 on avoiding Titan, especially with something with moving parts. They don't make anything. If you are going to buy Chinese equipment, at least buy it from a company that is honest about it.

They literally put their 'offices' in TN to make people think they were buying from Titan Equipment (now Ironcraft). Ironcraft changed their name to stop the confusion.

 

[JTKub]

...However, right now the 5' deck is on the back of the L4240. The little deck looks wrong on the larger tractor BUT the cab keeps me from breathing dust and having leaf debris go down my shirt collar.

The dust and debris seems to be a feature I didn't think about with my little TYM T224 and 54" MMM. Given the way the radiator cooling fan pulls air in by the operator's knees, that area is right in line with all the dust, leaf powder, etc that the mid mount mower kicks up. That kick panel screen gets covered with stuff quickly. The whole machine gets coated. Because of this, I blow the entire machine off with my gas leaf blower before I park it. I'm thinking a 3-pt finish mower would keep some of the mess away from the tractor, especially the way the hydrostat cooling fan blows out the rear of the tractor, like it does on the little guys like mine.

 

[chim]

The dust and debris seems to be a feature I didn't think about with my little TYM T224 and 54" MMM. Given the way the radiator cooling fan pulls air in by the operator's knees, that area is right in line with all the dust, leaf powder, etc that the mid mount mower kicks up. That kick panel screen gets covered with stuff quickly. The whole machine gets coated. Because of this, I blow the entire machine off with my gas leaf blower before I park it. I'm thinking a 3-pt finish mower would keep some of the mess away from the tractor, especially the way the hydrostat cooling fan blows out the rear of the tractor, like it does on the little guys like mine.

When the wind is blowing the wrong way I get debris with the RFM on the open station Ford.

 

[chim]

Here's a shot from the third and what will likely be the last of the leaf blowing on this side of the creek. Almost all of the leaves on these trees are down. The strip of land on the other side of the creek will still get a bunch of oak leaves from the neighbor's lot across the road. It generated some serious dust in a few places like the gravel driveway at the left of the picture.

 

[Jim_in_PA]

The mid-mount mower that I originally had with my BX22 was certainly functional for cutting, but that was well before "drive over", etc., came to be and it was a 300 lb burden to install and remove, especially since at that point, the driveway was gravel, not paved. I sold it and bought a ZTR for mowing and still have both, despite a significant "downsize" in property in 2021. 3pt finish mowers are great for when you have expansive areas to mow, but are less convenient when there are tight spaces that need to be addressed. So the real bottom line for anyone relative to mowing is "where" you need to mow relative to physical constraints. Big, wide open spaces with little constriction, a big 3pt finisher is a great solution, IMHO. Smaller spaces and a lot of tight turns and/or obstacles...something more compact may be the better solution. And some folks need both!