glennmac
Veteran Member
People who want tractors with belly mowers are concerned about "maneverability" on their lawns. They want to know, as part of the buying decision, how well a given tractor/belly mower combination will mow around trees, bushes and other obstacles.
Why don't all of us belly mowers collect actual data from our machines and record it in a chart for future reference.
What I have in mind is for us all to measure the diameters of the uncut circles our belly mowers make on a lawn. This is a good measure of maneuverability, as it shows how close the mower can mow around an obstacle.
I have a Kubota 2910 with a 72" belly mower. I measured an uncut circle diameter of about 83". I could be off 1" either way because my grass was short from lack of rain and it was hard to tell where the edge of the cut was.
I found that if you just drive along mowing and then cut the tightest circle you can, there is a flat side on the circle that can deceive you. I recommend the following test protocol: With your mower up and with your gauge wheels set for the lowest cut, go to an area of long grass. Stop. Cut your wheels as sharply as possible. Then drop your mower and cut the tightest circle you can. Finally, measure (honestly) the diameter of the uncut grass in the middle of the cut circle.
Maybe one of the members here with Excel skills can help create a matrix if we all start feeding in data over the next month. When the same tractor/mower combination is reported by more than one member, we should average the results.
I think such an empirical chart will be valuable to future buyers. I know I agonized over how much "maneuverability" I might lose when I went from a BX to a larger machine. Then, I agonized over whether a 2410 with a 60" mower could cut tighter than a 2910 with a 72" mower. I still dont know the answer to that question.
Collectively, we can get actual answers for just about every popular tractor/mower combination if we all participate.
I will re-mearure when I have longer grass, but let's say opening bid is an 83" uncut circle diameter on a Kubota B2910/72".
Why don't all of us belly mowers collect actual data from our machines and record it in a chart for future reference.
What I have in mind is for us all to measure the diameters of the uncut circles our belly mowers make on a lawn. This is a good measure of maneuverability, as it shows how close the mower can mow around an obstacle.
I have a Kubota 2910 with a 72" belly mower. I measured an uncut circle diameter of about 83". I could be off 1" either way because my grass was short from lack of rain and it was hard to tell where the edge of the cut was.
I found that if you just drive along mowing and then cut the tightest circle you can, there is a flat side on the circle that can deceive you. I recommend the following test protocol: With your mower up and with your gauge wheels set for the lowest cut, go to an area of long grass. Stop. Cut your wheels as sharply as possible. Then drop your mower and cut the tightest circle you can. Finally, measure (honestly) the diameter of the uncut grass in the middle of the cut circle.
Maybe one of the members here with Excel skills can help create a matrix if we all start feeding in data over the next month. When the same tractor/mower combination is reported by more than one member, we should average the results.
I think such an empirical chart will be valuable to future buyers. I know I agonized over how much "maneuverability" I might lose when I went from a BX to a larger machine. Then, I agonized over whether a 2410 with a 60" mower could cut tighter than a 2910 with a 72" mower. I still dont know the answer to that question.
Collectively, we can get actual answers for just about every popular tractor/mower combination if we all participate.
I will re-mearure when I have longer grass, but let's say opening bid is an 83" uncut circle diameter on a Kubota B2910/72".
