Rear Finish Mowers

[OrangeGuy]

Rbargeron,

Thanks for the help on posting information!

OrangeGuy

 

[gbirky]

Anybody out there have photos of the underside of a rear discharge finish mower? I am considering building my own belly or front mount mower for my tractor, and want to make it rear discharge. I wanted to know what the baffling looks like so I can get good distribution of the clippings. (I wouldn't be building my own if I could find something the right dimensions to fit where I need it on a very small tractor - Yanmar YM1110D.)

 

[chim]

Here's one (not mine - stolen image)..................chim

 

[PineRidge]

<font color="blue"> Anybody out there have photos of the underside of a rear discharge finish mower? I am considering building my own belly or front mount mower for my tractor, and want to make it rear discharge. I wanted to know what the baffling looks like so I can get good distribution of the clippings. (I wouldn't be building my own if I could find something the right dimensions to fit where I need it on a very small tractor - Yanmar YM1110D.)
</font>

I would think that a rear discharge mower mounted out in front you might turn out to be a bad idea. Any foreign object that the deck might pick up will be directed back in your face, no? /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif

 

[Bob_Skurka]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( <font color="blue"> Anybody out there have photos of the underside of a rear discharge finish mower? I am considering building my own belly or front mount mower for my tractor, and want to make it rear discharge. I wanted to know what the baffling looks like so I can get good distribution of the clippings. (I wouldn't be building my own if I could find something the right dimensions to fit where I need it on a very small tractor - Yanmar YM1110D.)
</font>

I would think that a rear discharge mower mounted out in front you might turn out to be a bad idea. Any foreign object that the deck might pick up will be directed back in your face, no? /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif )</font>


I believe that Befco C50 mowers can be mounted front or rear! Might just want to look at those. They are extremely high quality units, very heavily built, every feature optional on other brands is standard on the C50's including spiral gears, anti scalp rollers, choice of wheel types, etc.

 

[EastTexFrank]

Yes Bob, you're right. It's been a long time since I've read my manual but I'm positive that it said that my Befco C50, RD5, 60" rear dischrge mower can be front mounted.

 

[Bob_Skurka]

Frank: I just got rid of my 10+ year old Befco mower. Man those things are awesome units. I can't believe the quality they build into their products. Only got rid of it to switch to a MMM so I could free up garage space. The dealer gave me a good trade in allowance and is selling my decade old Befco for the price of a new budget brand. That says a lot about the quality of the Befco products!!!

 

[Skitch]

I have a 72" RFM, and absolutely love it. As others have mentioned, it does take some practice to figure out how it will swing, but that won't take much time at all. Heck, even if you leave a line of grass on a turn, it just means more seat time to go back and get it!

yellowsocks -- I do turn sharp with mine. But I guess ultimately, that is a subjective statement. Let's just say that I turn the tractor as tight as it will with the mower on the ground and have never had any problems.

 

[yellowsocks93]

Sounds like you guys really love the rear discharge. Makes me wonder if I should have tried that Frontier instead of the Deere side discharge mower.

 

[yellowsocks93]

Bob,

I just looked at Befco's website and the deck I would get from them is 8 gauge steel! That's really thick almost as thick as my 7 iron JD I used to have. They look really well built. My side discharge cuts great but I wonder in the thick stuff where I might get a clump or two if this would have been eliminated with a rear discharge or if it would make clumping worse?

 

[KiotiJohn]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Sounds like you guys really love the rear discharge. Makes me wonder if I should have tried that Frontier instead of the Deere side discharge mower. )</font>
While I don't use a finish mower to cut my lawn, I would prefer a side discharge because I like to cut throwing the discharge into the higher grass to be recut. A rear discharge would leave it in original cut length instead of chopping it up. John

 

[green4710]

I have a 84 inch rfm that I use on my 4710. It does a great job. Its a rear discharge type with chains, and Im happy with it. I never see an RPM drop on my tractor. The only complaint I have is the blades need sharpened quite often. I think you'd be happy with it. It only weighs 800 lbs, so its not terribly heavy either.

 

[dass]

My blades hold an edge ok but I've got to get a case of grease cartridges. Mfg. says every ten hours. Takes nearly a tube each time. The spindles are huge on this thing and they hold a LOT of grease. I might go air and get the stuff in bulk.

 

[DiskDoctr]

Dass,

Have you tried some of the better grade greases? We just reloaded our air grease gun with this, as it is not supposed to break down as quickly.

I bought some of the red stuff, the best that TSC had for about $1.69/ea, I think.

Anybody know if this grease is what it's cracked up to be?

-JC

 

[dass]

I've been using Shell Retinex LC2, which is a heavy load grease. Not designed for bearings, so I should look for something else. Your stuff sounds better.

 

[gbirky]

Chim,
Thanks for the photo. That's got to be the strangest looking thing I've ever seen. My deck would only be 3 blades, so I don't think that really helps too much. For the others of you who replied - I'm looking to put this on the front or under a very small tractor. It will have to be belt driven due to limitations of the tractor. It would be much more complicated to get a pto shaft up to the front of the tractor.

The reason for my request for photos is that I once saw a rear discharge finish mower at an Ag expo that had some interesting baffling which I assumed was to redirect clippings to better distribute them. I was hoping to have a model to duplicate.

 

[EastTexFrank]

That's the technique I use when I cut the yard at the farm with riding mower. I don't do it too often as my S-I-L does it most of the time. The only problem I have found is that when you cut in a circle, and get towards the end of cutting, you end up with all the cut grass in a big pile with the uncut grass in the middle and the mower starts to bog down due to the sheer volume of clippings it has to handle.

My answer to the problem when I got my tractor was to install a mulching kit on my 60" rear discharge finishing mower. It works well although you have to slow down on your mowing speed a little but on my yard that has never been an inconvenience. It can be pretty rough and bouncy in places.

 

[JimMorrissey]

dass,

Looks like a nice deck. I'm in a holding pattern right now. We'll see what happens.

 

[JimMorrissey]

green,

"only 800 lbs" I was laughing when I read that. Tractor people have a funny sense of what's heavy after dealing with the power of hydraulics for awhile.....myself included.

Jim