6 foot lawnmower needed

[daugen]

nothing less than a 72 will do if I have to mow about six acres of lawn on a new home I am looking at in Washington NC.
flat, flat, flat, and no rocks. I've done hills and rocks all my life, really looking forward to this. Very short grass, totally different than what I'm used to.

but what to mow it with? I can't use a zero turn due to bad arthritis, must have a steering wheel and for sure power steering.
Both JD and Kubota make CUTs with a 72, most of the real small stuff like the 1 series JD comes only with a 60 inch mower if I read it right.

My local Kubota dealer gave me these numbers:
B3200HSD w/RC72-27BA for 18016
B2650HSD w/RC72-30B for 18220

The alternative is the least expensive 2wd Kubota F mower or the JD equivalent. And they start around 21K.

Also factoring in is that I have two other larger tractors (both with Ag R1 tires...) plus a Gravely garden tractor with a 60 mower that is high effort to use, so I am leaning towards a true mowing machine
and thought the F series Kubota was the nicest design, being able to swing the mower deck fully vertical. Makes getting off blades much easier when one is
not limber any more.

Is the JD version of the Kubota F front style mower better? This is commercial grade equipment, kind of overkill but boy is there a lot of lawn. And I'm going to plant an orchard with dozens of trees, and I need to get under the limbs. front style mower seems best, but whose?

I know nothing of this type equipment other than my BIL and older brother both have a Kubota F and swear by them, not at them.
big bucks...

I saw Kubota made a 100 inch five deck mower for the F series; hugely expensive.

 

[George2615]

Check out LS Tractors. They are headquartered and built in NC. The G,R, and XR series all use a 72" finish mower. For that property I'd consider tow behind reel mowers like the golf courses use.

 

[Poopdeck Pappy]

Also check out Grasshopper. They make front-mount mowers like the Kubota F-series with power fold up decks.

 

[Bob77064]

Beautiful property.

 

[nc redneck]

Nice Place, welcome to NC. I would consider putting turf tires on one of your larger tractors and getting a 8 foot Woods estate mower. Expensive but it cuts just as well ( finished look ) as my kubota 60 inch belly mower.
Scott

 

[mikehaugen]

For that property I'd consider tow behind reel mowers like the golf courses use.

That sounds like a good idea. There's a small landing strip by me that uses one of those and it does a good job. Of course you still need something to pull it with so you will still want to get turfs on onebof your current tractors. It also wouldn't be real easy to maneuver around trees and such.

If you are ok with used, I see big 3-gang mowing machines at auctions all of the time, both reel type and rotary. They are usually decommissioned from golf courses and still seem to have life left in them.

 

[deerseeker001]

that is what I was thinking.

That sounds like a good idea. There's a small landing strip by me that uses one of those and it does a good job. Of course you still need something to pull it with so you will still want to get turfs on onebof your current tractors. It also wouldn't be real easy to maneuver around trees and such.

If you are ok with used, I see big 3-gang mowing machines at auctions all of the time, both reel type and rotary. They are usually decommissioned from golf courses and still seem to have life left in them.

 

[tlm720]

My dad recently bought a Cub Cadet zero turn that has a steering wheel. It only has a 60" deck though. Fairly heavy duty looking and probably would knock out 6 acres pretty fast, especially once that orchard gets started. A larger tractor and trees with low branches don't mix well. I like the four wheel steer Deere's if your looking to maximize comfort and maneuverability, but the Cub Cadet is close and less expensive.

 

[PoorPlowboy]

What part of the zero turn inflames your arthritis more, the bumpy ride or the twin stick controls? If its the bumpy ride, Ferris makes a very nice and fast mower with independent suspension and you can add a suspension seat for even more fluffiness. If the arthritis issues are in the wrists and elbows, all zero turns will give you trouble though.

 

[daugen]

thanks guys, all good ideas. I did look at the CC; it's the only one out there in that price point for sure. And my arthritis is in the arms and wrists so the constant gripping of z turn mower arms is not going to work. And poorplowboy, you bet on the Ferris. When I owned one, I had a Ferris 3100 with full suspension and despite having sixteen zerks in the back to grease, it did ride nicely.

Zero turns go like heck and are good for mowing in the fast lane. I'm looking for a slower, larger bite approach if I can. And once I plant several dozen fruit trees, pulling a rig behind me is dicey, though funny to mention, when I put the ag tires on my Case IH, I kept the big Bridgestone Pillow tires that were on it, so I suppose I do have a turf tire option, but as much as I like the 23hp CIH, it's not a mowing machine for close quarters. Besides a big set of reel gangs sure aren't that easy to store anywhere.

when i'm all done looking at the options, I may wind up back at 60 inches if only to cut the cost of the mower by ten grand. Lot of money...the difference is new granite counters for the kitchen, etc, etc, etc.

well, I have eight hours to ponder this, heading that way in an hour.

Will check out the grasshopper option.

 

[Xfaxman]

I vote for the front deck style and a recycler deck. :thumbsup:

On my TORO the seat is offset to the left and the 6' deck is offset to the right, to make it easier to mow around trees.



Also have a 6' side discharge deck for mowing weeds in the pasture..

 

[daugen]

nice xfaxman,that looks very much like the larger chassis Kubota F. I saw one today at Mitchell Kubota in Washington NC, had two hours to kill before hotel room was ready, and it was a 36hp 2010 model with 110 hours and a 60 mower for 14K. Some big commercial customer's personal mower, hardly used. 4wd, big machine, like yours, right at home on a golf course, which I think is where they came from.

A new Toro is even more expensive than a Kubota and I'm sure the trick is to find one that was used but not abused. And low hours, which is hard to find. Jacobsen, who else? they all made great big commercial mowers like this. John Deere of course. Maybe I should go the JD dealer also...

I asked the sales guy to pull up the mower deck on the F series Kubota, and with a few yankings and fussings it came up nicely and clicked into place completely vertically. Boy would that make blade sharpening easier. Easier to touch up a blade without even taking it off.
Wonder if JD has that, or others. Never dealt with large mowers before, just tractor based stuff. The orchard is the clincher for me in prioritizing an outfront mower. No way can I get anything with a ROPs under a fruit tree limb in full harvest, and probably not even a garden tractor style. I grew up mowing around twenty five orchard trees and likely have a few permanent dents in my head from low lying tree limbs.

The ability to move in and around, backing up, etc with a treadle hydrostatic really makes for good efficiency, more mowing and less time getting to the spot you want to mow. I can see I have a lot more research to do before I spend this kind of money. If the house passes all its inspections without nasty surprises, maybe I'll treat myself to a nice lawn mower.

the very simplest solution is to put the turf tires back on my CaseIH and buy a relatively inexpensive finishing mower. If I didn't want the orchard..., and I bet I add more gardens to those open spaces over time. So the tractors are not a solution. My gravely garden tractor is way too hard to drive, but I will never part with it. I have two wing mowers for it, it could be a real hoot in a custom mower setup.
But I'd have to be able to add power steering to the little tractor and I don't think that's possible. And I've thought of it for sure...a 60 center deck with two 40 inch wing mowers. Now that's a rig. And almost impossible to put away...

 

[ruffdog]

Turfs are a must (soft sidewall)and the larger diameter the better because they go over the bumps better. My NH TC33D rides WAY better than the Deere x744.

 

[ruffdog]

Some of the trees in the pics are low hanging which would catch on a ROPS or tall tractor. I have to run around and trim with a push mower first, then bring in the big stuff.

 

[daugen]

Some of the trees in the pics are low hanging which would catch on a ROPS or tall tractor. I have to run around and trim with a push mower first, then bring in the big stuff.

ruffdog, that I am sure used to doing. Sort of hoping with an agile steering mower I could minimize the trimming.
Am going to spend several hours on the property today, the cleared area is seven acres, and I think about two of it is bush hog material on the outside of the fences. I might wind up lawn mowing all of it, so that extra foot of mower would be nice. I don't mind mowing for several hours each week. Four or five hours, no... particularly if it's ninety plus degrees out.

Let's see, if I mounted a swamp cooler on the front deck aiming it backwards, well there's my solution for a hot day...

storage is an issue for me. There's that little horse barn and the middle is used up mostly by the stalls; wonder if one can take them apart and preserve them...but the Kubota will fit in the center area and the CIH under the one side overhang. Think I might need to add another overhang...
and then there's the traditional Southern car port stuck out in the front of the property, which I guess for a horse run in is fine, but not my idea of a lawn decoration. If I can, I'll move it to the rear of the property.
And I still might add a small Duro metal shop building. In fact that is likely. There's power back there in the barn which is super. And power and water all the way out to the front of the property for a falling down horse shack there. I'm pretty sure the owners did this all for their grandchildren and their horses.

I have a Long subsoiler I'm just dying to try out behind the Kubota, I used it on the smaller tractor when I bought it. It could sure lay some utility piping easily in this soil. I have six hundred feet of one inch underground plastic piping left over, and neatly stored for just this sort of adventure. When you have gardens everywhere, having water nearby is well, a must. Am thinking of rigging up a small water tank for the back of my Kubota RTV400. Flowers at the end of the lane are always a bit of a chore, but worth it.

 

[mikehaugen]

Let's see, if I mounted a swamp cooler on the front deck aiming it backwards, well there's my solution for a hot day...

Might help you go faster too? :laughing:

 

[prosperity]

I don't understand your statement that you can't use a zero-turn with sticks because of Arthritis.

I have a nasty case of RA (Rheumatoid Arthritis is different than the common Osteo Arthritis). I had both a Deere 757 zero-turn and a Deere 2520 w/62" deck. Because I had to stop working, I had to sell the zero-turn and just use the compact tractor to mow. Oh how I miss the zero-turn! I found the zero-turn a whole lot easier on my joints than the continual steering of the regular tractor. I can only mow for ~20 minutes at a time with the tractor as my shoulder/elbows/wrists will just kill me if I do the whole 2.5 hours at a time. With the zero-turn I can just kind of lay my wrists on the sticks most of the time. Also I could move my hand position to different places on the sticks so I wouldn't have the same repetitive motion.

Have you actually tried a zero-turn?

 

[daugen]

Have you actually tried a zero-turn?[/QUOTE]

prosperity, thank you. I understand your question but I guess my body is just different. Operations on my hand and elbow in the last year have made this a
real buying factor since it has to be a low control effort system, which many z turns are not, and I've driven Exmarks and Gravelys, and have owned a large Ferris with full suspension. The tops of my arms ached for days afterwards. Arthritis sucks. I was told ten years ago I'd be in a wheelchair by now. Nope. Medicine has improved thankfully. And I just find a workaround, if I can. Or mow half at a time, whatever works.

On point, I spent a hour with the folks at Mitchell Kubota in Washington NC, and they had the F series Kubota, but not with a 72 deck. They also had a very interesting unit made by Cub Cadet that is basically a zero turn with the levers reverse engineered into a steering wheel configuration. four wheel steering. Three models, light medium and heavy. The medium was approx 750 pounds and cost 8 grand(these are off a little) and the heavy one was 1300 pounds and about 11 grand.
So the "tank" model is a competitive commercial grade zero turn with a steering wheel. That model was not in stock. I have to drive it first.

frankly of more interest to me, though it almost doubles the cost is the F series. For five reasons. Kubota diesel, I have two diesel tractors also. Steering wheel. 72 inch mower. 1700 pounds. Entire mower deck flips up to full vertical for super easy blade sharpening or changing. The front mower will reach under fruit tree branches. (and so would gang mowers swept under there but that would require me to be constantly turning my head and looking, which I can't do easily with 3 inches of titanium in my neck)

The Cub Cadet steering wheel zero turns are very interesting to me. It all boils down to the lawn and how much of it. And guys, I walked that whole thing again, and when I was done, I just knew that five feet was not going to cut it, literally and figuratively. So the search is now narrowed to anything that has a six foot mower.
And yeah, the Kubota F series with the outfront 100 inch mower is just amazing. I really wanted a ten grand solution. Looks like twenty to me at this point.
Time to look for used just to educate myself.

this wiry grass looks pretty tough and it's pretty sandy soil so I don't think a heavy mower is an issue.

I have a master bathroom to gut and a kitchen to modernize in my new home in NC so like everyone would I'm trying to prioritize and be smart.
I also know with my health I'm not going to be able to do this for twenty years so I'm also thinking maybe i should get my dream mower while I can still use it.
I don't need a fancy bathroom, but I know I have to remodel with the next purchaser in mind. Which the folks that own the house now did not. And which is why I got a good deal. And a good enough deal that I might, sorta, could justify spending all that money on a mower. Well, I have five weeks before settlement, lots of time to ponder and peruse the used stuff. I'm picky so buying used is challenging for me and I have had mixed results. And new comes with a dealer who will be obligated to fix the thing.

Ten years ago I would have happily cut this new lawn with a 60 inch mower and spent a good part of the day doing it. I'm looking to get it down in three hours or less. And at relatively slow travel speed. About five acres of grass, maybe a little more. Then two or three of border grass that gets bushhogged.

Cub Cadet is MTD's high line product. they still make a 5K garden tractor with shaft drive, and a heavy frame. There was one in the showroom.
They also make inexpensive everything else and they and American Yard Products have flooded the consumer market with inexpensive power equipment.
but not heavy duty stuff. So now CC wants to play in the big leagues with an $11K specialty zero turn.
I admit to a certain bias since I grew up using at least one CC garden tractor on the farm, we wore out a bunch..., and am currently restoring a 1968
Cub Cadet 125. One of the earliest hydro units, will pull a cart or something.
So CC will get a few style points for color match, but my brain tells me to get something bigger.

and that is quite enough for now.

 

[Kyle_in_Tex]

Nice place Daugen. I know it's hard, but you need to find a responsible teenager to mow that whilst you drink cool drinks on the porch.

I see a lot of these types of mowers (you are talking about) at auctions. They usually come from golf courses or other institutions. Many are in very poor shape and in need of TLC and $$$parts. I can't recall seeing any Kubotas.

One was a Deere with 3 mower decks all hydraulically hoisted and powered. A beast. $$$.

John Deere 1600 Turbo Wide-Area Mowers JohnDeere.com

Me, I like simple. When I get older (ahum), I will be looking hard at the drive over decks. Hooking up 3 point equipment is the worst part of tractoring.

 

[EddieWalker]

How much are you willing to spend? Have you considered buying a smaller tractor dedicated to pulling a finish mower? My 35hp 4x4 Century pulls my 7ft Landpride finish mower easily. The shorter the grass, the faster I can go, but I regularly cut grass over a foot tall with it and have plenty of power. For a grass as nice as that in the pictures, I would guess that you will be mowing it more frequently then I do and you could get away with the same sized mower in a smaller tractor. Probably a 30hp 2wd with turf tires would be ideal.

Eddie