Deere 4310 for mowing

[Bikewanderer]

I currently have a deere 455 riding mower of the 60 inch deck and it痴 time to get something bigger. Last year I bought a 72 inch finish mower to pull behind my Kubota compact tractor and I really wasn稚 very happy with it. That was far too big with the loader up front and the mower out back. Everyone says I should just buy a zero turn but I love sitting up on the tractor and I want to be comfortable. Bigger tires and better suspension on the tractor would also help a lot. I can currently mow about 1 1/2 acres per hour and it takes about four hours to finish. I壇 like to get it down to about 2 1/2.

I致e been looking for something to trade my L 3400 in on but for the most part that痴 a pretty expensive proposition to get something decent with a loader and a belly mower. It looks like some of the new 3R series would do it but that痴 a lot of expense and complexity for me.

I found a 2003 model 4310 with a 72 inch mower that I知 considering. At 700 hours And the guy is asking $6500. It痴 2 Wheel Drive with turf tires. I致e never moved with anything like this so I知 a little bit hesitant to pull the trigger. It would Basically live with the mower on it and not do anything else except maybe pull a brush hog or box blade every once in a while. It痴 a gear tractor, not a hydrostat.

Looking for some advice from the folks on here if I知 on the right track.

 

[pmsmechanic]

How well can you live with the gear transmission mowing grass? For me it would be a deal breaker.

 

[CADplans]

I mow with a JD 4105, a little bigger, but, it is a hydro,,
That is a 72 inch mower I use,,

I love gear drive, but, not for mowing,,,

 

[Bikewanderer]

I guess I don稚 see the gear Tranny as a disadvantage. I hate it when I?m using the loader but I don?t ever see that happening with this tractor considering it?s 2 Wheel Dr. with turf tires and would have a mower under it.. I pretty much always mow at the same speed. Can you guys elaborate a little bit?

 

[pmsmechanic]

I do a lot of mowing under trees etc. Lots of back and forth getting into small corners with a rear mower. I just can't fathom that with a gear drive tractor.

It takes me 3.5 hours to mow my lawn with a 72" rear three point hitch mower. That was after changing it to a rear discharge. When it was side discharge it was about half an hour longer because I couldn't travel as fast. When I bought my front mount mower I got the mowing down to 2.5 hours just because of the increased mobility of a front mount mower. This is all with hydrostatic transmissions. As a kid I can remember mowing the lawn at home with a standard transmission. I don't want to go back.

 

[CADplans]

I pretty much always mow at the same speed. Can you guys elaborate a little bit?

When you mow up to a building, and have to turn around,, you typically back up,, gear drive takes a LOT of time to back up,,,
yes, you can mow without backing up, but, that takes a LOT of remowing to get all the areas around trees, etc,,

You can weed eat those areas, but, I simply push the reverse pedal,, and trim close,,
I have not used a weed eater in three years,,,

 

[DK35vince]

Doesn't the loader remove on your current L3400?
Removing it makes a huge difference when mowing IMO.
I always remove my loader to mow ( 35 HP tractor with 84" rear mount mower)

 

[DK35vince]

Everyone says I should just buy a zero turn but I love sitting up on the tractor and I want to be comfortable. Bigger tires and better suspension on the tractor would also help a lot. I can currently mow about 1 1/2 acres per hour and it takes about four hours to finish. I壇 like to get it down to about 2 1/2.

Not sure what suspension a tractor has.
I know my tractor with suspension seat certainly does not ride better than my zero turn with 8 PSI tire pressure, suspension seat and flex forks.
We average 4 acres per hour mowing with our 35 HP, 72" deck zero turn. Mows circles around my 35HP tractor with 84" mower.

 

[TractorGuy]

Is it a sync shift or an ePower Reverser? I would want to test drive and mow with it to judge cut quality which is hard to do this time of year.

I don't mind pulling my 72" finish mower with the loader on. I drop my bucket so it's not in the way but I rarely remove my loader even though it's not hard to get on and off. My 4310 is a 4WD eHydro. I don't have a front PTO so have never experienced the MMM on a tractor.

I also have a front mount mower F725 and I really like the way it operates but the cut quality isn't as good as my finish mower. I have tried everything and can't get the mowhawk adjusted out of it. If the cut quality was good I would rather have a F935 than what I have.

 

[Bikewanderer]

It is a sync shift. Yes, I壇 like to use it first but would love to know performance in tall thick grass, and if it misses spots turning, etc. it would be hard to know until I buy it.