Mowing B7500 (FINISH MOWER)

[BILLMAN]

THE KUBOTA MANUAL SPECIFIES A 60" REAR FINISH MOWER. DOES ANYONE HAVE EXPERIENCE WITH A 72" ON THIS TRACOTR? WILL IT WORK? OPINIONS? THANKS FOR YOUR INPUT.

 

[wichiwichi]

I have a 60" which the 7500 has no problem with. Weight of the 72 might be of some concern.

 

[Kelvin]

In general, there are two areas of concern:

(1) Does the tractor have enough PTO horsepower to drive the 72" mower?
(2) Can the tractor handle the weight of the 72" mower (will it lift it and if so, will the front end be too light to be safe)?

I have a 72" and a 60" rear mower that I use on my B2150 (24hp) with FEL with no problems. With regards to the 21 hp B7500, I would guess that...

(1) PTO horsepower would be adequate for routine finish mowing, but may have a problem in taller grass, and
(2) the weight of the 72" mower won't be a problem as long as you have your FEL installed for counter-balance.

Hopefully someone who has experence with a 72" rear finish mower on a B7500 will share their experiences. I have a buddy with a B7500 and 60" mid-mower (no FEL); one day I might drag his tractor to my place or drag my mower to his place to give it a try.

Kelvin

 

[chrisjbell]

I have a B7300, which is pretty similar (although it is smaller so I could be wrong in making this comparison...). I have a 60" rear deck, and it works great. But....

When the grass, etc., isn't too thick there's no issue. But it doesn't take too much to start bogging the mower down - in the spring here weeds grow like....well, really fast growing weeds. Even a few week's growth (and this is in my pasture - just grass, no saplings or brush) will have me feathering the HST pedal to keep the engine revs up.

If you put a bigger deck on it you'll make the problem worse. So if you won't ever have to cut thick stuff you might get away with it, but if you get into the nasties it won't work very well.

 

[Kelvin]

The 16 hp B7300 is the replacement for the 16 hp B7100 which I still have in addition to my 24 hp B2150 (my older B7100 is gear drive and the B2150 is HST; the newer B7100s were HST). The B7500 and B7300 look a lot alike but the B7500 has 21 hp and power steering.

I agree with your assessment that the 16hp B7100/B7300 can handle the 60" rear mower under normal mowing conditions, but may not do real well mowing tall grass. That is the same assessment that I have for the B7500 connected to a 72" rear mower, even though I don't have any experience here. Maybe I should connect my 72" rear mower to my 16hp B7100 and see how it performs.

Kelvin

 

[chrisjbell]

<font color=blue>Maybe I should connect my 72" rear mower to my 16hp B7100 and see how it performs.</font color=blue>

I'd be really curious to hear how that works (or doesn't). I don't think I miss the few extra HP (although I would very much like power steering). But the 7500 wasn't out when I bought mine and the next step up (don't remember the model) was quite a bit more $$$ - I'm one of the few that got a 7300.

Some day I'm hoping to buy one of the larger tractors and convert the B7300 to just a mower with turf tires and a MMM. But for now, the B7300 is the "big" tractor at my place.