Should You Buy a Mid Mount Mower? Tractor Mower VS Zero Turn Mower
Вставка
- Опубліковано 30 бер 2023
- I get a lot of customers asking me about a belly mower for their subcompact tractor. John Deere has a great system for a tractor mounted mowing deck, and it gets a lot of attention. Kubota's BX series tractor is also making a big impact with their mid mowing deck. And, as a result, just about every other tractor manufacturer is now pushing small tractors with lawn mowing attachments.
Here's the question- after you get over the "gee wiz" aspect, are these mowing decks really any good? Is there a real benefit to them?
I'll be using an LS Tractor MT122 with a mid mount deck. This machine is very VERY similar to the New Holland, and uses (I believe) the same mid mount mowing deck as the Kioti CS series subcompact tractor. - Навчання та стиль
I think you convinced me that I don't want to use a tractor for mowing. The "can you afford to have your mower and tractor go down at the same time?" argument is what did it.
Excellent video, wife & I are researching sub compacts!
Great info. Appreciate the honest opinion.
Thanks for watching!
Very helpfull video. Thank you 👍
Thanks for posting
You bet!
When we left the farm, we should have taken one of the smaller tractors, 35 or 65 HP, BUT, on a 2 acre place in country, they were not quite right for mowing, clearing snow, landscaping and lifting things. We had a 3 pt 72 inch lawnmower that I liked, but we mowed a lot more lawn. The 65 HP had the right loader, but was too tall and a bit big. The 34 Hp was good for mowing, but the loaders were too big. Both were 2 wheel drives too.
Instead got a skid steer, again a mistake. Can't mow lawn very well with it, ok for landscaping and moving snow, pretty much it.
So we used a walk behind snowblower for a few year, a 7.5 hp garden tiller, a 42 inch rider lawnmower and a 4 wheeler left over from the farm. Ok, but too much to maintain and each good for one purpose only.
So did what we should have done long ago, forget the snowblower, forget the rider lawn mower, forget the skidsteer and sell the 4 wheeler.
Now we have a NH 25s, with bucket loader, mower deck, 3 point standard blade, a homemade 3 pt 9 shank field cultivator, and a converted ATV 48 inch snowplow to 72 inch.
It tills our garden, mows our lawn, makes ditches, picks up and moves branches, bury water and electrical lines to 18 inches among other things, including picking up the mail. Now I just need to figure out some remote control.
I would have kept the 3 pt mower however over the underbelly one.
We have a new Holland workmaster 25s with 60 in deck mow 10 acres.We are now looking at the big boy zero turn.The new Holland we have had 4 years and it has been a real lemon in the shop more than out broken parts all the time.
If you already have a reasonably sized tractor and want to mow with it... get a rear finish mower....the quality of cut is stellar.
Belly mower hands down. I got a tractor with belly mower and sold my zero turn. The tractor can do everything and now I don’t have a lawn mower to maintain.
That’s where I’m stuck.. I have a gravely ProTurn and a LS125.. it would be nice to only have one machine.. have 1.55acres to cut.. pretty open minus a pool and one tree lol seriously thinking of selling the zero turn and getting a belly mower
Very interesting
Good review Micah. I'm leaning towards getting a subcompact 4x4 for mowing. Now's the to be buying one.
Did you pull the trigger yet?
I do think there's a place for everything, just depends on your property. I opted to NOT get a mid-mount mower on my JD 2038R. Of our 60 acres, I only actually have about an acre or so of what I would consider "lawn," so I just take care of it with my riding mower (with some ag-style tires on back for the hills!). I use the tractor and brush cutter for everything else. Now, before I bought my tractor I used my riding mower for roughly 2-3 acres plus some trails and some brushier areas, but I knew I was abusing it. Glad to have my tractor now!
I'll take a useful pasture or garden over a big useless lawn any day of the week!
I had the mmm on my bx. Over all happy with it. Normally just dropped the bucket for better turning. The biggest down fall to me was taking the deck on and off to go off road then back to mowing. Im one of the guys that doesnt really worry about running or using the tractor. They are built to last so running hours up on them as long as regular maintenance and inspections are done it should stay running.
I can definitely see the MMM being useful. Not a good match for us, but now I know a little better who to recommend it to
I tend to think belly mowers are best for people who can basically leave it on all the time (golf course groundskeepers, or something like that, maybe?). Belly mowers are a pain to put on and take off....so people tend to leave them on....and they kill your ground clearance (or your mower) if you're doing anything other than mowing. If I were doing yards, definitely a dedicated zero turn...less ground compaction, way more maneuverability.
For clearing really rough land, definitely a brush cutter/Bush Hog/rotary mower. But the cut quality is poor to middlin' at best, and you really only clear your place once, then it's more about maintaining it.
If you have to use the tractor for groomed grass, a 3-point finish mower is obviously better than the brush cutter. But....I lean toward a flail mower. You can use them for clearing, though not quite as heavy and as often as a dedicated brush cutter; and they give a cut quality that's close to that of a finish mower. AND, they don't turn every object into a deadly missile like a spindle mower so you can mow close to buildings or in a pasture with animals on it. So, instead of a 3-point finish mower plus a brush cutter, you get the single flail mower and call it done.
At the end of the day, like you said, it all comes down to your specific needs.
What i love about a tractor is how many options there are to do any task. I haven't tried a flail mower, but I'm fixing to try one out this season!
@@HomesteadBandwagon Looking forward to that review. Curious to see how you think it does in blackberries. My advice would be to raise the flail, back into the brush, then lower and pull forward. Lots of people try to back the flail while it's on the ground, and they damage the rear roller.
Good advise. I'll be trying one of those newfangled offset units, so we'll see how that goes.
When i bought my ls tractor i wanted it for mowing and snowblowing. So i i bought a finish mower instead of the mid mount mower. Plus price wise they were the same price and easier to remove the rear finish instead of mid mount.
I think a finish mower is a great way to go. It can give you a nice cut, but it can also handle some heavier material
@@HomesteadBandwagon 100 percent true just takes a little fine tooning to figure out the proper height for your land.
I just bought a Kubota BX with a belly mower because of the hills on my property. On the flat area the zero-turn wins; no contest. On the hills the zero-turn is scary and awful. The wheels spin and I easily get stuck.
The weight of the machine plus 4WD definitely helps. You must have some serious hills!
Hi, can I ask you a question and get your opinion? You obviously know your stuff with these little tractors. I'm a small contractor, live in the UK, and I've been hiring a walk behind flail to mow some very rough car parks. Not mown regularly, full of sticks and dirt and so on. I've now got some jobs for mowing some nice areas of grass at local bars where they have classic car shows etc. I'm tired of paying hire costs and so I think I'll finally buy a machine, I'm going for a compact tractor not a zero turn because I want a flail for the bad car parks, and a mid mount for the nice ones, so it's all in one little mowing machine with 2 cutting options, if that makes sense? I've narrowed it down to an Iseki TXGS24 (25HP tiny sub compact, you know the ones) or an Iseki TM3267 (still 25hp, but larger tyres and larger lift capacity and 3 range transmission, not a 2 range). Which should I buy? They are both ex showroom, so an amazing price, the larger one is just a few thousand more £. It can handle a larger flail, which is more expensive to buy and I don't really need the size, considering I've only been using a walk behind flail up to now, even the tiny sub compact will be a blessing compared to manhandling that thing. They both take the exact same mid mount decks, ironically, so the bigger one wouldn't speed up the mid mount mowing time. I'm unsure if I should stay with the smallest sub compact, thinking it saves a few thousand on cost, plus the flail which fits it is a couple of thousand less £ also. So it keeps costs down and they don't run away with you. Plus I know it will be nimble. Or do I get the slightly bigger one, thinking it's still not a big machine in the grand scheme of things, so shut up and get on with it. It has 3 ranges instead of two which will be nice. And I won't regret lift capacity and so on? Any advice? (p.s. the nice grass areas I've taken on are about 2 acres each and I have a few of them). I'd love some help. Thanks.
I have a mid mount on a JD 4400. I hate it. It's hard to install and remove. I hated it so much that I got an Ariens zero-turn.
My 4600 would be able to use one, but I think a finish mower would be an easier option.
Actually I’m clearing 30 degree sloped 15 acres not mowed in 5 years so now it’s tough 5’ brush and 2” saplings and blind as to what’s ahead with hidden holes etc. the tractor never worked as belly mounted and had to be towed out of holes 6 times
My Cub Cadet 50” ZTI zero turn was far more efficient and my DR walk behind brush hog a total animal
You’re right, tractors good on predictable stuff but nothing works as a tow behind either
Cub Cadet is amazing and DR Brush walk behind is fantastic
Well stated
Those walk behinds are interesting.
You did mention it but I’ll say it again you should have turf tires if your mowing with a tractor.
I am looking at a small loader tractor for snow plowing. One neighbor has a john deere with a belly mower and another has a Kubota with a loader and a zero turn mower. The lawn of the guy with the john deere always looks like garbage. Uneven cut and gouges into the dirt near the ditch. I dont want to buy a mower and not be happy with it
OK, so maybe somebody with better property and a little more talent could make a go of it. Zero turns are no good on hills.
It all depends on the operator. I've got tons of hills, and a zero turn handles it readily.