Mowing Need a mower and some persuasion.

[Singlecoil]

We just moved into our new house and are puttitng in about an acre and a half of lawn.
We have a BX24 and were wondering what the best solution for a mower would be.
The MMM is about $2000 as I understand it. For that money you can buy a brand new riding lawn mower and not have to worry about taking the MMM off the tractor to do other jobs. We have 20 acres of land and will be doing trail maintenance, occasional backhoe work, box blade work, etc.
Our budget is limited right now due to the new house so $2000 is about all there is to spend on this.

It seems it breaks down to this:
Get the MMM and we'll have a faster, better mower, but it will be a pain to take on and off. We shouldn't have to take it on and off very often, only if we need the added ground clearance.

Get the riding mower and have two engines to maintain, but not have to worry about the configuration of the tractor; just jump on and mow.

Does that seem about right. It's almost a coin toss to me. I'm sure some of you have wrestled with this decision. I read the thread about the ZTR, but that is way out of our price range (I'm assuming they are at least $3000).

Thanks.

 

[KennyV]

I am afraid you will be very disappointed in a 2000 dollar riding mower those things, compared to a Kubota leave a lot to be desired...
I would keep an eye out on Ebay and this site for a good used deck for far less than the cost of a new. Even a poor but rebuildable deck will beat a 2k throw away rider mower, and as to the hassle in swapping attachments, it is not that bad after you do it a few times KennyV.

 

[JOHNTHOMAS]

I use a 6' Landpride RFM on my bigger tractor instead of the MMM. 6' should be under $2000. Some people say removing BH and reattaching is easy with practice but I don't know since I've never done it. Just another option.

 

[Will_C]

I know that I would much happier with A MMM on your BX. $2,000 does not buy much of a trator mower. Attaching/removing a MMM with a FEL and a BH to raise your tractor should be easy.
Will

 

[Slade]

Singlecoil, gotta agree with the post so far; I would buy a MMM for your BX. Sure you may have to take it off now and then (not a big deal after a couple of times) but you have a really great mower and no additional maintenance.

Another viable alternative is to look locally for a good quality CHEAP riding mower with little use. If you were in East Texas, I'd sell you one with a bunch of implements for a thousand bucks --can't mow with small machines anymore. LOL

 

[dougtrr2]

I would go with a mower on the BX. As it just so happens yesterday I timed myself. It took 20 minutes to drop my 60" mower and mount the loader and backhoe on my BX24. This was at a very leisurely pace. I am slowing down in life and 20 minutes seems worth the benefit of having a better mower.

Take Care
Doug in SW IA

 

[KeithInSpace]

MMM on your BX. I can drop mine in 3 minutes. Unless I'm doing "hard core" loader work, I just leave it attached. No biggie.

 

[aczlan]

I realize it is on a slightly bigger tractor (perhaps?), but I can drop or install the 60" MMM on my FIL's B7810 in under 10 mins.
the trick is to put a 6" block under the front edge of the bucket and use the loader to lift the front wheels of the tractor (after disconnecting the MMM) higher than the top of the mower deck, then you can swing the MMM out of the way with no problems, otherwise you have to try to drag the MMM sideways out from under the tractor.

so my vote is for a MMM if you have tight areas to mow, however if you don't have any edges or trees to work around, I would recommend a 3 point flail mower or finish mower, it would be slightly easier to get on or off and could double as a counterweight for the FEL.


Just my $.02

Aaron Z

 

[Singlecoil]

Thanks for the insight, everybody.

It looks like we have a 60" MMM in our future

 

[CHDinCT]

Well, I'll throw in a dissenting opinion. I didn't hear anyone mention the added time to drop the loader and backhoe, which would add a bunch more time to the conversion process unless you're planning on mowing with them on. I guess that will depend on how open your property is.

For me, when my BX is set up for loader work with a ballast box or rake on the back, and I need to mow the lawn as the last or first job of the day, it's very convenient to jump on my wheel horse and just mow. I'd agree you won't get a great mowing machine new for $2,000 but there's plenty of decent used JD's, Simplicities, WH's, Cub's, and other better made brands out there for that money with 54" or even 60" decks. Just another point of view. Good luck.