Not trying to be funny at all. The new drive over decks might be easy when new but just wait till the get old. My older JD has a drive over with manual connection points and it is one **** of a chore to connect or disconnect.
So Unless the hole ndustry has gone to the auto connect drive over deck I would have to say that most aren稚 that easy! Since I helped my friend disconnect his deck on his one year old kubota last week and it wasn稚 nearly as easy as connecting or disconnecting my backhoe I would assume that since we only have one suggested that is easy to connect my statement is mostly accurate.
I have to wonder how out of date your experience with the backhoe attachment is compared with the actual ease of connecting them today.
Dont feel bad as I read your post I also couldn稚 determine weather you are nuts, joking or just don稚 know how to drive. It痴 time like this when I wish I knew how to get pictures to post so I could cut close to something with a belly mower, take a picture and then show how much closer I can get with the finish mower and post both pictures so the people could actually see the truth.
I even tried cutting around some stuff with my JD yesterday that I get right up to with the Kioti just to try to disprove myself. What I ended up with was a scratched forehead and about a foot and a half farther out then with the finish mower, have to move the small trailer that I can usually cut right up to and actually put the finish mower under making moving it unnecessary. When I tried cutting along side the old Jeep it seems no matter which way I approach the belly mower has about 3 feet of ground it can稚 cut but the finish mower is able to be backed in and cuts right to the bank. It also can slightly run under he bumper meaning again it痴 very rare I have to move it or trim with the string trimmer
Out on the bank I was able to adjust the 3 point in just 1 minute and cut over the side at a much greater angle with the finish mower that the belly mower was not cape able Of doing because it痴 tied into the center of the machine and instead of the mower going over to cut and the tractor staying on top the tractor would have flipped trying to cut over that far. Going around the small pines even with the JD being the smaller of the two machines again he finish mower was able to get right up and under without putting my face into the trees or catching branches and ripping them off if I got too close.
My guess on how much faster to cut with the finish mower compared with an equal size belly mower would be about an honest hour longer with the belly mower and that also leaves much more significant trim time.
Since your goal seems to be nothing but a troll here, this is my last reply to you. Feel free to troll away after, but I will be ignoring you from this point forward.
If you will hone your reading comprehension skills, and re-read my initial post, where I refer to "belly mowers", my original comment is this:
For a mower, a belly mower will drastically reduce the amount of ground clearance your tractor has while it's on. Yes they can be taken on and off, but on
most designs, it is not super simple or easy. Not near as bad as taking on and off a backhoe,
but it may make you not take it off maybe every time you should, or hesitate to put it back on when you kind of need it. And a belly mower won't take much abuse from heavy brush or rocks or other small debris that a true rear mounted brush hog style cutter will breeze over and take in stride.
I have emboldened the phrase that seems to have escaped you.
I would think most people with mediocre or better reading comprehension skills would infer from that that a belly mower is NOT SUPER EASY TO TAKE OFF. However, since John Deere NOW makes at least 2 different drive over decks with their AUTO CONNECT feature (which is NOT a MANUAL CONNECT feature like the one you are complaining about-hence the term "auto-connect" in their product description), then my comment holds true that there are SOME decks that are easy to remove and reconnect.
You do get that concept, don't you?
If MOST are NOT "super easy", then that leaves some room for SOME to BE super easy.
Are you following along still?
Then you seemed to miss a few points in this paragraph as well:
Hanging a 3 point hitch style rear mower, either finish or brush, off the back of your tractor will make it hard to maneuver around obstacles, buildings, cars, etc while you're mowing. A belly mower would be easier to mow around obstacles with, but it will still be difficult to get close to walls, sprinklers, flower beds, etc. You'll need some kind of secondary mower for getting around "stuff" in your yard and around the house. Either a push mower, or a riding mower will be needed, as well as some kind of string trimmer/weed eater for getting the last finish work done.
You seem to be confused. The point about maneuvering with a 3 pt mower is you have to be able to turn the thing around. That's a LOT of length hanging off the back end of the tractor. You have to be able to swing it around in a turn without hitting anything. We're talking about a yard around a house, not a pasture or road ditches.
Maybe also see the comment about belly mowers being difficult to get close to "walls, sprinklers, flower beds..."
Seems like I stated the exact same things that you're talking about, with the main difference being I'm talking about having room to swing that 3 pt mower around in turns. Sure if you want to back-and-forth and back-and-forth mow to get around obstacles, you can use a 3 pt mower in a yard. Depends on the yard, I guess. I have a 3 pt mower. It's a 6 footer. I can't mow my yard with it because I'd be making little baby step back and forth turns to get it around in the yard. Waste of time. But I didn't say you "couldn't". I merely said it wouldn't be practical. I haven't seen the OP's yard to know if it will work for him, but neither have you. One small "Google Earth" picture posted in the thread doesn't tell the tale.
As for backhoes, you have your opinion, I have mine. We'll agree to disagree. But, if you'll bother to read what I posted initially:
It sounds to me like you could skip the backhoe attachment.
They are expensive, heavy, and a pain in the 3-point to put on, remove and store when not in use. Having a flat, level paved area to set it on when storing it off the tractor will help, but then that is taking up valuable space while just sitting there gathering dust.
They are expensive. Do you think that's wrong?
They are heavy. Are they not?
You've said you disagree with them being a pain to put on or take off. Fine. Your opinion vs. my opinion.
But are you assuming the OP has the "flat, level paved area to set it on when storing it off the tractor..." that I referenced?
Have you ever taken one off, or put it back on while on UNEVEN ground? Say on uneven dirt, gravel, or just sitting in the grass?
Are you just assuming the OP has this golden space of smooth, flat, level concrete to park this thing on and leave it there?
So go ahead. Troll away at your pleasure. Please feel free to make more references to me "not knowing how to drive", or anything else. It helps put the rest of your "comments" in the frame of reference they deserve.
