Buying Advice Ready to buy a F2690 front mower

[jebinpa]

Any thought on the rear chute opposed to the side chute. Wanna make sure I get this one right so I have no regrets. Jack

 

[corl]

I use my F series front mower to clear leaves in the fall each year and the side discharge is wonderful. I make ever increasing circles around my house and don't rake or pick up leaves at all. They are just gone. Mine is a 60 inch deck and it keeps grass clippings cleaned as you go if you cut so the discharge is on the uncut side. I have a larger 84 inch 3 point mower and it is rear discharge. Too big for a side discharge and it cuts great but leaves everything behind you. You will love the F series (no regrets). Mine is 26 years old and works great. Plows deep snow too with chains on the front wheels only.

 

[JOHNTHOMAS]

I have owned 3 F mowers and made the mistake of getting one with the side discharge deck. Hated it and got rid of it!!!
I like cutting using both sides of the deck and not having to keep going so the discharge isn't piling up and hate the wind blowing grass clippings and dirt on me! I also don't like having to watch what is on the cut discharge side to make sure I'm not piling grass up against the A/C units, houses, cars, people, etc which one has to do with the side discharge deck.
I brow beat my dealer into getting me a ZD326 with 60" rear discharge deck. He resisted mightily but I won out and he got me the rear discharge deck and I love it. My experience over the past 10 years of using rear discharge decks is that they lay the cut grass down more evenly with no regard to having to follow a pattern.
Did I say I hate side discharge decks after using them for years and years and then discovering rear discharge decks? If not, then I hate side discharge decks and love rear discharge decks after 10 years of mowing experience using rear discharge decks on F.s (more than one) and ZD and behind tractor mowing decks (two different ones).
Do I have strong opinions? Yes, when I have experienced several different ones and see the bad and good between them for myself.
I'm not alone. Here is where many of us F mower owners post, read and hang out concerning our Fs and some differing opinions concerning rear vs side discharge decks from experienced F users. Some times dealers push side discharge decks from customer reported opinions but I prefer personal use opinions.
http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/kubota-lawn-garden/

 

[Iamblessed]

I have never got involved in these side versus rear discharge decks before but I am going to weigh in on this one. I have a 2011 F2680E that I found in Tennessee when it was about a year old.Whoever bought it needed a 4 wheel drive unit for Tn. but it fits my level ground perfectly in lower Ala. I have never even needed the Diff. lock. Mine is like most F units sold and has side discharge.The only rear discharge mower I have ever owned was a rear finish mower and I hated it as it piled grass up in rows. My F2680 side discharge throws the grass out very well and spreads it over a wide area. Now I don't let my grass get very tall before mowing and that could be a factor as I have read comments from John that he doesn't mow until his grass is high. I keep mine around 2-3 inches. I do not trim around my house very often with the Kubota either as there are a lot of small areas I have that really need a push mower. They are hard to cut with a small riding mower. Another factor that I would consider is keeping the underside of the Kubota clean as possible. I do all my maintenance and even with the side discharge the area underneath particularly around the driveshaft and driveshaft fan get pretty dirty and greasy. There are 3 grease fittings on the driveshaft and if you keep them greased as needed some of the grease slings off and then attracts dirt. I usually have to get under mine and spray the underside with a degreaser once a year.I hate to think what a mess it would be if I had rear discharge. So considering everything I think side discharge is the best but I agree that if you mow with the wind blowing against the chute it is messy.

 

[JOHNTHOMAS]

The rear discharge does blow grass on the underside much more than the side discharge no doubt about that. For many years I used an air compressor with the three foot extended wand to keep the under side clean or less covered with grass with nary an issue. Read one day where a fellow rear discharge deck lover used a leaf blower to keep his clean. I had a leaf blower I'd never used so why not try it? No going back to air compressor now and in fact I bought another leaf blower to keep on site at rental property where my second F was located. Now a big leaf blower supporter for keeping grass off and under mowing machines, may even use it one day for leaf blowing but usually just leave the leafs to the wind.