Follow up to my original post.
I now have 12 hours on my 7610. It took a while (the dealer missed appointments twice before finally getting the tech to my house) but I finally had my tractor looked at by the dealer. It turned out that the hydraulic fluid is low because of a leak in the factory connections where the loader's piping attaches to the tractor. Evidently there is an o-ring that needs to be replaced. The fluid was very low, didn't show up on the dipstick. I mowed for 2 hours like this before the dealer came over. Do you guys think that anything may have been damaged?
When full with hydraulic fluid, the steering is much better but the deck still drops but very slowly. The dealer adjusted the 1/4" valve and says that the valve does not raise the implement the same way as it lowers it. They told me to ease the control lever back very slowly if I want it to rise slowly. This seems to work, but i'm wondering if you guys experience the same thing.
I'm loving the loader. I've probably used it 4 hours so far, spreading mulch, moving firewood, moving dirt and ripping out several huge jagger bushes.
I've tried to mow my field with the loader, but definitely do not like having to worry about the extra length. The tractor maneuvers so much better with it off.
Yesterday, I really ripped the lawn up. Previously, the only place I noticed damage was when I did a circle around trees but yesterday it was everywhere! My wife was nice and didn't say a word. It turns out that I mowed in 4-wheel drive! Even in 2-wheel drive, this tractor takes much more care than my old 445 to avoid damaging the lawn. Im not used to it yet, but am going to have to figure out a way to change my mowing pattern.
Once again, I whacked the shed with the ROPS. Hopefully i'll get used to it soon.
Regarding cut quality, it seems that it cuts better the lower the deck is set. Even with the deck low, I noticed a high area where the front tires went over the grass. I'm assuming that suction is better at lower heights and am considering getting hi-lift blades. Have any of you tried hi-lift blades on the 7610? The 7610 cuts hills much better than the 445 due to the deck being supported from the ground. The suspended deck on the 445 always used to cut the high side of the deck high and the low side low and created a "tiered" effect.
