Ground contact or Suspended mower ?

[thetooth]

i am in the process of buying a used B7500 tractor with a ground contact mower ( RCK 54-24B ) . i have been searching through the forums for advice but am not finding the right answer for my needs .

i have 1 1/2 acre yard that is old field . it is flat no hills but there are alot of divots and bumps , it's pretty rough . my concern is that i will have to drive really slow with the ground contact mower .

i currently have a simplicity broadmoore with a suspended deck . it cuts well but the mower deck takes a little beating with all my dips and dives .

how the grass looks is not super important it's mostly clover , wild strawberries , and various weeds .

1. so my question is will the ground contact mower do a pretty good job ?
( that's all i need grass cutting wise is pretty good not golf course )

2. will the cutting rough terrain with the ground contact be a aggravating experience ?

thanks for all your help
i am trying to get the tractor out here before i make my decision but they are not going for it .

 

[TripleR]

While I prefer a suspended deck on a lawn mower, I have had good results using a ground contact with the only real drawback being in really sharp turns where the wheels would tear the lawn up if wet.

 

[beenthere]

Suspended, or you will need to replace deck wheels/rollers often. And as mentioned, tearing up lawn when wet if not.

I use a heavy roller in the early spring to roll out many of the humps. And don't want to mow into the dips.

 

[thetooth]

thanks for the input . i have been back and forth over B's and BX's and i found a B that i really ( and in my price range ) like but was a little concerned about the ground contact mower .

 

[TripleR]

thanks for the input . i have been back and forth over B's and BX's and i found a B that i really ( and in my price range ) like but was a little concerned about the ground contact mower .

I think someone on here put a set of chains on their ground contact mower to have a semi-suspended deck, but I don't remember the thread.

 

[thetooth]

I think someone on here put a set of chains on their ground contact mower to have a semi-suspended deck, but I don't remember the thread.

yes i read that thread . i really hate to be repetitive on questions so i try to search for answers first . may main concern is speed . i don't need to mow like the indy 500 but i don't want to crawl either .

i am afraid with the deck wheels on the ground and my rough yard i will have to go to slow . i may be doing some unnecessary worrying to

thanks

 

[TripleR]

yes i read that thread . i really hate to be repetitive on questions so i try to search for answers first . may main concern is speed . i don't need to mow like the indy 500 but i don't want to crawl either .

i am afraid with the deck wheels on the ground and my rough yard i will have to go to slow . i may be doing some unnecessary worrying to

thanks

You are better at researching than I. Lack of specific knowledge fortunately does not keep one from offering an opinion, so here I go.

My take on it is that non suspended decks are made for just that; operating in contact with the ground and all hazards associated therein, so going fast should not be the problem. I use RFMs at a pretty fast clip and my brother has one of the very old Cub Cadets designed with the non suspended deck. Many of the old mowers were ground contact.

We have a three year old John Deere 2305 that has had a lot of issues with the hydraulic lift and height control. We just got it back from the third trip to the shop. Over 75% of its life, it has functioned as a ground contact mower and to this date no damage has been done and no one has mowed any differently one way or the other. It has been used in some very rough ground and used in ways it probably shouldn't have in our woods, fields and firing range.

 

[beenthere]

The discussion leaves me with a question. Is the OP talking of a MMM or a RFM? I thought MMM, not RFM (i.e. a deck under the tractor, not on the 3 ph).

IMO, RFM's need to be on the ground. All my MMM's are suspended (deck wheels smaller than those on an RFM).

Deere has advised in their manuals to adjust "suspended" for many a year. I used to do set-up for a Deere dealer, and if adjusted right, the mowing couldn't be beat. Was easy to tell when a deck was set up wrong, as the deck wheels would wear down flat (no curve left to them). Once the deck is "leveled" then the deck wheels are set to 1/4 - 1/2" high. Simplicity designs their decks to run down on the rear rollers. Nice mowing job, but the rollers apparently don't last too long.

 

[thetooth]

The discussion leaves me with a question. Is the OP talking of a MMM or a RFM? I thought MMM, not RFM (i.e. a deck under the tractor, not on the 3 ph).

IMO, RFM's need to be on the ground. All my MMM's are suspended (deck wheels smaller than those on an RFM).

Deere has advised in their manuals to adjust "suspended" for many a year. I used to do set-up for a Deere dealer, and if adjusted right, the mowing couldn't be beat. Was easy to tell when a deck was set up wrong, as the deck wheels would wear down flat (no curve left to them). Once the deck is "leveled" then the deck wheels are set to 1/4 - 1/2" high. Simplicity designs their decks to run down on the rear rollers. Nice mowing job, but the rollers apparently don't last too long.

i am talking about MMM the tractor i am looking at originally came with a suspended deck or a ground contact deck . i have a simplicity now and i like the way it flexes and flows with my bumpy yard . my concern is that the ground contact won't do the same or if it will would i have to go really slow .

thanks

 

[TripleR]

i am talking about MMM the tractor i am looking at originally came with a suspended deck or a ground contact deck . i have a simplicity now and i like the way it flexes and flows with my bumpy yard . my concern is that the ground contact won't do the same or if it will would i have to go really slow .

thanks

My assumption was you were talking about a MMM and only used the RFM reference as an indicator that a mower designed to be ground contact will be designed to withstand the travails of such use. Our renters have used John Deere tractors with ground contact MMM for years and they are anything but slow or gentle with them and they use them for things they certainly were never intended; more like rotary cutter work than MMM. They have recently bought purchased a Grass Hopper and John Deere ZTR and I swear I can see daylight under those things when they are using them.

 

[Rusty]

1. so my question is will the ground contact mower do a pretty good job ? ( that's all i need grass cutting wise is pretty good not golf course )

2. will the cutting rough terrain with the ground contact be a aggravating experience ?

thetooth - It is difficult to answer your questions without actually driving your property. How rough is rough? I don't know.

I mow about 2.5A of finish lawn and about 7.5A of horse pasture and former hay field with a B7500 and RCK60-24B MMM. The lawn has rolls and dips and other changes that affect the quality of the finish cut. The final product is not showcase, but is satisfactory to me.

The pasture and hay field are much rougher. The furrows from when it was a beet/bean field are still noticable. I mow with the furrows as fast as I am comfortable, and a little slower while crossing furrows. The bouncing tractor is the limiting factor for me not the MMM. However, when mowing the pasture and hay field, I have the MMM pinned up in the transport position - so it is actually a suspended deck at that time. I am sure I would slow down if the MMM was on its own wheels, but it is hard to say how much.

I have been mowing this way since 2003 and have 1,100 hours on the B7500 - about 80-85% of the hours were mowing. IMHO the B7500 is comfortable and the RCK60/54-24B is strong and will hold up, however my advice is to keep pushing to get the tractor and MMM to your property for a actual test mow of your entire lawn.

Best wishes!

 

[DelSc]

I have been cutting my "lawn" with suspended decks for years but then bought a larger tractor that has a ground engaging mmm last year. Much of what I mow is old fields that are level or gently rolling hills, however they are rough.

I find that I mow faster with the ground engaging deck, however it has nothing really to do with the deck. The larger tractor that I bought last fall has larger wheels and so I can travel faster with out it feeling like I will bounce out of the seat or shake the tractor to death. I know I am mowing faster because both my last suspended deck and the ground engaging deck I use now are 60", and it takes me much less time to mow than previously. I feel I get a better cut with the ground engaging deck because it follows the contours of my "lawn" better.

The ground engaging deck (RC60-30B) is built quite well and seems heavy duty. It doesn't seem like it is taking a beating while I am using it, but time will tell.

 

[thetooth]

thank you Rusty and DelSC . i really appreciate your experience and input . i am really am going to try to have them bring the tractor out . we will see .

i actually talked to the guy who mows my neighbors lawn about the ground contact deck he thought the same thing that it would follow the contours better .

thanks

 

[aczlan]

We have a B7510 with a 60" ground contact deck and a BX2660 with a 60" suspended deck. The 2660 has a nicer cut and can go a little faster on bumpy terrain, but as been said, when mowing a field, you will probably have the deck all the way up.

IMO, unless you mow when it is wet out you will probably not notice a difference.

Aaron Z

 

[d1king]

I have a b2400 with 60" mmm. Ground is pretty rough in south Missouri, rocks etc. What happens if I mow with deck suspended or even in transport position? Called dealer in Arkansas, they didn't know if it might stress the lift system, etc or not? Thanks, Don

 

[aczlan]

I have a b2400 with 60" mmm. Ground is pretty rough in south Missouri, rocks etc. What happens if I mow with deck suspended or even in transport position? Called dealer in Arkansas, they didn't know if it might stress the lift system, etc or not? Thanks, Don

My guess would be that being in transport position would be better than being suspended. The reason being that in transport position (at least on the B7510 we have), the deck is tight against the upper stops, so it cannot bounce up and down. But if you were to mow with the deck 1/2 way up, it would bounce up and down. This could cause extra strain on the deck lift mechanism and could cause an uneven cut.

Aaron Z