Who owns a 3 pt finish mower....tell me about them

[sms0000]

Hi,
I looking at getting a 72" rear discharge finish mower for my Kubota B3200. It is a 3 blade mower. I was wondering who has experiences good or bad. On average how fast can mow? Say approx. in mph or min/acre.
Thanks

 

[DK35vince]

I use a 7' First Choice rear discharge finish mower.
I like it. Very easy to remove/install. Very nice cut.
I average around 2 1/4 acre per hour. If I had a smoother yard I could probably do a little bit faster.

 

[bp fick]

Welcome sms, this is a great forum to participate and learn. Thanks for also filling out your profile, as it helps everyone know where you live, what your tractor is and helps tailor the discussion accordingly.

Funny you should ask about a rear finish mower, because I have been lusting after one for almost a year. If I could trust that the low priced ones were good enough quality to last 10 years, I might jump. Opinions vary, I suppose.

 

[Inspector507]

I have a 60" finish mower. It is an Italian private labeled unit. I myself have owned it for 8 years and it was used when I got it. The previous owner used it more per mow session than I do. If I cut the whole yard at once, it's take me a couple of hours. I have so many obstacles to cut around it's hard to give you a min/acre number. Trees and buildings will affect your times considerably. But I will say after learning how to use it, I wouldn't want to be without it. I can mow just as fast with it as I can a MMM.

 

[RoyJackson]

Speed will depend more on your property then the width of the mower. It takes me close to 2 hours to mow one acre. There's a fair amount of backing up and the property is sloped enough where I'm not going to be in a high range.
An owner with 5 flat, level acres could probably mow quicker then I can.

However, RFM's are relatively inexpensive compared to a mid-mount...that doesn't mean they're cheap though. A 72" RFM can relieve you of close to 2000 of those nasty old greenbacks in your wallet. However, it'll fit on any Cat 1 tractor. That mid-mount (which will cost $2500 or so) will fit only one brand of tractor...and maybe only a few models of that brand.

They do cut very nicely though..better then a mid-mount, in my opinion. The trade off is you may need to back into more areas then you would with a mid-mount. However, that backing up ability may be an advantage if you have low hanging branches and such.

My RFM is a 60" Befco which I've owned since 2001. I've replaced the belts once. Other then grease, that's the only work ever done on it. Like Inspector507's, this mower was used (several years) when I bought it.

 

[jda1961]

i own a king kutter 84 inch finish mower, its about 15 years old. use it to mow around 4 acres every two weeks in the summer months. it does a good job, but they are only good for grass only, no rough cut stuff for them and must keep mowed too, can't let it go til it gets to tall, mower will just clog and slips the belts. i use it with a ford 3600 40 horsepower, it will pull it very well. i mow around the fense lines, buildings, and trees with the riding mower first to cut down on the backing up and having to get to close to things with the tractor, then its just mow the lot every two weeks unless we get a lot of rain then its every week. and need to keep RPMs up too.

 

[NH-Rob]

I have a used 60" landpride and I like it a lot. It will take some getting used to when it comes to mowing in and around opsticals. I have a hard time mowing up against building as you have to be straite on when you start. I realy like it for mowing under tree branches. deffintally get a rear discharge deck. I use mine for rough cut mowing all the time not trees but 2' tall grass and it works great. I don't run it at full throttle around 2000 rpm if I remeber right.
Rob

 

[Will_C]

I bought a 60" used First Choice last summer. I also have a Toro commercial ZTR-52". The RFM is used on a piece of property that I own, where I plan to build a house one day. I bought the RFM so I could mow that piece when it gets ahead of me-it's 10 acres, 6 that I can finish mow, and 4 that have to be bushogged. Sometimes, my fiance helps me and we use both machines.

RFM likes-
1. Can handle 8-10" grass easily.
2. I bought it used for $500 vs. $7300 for the ZTR.
3. Allows me to use my tractor.
4. I feel better taking it into marginal areas-where it still a bit rough for my ZTR.
5. The Kubota uses much less fuel then my Z.

RFM dislikes
1. Slow compared to my ZTR.
2. It isn't as "nimble' as the Z-not a problem as the field is open.
3. Cut quality is good, but not as good as the Z.

Will

 

[Diamondpilot]

I had a 60" King Kutter that I paid $1000 for and was junk. Spent $800 in repairs in 4 seasons. Bought a 72" Caroni and have had zero issues in 3 seasons other than loosing a 20 cent bolt. It has been great and cuts nice.

Do not get Pneumatic Tires like my KK had. That was $300 of the problems I had. Also look at them over and get one with as few moving parts as possible. My KK has about 20, the Caroni has 4. Less to break.

Chris

 

[Wayne_Freeman]

I currently have a King Kutter rear discharge but made a mistake. I wore out a Caroni(after 12 years) and should have bought another one! It was by far a much better implement.