Tom_H
Veteran Member
A couple of thoughts:
R/r of the MMM gets easier over time. Make sure PTO stud and receiver are well lubed and use finesse, not force. An MMM dolly makes maneuvering the deck into position much easier. I have written extensively re. the dolly and PTO attachment technique in the past. If you can't find my posts by searching, I will see if I can dig up links. There are pics of the dolly in the archives.
Secondly, I believe your tractor, being in the Bxx20 category, has the deck that does not have to be in ground contact (can still cut while still partially suspended). There is a currently active thread re. adjusting all the little threaded rod suspender adjustments on the underside of the tractor. You really should be able to keep fine tuning all those until you get a level cut.
As far as the yard itself having all those high and low spots, that is not a deficiency of the tractor. You may need to rototill then drag to level the topography. Another possibility is to have a transfer load of sand delivered. Use the FEL to take a load at a time, and with a shovel, broadcast small amounts of the sand into the low spots, but leave the tops of the grass blades exposed to light. If you continue doing this over a period of time, the low spots will fill in without the grass dying or having bare spots.
Philosophically, I prefer to have one single internal combustion engine to maintain. One has to be concerned about IC engines staying lubed, not having stale fuel, and possibly battery drain down. Maintaining IC engines for pressure sprayer, chain saw, edger, string trimmer, leaf blower, lawn mower, tractor, paint sprayer, pneumatic tool pump, PHD, log splitter, generator, rototiller, rough cutter, etc., et. al. just gets to be overwhelming. Since I have AC @ a number of points on my property, I have tried to change most of the smaller of these to electric (although handling all the power cords is somewhat of a PITA) and go with rear PTO powered versions of the machines with medium power requirements. I think the main consideration in whether to use the same machine for mowing and other tractor work is whether that "other" tractor work requires considerably more weight and hp that mowing. If the "other" work is light, a sCUT or CUT can be a good all purpose machine. If the "other" work involves heavy plowing or excavating trenches for a city sewer system, the massive machine required for this work is obviously going to have too much impact on turf. So again (assuming one has the finances), this is the primary consideration, "Is the power and weight of the machine that can (or will) be used for mowing compatible with the power and weight of the machine that is required for other tasks?"
Once one decides the tasks vary too much, it seems sensible then to specialize the machines so that they can perform their relative tasks better. Having two or three BX tractors makes absolutely no sense to me. If I could afford multiple machines, I would have a ZTR or F series for fast quality mowing, and an L or M series tractor for the heavy duty work. As it is, however, my budget allows me one machine with numerous attachments.
R/r of the MMM gets easier over time. Make sure PTO stud and receiver are well lubed and use finesse, not force. An MMM dolly makes maneuvering the deck into position much easier. I have written extensively re. the dolly and PTO attachment technique in the past. If you can't find my posts by searching, I will see if I can dig up links. There are pics of the dolly in the archives.
Secondly, I believe your tractor, being in the Bxx20 category, has the deck that does not have to be in ground contact (can still cut while still partially suspended). There is a currently active thread re. adjusting all the little threaded rod suspender adjustments on the underside of the tractor. You really should be able to keep fine tuning all those until you get a level cut.
As far as the yard itself having all those high and low spots, that is not a deficiency of the tractor. You may need to rototill then drag to level the topography. Another possibility is to have a transfer load of sand delivered. Use the FEL to take a load at a time, and with a shovel, broadcast small amounts of the sand into the low spots, but leave the tops of the grass blades exposed to light. If you continue doing this over a period of time, the low spots will fill in without the grass dying or having bare spots.
Philosophically, I prefer to have one single internal combustion engine to maintain. One has to be concerned about IC engines staying lubed, not having stale fuel, and possibly battery drain down. Maintaining IC engines for pressure sprayer, chain saw, edger, string trimmer, leaf blower, lawn mower, tractor, paint sprayer, pneumatic tool pump, PHD, log splitter, generator, rototiller, rough cutter, etc., et. al. just gets to be overwhelming. Since I have AC @ a number of points on my property, I have tried to change most of the smaller of these to electric (although handling all the power cords is somewhat of a PITA) and go with rear PTO powered versions of the machines with medium power requirements. I think the main consideration in whether to use the same machine for mowing and other tractor work is whether that "other" tractor work requires considerably more weight and hp that mowing. If the "other" work is light, a sCUT or CUT can be a good all purpose machine. If the "other" work involves heavy plowing or excavating trenches for a city sewer system, the massive machine required for this work is obviously going to have too much impact on turf. So again (assuming one has the finances), this is the primary consideration, "Is the power and weight of the machine that can (or will) be used for mowing compatible with the power and weight of the machine that is required for other tasks?"
Once one decides the tasks vary too much, it seems sensible then to specialize the machines so that they can perform their relative tasks better. Having two or three BX tractors makes absolutely no sense to me. If I could afford multiple machines, I would have a ZTR or F series for fast quality mowing, and an L or M series tractor for the heavy duty work. As it is, however, my budget allows me one machine with numerous attachments.
:laughing:
