L3800 doing work

[LD1]

Makes sense. My FEL stays on most of the fall winter with firewood, logging & some dirt work. But most of the hours I rack up are bush hoggin & I don't mow with the FEL on! Have no tiller here, but would do as you do there.

How heavy is your bushhog out of curiosity?

I could mow without the loader. As when mowing, alot of the weight is on the tailwheed anyway. But with the cutter raised, I can literally take one hand and lift the front from the grill guard. Let alone loading and unloading from a trailer. And as most of my mowing work is offsite paid jobs, I like having the loader on. I cant tell how many times it has came in handy. Being able to detect things before hitting them. Or being able to offer a customer to "push that downed tree out of the way" kinda thing. Even if my cutter was lighter, I'd say I am 99% sure I would still go to a job with the loader on.

 

[Bluegill2]

How heavy is your bushhog out of curiosity?

I could mow without the loader. As when mowing, alot of the weight is on the tailwheed anyway. But with the cutter raised, I can literally take one hand and lift the front from the grill guard. Let alone loading and unloading from a trailer. And as most of my mowing work is offsite paid jobs, I like having the loader on. I cant tell how many times it has came in handy. Being able to detect things before hitting them. Or being able to offer a customer to "push that downed tree out of the way" kinda thing. Even if my cutter was lighter, I'd say I am 99% sure I would still go to a job with the loader on.

My mower is only around 450 lbs, front wheels are always planted good. I have to mow around a lot of trees, fences, barns, firewood stacks. Just makes it so much easier with the loader off, but there are times when I wish the loader was there to push some3thing out of the way as you say.

 

[LD1]

When I was only mowing for myself, reclaiming some areas back in the woods that were overgrown, and using my smaller 5' cutter, I always took the loader off. But with the heavier hog, and doing customers that I have never been on their lot before, I like having the loader. I just explain upfront that it isnt a finish mower or a trimmer and I cannot get real close to obsticals. Never had a complaint.

 

[k0ua]

I always leave the loader on around here. If you get nose down on some of these hills, you need the loader to push yourself backward to get going again in a couple of places. When I mowed my 7 acres in Willard, which is much flatter and I finished mowed it to look like a park, I always took the loader off for more maneuverability and less weight on front wheels. I will agree it is a lot more pleasant to mow around things with the loader off, it is like a different tractor.