Do you now have or had a 60" or 72" Kubota rear discharge mulching mowing deck?

[JOHNTHOMAS]

Do you now have or had a 60" or 72" Kubota rear discharge mulching mowing deck?

I may be ordering a new F3080 and for sure absolutely positively want a 72" rear discharge deck (non negotiable). Currently have an F3080 with rear discharge deck (my 4th rear discharge deck I've owned and used for years) and currently have one F3080 with 72" side discharge deck which I've used for 13 or so hours and hate (Have owned many, many side discharge decks over the years). The rear discharge decks blow a lot of the grass under the F machines and cover vent screens after a bit of time mowing. I'm wondering if anyone actually owns/owned and has/had actual hands on experience with an F with a 60" or 72" rear discharge deck with the mulching kit. Seeking experience vs theory or should or heard.

 

[missingstexas]

Let me know if you have any luck...I have the ZD rear discharge with the same issue.

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[JOHNTHOMAS]

Re: Do you now have or had a 60" or 72" Kubota rear discharge mulching mowing deck?

Let me know if you have any luck...I have the ZD rear discharge with the same issue.

Sent from my iPad using TractorByNet

So the ZDs do the same thing? All of them? What one did you have?
I'm giving strong pondering to a Kubota ZD326 60" rear discharge (no 72" rear discharges available on Kubota Zs only side discharge in 72") because rear discharge is (maybe) more important than the extra 12"s but I'd sure prefer the 72" time savings.

 

[EastTexFrank]

Re: Do you now have or had a 60" or 72" Kubota rear discharge mulching mowing deck?

I have a F2680 with 60" rear discharge deck that's had a mulching kit on it from new. Every mower I've had for the last 16 years has been rear discharge with mulching kits so I've no recent experience with side discharge or plain ol' rear dischrge except that I remember that I didn't like them too much.

If your main problem is the vent screens cloging up the mulching blades and rings will cure that. It takes about 4 hours to cut my yard and I never have to stop to clean anything.

The main downside to the mulching set up is that you have to mow at a slower pace so if you're used to mowing at 15 mph that'll be a drawback. My yard is too rough to cut at much above a fast walk so it doesn't bother me. If you let the grass get too tall and thick you will hear the engine start to bog down as the mulching kit doesn't allow the deck to clear itself fast enough. Again, with me, that's usually not much of a problem. For me, the biggest problem occurs when you're cutting tall straggely stuff. The rings at the very outside edges of the deck don't allow the grass to be laid over and bounce back up in time to be cut by the blades so it often requires a second pass or to cut down on your mowing width a little. Usually when I'm cutting tall growing junk grass I allow a 6" to 12" overlap on each pass. That helps a lot but again it will slow down your rate of mowing.

I hope I've explained my findings using a mulching kit so, at least, they are understandable. In short I'd never have a mower of any kind without a mulching kit because I hate having clumps or windrows on the yard and hate blowing grass clippings. I hope that this helps.

 

[JOHNTHOMAS]

Re: Do you now have or had a 60" or 72" Kubota rear discharge mulching mowing deck?

I have a F2680 with 60" rear discharge deck that's had a mulching kit on it from new. Every mower I've had for the last 16 years has been rear discharge with mulching kits so I've no recent experience with side discharge or plain ol' rear dischrge except that I remember that I didn't like them too much.

If your main problem is the vent screens cloging up the mulching blades and rings will cure that. It takes about 4 hours to cut my yard and I never have to stop to clean anything.

The main downside to the mulching set up is that you have to mow at a slower pace so if you're used to mowing at 15 mph that'll be a drawback. My yard is too rough to cut at much above a fast walk so it doesn't bother me. If you let the grass get too tall and thick you will hear the engine start to bog down as the mulching kit doesn't allow the deck to clear itself fast enough. Again, with me, that's usually not much of a problem. For me, the biggest problem occurs when you're cutting tall straggely stuff. The rings at the very outside edges of the deck don't allow the grass to be laid over and bounce back up in time to be cut by the blades so it often requires a second pass or to cut down on your mowing width a little. Usually when I'm cutting tall growing junk grass I allow a 6" to 12" overlap on each pass. That helps a lot but again it will slow down your rate of mowing.

I hope I've explained my findings using a mulching kit so, at least, they are understandable. In short I'd never have a mower of any kind without a mulching kit because I hate having clumps or windrows on the yard and hate blowing grass clippings. I hope that this helps.

Thanks. You, Steve Barlow and the Kubota Regional Rep that was at Barlows today have pretty well convinced me that I don't want a Z with rear discharge and can't use the mulching kit for my type mowing. I've been mowing my yard (not lawn) when it get high enough to never doubt it needs mowing or ever wondering where I've mowed, in other words my neighbors mow 3 times to my once. My Fs with rear discharge work great at my frequency and speed and don't windrow or clump unless I let it get wet when I mow and really high, like foot or so.
The F rear discharge deck mowers are called mulching blades in the Kubota parts book and the deck themselves are a mulching "type" deck but no baffle plate stopping grass from coming out so I guess I already have a semi mulching deck/blade type deal.
The Reg Rep, Steve Barlow and everyone standing around said the Z with rear discharge won't work for me. I drove a Z for the first time today and it's OK but not an F so guess I'll get another F.

 

[missingstexas]

So the ZDs do the same thing? All of them? What one did you have?
I'm giving strong pondering to a Kubota ZD326 60" rear discharge (no 72" rear discharges available on Kubota Zs only side discharge in 72") because rear discharge is (maybe) more important than the extra 12"s but I'd sure prefer the 72" time savings.

Sorry it took so long to respond I have the 326. I'm cutting mostly St. Augustine and fescue. It's hot here in the summer mostly above 90 degrees with humidity above 85%, so if I don't blow out the grass every hour and a half of cutting the machine will overheat. This gets very annoying because as I said it HOT and this takes time. One of the reasons (among many others) I chose diesel was because they sip fuel compared to same sized gassers so I wouldn't have to stop to refuel on my 6 acres. Now I stop to clean the radiator and screen.

 

[TailDragon]

Re: Do you now have or had a 60" or 72" Kubota rear discharge mulching mowing deck?

My former ZD 331 60 inch side discharge would do the same thing, had to watch the temp gauge particularly if the wind was blowing, I would have to use the air hose on the machine and myself. By that time I needed another soft drink/water anyway. Even reaching behind you to wipe off the outer screen would just prolong the mowing for a while. I did most of my mowing with the deck set at 5 inches and still cutting off more than a third of the grass/ground cover.
The rear discharge Fs do not cover me as much unless I have to back up much.

 

[JOHNTHOMAS]

Re: Do you now have or had a 60" or 72" Kubota rear discharge mulching mowing deck?

The bad side of the F rear discharge is the blown grass getting all under the machine and can block the vent screens if one doesn't watch them.
I keep compressors with long handle blow wands and should blow them off every time after I finish mowing . I'm going to attach a thick piece of rubber (big truck mudflap) above the discharge port on my rear discharge deck and see if it has any impact on the grass being blown back maybe a little further and not getting under the F so bad. I'll patent it if it works.