MMM or Rear finnishing mower???

[friedlake]

Hello, Just pricing out a new 2520 to replace my 4010. The question is wether to go 62mmm or with a 3pth finnishing mower. Have about 2.5 acres to mow which I like to keep looking real nice. Only about 12 large trees to go around,and the house and pool. The rest is pretty much wide open mowing. MMM is quite expensive. quoted by dealer. $3,365-10%=2969 (CDN) . How well do 3pth finnishing mowers work?? What brands should I look at pricing out?

Thanks in advance

Jamie

Here is a picture of the 2520. Has independant mmm lift. Very silly setup I think. Dealer said he wouldn't charge me for it because I didn't think it was worth the extra $$.

 

[kennyd]

In my experience, the rear finishing mowers do a nice job of cutting, are great for wide open fields, and they ride on wheels and follow the ground well.
BUT:
They are a PITA to use to trim around things, like those 12 trees, house and pool. They swing very wide in the opposite direction you turn, so if you turn left, the mower swings to the right and slams into things like trees, houses and pools. Plus you have to be looking backwards to watch it.
IMHO a MMM is the right choice, even though they are usually twice the price.

Just my opinion, its worth what you paid for it /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[FortClatsop]

Hi Jamie, I only recently got my 2305 and a 5' Frontier rear discharge RFM. I have mowed only once so I'm no expert. I got the RFM because I didn't want to obscure my visibility of the limited ground clearance and my field is so rough that I thought a MMM would tend to scalp. I was pleased with my first mow. I set for 3" and had almost no scalping. There is tremendous float to my RFM. I was only limited by the speed with which my kidneys could take the abuse. I had a pretty bad mole problem for a few years. I did just under 4 acres in about 3 hours. If I do some grading I can eventually increase my speed. I don't have much to manuever around and my 2305 turns on a dime even with the RFM. I suppose a larger frame machine and more distance to the ground might be a little more unwieldy. As the weather improves and the grass thickens up I will have a better idea on the quality of the mow. Its a lot different than the brush hog that I had borrowed in past years. I'd have to look it up for sure but I think I was around $2150 for the 5' "economy" RFM. (and they had to do a slight mod for I-match). Good Luck!

 

[friedlake]

Thanks guys. Now I am in a real pickle. I have a line on a slighlty used buh hog finnishing mower from a family member so it's hard to turn it down for $500CDN. Which is making me lean towards a 790. The wife says she would gladly learn to drive a standard tranny on a tractor. ( She love's her 5 speed cars). For the price as compared to the 2520 it hard not to look at. Ii really like the 2520 but can't see paying a lot of extra money for a the bells and whistles that I don't really need. Also a back hoe is in the near future and I think it would be nicer to have the larger 7 hoe?? any thoughts??

Thanks in advance