Mowing suspended vs. ground travel mower decks

[danbuf]

Hiya Folks,
I am still contemlpating which tractor to purchase, and one of my consternations is over the type of mower deck,
I pretty much decided on 60" deck.

I would prefer a suspended mower deck as offered in Kubota B7510 "Turf SPecial", but I want a larger machine as the B3030.

My mowing is on relatively flat ground with 6" height variations.
However, my lawn is frequently wet when I mow as I have poor drainage clay consistancy soil.

So I have never mowed with a ground traveling deck and I am concerned that I will have to wait till the ground is fairly dry to use this type of deck, otherwise I suspect gage wheel gouging? Or are their some techniques in mowing to help avoid this?
Or am I making more of it than I should?
Can the deck be slightly evelavted when mowing, or does it have to be fully on the ground?

Thanks,
Dan

 

[Code54]

I have the 60" ground travel deck and have no complaints at all. I never noticed the wheels from the deck making any marks, the marks are always from the tractor wheels (I am guessing due to weight)
You can run it with the wheels off the ground without a problem, I do it to cut my field and grind up the leaves.
Good luck

 

[TC18guy]

Don't have the wet grass problem, but I agree. You could raise the deck to the point it takes the weight off the wheels to keep them from gouging. These decks are heavy and hey will make ruts if the ground is wet enough with all the weight on them. The benefit to the wheels is that they will let the deck float up and down and keep the blades out of the dirt on un-even ground where a suspended deck is dependent on the tractor wheels. The first thing I noticed is there is a lot more ground height variation between a 60" deck and smaller decks.

 

[Toolguy]

I modified the 60" MMM on my B3030 so that the center wheels in the back of the deck would not leave tracks. (see attachment) I still use the front wheels to keep the front of the cut consistent. I have the chain hooks adjusted so that the weight is just off of the rear wheels. I then raise the rear wheels all the way up so they don't touch the grass. This has worked out so well that my next step is to remove the rear wheels altogether so mounting and removing the mower will be easier. I, too, was concerned that the wheels would leave tracks in the ground when it is wet in the spring. I have mowed the entire lawn three times now since using this system. It has worked perfectly and the lawn looks great when done.

 

[Toolguy]

This picture is of the left side.

 

[Toolguy]

This picture shows more detail of the hook. The holes that the angle iron is bolted to were already in the frame.

 

[Cliff_Johns]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( . . . The benefit to the wheels is that they will let the deck float up and down and keep the blades out of the dirt on un-even ground where a suspended deck is dependent on the tractor wheels. )</font>

That is indeed the benefit of wheels, but suspended decks still have wheels don't they? It's just that the wheels only touch the ground when they need to to avoid scalping or whatever. At least that's how the suspended deck on mine works.

Cliff

 

[ccsial]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( <font color="blue"> </font> It's just that the wheels only touch the ground when they need to to avoid scalping )</font> <font color="black"> </font>

That is how my JD 355 is set up. I have one area that is shaded and sandy and the grass doesn't have much root. Tearing out chuncks is only a problem when I turn tight in certain places. I avoid this by raising the mower deck during tight turns. It takes a bit longer but saves the fragile grass.

 

[robert1]

Do the smart thing and buy a Zero-turn mower. tractors are for rough work. Buy a machine that does mowing well instead of a tractor that is not designed to mow. then you would have the problem of puting ruts in your lawn.

 

[kevincook]

If the ground is very wet my gauge wheels can leave ruts in the lawn. When this happens I simply raise the mower deck slightly and run it like a suspended deck. I think the cut is better with the deck right down on the ground but I don't think anyone else ever notices a difference.

Good Luck,
Kevin