With the F deck running completely on the ground with small tires: how does it hold up mowing ROUGH ground ?
The deck is hanging from the ZD mower letting the heavy machine & bigger tires absorb the terrain.
This is the main reason I went with ZD although I wanted 4wd
Thoughts ?
Didn稚 mean to hi-jack the thread.
It's not Kubota, but the front deck/gauge wheel concept is very similar, except the deck height adjustment linkage is way more complicated on Grasshopper.
Here is my experience with a front deck mower:
I bought used front deck Grasshopper 721D almost 20 years ago and we have since put on approximately 1000 hours of mowing.
It handles bumpy yard areas reasonably well and we are on a third set of front gauge wheels since.
The first original OEM ball bearing ones lasted very good, but the second (aftermarket) ball bearing set was no so good!
I put these on about 3 years ago and they seem to hold up very well so far:
(prices were for set of two each)
We are still using the Grasshopper as our main mower, but I bought used 3600 hour Kubota F3060 mainly to get a 72" cut deck vs. 61" in Grasshopper, and 4x4 model in order not to have to use "bar" type tires.
The F3060 is undergoing overhaul before we start using it and subject to other priorities I hope to have it ready by the summer.
F3060 Front & rear wheels are larger diameter and wider, deck/gauge wheel construction is little more heavy duty due to wider deck and gauge wheels are little larger diameter so it's expected to handle rough yard better.
ZD would be fine for lawn, but front deck style mower is my preference for a yard!
Testing a new deck (new shell only):
