My New Kubota ZD1211 Mower

[lostcreekranch]

Found an error in the owners manual when doing my first oil change today. My mower is a ZD-1021, so the error may not be in your ZD-1211 manual...but just in case:

In the Oil Change section they have a drawing showing the location of the drain plug...the arrow points to the drain plug for the hydraulic fluid instead of the motor oil. If you're doing your first oil change, and not giving it full attention, could be a costly mistake.

You guys have probably changed you oil many times, but just in case someone new reads this thread, thought I'd point it out.

I let my dealer do the first 50 hour service just to have it documented. I’ll do next one and will check my manual for that mistake. Thanks for sharing!

 

[Brown Dog]

...Are you noticing any difference, in grass getting up to front of your radiator, after trimming off your vinyl rear deflectors?

I mowed 5+hrs today & started with a freshly blown out Radiator.
At 3.5hrs in I noticed 4bars, so I shut machine off & dumped pre-screen.
I raked excess clippings out from front of radiator with my fingers & started back mowing.
It instantly went back down to 2bars & stayed there till I quit for the day.

So i can mow longer now with Rear Discharge Deflectors cut off back of deck, before I have to stop & clean radiator

 

[Brown Dog]

Ok Boys,
I am a DieHard RD Deck Guy as I've used RFM with RD Decks for 20+ years.
My 72" Zero mows GREAT But I can't get rid of the 3 heavy windrow streaks of clippings.
I've shortened the rubber Rear deflectors twice by cutting them & also tried the Gator Blades.
Each helped a little bit but I'm still unhappy.
I'm mowing thick Fescue every 7-10days at 2-3/4" on the Dial & blades measure 3" off level concrete floor.
Any suggestions appreciated :

 

[McCaskey]

The spot welds under the front cover snapped within the first 10 hours of usage.
Drilled them out and replaced with stainless bolts.

 

[rustyshakelford]

Ok Boys,
I am a DieHard RD Deck Guy as I've used RFM with RD Decks for 20+ years.
My 72" Zero mows GREAT But I can't get rid of the 3 heavy windrow streaks of clippings.
I've shortened the rubber Rear deflectors twice by cutting them & also tried the Gator Blades.
Each helped a little bit but I'm still unhappy.
I'm mowing thick Fescue every 7-10days at 2-3/4" on the Dial & blades measure 3" off level concrete floor.
Any suggestions appreciated :

Mow more frequently? SD decks windrow more to me but I don’t care as long as it’s not tall

Brett

 

[lostcreekranch]

Big issue for me is, with virtually no rain for about two months, the cutting are not decaying / deteriorating like they would with normal rain amounts.

Every time I mow, I have new cuttings and the old behind the mower.

 

[Brown Dog]

Mow more frequently? ...

I think mowing more frequently is the only answer with a RD Deck.

I am going to cut the remaining 1" of rubber deflector flap completely off & Live with it.

My brother inlaw said my $15k Zero leaves trails of grass clippings like a 20yr old Murray Mower

 

[Milo]

Personally I like RD decks, and that's what I was interested in when I was looking at Zero Turns, but of all the places I looked no one had one in stock. When I asked why, most replied just what you're experiencing, cut quality in particular windrows. I still wanted one just to be able to trim from either side and eliminate a 10" chute sticking out the side especially when I mow the trails. Windrows wouldn't bother me anyway, unless it's really bad. Not sure if it makes any difference how high one mows but I mow higher than most, 4" at the lowest often up at 4.5".
After bouncing off my seat mowing over rough ground and ground hog holes with my tractor when I decided to buy a ZTR I settled on a Ferris Z2100 60" (with side discharge I'd bought RD if they offered it). It's not as heavy duty or powerful as your Kubota ZD1211's but it mows fine and while it's suspension doesn't give a smooth ride on rough ground it does ride a lot better than the tractor.

I wonder if the wider 72" RD decks contribute to windrowing? That's a lot of material to lay out then again it's over a wider width so you'd think it offsets. John Thomas here is a proponent of RD decks and has one on his front deck Kubota, maybe he can offer advice?

 

[Brown Dog]

My "CUT" quality is Excellent no matter the height of grass.

It's the lines and or clumps of clippings left behind in damp or dry grass, either one that looks bad for 3-5 days until grass grows back up thru it.

 

[Brown Dog]

... I am going to cut the remaining 1" of rubber deflector flap off completely ...

I cut all 3 of them completely off today & it's a lot better