Mowing Finish mowing with the 2320 / 2520

   / Finish mowing with the 2320 / 2520 #11  
Chuck,

Hope you are well. I have a 1060E RFM for my 2320, mainly to mow my parents' place (my property has very little grass). It does great. Any of the Frontier RFMs will rival the cuts of the best ZTR's out there. They smash up the cuttings so much that rear discharge leaves almost no residue and I feel it is easier on the engine than an equivalent side discharge deck. I like the E Frontier mower here, because it cuts 95% as well as the more expensive ones in the Frontier line for much less cash. The only real advantage of the upline mowers to me is when they are fitted to larger tractors, such as the 4000 series. Those tractors can travel at greater ground speeds and that is where the 3000+ FPM blade tip speed difference between them is notable. I looked strongly at the mid mount D mowers, but for ease of install/removal I went RFM again. The D series mowers on these machines mow like lawn tractors, except better. None of the 2000 series tractors will appreciably damage or compress the grass, they are as soft on turf as almost anything out there--mine has loaded tires. Whether with a mid mount or rear finish mower they are among the best mowing machines available. I have, as you know, owned about every piece of JD equipment known, and I can say without reservation that in most type mowing these tractors, especially with the mid mount mowers can mow almost as fast as a ZTR--unless the ground is butter smooth and there are frequent turns, which would favor the ZTR. My results showed very little difference on similar, challenging terrain and the versatility of the 2000 series machines in other areas made this an easy decision for me (i.e., to go with a tractor-mounted mower instead of a dedicated ZTR mowing machine.

John M
 
   / Finish mowing with the 2320 / 2520
  • Thread Starter
#12  
I am holding my own John, not better, but not worse either, and have been enjyoying the nice fall weather. Everyone's input here has been very good, and very useful. I appreciate it! It sounds like there is a bit more to mounting the D series mmm's than the cute model on JD's video makes it look. :D I have played around a bit with my rotary cutter in the yard, and think that getting close to things wouldn't be bad with some practice. Attaching, and removing is a big deal since I do like to maintain my equipment pretty well, and I do use a tractor for many other things.
 
   / Finish mowing with the 2320 / 2520 #13  
Using a 2320 with the 62d here. Had a GX345 with a 54c before that we thought cut great. The 62d cuts what we feel to be just as well. We inherited my MIL's JD185 with 46' deck and power flow bagger this year. The cut is amazing and we are using that (when time permits) on the acre around the house, 2320 for the rest (2 acres). Waiting for the 185 to die, then I would like to upgrade to a Deere garden tractor with power flow and trade the 62d in on a rear discharge RFM.
 
   / Finish mowing with the 2320 / 2520
  • Thread Starter
#14  
It's interesting to see the number of folks that have tried the drive over decks, and have switched to RFM's or are thinking about it. I'm curious what the main motivation has been. Are the mmm's just still harder to install / remove, or is the cut quality just better with the rfm's?
 
   / Finish mowing with the 2320 / 2520 #15  
Appreciate all the replys in this thread. I've bounced around between JD, Kubota, and Massey and thought I had it figured out in the direction of orange until someone discussed the Kubota geometry of the front wheels and how they can tear up the lawn. Seems this has been confirmed by a few but have heard of no such problems from the Deere guys. Interesting to read about the MMM and RFM. How house has sold and our 7 acres of property will soon have the beginnings of a new house, which of course will need more than my X300.:D
 
   / Finish mowing with the 2320 / 2520 #16  
Appreciate all the replys in this thread. I've bounced around between JD, Kubota, and Massey and thought I had it figured out in the direction of orange until someone discussed the Kubota geometry of the front wheels and how they can tear up the lawn. Seems this has been confirmed by a few but have heard of no such problems from the Deere guys. Interesting to read about the MMM and RFM. How house has sold and our 7 acres of property will soon have the beginnings of a new house, which of course will need more than my X300.:D



Congratulations on the sale of the house and getting away from those Orange tractors and stuff. Let me know when you get your new Green Deere and I will send a Green Wave sweatshirt to match your new tractor.:D


Steve
 
   / Finish mowing with the 2320 / 2520 #17  
I use my 2320/62D (loaded tires) for the yard and have never had problems I do try to stay off of the yard when its soupy wet though...

The biggest thing I have a problem is with the FEL - although I take the bucket off, I have come very close to hitting the house, garage, propane tank because of the 'swing' when you make turns and dont pay attention.. LOL

brian
 
   / Finish mowing with the 2320 / 2520 #18  
"I'm curious what the main motivation has been. Are the mmm's just still harder to install / remove, or is the cut quality just better with the rfm's?"

I guess for me, there are two main reasons: First, I think the cut quality is better. Not that the 62D leaves grass standing or anything, just that the deck doesn't follow the contour of the land as well. I'm not saying it does a bad job, just that the RFM is slightly better.

Second, I like being able to drop the RFM at a moment's notice and not have anything hanging under the machine if I want to use another attachment. Here again, taking off the 62D is not a big deal, just a little more hassle than removing the RFM.

Also, there is the fact that the RFM is a little wider and can get under trees and bushes.


"...I had it figured out in the direction of orange until someone discussed the Kubota geometry of the front wheels and how they can tear up the lawn."

My 2520 will tear up the lawn too, particularly if I try to make tight turns when in 4WD (which is most of the time). The way I deal with it is to just be very careful when I know I'm coming into a situation where I'm likely to cause some damage, i.e., wet areas, turns on hills, sharp turns, etc. I've often wondered if R3's would be any better than R4's (which are what I'm running), but not interested enough to spend $1500 to find out...
 
   / Finish mowing with the 2320 / 2520 #19  
I can't understand why so many of you are trying to mow in 4wd, and don't want the stuff ripped up? 4wd will always tear it up, no matter what tires you have. My 2520 mows with my flail mower set down to 1 1/2 inches, and the tractor never tears anything up. I mow in 2wd, low range, and purposely never ever steer sharp at slow speeds. I also my 2 acres of river bottom flood plain, and still never tear it up. I wait till its dry, so there is no issues.
 
   / Finish mowing with the 2320 / 2520 #20  
Hi all. I also have a 2320 with the 62D MMM. I have loaded R4s and mow two or three acres. The area right around the house is sloped somewhat in the front and I also have bunches of spruce trees to mow around. This tractor mows very well and I don't think I could be happier. The tight cutting radius and power steering is what makes me grin while I'm mowing. However, my opinion may not be worth a lot. After 10 years on a 1986 38" Agway mower (still mows) riding a goat around might have been an improvement. The only trouble I had was mowing the new grass I REPLANTED for the second year in a row (lime and fertilizer - who would of thought). I could only get time to mow it once a week, and with all of the rain this year it wasn't enough. I was cleaning the deck every other week and still had trouble with the grass sticking to the deck and clumping up. Sometimes the deck would clog up and bog the tractor - until it would vomit up the grass clump. It would do the same thing to my Agway. Now that the grass has aged it mows like other areas that haven't been replanted. Taking the deck off is easy, put it back on sometimes is a PITA and I'm sure improvements could be made.
 

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