There are advantages and disadvantages to both mid-mount and pull behind mower decks. The front mount is very versatile but the rear discharge puts the cuttings in the air in front of me. Grandpa had a Farmall Cub that had gang reel mowers mid-mounted and it mowed nicer than anything else. But the yard needed to be pool table flat and the reels only wanted to cut about an inch off the grass. My brother has the family place in Ohio and he sometimes pulls gang reel mowers behind the little New Holland diesel with a 60" mid-mount deck, showoff!
We moved to 3 acre place in Texas finally closing escrow late in 2021. I brought 4 of my Wheel Horse garden tractors with us in the move and I figured we could get a couple of 48" mid-mount decks to handle the mowing for awhile until we found something else. It was tough buying a house here near Dallas in 2021 and I think 9 places fell out of escrow due to something wrong with the house ao we were homeless and living in a Residence Inn in Lewisville, TX my wife and I and the 2 dogs. I found a Massey Ferguson like my 2008 GC2410 TLB in Corsicana, TX about a 100 miles away. I wanted to look at the tractor since the 2410 was the best power wheel barrel ever. I told my wife that we were not going to buy a tractor we just needed to get an idea of what we wanted to consider. And we literally had nothing to do on a weekend so we loaded up the dogs and headed to the Massey Dealer. My wife is a city girl but she loves to mow when we went back to Ohio every year for my mom's birthday in May. There is about 5 acres left in Ohio but she would mow probably 15 or more acres mostly with a Farmall Cub with a sickle bar mower. She also mowed around the house with the New Holland. But she has allergies and would end each day with sinus' stuffed up and puffy eyes. But she would not stop! I knew that the dealer had a 35 horsepower Massey with a air conditioned cab in stock and that would give use some ideas. No intention of buying during a big supply chain shortage. We got to the dealer and I introduced Jacquie to the dealer Al. I walked the dogs and Al showed Jacquie the 1800M series tractor, I did not know that Al got a 1840M in the day before with a deluxe cab. LED work lights front and rear, pull down windshield sun shade, bluetooth radio, rear window defogger, and a air ride seat as well as a cabin air filter for the Air Conditioning. I was walking the dogs in the back lot and along comes Jacquie with the 1840M with the biggest smile on her face you have ever seen. By the time I got up to the office the first thing I heard was Jacquie saying we can't buy the tractor today but would a $ 1000 deposit hold the tractor until our escrow closed in a week or so. The next thing out of Jacquie's mouth was would 5 be better, Al said $ 500 was more than enough but Jacquie said $ 5000. Before I could open my mouth she had a check for $ 5K in the smooth southern gentleman's hand. So from just looking to now I need to decide what attachments for the tractor. I knew I wanted a loader with a skid steer quick connect 72" bucket and a 72" mid-mount mower, both scheduled for delivery in September 2022. I also saw a 7' landscape rake that had a pair of wheels behind the tines, a 72" box blade and a set of pallet forks. The loader and mower deck not being available until September was not good.
The tractor and I think the landscape rake were delivered just before Christmas 2021. I told my wife that the tractor was hers and I would not even drive it. My oldest daughter came down from OKC to visit and help unpack when the tractor was delivered. Those 2 decided that the tractor was named Mator from Disney Cars. I was lucky and found a used 3 point Land Pride Air Tunnel 72" finish deck for sale and bought it. Keep the ideal that the tractor belongs to my wife in your head since that was a real men of genius moment since I can't use her tractor I don't need to mow! The german shepherd loves to ride in the cab of Mator and keeps Jacquie company, in fact I think he believes it is his tractor. Of course I'm stuck doing the trimming with the Wheel Horse. Fine trimming is done once a year with Groundclear, I love chemical weed eaters.
Now for the unintended consequences of Mator. First I have lost 25% of my workshop and 1 roll up door. I have a 30 x 40 foot workshop but Jacquie has acquired a big chunk of floor space and my 48" Gladiator cabinet as well as my new 6' Husky workbench got moved from my side to hers. This occurred when our youngest daughter was visiting. Maybe 5 or 6 years ago one of our neighbors in Ohio was selling all his Farmall tractors and he had a 1952 Cub in really good condition for sale so my brother picked it up for Jacquie. It's name is Cubby. We drove up to Ohio in May 2022 for mom's 95th birthday and brought Cubby to Texas. My brother gave Jacquie a very nice Matco tall tool box that was missing the wheels. I had 2 sets of hand tools my good S&K set and a Costco set from Taiwan. So she got the Costco set. The Gladiator cabinet got full so she needed cabinet # 2. She also has her 2 Farmall stools in the living room area of my workshop. I still have the TV for now.
But the comparison between the mid-mount and 3-point finish mowers. In the spring when the grass is growing very fast the Land Pride mower deck has a faster blade tip speed and since it is behind the tractor tractor all the chafe is behind the tractor. When we mow with the mid-mount some of the chafe ends up in the AC condenser and radiator screens. The tractor coolant has never gotten above normal but the AC has stopped working. If the AC stops working so does my wife. I don't know if the mid-mount will cause airflow issues with your tractor. I have learned how to easily change the mid-mount deck, turn the 4 mower wheels sideways, use 2 high lift floor jacks to raise up the front axle of Mator, roll the deck under from right to left, let the front of the tractor down and hook up the lift/mounting bars, pickup the deck and from behind attach the 2000 RPM PTO shaft. I don't know if the GC2200 has a drive over mid-mount. We talked about a mid-mount for my GC2410TLB but we could put the 60" mower deck on furniture dollies and use the loader and backhoe to lift the tractor. Another big consideration for a 3-point finish mower is that it will work on another tractor, the mid-mount is likely only for the model tractor you buy it to fit.
Long story but the moral is buy your wife a nice mower tractor and let her use it. A zero turn is not an option for us because of no Air Conditioning but you can get a air ride seat and it really mows. I know you can get a 72" zero turn but a bigger deck or decks (batwing) would be great if you needed to mow 10 acres.
Bruce
