Rear Discharge deck for F3990?

[cold1313]

I'm guessing JohnThomas is the man with the answers...but I was wondering if I have any options to pick up a rear discharge deck for my F3990? I can't think of a situation where one would ever come up used or collecting dust at a dealer...but it can't hurt to ask!

 

[JOHNTHOMAS]

oNE NEVER KNOWS WHAT A DEALER MAY HAVE IN A BACK BUILDING COLLECTING DUST. I recently bought a F2690 4wd from Barlows and accepted a 60" side discharge deck because he had the deck on hand but had to wait two months for the F to be built and delivered from the factory. I did require a mulching kit with blocked side discharge or I would not have bought.
I purchased/traded for a 39 hour used ZD1211 early last week and expect delivery today or tomorrow. I was about to buy a 47 hour 60" side and going to add the blocked side with mulching kit ($300 additional charge) and discovered a 72" rear discharge sitting a couple of rows back and declared THAT'S THE ONE I WANT!!! The 72" did cost a few hundred more than the 60" but the 72" deck does cost more than the 60" deck. Saving the $300 for the mulching kit made the bit more for the 72"RD vs the 60" SD very close to the same price. Even has a canopy to keep those bad sun rays off my tender skin already installed. So, the moral of the story is one has to seek to find and knock for the door to open and ask for it to be made available.
If one were ordered by a customer and then changed their mind about the deck after the order was placed in the system and the dealer swapped the deck for customer satisfaction there could be a deck out there in a dealers inventory if you could just find it. I'll ask Barlows today.

 

[JOHNTHOMAS]

Talked to Steve Barlow today while paying my balance for the ZD1211 I mentioned your need/interest in a 72" rear discharge deck for a F3990. He said he would sell you the one of the F I traded him for $2250.
He now has 3 used Fs for sale. 2 F3080s and a F2690 4wd.

 

[MessickFarmEqu]

rear discharge decks don't cut as well, or clean out as well as side discharges. We've had several customers return them.

 

[Ford850]

I'd want to test one before buying. They definitely have some advantages, but I've seen some ugly results with some rear discharge decks. I recently compared large areas cut by the same model mowers on the same day. One with side and the other with rear discharge deck. For cutting around obstacles, landscape beds, houses, then the rear wins. But in the type of grass I have (tall fescue) the rear deck leaves heavy stripes of mowed grass, much like a fresh cut hay field. The side discharge seems to spread the grass over double the width and it makes a more even distribution. Again, this has been what I've seen but your grass type and mowing height could change that.

 

[JOHNTHOMAS]

rear discharge decks don't cut as well, or clean out as well as side discharges. We've had several customers return them.

I'd want to test one before buying. They definitely have some advantages, but I've seen some ugly results with some rear discharge decks. I recently compared large areas cut by the same model mowers on the same day. One with side and the other with rear discharge deck. For cutting around obstacles, landscape beds, houses, then the rear wins. But in the type of grass I have (tall fescue) the rear deck leaves heavy stripes of mowed grass, much like a fresh cut hay field. The side discharge seems to spread the grass over double the width and it makes a more even distribution. Again, this has been what I've seen but your grass type and mowing height could change that.

I've been using rear discharge decks for over 10 years on several Fs and Zs and RFMs. My actual hands on long term owner experience is a definite preference for the rear discharge vs side discharge decks. Cut quality is usually determined by tractor/machine speed and blades (I've always only used Kubota dealer sold blades). I've also discovered that cutting high grass leaves a row of cut grass with either model with it being worse with side discharge. I've also discovered how I hate cut grass and dust blowing on me which always happens on a windy or slightly windy day with side discharge decks and never with rear discharge decks. I have recently bought a couple of Kubota mowers Z and F and bought side discharge decks because that is what was available but added the mulching kit with exhaust blocking plate before I would accept them. They may be better than rear discharge but do seem to require slowing down for a better cut in high dense grass due to the cutting/recutting of under deck clipping.
I don't sell decks and I don't get any payment for any that are sold. Just my experience after 40 years mowing with side discharge decks and then the last 10 years experience with both side and rear discharge decks. For the "Lawn" cutter that mows weekly I will believe the rear discharge will be the best choice by far and for those cutters that let their grass get to high like me I still recommend the rear discharge deck since one doesn't have to keep pushing that built up row one way or the other that the side discharge accumulates as one mows the rows and having to determine row mowing direction by the built up row. I like mowing any direction at any time and even crossing the previous cut if I want which is the rear discharge decks happy method.
Barlows has the mowers on his large lot with plenty of grass for testing for those who want to test equipment.

 

[Ford850]

JT, I agree there is a place for rear discharge decks. They build them and some people love them. My point was to test one on your own grass first to be sure it's right for you before buying one. Obviously they are not for many people, and/or don't cut best, otherwise that's what everyone would be selling and buying. As Messick's noted above, they get returns on them in their area. I was surprised how poor the areas looked when I saw the results side by side on thick tall fescue.

 

[JOHNTHOMAS]

JT, I agree there is a place for rear discharge decks. They build them and some people love them. My point was to test one on your own grass first to be sure it's right for you before buying one. Obviously they are not for many people, and/or don't cut best, otherwise that's what everyone would be selling and buying. As Messick's noted above, they get returns on them in their area. I was surprised how poor the areas looked when I saw the results side by side on thick tall fescue.

Not disputing what you saw but was the mower a diesel powered and running at full throttle with decently sharp blades? If not, then I totally believe/accept the less than great results having learned this outcome myself several times until I noticed my cut and didn't realize I wasn't operating at full throttle. Then when pushing the throttle to full the cut results in my high past due for mowing Ky fescue drastically changed to a fine cut "Yard", not a "Lawn" like my brother the weekly mower fertilizer and limer has. I never fertilize or lime. To many acres to mow and he has a lot.

 

[greenrider1]

I somewhat regret getting the 72" rear discharge deck when I bought my F3080. I keep the factory blades sharpened and balanced, and I'm happy with the quality of the cut, however if my grass gets much taller than my 3" cut height the clippings clump terribly and the lawn looks awful. If I keep it mowed frequently it's not as bad. I've never used an F series with a side discharge so I can't compare, but I've never had any clumping issues on previous side discharge mowers I've used, as long as I blow the clippings to the outside, or even my 84" rear discharge Bush Hog finish mower, which had a surprisingly nice cut with evenly dispersed clippings. Maybe it really depends on grass type/height more than anything, but on my lawn the RD deck on my F series has never spread the clippings well. I've tried gator mulching blades also, which seems to reduce clumping, but the cut quality suffers from what I believe is a reduction in lift. I always mow at full throttle. Ground speed does not seem to have any effect on the clumping issue, since it still does it going slow. This deck also seems to build up a crazy amount of grass on the underside, more than any mower I've ever had. It definitely clumps less when I clean off the underside of the deck, but it builds back up with grass to the same amount with just a couple passes. It is nice to be able to mow along the road in either direction and not worry about blowing clippings or any debris into the roadway. I never mow along buildings or flower beds with the left side of the deck, since it seems to blow some grass out of the left rear corner, which really defeats the main purpose of having a RD deck in the first place. I'd be willing to trade my 72" RD with about 200 hrs for a 72" side discharge to anyone interested.

 

[JOHNTHOMAS]

I somewhat regret getting the 72" rear discharge deck when I bought my F3080. I keep the factory blades sharpened and balanced, and I'm happy with the quality of the cut, however if my grass gets much taller than my 3" cut height the clippings clump terribly and the lawn looks awful. If I keep it mowed frequently it's not as bad. I've never used an F series with a side discharge so I can't compare, but I've never had any clumping issues on previous side discharge mowers I've used, as long as I blow the clippings to the outside, or even my 84" rear discharge Bush Hog finish mower, which had a surprisingly nice cut with evenly dispersed clippings. Maybe it really depends on grass type/height more than anything, but on my lawn the RD deck on my F series has never spread the clippings well. I've tried gator mulching blades also, which seems to reduce clumping, but the cut quality suffers from what I believe is a reduction in lift. I always mow at full throttle. Ground speed does not seem to have any effect on the clumping issue, since it still does it going slow. This deck also seems to build up a crazy amount of grass on the underside, more than any mower I've ever had. It definitely clumps less when I clean off the underside of the deck, but it builds back up with grass to the same amount with just a couple passes. It is nice to be able to mow along the road in either direction and not worry about blowing clippings or any debris into the roadway. I never mow along buildings or flower beds with the left side of the deck, since it seems to blow some grass out of the left rear corner, which really defeats the main purpose of having a RD deck in the first place. I'd be willing to trade my 72" RD with about 200 hrs for a 72" side discharge to anyone interested.

Such strange results. I recently bought a ZD1211 72"RD to add to my new F2690 60" side discharge with mulching kit. The ZD was doing some serios windrowing and very visible for a week or more after my grandson mowed a few weeks ago. I was prepared to pay $369 for a mulching kit for the ZD but thought I'd try the ZD myself and observe cutting layout as I mowed. We started mowing in 5" to 6" wet grass with the ZD and F. I observed the grass was wetter than I thought it would be so called a 2 hour halt till it dried. I then operated the ZD at FULL THROTTLE while grandson was on new F at 90% throttle. We switched around on who drove which machine. The cut and dispersion was awesome for both mowers. I waited a day to see if I could see cut rows in the grass and could not and then another day and still nothing other than perfect laid out spread out evenly cut grass. Grass doesn't look like it has been cut with no grass cuttings visible except for the height is right at the 3" level I want it to be after cutting. Glad I didn't order the mulching kit but you may want to get one for your machine. I did cut at a bit slower speed on my F with SD and mulching kit to give it time to cut up that grass under there on some extra high and thick grass but my grandson just goes full out no matter what, slow is not in his 14 year old vocabulary, it's a big no bic for him.
Maybe the type grass does make a difference. I have Ky fescue base mixed with good drought resistant almost cultivated weeds of almost every variety.