Finishing Mower

[CanJim]

I'm thinking of buying s used finishing mower, probably 72". What are the advantages of rear versus side discharge. I'm leaning towards rear because I don't want a line of grass but as I don't have much experience I'd appreciate some opinions. I currently use a Mott flail mower but it's getting a bit old, and I supplement this with a Bush Hog which does a good job but isn't a finishing mower by any stretch of the imagination.

Any advice on what to look for and/or avoid would be great.

 

[CT230 Fan]

I think the rear discharge is the way to go. It doesn't wind row, and you can get right up close to what you are mowing from either side. I have a 72" Landpride that does a fantastic job.

 

[WH401]

My Woods PRD7200 is a rear discharge model and so far I've been very happy with it. CT230 is correct in the fact that the rear discharge models won't windrow, or at least won't as bad as the side discharge models. As long as your not cutting super wet grass, that is really tall, than you shouldn't have a problem. That's the only time I have run into that. Just keep up regularly with your mowing, or mow when the grass is completely dry, and you'll be fine.

 

[easygo]

I think if you keep the grass in check the rear mower would serve you well. It actually gives a nice ground-following cut on land that has small hills because the wheel base (if we can talk about that on mowers) is about the same as riding mowers. The towns here uses woods rear mowers and the parks look good.

 

[koryaube]

Woods Rd6000...just don't let the grass get out of hand and this is a wonderful mower.

 

[daBear]

I have a Bush Hog RDTH 60 rear discharge finish mower and disagree with the wind row statements. The rear safety chains rake the clippings up into clumps as you mow and leave grass piles everywhere.

 

[602466]

I have a Bush Hog RDTH-72 rear finish mower. It has the rear chains and mulching blades. I have no problems with the clippings at all. I like the way it cut and not had any problems with it.

Wally

 

[Thomas]

Backing up slopes you'll get more w/rear,also less chance of getting belly hung mowing wet area.

 

[CT230 Fan]

I have a Bush Hog RDTH 60 rear discharge finish mower and disagree with the wind row statements. The rear safety chains rake the clippings up into clumps as you mow and leave grass piles everywhere.

I have a 72" Landpride. It doesn't have the chains off the back, so it lays the clippings out fairly evenly acrosss. I'm not sure that the chains add much advantage if you are mowing a yard, where I would assume there isn't a lot of surprises. I can see the advantage to having them on a rotary cutter.

 

[rbargeron]

I've used the Bush Hog RDTH-72 - it has a nice rugged cutting deck but the castor wheels are small and don't have much offset from their pivot - so they can dig in and plow when changing direction or turning in tight places.

I keep going back to the Woods RM990. With large free-pivoting castors and swing-back blades, it's a very effective machine, built to last a long time. One thing - it needs more power than the brochure claims. It's happiest with 32-35 pto hp if the grass is dense or damp.

 

[have_blue]

I have a Bush Hog RDTH 60 rear discharge finish mower and disagree with the wind row statements. The rear safety chains rake the clippings up into clumps as you mow and leave grass piles everywhere.

Agree with that! Mowing any grass over 5-6" long will leave windrows.

Side discharge with the deflector raised up spreads the grass widely, and the windrow isn't so bad.

 

[slate mike]

I have the Woods 6' mower sold under the JD Frontier name. Cuts great and I DO like the rear chains preventing stuff from flying out and wrecking something. one tip - keep the blades sharp - easy to do and makes all the difference in the finish cut.

 

[Diamondpilot]

I had a piece of junk King Kutter that was side discharge and it left rows, even with the shoot off. I now have a Caroni that is rear discharge and it does a much better job but like others say if it gets out of control it will clump.

My nod is to rear discharge.

Chris

 

[careyo63]

I have to agree with Slate Mike. I use a Woods, Frontier GM1060R that I have been more than happy with no issues.I keep the blades sharp and it cuts nicer than any other type of mower I've ever used by far.

 

[brandoro]

I have a 60" Landpride rear discharge, the rear of the deck slopes down to control any flying objects so no chains are required. It does a nice job and I like that I can cut up against things on both sides. The only time I used it in overly long grass the clippings were noticeable but still evenly spread. I just waited a couple of days until the clippings had dried out a bit then went over it again and the lawn looked as good as ever.