Front mowers- 2wd vs 4 wd?

[IMCA38]

I've been looking around for a large diesel front mower, either Cushman/Ransomes, Kubota, JD or NH/Ford. I'm somewhat unsure if I want a 60" or 72" deck. 72 would be nice as far as ability to gobble grass, but I think 60 would be more manuverable. Anyway, my question is about the benefit of 4wd. Are 2wd that helpless on all but the flattest yards, or is 4wd overkill most of the time? I'd just like to hear your experiences and opinions.
Thanks

Todd

 

[OrangeGuy]

I have a Kubota 2260 with 60" front mower and 4wd. I really have never needed the 4wd for mowing. My cutting surfaces are not too extreme. The 4wd was an absolute must with the front mount snowblower. In fact, I put chains on all 4 wheels. Regarding 60" vs 72", I like the 60" because of manuverability around 100 plus trees at home and it matches with my old AC 620 and its 60" mower.

My Kubota is 11 years old with 1000 hours and runs as good as the day I took delivery. I have only replaced the throttle cable (moisture from pressure washing rusted it out). Stilling running with the original battery. Great machine; I highly recommend it.

OrangeGuy

 

[wushaw]

WOW....an eleven year old battery, that is just too cool

 

[whistlepig]

I've been looking around for a large diesel front mower, either Cushman/Ransomes, Kubota, JD or NH/Ford. I'm somewhat unsure if I want a 60" or 72" deck. 72 would be nice as far as ability to gobble grass, but I think 60 would be more manuverable. Anyway, my question is about the benefit of 4wd. Are 2wd that helpless on all but the flattest yards, or is 4wd overkill most of the time? I'd just like to hear your experiences and opinions.
Thanks

Todd

On flat and rolling ground a 2WD will be fine. With a front mounted mower on very steep side hills a 2WD is suicide if you have to lift the deck. The front mounted mower will turn you when you lift the deck and take you down the hill for the ride of your life. I have mowed with many commercial mowers. They never went 4WD for lack of traction. They went 4WD because of steep side hills. If you don't have steep side hills 2WD is all you need.

 

[unit40]

Many of the front-mowers I have used over the years have had automatic 4WD, if the drive wheels start to slip, a clutch engages the rear axle. Unless you really need it like I did, 4WD isn't necessary at all. In fact, the more important option on a front-mower is turning brakes. They help control unwanted wheel spin and assist in making tight turns without tearing up the grass. All i have ever used were 72" or wider mowers and I think you should look at those over a 60". reason is that a 72" will typically have more trim off-set to the left side, enabling you to mow closer around obstacles and gives you a smaller un-cut radius of grass. But of course, running a 72" means you need plenty of power under the hood. The New Holland CM224 I had years ago was under-powered at 22 HP diesel for a 72" deck. The Excel Hustler 3400 had a 28 HP Kubota diesel engine and i think that is really the minimum.

 

[WH401]

Tires will make a big difference in how a 2wd vs 4wd will perform. If your climbing a steep hill than a 2wd will most likely slip with turf tires. With bar tires it's may just go right up. If it were me I would go with 4wd, it's going to tear up a lot less if you do need to climb hills.

 

[whistlepig]

Steep side hills are a totally different beast. Tires will matter not. It will be how well the equipment is balanced. Duals would help. I don't do steep side hills anymore. I've slid sideways for 50 yards down steep slopes one too many times with 4,000 pounds underneath me. I have out grown this and want no more of it.