Advice on 6' mower to replace King Kutter

[rv7charlie]

90" Bush Hog (RDX90?) that is extremely well built, and I can't imagine he'll ever have any problems with the wheel yokes.

Heh heh heh.... Maybe the old ones are better. But if it's an HDTH? See my earlier post with pics from a 7' (84"). And BH's '15-35 HP' for 60"-99" mowers is...let's call it optimistic. I'm running a 45 HP tractor and it's *adequate* for a 7' mower. as long as you're just grooming and not trying to cut really tall grass.

 

[chim]

Hey rv7charlie -

I was WRONG. I just opened a pic file to show which model Bush Hog it was and saw it is really a WOODS!

 

[old and tired]

...I wonder if the 6' & 7' mowers use the same frame & wheel spacing...

You did not post photo of your whole deck but mine does not trap water (and that would bug me, too). Mine is pretty old (bought used around 2006-ish). It's a tank and I walk all over it. I would not be surprised if newer ones are not built as good.

I'm at a point where I could replace the 4 wheels but it's still rolling around fine.

I did just replace the oil in the gearbox. I've done that 3 times, looks new inside despite the gear oil always mixing with moisture(?) - MILKY.

 

[rv7charlie]

That is a *much* better design (at least from looking at a pic) than the 7' mower. In addition to having the wheels out where they belong, it's *shorter*, without the pointless extra 15-18" of length driven by having the center spindle aft of the outer spindles on the 7' mower and the loooong taper instead of a sensible brush guard like yours. After 3 seasons of mowing, I'm still hitting stuff with the aft end of the thing because I've got 20+ years of 'programming' built in using a shorter design. I'm attaching as much of an overall pic of the 7' as I could get with it in the shed.

BTW, if you're getting that much water in the gearbox, you probably just need a decent gasket, or some good 'form-a-gasket' for that top cover. I've used Permatex 85420 to seal inspection covers on aircraft fuel tanks and it has worked great for me. The TDS says it's good for gearboxes, so it might be worth a look. You should be able to get it at local auto parts places, or from the usual online suspects. [edit]: Should have added that it never 'cures', by design. If you need to remove the cover 3 years from now, it will slide right off after removing the bolts.

Looking at the pic of the new Woods that chim posted, it wouldn't surprise me if his friend has some of the same scalping issues that I have; that's a very different design from their older 7' mower (that I should have bought).

 

[DK35vince]

I've been running an 84" First Choice (made by Sicma/ Italy) finish mower for 20 years.
Been a great mower.
Pheonix mowers are the same mower, different name.

 

[old and tired]

...I've used Permatex 85420...

I'll look into it, but hate to get rid of the old cork gasket!!!

(to be fair, I was young and stupid back then.... Now I'm old and still stupid!!)

 

[Zork]

You did not post photo of your whole deck but mine does not trap water (and that would bug me, too). Mine is pretty old (bought used around 2006-ish). It's a tank and I walk all over it. I would not be surprised if newer ones are not built as good.

I'm at a point where I could replace the 4 wheels but it's still rolling around fine.

I did just replace the oil in the gearbox. I've done that 3 times, looks new inside despite the gear oil always mixing with moisture(?) - MILKY.

The condition of the gears with milky oil is encouraging.