Finish Mower vs Belly Mower

[repete]

When my neighbor mows my lane with his three point finish mower it leaves grass clumps all over. With a side discharge mid mount it moves it to the side with every pass.
If you go with a three point, get one that ejects to the side. Or a rake as when he mows it I have to sneak down and use my side discharge. (It is awkward when you have a super good neighbor who comes over to do you a favor.)

 

[Halftrack]

My prejudice is seeping out. I suggest you consider a New Holland TZ 18 thru TZ 25 series with loader and mid-mount mower. They feature a left hand lever that controls the mower height and locks it in the raised position, which is high enough for most dirt work. Mower removal is simple with turning gage wheels 90 degrees, pulling 4 spring loaded pins, detaching the drive shaft and rolling out the side. Turning radius is shorter than most others of similar size.
A loader along with a rear 3 pt mower becomes double precarious in that you are either swinging the loader or the mower into things.

 

[CPTKILLER]

I used a rotary mower/shredder in pastures and around trees with a loader. Clearly I had to be careful with the overhang on both but I got accustomed to it. To get in “closer” I learned to back into some spots . I don’t ever expect a golf course green finish properly with the rocks & clay here in Central Texas. Additionally, I expect another drought type year again.

Nevertheless I appreciate the replies and a final decision will happen soon on a particular subcompact tractor and mower style.

 

[chim]

Rear finish mower for me. Had a belly mower on the first tractor, and rear finish mowers on the next four. Been mowing anywhere between 2-1/4 to 5 acres over the years. For the last several years it's just been our 3-1/2 acres. The smallest yard I've mowed is under 1/2 acre, and the last couple years I did that one was with the current L4240 with a 90" RFM. Always drop the loader and frame, and never use 4WD.

 

[DieselMonk]

All depends on what your landscape is. You got trees or a lot of things to go around, zero turn makes your life so much easier.
If you got big grass fields, a 3 point rear discharge mower mowes that down fast, but will leave lumps of grass if you drive too fast.

 

[FullMetalBucket]

I have a Caroni rear discharge finish mower. The property I bought was really over grown. The first time I mowed the field last year it was almost 2 feet high. The disadvantages of a rear discharge is the clippings shoot right out and don’t mulch at all leaving windrows if the grass was high to begin with. It did a great job though and I didn’t have a lot of obstacles. It’s easy to work on because you can just lift it up in the air to get under it.

I did buy a JD mower end of season as the grass grows like crazy and a dedicated mower seemed justified. Also as I build and plant stuff,there will more to mow around.

I didn’t go with a zero turn I figured a lawn tractor would be easier to drive for the wife and twin girls. I figure they would be more apt to use a smaller tractor for other stuff as well.

 

[chim]

Here's a Google Earth pic of our place. 3-1/2 acres with trees, creek, sheds and a few other obstacles to mow around. Can do it comfortably in around 1-1/4 hours with a 90" rear discharge Caroni. The rear deflector has been removed and I never mow with the loader attached. I've had both side and rear discharge RFMs by LandPride and Caroni. This Caroni is a Facebook or Craigslist find that was bought cheap as a refurb project in early 2019.

The mowing pics were taken a year ago today and it rained a little while I was mowing, as you can see by the water droplets on the door glass of the one photo and wet tires in another. No clumps or windrows. The rear view of the RFM was taken about 6 months prior to the others.

 

[RayIN]

Unless grass is over 12' high, with sharp blades I can mow 1A per hour with my ZTR mower. The ZTR doesn't leave much trimming, but what I have is trimmed with my 40V Roybi string trimmer on the same battery charge.
I would think a small tractor would leave depressions in a wet lawn.

 

[jyoutz]

I used a rotary mower/shredder in pastures and around trees with a loader. Clearly I had to be careful with the overhang on both but I got accustomed to it. To get in “closer” I learned to back into some spots . I don’t ever expect a golf course green finish properly with the rocks & clay here in Central Texas. Additionally, I expect another drought type year again.

Nevertheless I appreciate the replies and a final decision will happen soon on a particular subcompact tractor and mower style.

One thing to consider. A mid mount mower works well for green grass, not so much for dry grass. Mid mount mowers tend to allow dry grass chaff to be sucked directly into the radiator, causing overheating.

 

[dodge man]

Most smaller tractors have a end loader that comes off easily.