TC21D

[lblair]

I just orderd my new TC21D. I tried out lots of brands. NH exited me the most. I have 4-1/2 achers to mow. I got the FEL and mid mount mower. The FEL is mostly for yard grooming. I want to clear around the edges of my 1 acher pond. Not a lot of heavey work. I plan to push snow with the loader from the driveway. Will i be sorry i just sold my JD 24" snowblower....the piece of sh#& anyways. I dont have a huge driveway about 100' long. The next size up was just to big for me and the extra money didnt seem worth it. Im not working a farm, but just a home owner. Any comments to reassure me i made the right choice is welcome. Any tips are great too as this is my first compact. I use to mow with a JD 38" riding mower....what a step up...huh

 

[Blu21]

I think you made a good choice,I too have the loader but only use it to move the snow banks.The rear blade is my personal choice for moving snow.Midmount mower works real well,dont think you will be disappointed. Congrats! Tom

 

[lblair]

Thanks for the input. I cant wait to get'er. My lawn is out of control waiting. I have 10 yards of sand and 10 yards of top soil waiting in my drivway to fill some low spots in the yard. Its killin me to see it there and i cant work with it..unless i get out the wheelbarrow.....NOT

 

[ERNIEB]

I think you made a good choice. I can't comment on the snow thing, whatever that is /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif. But it sounds like the 21 will be plenty of tractor for you. Best of luck and happy tractoring./w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

Ernie

 

[paccorti]

lblair,

From everything I've heard the 21 is a great machine. I think you'll also have a lot of fun with that FEL.

Congratulations,

Peter

 

[banjobj]

lblair, I have a TC 21 D w/FEL and no mower. I cut my grass with a Craftsman 18 HP lawn tractor. Read all your manuals and get to know your tractor before you attempt to do much. I think you will be very happy with your purchase. WELCOME TO CLUB BLUE!!!!!! Here is a picture of mine I hope we can see yours.

 

[jinman]

Iblair,
Congratulations on your purchase. You will wonder how you ever got anything done without that tractor. Keep it clean and well maintained and you will have it for a very, very long time. Don't be afraid to work it and understand that a little scrape on a tractor is like calloused hands. It shows you are getting real work done instead of just owning a nice toy. One word of caution is appropriate. Please be careful around your pond. I have two ponds and a 20 acre lake on my property. The temptation to try to mow right up to the edge of the pond is very strong. Don't do it! You'll blink one day and the next thing you know you will be in the pond. Get yourself a good weedeater and use it close to the pond. Just use your head. How do I know? You guessed it. I put a Ford Jubilee into the edge of a pond and stuck it up to the axle. It was just mud, but from that day, my lesson was learned.

Sorry, I didn't mean to lecture. I just want all your experiences with your new tractor to be good ones.


JimI

 

[lblair]

no problem on the lecture. Any advice is welcome here. I have a pond so il take that to heart. Any hints on the best way to remove the mowing deck for ease? Thanks for the input, Larry

 

[Bird]

JimI, your message reminds me of what my salesman told me before I bought the '95 B7100. He was telling me how reliable Kubotas were and said they almost never had one come back for warranty work. Then he hesitated and said unless the owner loans it to a friend or relative. He said in the first 6 months of the year, they'd had two come in after the owners loaned them to someone who turned them over into ponds while mowing./w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

Bird

 

[jinman]

Larry, I don't know the best way to remove your belly mower. I never owned one except a four-footer on an old Gilson lawn tractor. On that one, I just disconnected it and pulled it out the side. The previous owner told me he just drove over the deck, but I can tell you that is bad advice. You will bend the deck and after that, it will take some major realignment to get a flat cut all the way across your deck.

BTW - I do use a rear mounted rotary cutter around my ponds where it is level. I just repeatedly back it up 'til it's just over the edge of the pond. I use a weedeater everywhere else. My cutter works really good on Button Bush if it isn't over two inches in diameter. You may not have Button Bush around your pond, but it is common here in Texas (Have you heard of it, Bird? I think they have it down near Austin, too.). Just use your head and always think ahead of where you are. That's the best advice /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif.


JimI

 

[jinman]

Tell me it's not true, Bird! /w3tcompact/icons/shocked.gif I thought Kubotas could walk on water. I'm crushed!/w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif


JimI

 

[Blu21]

Use the loader for any up and down adjustment along with the 3point and before long it wont take you no time at all to remove the deck. Tom

 

[Bird]

JimI, I don't think I know what Button Bush is.

And Jimmoore, Kubotas can only walk on water as long as you keep the rubber side down./w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

Bird

 

[jinman]

Bird, Button Bush commonly grows around the lips of ponds and lakes. In the spring, it is covered with greenish-white round flowers/seedpods which look like round buttons. It can be quite a pest and normally is a gnarled and twisted mess with about half the plant dead. It can grow to about 10 ft high and since the limbs come from a central base. it quickly gets too large to easily cut with a rotary cutter. I've attached a photo of some of the stuff growing around my lake. Last year the lake got really low and I was able to get most of the stuff pulled out by the roots.
I think a lot of people have seen this plant, but probably didn't know its name. A lot of fishermen have snarled their lines in Button Bush./w3tcompact/icons/frown.gif


JimI<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1>Edited by jinman on 05/15/01 09:16 AM (server time).</FONT></P>

 

[Bird]

Hey, JimI, I know where there's a whole lot of that stuff; along the lake across the road./w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif I just never heard it called by name . . . or at least by any name that could be published on a public forum./w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

Bird

 

[jinman]

Well, since Larry (lblair) is in NY, he probably won't have to worry about this "stuff" but I try to cut back all I can every year and I seem to be making progress. I didn't know what it was called until last year when I was looking thru my wildflower book and there it was./w3tcompact/icons/shocked.gif Like you, I have called it everything except "flower" in the past,/w3tcompact/icons/mad.gif but Button Bush is its proper name. Now, what's your favorite name for greenbriars?/w3tcompact/icons/blush.gif


JimI

 

[Bird]

A year ago in January, I finally got around to clearing the rear fence row. Greenbriars were covering the trees, and to make matters worse, poison ivy was mixed in with them. Even though I wore a long sleeved jacket, my face and arms looked like I'd been sacking wildcats for a week./w3tcompact/icons/frown.gif So the neighbor on the other side of the fence and I are trying to keep the briars and poison ivy killed out now.

Bird

 

[lblair]

I dont know what the button stuff is....but i got cat tail sydrome workin around my pond. The wife gave me an idea. Take the weedeater out in my boat and hack away....I think ill do that. Ill have a pic of that when i do for all to get a chuckle out of.
Larry

 

[Anonymous Poster]

lblair:
The quickest way I have found to remove the mowing deck is to disconnect it and pick the front end up with the loader. I roll the deck forward and set the wheels back down. There is just enough room between my turf tires and the loader so you can set the tractor back down. Be careful and stay out from under the wheels, there's alway a chance the tractor can drop.
Without the loader you can drag the deck out the side but it is a lot more work.
Kelvin