Well, I finally was able to convince the wife to let me mow the lawn with our new F3080 with 72" RD deck. I had done some playing around on it before the grass really needed cutting, but no real seat time until yesterday. Overall, I really like the machine compared to mowing with the
L5740, because it is so much more maneuverable and really cuts down on trimming with the push mower. Our property is all pretty much flat ground, except for a ditch out by the road, so I can't really comment on side hill performance. If I could do it again, I probably would have gotten the side discharge deck instead of the rear discharge. The RD seems to leave a fine cut at any speed, but with tall grass in the 5" range the clippings seem to clump. I also noticed the grass seems to blow out of the left rear corner, which blows grass onto the side of the house. JohnThomas was right, the machine seems to get covered with clippings. I only have about an hour of mowing, and when I'm done, the hood screens are almost covered. My only complaint with the machine itself is what seems like excessive inside wheel spin. I think it has to do with the weight ratio, since this thing is basically like driving a tractor backwards, with the engine over the non-driving wheels. I'm now wondering if a Z series would have been better for our situation? Maybe loading the drive tires would help.
As far as fine adjustments on the mower wheels are concerned, the only ones I am aware of, according to the manual, are where the rear of the deck attaches to the lift arms. Different washer thicknesses to fine tune leveling of the deck. My front guage wheels track straight, unless mowing my ditch where the front middle roller is holding the weight. I also found deck height adjustments to be a pain in the butt, but in reality I will probably just leave it alone now that I have the height set (2.5"). Anyone want to trade a 72" side discharge for a 72" rear discharge deck? I may give Messicks a call to see how much it would cost me to swap decks.
I originally thought the whine was excessive when I picked the thing up, and it is unless running the engine wide open. I mowed full throttle in low range, and could not hear much of a whine over the engine and mower noise. My
L5740 HST can run at any engine speed with no noticeable whine, so I'm not sure why some machines are different. I would assume SUDT2 must come in these F series machines from the factory. Overall, I like the machine, other than the quirks I have already mentioned. We did purchase it new, with the intention that this will be the last mower we will ever need to buy. I hope I made the right decision.
