CLOSE TO BUYING

[drajj5]

I too, wanted a belly mower as you..... It took a lot of soul searching to make the decision between an under mounted 60" deck and the 3pt finish mower. My property is bordered on three sides by forest; lots of forest. The trees are so thick that I felt that with a belly mower I couldn't 'reach' under them with a tractor. I spent hours swinging a weed-eater/ pushing a lawnmower underneath the foliage trying to keep the forest at bay. So the decision was made, I would get a 3pt finish mower and back in under those tree's and mow super steep hills with the mower in tow. To give you an idea on the hills- no way I would mow sideways, just too steep. Now since owning and using the finish mower their have been lots of changes on how I mow, where I mow, and how to navigate around trees. A bit of a learning curve in operating the rear mower and with time I have mastered the technique. I wanted the clean cut that a belly mower gave and it did not achieve that quality. It did get close to the quality that I wanted after pulling the blades and sharpening them however. If at all possible give it a try when you make your purchase, to test out both options- belly and 3pt finish to see for yourself.

 

[ritchieb]

Boy can I relate to 3 point hitch mower! I have a wooden fence around the upper edge of my yard and many times I have made the turn with the rear mower and took out a post! So back I went with the post hole digger (the manual type) and set another post and put the boards back on. Seems like I would strive to get as close as possible to cut back on the weed-eating time only to hit a post and then have to rebuild everything. I have since sold the rear finish mower and have not missed it at all. Having my yanmar tractor I have learned how and where to go with it on all the steep ground here so with a belly mower it will lower the center of gravity even more so those places will be safer also. Thanks all once more.