Rear Discharge mower for Baby

[Maker102]

Well guys I went and did it got a Bota 3010 HST w/loader comming in tomorrow morning. The dealer is going to deliver it at 10:30 damm I can't wait. Pictures will be up tomorrow night. Anyway the only mowers that he had reasonable were all side discharge and well after reading the posts here I think rear discharge is the way to go. I know even less about mowers than I do tractors so could some of you point me in the right direction. As some already know I am always on the lookout for a bargain and well to be honest I can't justify $1700.00 for a Woods or Landpride. Am I screwing up here and saving a few bucks up front for misery down the road? What brands do you recommend and for approx what price? I looked at one at www.northerntool.com and I think its made by Farm Star. Does anyone have personnel knowledge of this make? Would you recomend an alternate manufacturer? Anyhelp would be greatly appreciated.

Carl

 

[GrantMO]

Carl,
Congrats on the tractor. There are a bunch of threads on this subject if you enter "rear discharge" in a search. I bought a Landpride rear discharge mower this spring and am very happy with it and think it's worth the money.

 

[Maker102]

Hi Grant

I did read that thread but it had nothing about Farm Star. From what I read on it, it has a little slower blade tip speed and is almost a 100 lbs lighter than a Woods. However having said that it has the same thickness of deck material. Where did these 100 lbs go? Are gearboxes mostly universal? Anything I should be looking for here? I really was hoping to start a Kubota vs Chinese debate here so I could get the biggest bang for my buck. I always like to get the best product that will suit my needs at the best possible price. Thanks again for the input.

Carl

 

[Gary_in_Indiana]

There's a relatively new manufacturer named First Choice you ought to check out. They have the reputation of being a very high quality manufacturer at a substantially lower price. One of their founders/execs (Pieterv on here) is a former Landpride guy. They felt they could do it better for less and set out to prove it. They seem far more customer oriented than anyone else. You can even order implements from them in your color. Well, that is if your color is Deere green, Kubota/Kioti orange, Ford/New Holland blue or Massey/Case/IHC/Ford N series red. It's even done in a powder coat paint. JimMc who posts here does the engineering for them. He or Pieterv can tell you far more than me.

 

[MrP]

Maker,

I have a Befco C50 RD6 72" Rear Discharge 3 blade finish mower for my L3410. I would think that you could use the same mower on a L3010. The mower was not cheap ($1,600), but I am on my 4th season of mowing and have not had to do anything significant to the mower. It is heavy (700lbs) and built like a tank. My only complaint is that it is loud when I mow.

I do not have any Farm Star equipment, however, there have been threads about their post hole digger only lasting one day.

It has been my experience that it is better to spend extra money for better quality on primary attachments (mowers, brush hogs, PHD, etc). I skimp on items that don't get used much, have no moving parts and don't need to be really heavy duty: Sub-soiler, carry-all, boom pole, etc. Just my opinion though.

If you spend $1,600 on a mower today and are still using it 10 or 20 years from now, you saved money vs buying a mower for $1,000 and only getting 5 years out of it.

Which ever mower you get, the first thing to do is make sure the PTO shaft is not too long.

 

[RichZ]

I have a rear discharge Landpride 60" 1560. It is their "economy" model and I am very happy with it. It cost me $1200. I would reccommend it. If you can find a King Kutter rear discharge finish mower, I would definitely go with that. I tried to find one before I got my Landpride with no sucess. King Kutter makes very good implements for a very good price. I have a King Kutter rotary cutter that I am extremely happy with.

 

[tdenny]

Maker102,

I just wanted to reiterate what Gary in Indiana said. A couple of us out here in the great NW have worked with Pieter at First Choice and it's been a real pleasure. He is extremely knowledgeable on the industry and very customer oriented. The company is pretty new and trying to establish a good dealer network. From my personal experience this is not going to be difficult for them at all. I know they pay attention to TBN so you might hear from them as well.

Everything I hear so far is that the Products they are providing are top notch. My new box scraper is shipping any old day now.

Kodiak here on TBN purchased a RFM from them and he would be a real good reference on the quality and fit finnish, etc. I did ask him about it - because I need one of those too - and he is very pleased. I don't wan't to put words in his mouth so I hope he pops in.

Happy hunting

 

[Gary_in_Indiana]

<font color=blue>"My new box scraper is shipping any old day now."</font color=blue>

I just found out mine is getting it's shiny green powder coat finish today and should be on the road heading my direction either tomorrow or Friday. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

 

[Kodiak]

Todd:

Did somebody call my name?

Yes I purchased a new GM30-72 rear discharge finish mower, from First Choice in April. And right now I would have a hard time finding any sort of fault with this mower, or the service I received during my negotiations or in receiving it. As Gary mentioned earlier, one of their top execs, pieterv was formerly with Landpride. ( I considered buiying a Landpride FDR2572 ) The First Choice GM30-72 is almost an exact clone of the FDR2572, with some improvements. My personal opinion, anyone seriously considering the purchase of a new RDFM should consider a new First Choice. Every bit of the quality of the other leading manufacturers, maybe more, for a considerable econmical savings. First Choice has proved that a first class quality implement can be built and supplied at a fair market price. The other leading manufacturers had better take notice and adjust their overly inflated prices accordingly.

 

[Maker102]

Thanks all for the input but still looking for more. The good the bad and the ugly. Post em for all to see. If you like something boast about it, if your not keen on one or the other rag them here, if you had a bad experience now is the time to voice it. Anyway I emailed First Choice but have not received an answer yet. Does anyone have their web address or phone number? Also still would like some input on the gearboxes out their. Is there a substantial difference in them or are they all pretty much standard. On a side note Baby did arrive at her new home this afternoon. Had the wife and kid shove me up on the doggonned thing and went out and dug me a 100 ft trench thru bricks, blocks etc. I really had hoped it would dig better but I think that will come with experience and a tooth bar. Anyway here is a pic. Thanks to all of you for your advise because without it I would not be tractoring yet. You just gotta love this site.