Buying Advice SCUTs + mulch kits?

[AxleHub]

Axle,
In my yard from October 15 to December 1, every 4-5 days, this is the amount of leaves that cover my yard. No mulching deck will make these disappear. Mostly tulip poplar leaves as big as your hand. Sometimes it is worse after some wind and rain.

I have to "Mulch and sweep" twice a week during this time to stay ahead of the game, or I will have to break out the rake, because soon it will block out the sun and kill my grass. I don't rake if I can help it. I do have the mulching deck on my new massey, but I got it in January, and I have not tried it on these. The OP doesn't have to spend 15K to take care of his leaves if he already has a JD; of course unless he wants the Massey like I did.
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Greetings Ron,

Mile9's post wasn't "to spend 15K to take care of his leaves if he already has a JD;" he posted he wants to get his first tractor and mulch 1.5 acres of lawn in the process - plus deal with his leaves. Leaves aren't his primary purchasing a tractor motivation. And he wants a front loader because he has tractor tasks to do. His JD is 20 years old but apparently it still runs too.

Regarding your lawn's leaves - you might be surprised if you try what I do. When fall comes - I always let the lawn grow longer than spring or summer (timed to when the leaves start dropping. Then I set my mmm deck higher and I mulch them when things are dry. Because the grass is a little taller - the leaves are sitting up higher and mulching them when dry allows them to be cut up without matting the grass down underneath. The grass breaths well and the leaves create an excellent natural fertilizing over the winter with no buildup in spring. And by cutting this way in later fall, the worms work the ground until it freezes.

However if I cut the grass shorter during fall season then leaves can't mulch up and fall between the grass - they pack on top of it. I use no fertilizer at all on the lawn - only herbicides for occasional weeds, or pesticide for grubs. Part of my yard is open, and a part about the size of your picture gets leaf deposits like your picture shows.

Try it and see if it works for your lawn area. However - if you fertilize - it likely won't work well because fertilizer drives worms deep in the ground and doesn't allow the grass to develop as strong a root system either.

 

[Ron of Va]

Thanks for the tip, I will give it a try with the Massey. The John Deere is currently set as high as it will go. I will be delighted if it works.

 

[ThirdMan]

Then I set my mmm deck higher and I mulch them when things are dry.

How high can you set mmm deck on the GC1715? Mine maxes out at 4 inches.

 

[mile9c1]

My yard rarely looks like Ron's yard. I only have a few trees over a large area; it's the large area that makes raking annoying (wouldn't be so bad if they all fell at once).

If the MF 2315 mulching deck mulches significantly better than my current Deere it would probably work for my yard. I'll look at the GC1710.

I have a Deere 425 AWS with 54" deck. Once I borrowed my friend's Deere 445 / 60" deck and it seemed to cut quite a bit faster. That's why I wanted the 60" deck, especially if I lose the convenience of AWS.

 

[mile9c1]

Am I correct that the GC1710's bucket does not detach from the loader? I was leaning towards the BX because it looks easy to swap the bucket for a snow blade.

 

[AxleHub]

Am I correct that the GC1710's bucket does not detach from the loader? I was leaning towards the BX because it looks easy to swap the bucket for a snow blade.

My gc1715 bucket came "pinned on" which means bolts attach the bucket to the gel arms and you take the bolts out. But I chose to have a quick attach from mytractortools.Com as well as a set of forks and some other items. The quick attach is very fast and not heavy like many quick attaches and also includes a 2 inch trailer receiver hitch (included).

 

[mile9c1]

Thanks AxleHub, I'll keep the GC1710 on my list.

 

[mile9c1]

I picked up a used lawn sweeper and just traded my 54" deck for a 60" deck, so I probably won't purchase a subcut this year. The 60" deck doesn't solve any of my problems but I'm excited just to try it out. The other thing is, the more I look into it, the more I would like to have a backhoe. And I don't really have a good storage solution yet for the 'hoe.