orlo
Platinum Member
I'm always looking for ways to finish mow faster. My dealer called me and told me he head a 13' wing mower come in used and if I might be interested he'd drop it off for me to try. It ended up being a 15' (Frontier FM1015R). Had some rust on it and a couple of the tires had cracks but were holding air.
First thing when I saw it in my driveway I though "my god, this thing is huge". It was. I had already looked up the specs. It weighs 3200lbs. The operating tongue weight was fine for the 3720. Technically the transport tongue weight was a little heavy but close enough.
After I let down the wings it seemed even bigger than I thought. I moved it to the back yard and engaged the PTO then went up to PTO speed. Moving 9 blades I thought it would vibrate, etc. - It didn't. Very smooth. Cutting grass that I hadn't cut in 2 weeks I could go 3-5.5mph. Stayed around 4-4.5 most of the time. The 3720 had plenty of power except in one or two spots where the grass was particulary thick I had to slow down to maybe 3 or 3.5 for a few seconds. Holy crap I thought - a 180" cut...
For long wide turns it actually moved pretty well. Adjusting quickly to obstacles was possible but slow. You need to anticipate well in advance. Turning tight the unit showed a tiny bit of vibration but that was due I'm sure to the extreme angle of the drive shaft (The unit is draw bar mounted and pivots, not like 3pt mounts).
I could mow the open part of my front yard on a small hill, but I have a small square section enclosed by bushes that I just couldn't get.
My conclusion was that it was way, way too big... However had I been able to mow my entire lawn with it (I had to switch to the 72" MMM for the tight part) I might consider keeping it...
It took me maybe 1/2 an hour to mow the 4-5 acres in the back part of the yard, about 1/2 or less what it normally takes me for that part.
The grass was long so I had a lot of grass poop here and there but the cut quality (The blade speed is 16,950 fpm) was pretty good except that I think the decks needed some slight adjustments.
I'd still like to get a pull behind - Reason, the 72" MMM is a pain in the *** to put on and off often. Unlike the 2305 deck which can be taken on and off in about two minutes (Two pop pins, the front mount and drive staft) and most importantly does not lose the height adjustments, on the 3000 series you need to full out the height adjustment, undo two pins which always cause the adjustment yokes (coming off) to spin a turn or two screwing up the height adjustment.
I love the cut quality of the 72" MMM and when I use my cyclone rake for material collection it's great, but when I want to do 'tractor stuff' I don't want the huge deck hanging on banging into stuff and to take it on and off frequenty is a pain.
I've been looking at the 90 and 110" Frontier pull behinds (I ran an 84 and I know with a 90 or 110 I could cut my entire lawn) but the 90 and 110 run at much lower blade speeds and have swinging (rotary cutter style) blades which will be more rugged but won't give as clean a cut.
Anyway, I needed to try it to know. It was a massive beast but handled nicely.
Attached are some pics.
First thing when I saw it in my driveway I though "my god, this thing is huge". It was. I had already looked up the specs. It weighs 3200lbs. The operating tongue weight was fine for the 3720. Technically the transport tongue weight was a little heavy but close enough.
After I let down the wings it seemed even bigger than I thought. I moved it to the back yard and engaged the PTO then went up to PTO speed. Moving 9 blades I thought it would vibrate, etc. - It didn't. Very smooth. Cutting grass that I hadn't cut in 2 weeks I could go 3-5.5mph. Stayed around 4-4.5 most of the time. The 3720 had plenty of power except in one or two spots where the grass was particulary thick I had to slow down to maybe 3 or 3.5 for a few seconds. Holy crap I thought - a 180" cut...
For long wide turns it actually moved pretty well. Adjusting quickly to obstacles was possible but slow. You need to anticipate well in advance. Turning tight the unit showed a tiny bit of vibration but that was due I'm sure to the extreme angle of the drive shaft (The unit is draw bar mounted and pivots, not like 3pt mounts).I could mow the open part of my front yard on a small hill, but I have a small square section enclosed by bushes that I just couldn't get.
My conclusion was that it was way, way too big... However had I been able to mow my entire lawn with it (I had to switch to the 72" MMM for the tight part) I might consider keeping it...
It took me maybe 1/2 an hour to mow the 4-5 acres in the back part of the yard, about 1/2 or less what it normally takes me for that part.
The grass was long so I had a lot of grass poop here and there but the cut quality (The blade speed is 16,950 fpm) was pretty good except that I think the decks needed some slight adjustments.
I'd still like to get a pull behind - Reason, the 72" MMM is a pain in the *** to put on and off often. Unlike the 2305 deck which can be taken on and off in about two minutes (Two pop pins, the front mount and drive staft) and most importantly does not lose the height adjustments, on the 3000 series you need to full out the height adjustment, undo two pins which always cause the adjustment yokes (coming off) to spin a turn or two screwing up the height adjustment.
I love the cut quality of the 72" MMM and when I use my cyclone rake for material collection it's great, but when I want to do 'tractor stuff' I don't want the huge deck hanging on banging into stuff and to take it on and off frequenty is a pain.
I've been looking at the 90 and 110" Frontier pull behinds (I ran an 84 and I know with a 90 or 110 I could cut my entire lawn) but the 90 and 110 run at much lower blade speeds and have swinging (rotary cutter style) blades which will be more rugged but won't give as clean a cut.
Anyway, I needed to try it to know. It was a massive beast but handled nicely.
Attached are some pics.
