CK20 Belly Mower

[vegman]

Guys,
I stopped by my Kioti dealer for some service parts yesterday. He has a brand new 5 foot belly mower for a CK20 at a very good price. I don't have a need for it but I thought someone else here may. The belly mower was taken off a new tractor. If your interested call Steve at (478) 272-5888.

 

[Gil Case]

I was told that Kioti did not make a belly mower for the CK20 and that is why they discontinued the mid PTO. Must be by another manufacturer, or I got bad info.

 

[IslandTractor]

Kioti did make a belly mower for the CK20. Not sure when they stopped but it was definitely available in 2005. It was expensive compared to a RFM though and as I recall it cost about the same as the combination of a 60" RFM and 48" Bush Hog. No pleasant hooking it up either.

 

[salfter]

i have an '05 ck20 with a 60" belly mower. They are build tough but i have to tell you...I love both of my Kioti tractors but this mower isn't worth a darn. i can't keep belts on it. I have had it in the shop on three different occasions and i've replaced just about everything on it. If there is someone out there that had the same problem-please let me know what you did. like i said You can't beat the Kioti tractor but whoever designed the mowing deck needs to be shot (or at least shot at).

 

[trac]

Midwest made the mid mount rear discharge mower for the CK's back in those years. They are now out of business. Keep an extra belt on hand. We put a drawbolt on the belt to release some of the tension on the idler, but belts still don't last very long. The idler wheel brackets need to be drilled out to a 1/2 hole and install a 1/2" bolt with lock nut. The only thing good about them is the deck is a thick.

 

[salfter]

on my mowing deck there is a pivot arm with an idler pully on it-the tension on the belt is held by a spring. Is that how your's is. The two other idler pullys are mounted on a stud bolt welded to the top of the deck. you are right-the deck is built heavy duty but i have never made it one season on a belt...

 

[trac]

The idler is exactly as you described. The belt bends back and forth on the pulleys to much, to have a belt last very long. I think Midwest made the mower try to work for The CK,s with an existing design for a certain price. Result was trouble-some design. I have been putting on Pix cogged belts, after the first belt blew in about 20 hours. They seem to last about double the hours.

 

[salfter]

my neighbor and i are going to weld an adjustable bolt similar to the adjustment on my three point 7' finish mower where instead of having the spring-it will have a long bolt that goes on the swing arm tensioner-in theroy, this should stop all the belt "bounce". we'll soon find out. I really appreciate your time. by the way, you're right-my belts last me about 22-26 hrs (and they're not cheap!).

 

[malk315]

This is quite alarming -- which deck do you have?
I have the DMM-60 side discharge which is confirmed Italian made.
I've owend it since 2006.

I'm on the original belt and it's still in great shape.
I've been mowing my lawn with this (over one hour of mow time) every week every New England cutting season for the last 5 years. That's at least 35 hours of mowing per season so about 175 hours on the original everything.

I have two sets of blades -- I had a heck of time changing blades but learned on first blade change 5 years ago I just need an Impact wrench to remove them and I use a torque wrench to install at manual's suggested torque.

I serviced it at 50 hours myself which entailed changing the transmission gear oil and after that first change it's set for remaining life.

Each season I grease the spindles, deck wheels, wheel swivels, PTO shaft fittings etc.
No tools required to mount / dismount deck -- 6 pins and quick release on PTO -- it's off. I remove the deck in about 2 minutes when in a major hurry and install on tractor in about 3 or 4 minutes. The only minor pain is pushing / pulling the ~350 lb deck sideways on driveway. The rear wheels on this deck are not caster. This is a very minor complaint.

The deck has better cut quality than my old 42" Wheel horse typical lawn tractor.

The only issue I've had in the last 5 years (which is fair wear and tear) is the shear pins going on the PTO shaft. This was most likely user error as it happend in the 2nd season and there were a couple brain farts by me where I let the clutch out but forgot the mid PTO was engaged I always step on clutch, engage PTO, and clutch the deck up to speed. Upon stopping, I always disengage the PTO and then step on clutch so the deck spins down w/o the overrun "ticking" sound happening -- you can read about that on other threads.

That's about all I can think of. I'm am extremely satisfied with my MMM and would never want to use an RFM unless a quality MMM is no longer available -- which may be the case. My deck is no longer available.

 

[salfter]

I'll have to check when i get home this evening what model my belly mower is. I do know it's a rear discharge. I love both of my Kioti tractors (I have a DK65 cab and this CK20). I don't think you can beat Kioti...but this mower is getting me down! It is build heavy duty-if i can just work out this "bug" it will be great! I appreciate your time and i'll get back with you when i get the model #. Thanks again
Steve