B2910

[Anonymous Poster]

I have a B2910 Kubota tractor to be used primarily mowing on hillsides and some on the flat. Can someone tell me which mower I should purchase. The 5' or6'. You can reply here or e-mail me at mjhaessly@ee.net. Would appreicate any help I can get. Thank you.

 

[Roy]

One consideration is the obstacles on your property. Go around and measure the distance between your trees, etc. You may find that only the 5' will do. Maybe someone here knows the actual physical width (as opposed to cutting width) of the decks.

 

[Bird]

Mark & Julie, need more information. Are you talking about pasture mowing, i.e., brush hog or rotary cutter, or are you talking about a finish mower for a lawn? If it's the former, are you just going to be mowing grass & weeds or brush, which will determine whether you need a light, medium, or heavy duty rotary cutter. If it's the latter, are you considering a mid-mount mower or a 3-point? On my B2710, I use a 5' rotary cutter and I also have a 3-point 5' finish mower. Same size tractor, but you have a little more horsepower.

Bird

 

[WVBill]

I've been "lurking" here for a while - trying to learn all I can before I go out to California to pick up my father-in-law's B6100 and bring it back to WV.

But here's my newbie question.
Could someone explain the difference between a "bushog", a "rotary mower" and a "finish mower"? I think I have an idea but please clarfy for me.

I have 3 1/2 acres of ex-pasture land which I've been cutting with a 46" mower deck on a Sears garden tractor. When I get the Kubota, will be thinking about trading the garden tractor for a 3pt deck so will need to be making the same kind of decision Mark & Julie are making.

Thanks

 

[JimBinMI]

Re: Finish vs Rotary

WVBill,

Bushog is to rotary mower what Kleenex is to facial tissue.
Bushog or Brushog is a brand name of a rotary cutter. Rotary cutters are for "rough" cutting of fields where you don't need a "lawn like" cut. Your mower on your Sears tractor is a finish mower, made to cut lawns.

To give you an example of costs, I own, just got the rotary on Wednesday, both a finish mower and a rotary cutter, both are Woods brand, in general, a tractor can handle a bigger finish mower than rotary cutter. I have a 5' 3 point finish mower that cost $1300 and a 4' rotary cutter (only available for 3 point as far as I know) that cost $575. The finish mower has 3 spindles underneath with 3 blades and 6 cutting edges, the rotary has 1 spindle with two blades and 2 cutting edges. My rotary is light duty but will cut over 1" thickness trees and brush, I would never use the more expensive finish mower for this duty.

Hope this helped, and if I screwed anything up, someone will correct it! /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

JimBinMI

We boys and our toys!

 

[MarkV]

Mark & Julie- First, welcome to the site and I hope you will register so we can all share the things you learn along the way. I know some are afraid to put their name on a site and start getting all kinds of junk e-mail but that has not been a problem here.

Bird has already ask the questions that will let "those in the know" give you the best response to your needs. I will say that the 2910 should handle either size mower. You mention hills and sounds like you have a bunch. I would lean towards the smaller mower, less wieght and leverage working against the tractor, on a hilly site.

 

[MarkV]

Re: Finish vs Rotary

WVBill,

Jim beat me to the punch and explained thing better than I would have anyway. Just an added note, if you have been mowing with the Sears, there is little question that a finish type mower will handle your needs. A rotary mower (Bushhog) will sure cut it, just not as pretty.

 

[W5FL]

WVBill,

I use a self propelled mower or a riding lawnmower to mow my small tiff bermuda front and rear lawn. I use a 6 ft rotary mower to mow everything else. The rotary mowers are much tuffer and you don't mess them up hitting a rock or other things that find their way to the top of the ground every once in a while. The Bush Hog and Rhino brands I have used make a very nice cut for keeping pasture grass short. They have uplift blades and when used with the front slightly higher or level with the rear mulch the grass pretty well. I think a lot of people buy finish mowers when they really need a rotary mower. When the grass gets a little too high, the rotary mower takes it in stride, and the finish mowers were never made to handle that condition. For 3 1/2 acres, the rotary mower will make short work of mowing for you. Since you have been using a riding lawnmower, the light duty rotary mowers will handle it just fine.

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Primarily we are going to use the B2910 with a mower around our home which is mostly hillside with some flat areas. We are trying to decide which is best the 5' mower or 6' mower. Any help is much appreciated. Thank you.

 

[Kelvin]

For finish mowers, the B2910 will handle 5' or a 6', in either the mid-mount or the rear 3-point hitch mount variety.

For rotary mowers, the B2910 will definetly handle a 4' and will probably handle a 5'. I would avoid a 6' rotary mower on the B2910. This statement is based on my experience with my B2150 (heavier tractor with less PTO hp). I have a front loader which helps stability going directly up and down hills but seems to hurt stability if you have to turn crossways at all on the hill. I am very comfortable on level terrain.

For either finish mowers or rotary mowers, the main problem will not be PTO horsepower, but the instability of the tractor with a lot of weight on the 3-point hitch. On slopes the instability could spell disaster. For stability considerations, a 6' mid-mount finish mower will be more stable than an equivalent 6' rear-mount finish mower. You'll have to decide just how much stability you need.

I've seen a lot of rental buisnesses in East Tennessee that rent rotary mowers (typically 5' models). Before you make a final decision you might consider renting one and see how comfortable you are mowing with that weight on your property. That advise applies even if you are considering purchasing a finish mower.

 

[Bird]

Kelvin, I don't disagree with anything you've said, but you say the B2910 will definitely handle a 4' rotary mower and will probably hande a 5'. It does seem odd to me that my manual for the B2710 recommends a 4' one, when the width of the rear tread is about 54". I sure don't want a mower that isn't at least as wide and the tractor, which is why I promptly traded up from a 4' rotary mower to a 5' one when I got the B2710. So for that reason, I'd sure recommend going with a 5' one on the B2910 also.

Bird

 

[Kelvin]

Bird,
I'll agree that it is ideal to have the cutting width wider than the tractor. The main item that I was trying to emphasize in my previous post was tractor stability on slopes. If stability is not a problem, then certainly they should consider the 5' rotary mower. I'd guess that stability is the main reason that your manual recommends the 4' model. The reason why I recommended trying to rent one is so that a "Stability Reality Check" could be made before a purchase is made.

When I was looking for a rotary mower for my B7100 I settled on a 42" model which is narrower than the B7100. I chose that one because I wanted maximum stability and the 42" model was lighter than the 4' model which you know the B7100 will handle. Ironically, when it comes to stability, I feel more comfortable using the 42" rotary mower on the B7100 than I do the B2150. Fortunately, I keep most of my 5 acres mowed down with a finish mower and rarely have to use the rotary mower.

Once they decide on which type mower (finish or rotary) then it will be easier to help them.

By the way, I thought about you this past week when I was visiting one of the military bases in San Antonio. It was good and hot and dry (at least it wasn't humid). Of course I took a detour by the local Kubota dealer.

 

[Bird]

Yeah Kelvin, of course, I'm in a pretty flat area. The only places I have to worry about stability when mowing is borrow ditches and tank dams.

I think San Antonio has had a little more rain than we've had this year. Dallas has now gone 7 weeks with none, although I did get .58" once myself about a month ago. So we have burn bans in effect, water conservation restrictions, etc., 80 at night to 100 in the afternoon, and no relief in sight. Tractor's sitting in the shop building; nothing growing to mow and ground's too hard to plow./w3tcompact/icons/frown.gif

Bird

 

[Alan L.]

I have a 2710 and use a 5' rotary, so it will be fine.

 

[JimBinMI]

Bird,

I would strongly agree on a 5' rotary for a 30 hp Kubota. My New Holland TC18, 18.5 hp, handles the 4' rotary with ease and PaulB's 17 hp Kubota handles the 4' rotary with ease too. We have both posted that we "think" that our would handle the 5' by the way they handle the 4'!

Obviously, as posted, it depends on slopes, hills, valleys, and material being cut! My 4' rotary is just a little bit wider than my turf tires, so it works great for me. No bogging thru anything, so far!

JimBinMI

We boys and our toys!

 

[W5FL]

Bird,

I decided on a mower that is smaller than my tread width, too. The mower is 72 inch and the tractor tread is 76 inch. The Bush Hog mower is actually a tad wider than the tire width, although the blade is not. I can mow within a few inches of a fence and do not have the other problem of handing the mower on a post and pulling it down. I did not want a 84 inch mower simply because it does not load on my trailer and it sticks way back when you are mowing behind the tractor.

Yesterday I was mowing with my Lawn Boy and when it wouldn't cut, went back and got the riding lawnmower. It gave up with the finish mower over the Septic Lines. Went back and got the M6800 and it doesn't even know there are weeds growing there. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

Still no rain in site. Heard another well went dry a few miles from here. Sure need some rain.

 

[Bird]

Wen, I can certainly understand wanting a mower that will fit on the trailer, but I thought your were supposed to hit a fence post every now and then./w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

And the drought is getting serious. This clay's so dry and shrinking that I've got a couple of doors that don't want to close easily and latch right./w3tcompact/icons/frown.gif I put the finish mower on the tractor and just mowed about 5% of the yard today (the part that gets watered by the sewer system sprinklers). The rest of it's dying anyway, and sure not growing. Getting quite a few dead leaves on the ground, too, already.

Bird

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Does you owners manual speciuy a max size for the mower? The manual for my B2400 does (happens to be 4'). I would not exceed the mower width and weight specs in your owners manual.

 

[dwarren]

I have a B2910 with a 60 inch mid mount finish mower for the lawn (lots of trees to mow around) and a 5 foot BushHog rotary mower for my meadow. I also use the rotary mower to keep my wood roads mowed. My 40 acres consists of lots of hills(in this part of VT everything is hilly) and the tractor does a GREAT job mowing with both. I definitely would limit the rotary mower to 5 ft. A 6 footer would not save you much time and it would put quite a load on a 30 HP tractor, especially in the spring when the grass is tall.