I finally did it!

[frank_f15]

Get the 5 ft. your tractor will handel it fine, in most cases when cutting fields, u can;t go as fast as your machine can cut do to the fact that fields are not smooth and unless you slow down a bit u will shake both u and your tractor to pieces. thats what i do. and as has been mentioned before the 5ft will cover your footprint and allow u to get closer to things.

 

[Kelvin]

Re: I finally did it (mid vs rear mower)!

5030,

Okay, I'll bite on the mid-mower issue. I must have missed some prior posts & debates on this subject, so I'm not sure what I'm getting myself into here.

Aside from all of the "convience" issues that normally get discussed, I believe that there are two significant issues that play into the "Which is better - rear mount or mid-mount finish mower" discussions. The first issue is the slope of the terrain that is being mowed, and the second issue is the weight of the mower relative to the weight of the tractor.

I have a B2910 with 72" mid-mower, and a B2150 with a 72" rear-mount rear discharge mower (I also have my original 60" side-discharge LandPride 3-point finish mower). Note that the 30hp B2910 is a few pounds LIGHTER than my older 24hp B2150.

When mowing the LEVEL part of my terrain I think that the mid-mower has a slight advantage in the category of mowing convenience, but the overall convenience of the rear-mount mower (R&R, sharpening blades, etc) makes it the best choice. I also like the rear-discharge feature of the rear-mower better.

However, when mowing on the hills, I STRONGLY prefer the mid-mount mower over the rear mower. The rear-mower has a tendency to want to go down the hill (even smaller hills) and will pull rear of the tractor down the hill slightly. When turning around on a minor slope it'll pull the tractor sideways a few inches. I also have to be careful when I mow straight down a steeper slope since the mower has a tendency to want to go down the hill faster than the tractor does and thus tries to pass the tractor. When I start getting "scared", I simply lift the mower which puts all of the weight on the rear tractor wheels thus giving me reasonably complete control again.

Storage Issues: If I want to store the B2150 inside, I usually have to remove the rear-mower or else make room in the garage. There is no problem with the space required to store the B2910 with mid-mower installed.

Kelvin

 

[ponygirl]

Whiskey- I'm also in Central FL but on the east coast where we have lots of sand (Brevard County). Your pasture looks awesome. I'm going with the 5' rotary mower

 

[5030]

Re: I finally did it (mid vs rear mower)!

Well here is the "bite"

1. Kubota's mowers are heavy, that's not bad if you leave the mower on all the time, but a real pain in the back if you have to remove it. and:
2. With the mower in the transport position, unless you remove the gage wheels, there is not very much ground clearance.

Understand, This is my view from my personal experiences. All my previous Kubota's (5) have had MMM's. They all shared the same problem. My last Kubota, an L-3710 had a 90" mower. It was a real bear to mount and dismount. In fact, once I removed it after using it 2 times, I never remounted it. I just used a RM finish mower. The 90 weighed at least 800 pounds and even on a concrete floor it was a 'itch to handle. On rough terrain, without the gage wheels removed, they would hang up. Needless to say, my 5030 has no mid-pto and no mower.