Mulching kit for BX 2680

[robertm]

Yep I think JT can sell you anything. Just ask him how many tractors he has bought/sold! :laughing:

Well, I'm not too far behind JT.

 

[JOHNTHOMAS]

Thank you Johnthomas. You have given me the additional push I need. I think I'm going to order it up Friday.
Thanks!

First a warning to those with mowing decks with gear drive, like the front deck 72" on my F3080. When I would engage the deck it would kill the engine immediately. I checked fluid in gear box and it was low or empty. I added fluid and it powered properly. After a few minutes of mowing I started smelling something burning. My deck was covered with gear oil!:shocked::thumbdown::confused3: I finally noticed there are two holes on each side of the gear box beside lock down plates with no bolts. I had found a loose bolt some time ago and found an empty hole on the back top of my deck and the bolt fit in the hole so that's where I put it. I ordered 4 bolts and washers from Barlows yesterday.
Robertm, I asked Steve Barlow to price a mulching kit for a 60" deck on a BX2380 shipped to Il and he said he would and call me with price but hasn't yet.

 

[JOHNTHOMAS]

Thank you Johnthomas. You have given me the additional push I need. I think I'm going to order it up Friday.
Thanks!

I previously told you I thought $400 was way high for the mulching kit. I also had one installed on my BX2370-1 60" deck last year when I bought the BX but I didn't price the kit seperate, just how much for this machine with mulching kit and I signed the papers and he delivered the machine.
Well, yesterday I went to Barlows to pick up some bolts I'd ordered and talked to Steve about the mulching kit. After Gary figured the price of the individual parts the price came out to be $418 plus shipping from Barlows to you. Hope I haven't delayed your purchase to much but go forth and leave your money with one of those northern dealers that are close to that price. Again, sorry if I delayed you.:confused3:

 

[dragoneggs]

The price still seems quite high for a BX kit in my mind. Not that you can do better anywhere. Must be a lot more to the kit than for a two blade Z turn.

 

[628pm]

Maybe worth 100.00 plus blades would be a good price, but the real worth is after you have the kit installed. Wife is happy with her bx2680 and the kit. So all is good!

 

[JOHNTHOMAS]

The price still seems quite high for a BX kit in my mind. Not that you can do better anywhere. Must be a lot more to the kit than for a two blade Z turn.

Almost sure the kit for the Z121 I bought three years ago or about when you bought yours was around $125/150 dollars. I think I posted what I paid on some of the old posts about the small Z.:confused3:

 

[robertm]

Thanks guys! Sorry I was offline for a bit. Haven't bought it yet. Been too busy.
The blades are $47
Mulching Kit is $294
Chute Baffle is $80
Shipping for the works... $80?
That was Messicks Even local they charge shipping.

 

[628pm]

That is what we get when we don't buy it when we buy the tractor. I had to pay shipping on both the f2690 and bx2680 mulching kits. Bottom line I am completely happy with both.

 

[JOHNTHOMAS]

Thanks guys! Sorry I was offline for a bit. Haven't bought it yet. Been too busy.
The blades are $47
Mulching Kit is $294
Chute Baffle is $80
Shipping for the works... $80?
That was Messicks Even local they charge shipping.

Won't you local dealer get it for you for those prices less shipping by waiting for it to come with their stock orders? I gave you Barlows price and sure shipping to you when it arrives wouldn't be $80.

 

[robertm]

Won't you local dealer get it for you for those prices less shipping by waiting for it to come with their stock orders? I gave you Barlows price and sure shipping to you when it arrives wouldn't be $80.

My dealer is trying to talk me out if it. Says it's a waste unless it's summer or fall... and dry. I was thinking of buying somewhere else.

 

[JOHNTHOMAS]

My dealer is trying to talk me out if it. Says it's a waste unless it's summer or fall... and dry. I was thinking of buying somewhere else.

I was looking at my yard yesterday and noticing how there are no windrows and how good my "yard" looks after mowing and how well the mulching kit works. I did about half of my yard with the BX2370-1 with 60" MMM with mulching kit and my grandson did the other half with my F3080 72" rear discharge deck and no noticeable difference from my second story porch looking down on my down sloping yard. I did notice fine chopped grass right after mowing with the BX but by the next day or the second day before I looked (Yesterday) and it was gone. Free fertilizer which I never apply bagged/bought fertilizer.
I think you have a "confused" dealer. They hear unfounded complaints from customers with ulterior motives complaining and accept the complaints as gospel to be passed on without any actual hands on personal experience thinking they are ding the right thing, sometimes.
I believe you will be satisfied with the mulching kit a day or two after mowing if not the same day and I believe you'll appreciate it's leaf mulching abilities even if it requires a couple of slow passes or a slow pass/mowing and then a fast pass or vise versa. :2cents:

 

[628pm]

We like our mulching kits in both the Bx2680 and the F2690 mowers. Can you run into some problem times due to weather, you will with any mower. Have you mowed you grass when it is wet with a normal mower, it looks kind of bad doesn't it. If I have anything to say negative is that if the grass is wet and tall the F2690 with 72 inch deck is a little underpowered. If I had the 60 inch deck on it, it would be no problem at all. But this has only happen maybe 2 times this year. I don't see myself changing for anything else. Would like a 60" sickle bar for the BX but that is another story for later.

 

[robertm]

Sorry to be incommunicado for a bit...
I reached out to my dealer on a cost for the bagger, and front blade with front quick attach for winter, but no response.
Not sure I'm convinced the mulch kit will do much at "dissolving" the leaves into the lawn/yard in fall. Last year, I tried to mulch it up, and all it did was kill the grass in spring. It was just too thick with leaves.
At least with the bagger, I can let grass clippings dry out one day, and suck them up at 25% volume when brown and dry, toss them on the burn pile, and WOOF! Gone. Same with leaves. The leaves are so concentrated under my maples and sycamores, that the already light grass gets suffocated from the amount of chewed-up leaves. I'm not sure what the answer is. I'm sure the mulch kit is great, but I can't see it making the leaves issue much better in fall.