Mowing Belly Mower vs 3 Pt Finish Mower

[DrDan]

I am debating which way to go for mount on a BX2200. My ground is a little hilly so I wonder how the finish mowers do when mounted on a 3 pt hitch. When you hit little crests and the front wheels drop down does the 3 pt mower lift and cause irregularities in the mowing height? It seems the rear mower would be easier to remove from the tractor than those dang belly mowers. Looking for opinions...

Dr Dan

 

[MReeter]

Myself,I would go with the mid-mount mower.The decks on the Bx look to be VERY simple,easy to remove.If you attatch a rear-mount mower,your going have to have ballist weight in the front of the tractor,either FEL of some form of weight.To me,nothing more unhandy than to try to mow with a loader on.I've used both style mowers over the years,and for ME the mid-mount is the only way to go.

 

[bpence]

Personally, I favor the mid-mount mower. Easier manuverability, easier to view where you're cutting, and not that difficult to remove/install. On my B7100 you just drive over the deck to install/remove it, handle 3 hook-up points, and install the mid-pto shaft. Takes less than 10 minutes.....on or off.

A lot of folks speak highly of the 3-pt mowers since they are a bit easier to remove/install and do mow very well. Also, the 3-pt mowers are generally a few dollars less expensive.

Bob Pence

 

[GlennT]

I have a Bush Hog 3-pt finish mower which I use with my small John Deere. The Bush Hog was one of the few 48 inch mowers available. I wanted it this narrow because I need to get between trees. The mower has four wheels and when mowing the lower 3 pt arms ride free so that the mower can rest on its own wheels and move up and down over rough ground independently of the tractor. I chose to go with the 3 pt mower because it is easy to hook up and it really is. It takes less than 5 minutes and most of that is taken up by connecting the PTO shaft. HOWEVER, the 3 pt mower is a real pain to maneuver. The rear wheels of the tractor is the point around which everything rotates and it is VERY, VERY EASY to swing the mower sideways into the fence, a tree, the house, a flowerbed, etc. And the inside corner of a fence is a real challenge. Even though I've used this kind of an implement for some time, I still box myself in occasionally when I've misjudged the turn. My Bush Hog is easy to attach, easy to adjust (vertically), easy to lubricate, easy to position for sharpening the blades, and very durable. I am glad I purchased it. Even then, if you find a midmounted mower deck that you can attach easily, my opinion is GO FOR IT!!!

 

[Bird]

DrDan, the other guys have already answered your question, so you can see that personal preference has something to do with it. The only point that I see has not already been mentioned is the fact that if you should change tractors some day, or want to change mowers, the 3-point mowers can go on just about any tractor, while the mid-mounts are usually specific to one model. Each has advantages and disadvantages. I use a 3-point mower myself for three reasons, cheaper to buy, easier on and off, and will work on other tractors.

Bird

 

[Ingo]

I'm also considering the belly vs. 3-pt mower question. Since I mow 1/2 mile along a gravel road I mow quite a bit of gravel along with the grass (and leaves and sticks, etc.), so I tend to sharpen blades fairly often. Now I just tip my little riding mower up on it's end, but I don't figure that will work too well with a tractor. My question for the Mid-Mount Club is how do you remove the blades for sharpening? Drive up on blocks and crawl underneath or take the deck off and flip it over? I can imagine doing it, but it doesn't seem very easy, so I'd love to hear what you do.

John

 

[Charliebrn]

I have a BX with the 60" mid mount. It takes all of maybe 3 minutes to yank the deck off. I then use the FEL and a chain to tip it up so I can pull the blades off. Takes maybe 5 minutes to put the deck back on. Now, my fathers L2900 was a different story...took 20 minutes just to pull the deck off. So take a look at your particular model when considering...

 

[DrDan]

I have a Kubota G1800 right now and I'll tell ya that dang PTO quick disconnect is anything but quick? Way the heck under the tractor and a stubborn thing. I thought it might be nice to have it all out in the open. Yes I know all about the whip effect of items on a 3 PT hitch. I used to farm in Iowa and we plowed at night. Had a 16 bottom on with nothing but a little white marker light on the tail wheel. At row end there was lots of work. Had to raise front 8 bottoms then back 8 then turn then drop front 8 and then back 8. Wellllll "Inadvertantly I did not even realize (AC 365 HP Turbo Diesel) that I had hooked some woven wire fence. About half way across a 40 acre field I suddenly noticed fence posts following me. My god I had egg all over my face on that one. Luckily the farm owner wanted the fence taken down anyhow. Can you imagine??? Didn't even change the pitch of the diesel or turbocharger...

Dr Dan

 

[MReeter]

I don't bother taking a deck off to change blades,I run the tractor up on a set car ramps,take the impact and within seconds I have the blades off.I always buy an extra set of blades,so I've got a set of sharp ones ready to put right back on.Now,if I'm wanting to clean the deck,yes I take it off and raise it with the loader,but to change blades,that's a waste of time.

 

[Russ]

I have a BX2200 and am running a 5' Bush Hog finish mower. Since the finish mower has 4 wheels you mow with the 3pt all the way down and the mower floats on its own wheels. This way it is kind of independent from the tractor bobing up and down over changes in elevation. This may give you a smoohter cut than a mid mount deck in some situations. It would be nice to be able to try both on your property and see what works best for your property. Also a rear finish mower will let you back into a corner and reduce the amount of trimming later.

Russ

 

[bpence]

That's how I do it as well....just run up on the ramps, off with the blades, sharpen away, and in 15-20 minutes it's back to mowing.

Bob Pence

 

[richfromPA]

hey doc,
i have a bx2200 with 54 belly mower and last nite after work i had 10 yds of wood chips to move 40 ft and spread. after about 15 minutes i figgered id better take the mower off, which ive had off before, well anyway, it took 1 minute. the dealer said to rotate the antiscuff wheels 90 degs and roll it out. well this time i didnt rotate them and to my amazment it rolled out just as easy. the wheels are spherical and there isnt any resistence. id bet i could remove and reconnect as fast as a 3pt one. i was gonna get the 3pt instead but didnt and im glad. i didnt want to get boxed in to anything. if you have hills or tight areas the belly is the way to go. more stabilty, no need for up front weight and alot less swingaround to crash into stuff. believe me i know, my dad had 28 acres and i did alot of mowing with a JD 2010 with bush hog 3pt mower. plus yer more likely to get hit with debris. big flat open mowing is good for a rear mower, but thats it. this aint no opinion, it is a fact!! the only pain in the butt is ya gotta sit on yer butt to dis and re connect the drive shaft, BUTTT really that aint no biggy. oh, BTW the wood chip pile was done and swept up in 1.5 hour. this machine can move as fast as a skid loader. one hand on loader, other on wheel, and hoof on pedal. way to go.
rich

 

[Bird]

<font color=blue>big flat open mowing is good for a rear mower, but thats it. this aint no opinion, it is a fact!!</font color=blue>

Hmmm, OK, if you say so./w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif But I've got to mow around a barn, shop building, the house and patio, rose arbor, another rose bush, a swing, a mailbox, a newspaper box, 3 culverts, a blackberry patch, two garden plots, 4 flower beds, 5 power poles, and 28 trees, not to mention fences. Several of the trees have limbs too low for me to get under with the tractor, but I can back the 3-point mower under and right up to them, same with the rose arbor. I can also back it into the corners of the fences. A belly mower certainly has some advantages, but I'd have a lot more trimming to do with the DR trimmer/mower if I had a belly mower instead of this 3-point./w3tcompact/icons/frown.gif I'd much rather ride a little longer than walk./w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

Bird

 

[DrDan]

Oh I'm sure there are benefits to both, but a biggy is if I had bought a rear mount last time I changed tractors instead of the belly I wouldn't be buyuing another one right now. I am pretty good at backing into spots too. You know "farm boy" could back a manure spreader in with an inch to spare on both sides of the bunkers. Now I can't tell you about backing two hay wagons with steerable wheels on both. Now that's an impossible situation!!!

 

[Bird]

<font color=blue>backing two hay wagons with steerable wheels on both. Now that's an impossible situation!!!</font color=blue>

Nope, t'ain't impossible, but it sure does take some thought and practice./w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif/w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

Bird

 

[DrDan]

LOL I could get em about 3 or 4 feet - does that count?

 

[Bird]

Well, it ought to count for something./w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif/w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

Couple of years ago, I discovered that a neighbor was towing the two 4-wheel trailers to the field behind his truck, unhooking the rear one and pulling away from it, then loading the front one (had to slide 5 bales on from the rear one at a time using a hay spear on the 3-point on his tractor), then unhook that trailer, hook up the other trailer to the truck and load it (couldn't load it without it being hooked to the truck or he'd just push it forward when he tried to slide a bale on). Then he had a hard time hooking up what had been the front trailer and was now going to be the rear trailer. The trailers dump those round bales off the side when you get where you're going. I asked him why he didn't just leave everything hooked up and back the rear trailer off to the side so he would have a clear, straight shot at the back end of the front trailer with the rear one hooked up but jack-knifed almost 90 degrees and out of the way. He said it couldn't be done, so I showed him how and spent the day driving the truck for him. He says he still can't do it and tells people he doesn't know how I can./w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

But 40 years ago, I worked for the Post Office in Dallas and we had some mail handlers who could back 3 and 4 of those 4-wheeled mail wagons behind an electric tractor, and I could barely manage one. Never could understand how they could do it back then.

Bird

 

[richfromPA]

hey bird,
howya doin? i got my smiley face on but dont know how to post one, just so ya know im smilin. anyway i got a house, garage, small pole barn, dog pen, 43 trees, patio, 4 beds, swingset, slidin board, 150 ft of fence and 1 hedgerow to mow around and in my application the rear wouldnt work so good. yer right, maybe my comment about flat open mowing with a 3pt probably wasnt the correct way to word it but i was at work and trying to sneak in a post before dad caught me, hehe. at my house alot of areas would not allow room for the swing required and some steep areas. i did notice i had more push mowin to do since it traded in my grasshopper ZTR. and about the low limbs, saturday i temporarily removed the rops to take it to work and cut it and make it foldable. i almost broke off a nice limb on a pin oak. and since i have done alot of welding work to get all these trees, we cant be breakin limbs. i quess on here it is hard to visualize what everyones back forty looks like. im glad that there is alot of differing opinions on here because it helped me decide on my bx2200. have a nice day buddy and remember this post would have smiley faces if i knew how to post em.
rich

 

[Bird]

Rich, I guess that's the reason they make different kinds of mowers; some types work better some places for some folks than other types./w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

And you don't know how to do the smiley faces? I'm shocked./w3tcompact/icons/shocked.gif/w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif Click on the FAQ at the top of the page, then scroll down until you see the different faces you can use and it tells you what to type to get that face./w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

Bird

 

[scruffy]

Rich, just add an open bracket, the name of the face, close bracket, and away you go! One each smiley face of whatever personal choice you made. i.e. (smile) but use brackets instead of parenthesis. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif