Finishing Mower Q??

[HRS]

My father-n-law could use a little help with his yard, so I decided to try my TC30 with ags on his three acre lawn. The tires are not loaded, so I did not think that the tractor would leave a mark. It did not. You actually could not even tell that the tractor had been on the lawn. The mower, however, was a different story. Since I have not previously needed a finishing mower, all I have is a rotary cuter, and It did a remarkable job. I could get a good bit closer to the house and around some small dips if I had a finishing mower. I'm interested in cutting the lawn mower time down as much as possible, so the more I can cut with the tractor, the better.

This brings me to the finnishing mowers. My first tought was to go as cheap as possible, King Kutter. I can pick up one with tax for like $1,300, 5ft. But I made the mistake of going and looking at the Bushhog, maybe 3 to 400 more. Anyone with experience with both? Should I pocket the 300 or will Bhog make me happy that I spent it?

Thanks.

 

[steveinmo]

HRS,

If you're actually mowing "lawn" around the house I think you'd be glad you spent the extra money for the Bush Hog. I would also recommend that you make sure you get a rear discharge model. It will distribute the cuttings fairly even out the back rather than make wind rows - also you don't have to worry about throwing clippings into the house or flower beds.

I'm not sure of the spec's on your tractor but at 30 HP I would suspect a 6' finish mower might cover your tracks a little better than the 5'.

I've used the BH now for three years and have had no problems at all with it. It's a quality machine.

Good luck!

Steve

 

[Soundguy]

My guess is if he is concerned about the 300$ difference, is that he is watching the budget.. and the 6' mower may be outta the budget.

I havn't used both so can't compair those unit. i can say that I have used a few different economy rotart cutters.. and some Brand name ones.. and there is no difference in quality of cut from a 500$ to a 1300$ rotary cutter at the end of the day..

Soundguy

 

[rickmacheske]

I agree. There doesn't seem to be much of a difference. I use a 6' Landpride rear discharge. It's definitely a cheap mower and it does a good enough job. Hmmm....the blades spin....touch the grass.... Sounds like sharp blades are the key. I change my blades 2x a year.

 

[jeffinsgf]

I am going to disagree with SoundGuy. I might go along with him if we were talking about shredders (or call them rotary cutters, brush hogs, etc.), but finish mowers are a different matter. I have a 6 ft Frontier (made by Woods). Given budget constraints, I would opt for a better 5 foot than a cheaper 6 foot. Bush Hog, Woods, or Frontier would be my choice. Last time this came up, someone linked a page from Woods website that gave a pretty thorough comparison of what to look for and where Woods excelled.

I looked it up. Here it is: Woods Comparison PDF

 

[jd2210]

I have a 84" Buhler and couldn't be any happier with it. I can't really comment on the KK vs BH but will strongly, STRONGLY endorse the rear discharge option.

 

[JLoaf]

I have a B2710 (27hp-20 pto hp) and I mow with a 6' Woods fin mower.
It does just fine. I love it.
I've been told that a B2910 (30 hp / 22 pto hp) will pull a 7' finish mower.

 

[gamble77]

You mean you don't want a NH finishing mower?!?!

Just kidding with ya. We use to sell the KK finishing mowers, sold the fire out of them actually, and of course we have always sold the Bush Hog brand. What we found was that during the busy season when people were using their finishing mowers we would generally sell 4-5 blade spindles a month for the KK, I am lucky to sell 1 spindle for a BushHog brand all year long. They are just made better, plain and simple. The BushHog you don't have to take the gear box off to change the belts and give a cleaner cut IMHO. Good luck.

 

[HRS]

Gamble, since you bring it up, yes I'd like a NH. However, I didn't want to spend the extra $ for something I will use for a short period of time. Father-n-law will sale. When that time comes in the next year or so then it will be collecting a lot of dust.

What do you know about this? Could some of the NH implements be the "same" as the Kiotis? Today I took a trip up to my local RV shop, and on doing so I discovered that a local power equipment dealer has picked up Kioti tractors. Enjoying tractors as I do, I pulled in to look around. He also had quite a few Kioti implements. I spied the tillers and walked over. Wow! Was I surprised to see my New Holland tiller sitting on his lot painted orange. I walked over to a closer look. It was nearly identical. I looked on the manufacturers plate and saw that it was made in Italy, just like my New Holland. Sure there were some cosmetic differences, but it looked strikingly similar to mine. Next I walked over and looked at his finishing mowers, also made in Italy. He had a very nice 6ft unit, rear discharge. Then he proceeded to quote me a price that shocked me. Just about the same $ as a King K 6ft. He gave his reason for the agressive price, which made sense. So I might just end up with a pretty orange on the back of my little blue. It is an impressive looking piece of equipment.

 

[gamble77]

Yeah most OEM's that are selling equipment use a supplier in Italy for both finishing mowers and tillers (FarmTrac does the same, just got in some of both from them actually, will send you PM with some pricing).

 

[sweettractors]

The First Choice brand is hard to beat when you consider features and price--Ken Sweet

 

[djradz]

I would defineately suggest a 6 foot RFM behind the TC 30. Nomatter what manufacturer you pick, look for ease of blade removal for sharpening and quality caster wheel contruction. Although I've been generally impressed with the value of KK equipment, I think their mower is one of their less-desireable products. I know Woods (and Frontier) are a little more, but they've got a long history of making fine equipment.

 

[TimC]

I've got a local small time implement guy here in Greenville, SC that sells new LMC finish mowers for $1050 for 5', and not much more for 6'. They're rear discharge, and I've been happy with mine. I looked for a long time, and this was by far the best deal I could find. The service is great as well, but I'm not sure that this guy's tech savvy enough to even have a phone, so service from out of state might be tough... PM me if you want details. Pic attached of my 5' behind my TC18