Use BX25 as residential lawn mower or buy dedicated mower

Underwhere · Sep 30, 2014

I have a BX25 and will soon have a bit over 1 acre of grass.

I've struggled in the past to mow what I have right now just because it takes so damn long to take everything off.

I have the farm tires so I am concerned about messing up the turf.
I remove the FEL and the backhoe...then the underbody plate.
Then I have to slide the mower underneath, hook up the front and wrestle with the mid-PTO until I get it to lock.

When I'm done I have to reverse the entire process.

I'm considering just selling the mowing deck and buying a used, dedicated mower.

What are your thoughts on this?

chim · Oct 1, 2014

I've been using an L3200 as a residential mower for the past couple years and couldn't be happier - 3.5 acres in 1.25 hours. I most likely wouldn't be able to say that if I had to do the backhoe and skid plate shuffle every week. The FEL is quick and easy but the hoe and plate sound like work. I'd be looking for another machine for mowing.

85Hokie · Oct 1, 2014

Underwhere said:
I have a BX25 and will soon have a bit over 1 acre of grass.

I've struggled in the past to mow what I have right now just because it takes so damn long to take everything off.

I have the farm tires so I am concerned about messing up the turf.
I remove the FEL and the backhoe...then the underbody plate.
Then I have to slide the mower underneath, hook up the front and wrestle with the mid-PTO until I get it to lock.

When I'm done I have to reverse the entire process.

I'm considering just selling the mowing deck and buying a used, dedicated mower.

What are your thoughts on this?

I have a couple of "crazy" questions.......

do you use your hoe and front bucket all the time? Leave them off between cuttings, i would imagine that you have to cut at least once a week, maybe rain - twice.

Are there a lot of trees ? or fairly open ? I have cut my 1/2 acre with the bucket and hoe on, yes it is a PITA around trees and stuff, the hoe seems to be the worst of it ........

you say farm tires, i am guessing R1 tires, that would be the biggest pain, because you cant take them off!

I bought another 60 mmm on another tractor just for that very reason,

unless you use the bucket and the how a lot, make it a grass cutter during the season and a bucket/hoe combo after - switch when you must.

just a thought

Paulemar · Oct 1, 2014

How often do you need the backhoe? I leave my mower on all Summer and take the FEL off unless needed. If I take it off on a level area, putting it back on takes just a few minutes. The mower IS a pain but I can use the tractor with the loader in most cases with it on. I do have a 3 point ballast box if I need to do a little serious loader work with heavy materials. Mostly I leave the ballast box off when using the FEL as a wheel barrow with lightweight stuff. With that said, if I'm going to be in the woods clearing an overgrown area the mower comes off. My particular rear skid plate is always on.
As far as the backhoe, plan to do your work as much as possible while it is on, get it done then remove it. The need for a backhoe, in my case at least, has lessened over time as I completed what I needed it for. I still use it but I accumulate jobs that I need to do and do them all at once.
I have turf tires on my BX25, so I can't help you with that particular issue. I do know that if I make a really sharp turn in 4 X 4 I can tear up some grass even with the turf tires.

Stubbyie · Oct 1, 2014

Same basic problem as you describe but with different machine models.

We found that no matter what we wanted to do, the 'wrong' implement was on the tractor. If you have a limited amount of time to do something, anything, or nothing---nothing wins every time if you're swapping implements instead of 'doing'.

You asked for advice: based on our experience I offer the following...

Keep the backhoe and loader mounted and available for use. Depending on your budget, get a known quality ZTR mower with the largest deck and engine you can manage. Might consider low-time used, possibly still under warranty. Your time mowing will be dramatically reduced affording you more time on the tractor.

We love our Hustler with 27-hp Kohler; reduced by 2/3 the amount of time spouse spends mowing. Kubota has ZTRs which we interviewed and considered but just couldn't understand the $4k premium for effectively the same machine as its competitive brand.

Please post back your experiences so we may all learn.

cerlawson · Oct 1, 2014

Consider the hours used by the various attachments. Can you rent a machine to do what one of these might have to do, such as back hoe? If the back-hoe is seldom used and rental is an option, I'd trade in the whole affair for the same tractor with bucket and mower and the turf tires. For the mower, I'd look for a tow behind rather than belly mower for ease of attaching.

Billdog350 · Oct 1, 2014

CERLAWSON beat me to it. I have the same exact advice to everyone. the BX backhoes aren't super productive...a mini ex will do a lot more work. I can rent a KX 121 for the weekend for $300 around here with a spare bucket and get a TON more work done than I ever would have with a BH on my B9200.

As far as the MMM, those are sweet, but even I have considered getting a rear mount mower for my B9200 so I don't have to keep removing it every time I want to go in the woods and drag a tree out or do some maintenance. Granted I do have the turf tires already.

If I had to remove the BH and remove a plate every time I wanted to put the mower on, I'd be looking for a different setup. Too much of a PITA.

Underwhere · Oct 1, 2014

85Hokie said:
I have a couple of "crazy" questions.......

do you use your hoe and front bucket all the time? Leave them off between cuttings

Are there a lot of trees ? or fairly open ? I have cut my 1/2 acre with the bucket and hoe on, yes it is a PITA around trees and stuff, the hoe seems to be the worst of it ........

you say farm tires, i am guessing R1 tires, that would be the biggest pain, because you cant take them off!

I bought another 60 mmm on another tractor just for that very reason,

unless you use the bucket and the how a lot, make it a grass cutter during the season and a bucket/hoe combo after - switch when you must.

just a thought

I use the FEL or the Grapple quite a bit. have a lot of work to do on the property. I leave the backhoe on for weight mostly. If I am moving heavy logs I will definitely get front heavy.

I do have some trees but I can navigate around them with the FEL and BH on...but this is new grass. I am concerned about leaving imprints with the weight and I also do not want that weight on my septic tank. I don't think I will be mowing with everything on.

Paulemar said:
How often do you need the backhoe? I leave my mower on all Summer and take the FEL off unless needed. If I take it off on a level area, putting it back on takes just a few minutes. The mower IS a pain but I can use the tractor with the loader in most cases with it on. I do have a 3 point ballast box if I need to do a little serious loader work with heavy materials. Mostly I leave the ballast box off when using the FEL as a wheel barrow with lightweight stuff. With that said, if I'm going to be in the woods clearing an overgrown area the mower comes off. My particular rear skid plate is always on.
As far as the backhoe, plan to do your work as much as possible while it is on, get it done then remove it. The need for a backhoe, in my case at least, has lessened over time as I completed what I needed it for. I still use it but I accumulate jobs that I need to do and do them all at once.
I have turf tires on my BX25, so I can't help you with that particular issue. I do know that if I make a really sharp turn in 4 X 4 I can tear up some grass even with the turf tires.

I do use my FEL and BH quite a bit but like you I will probably use them less as time goes on and my workload with the tractor dies down.

Stubbyie said:
Same basic problem as you describe but with different machine models.

We found that no matter what we wanted to do, the 'wrong' implement was on the tractor. If you have a limited amount of time to do something, anything, or nothing---nothing wins every time if you're swapping implements instead of 'doing'.

You asked for advice: based on our experience I offer the following...

Keep the backhoe and loader mounted and available for use. Depending on your budget, get a known quality ZTR mower with the largest deck and engine you can manage. Might consider low-time used, possibly still under warranty. Your time mowing will be dramatically reduced affording you more time on the tractor.

We love our Hustler with 27-hp Kohler; reduced by 2/3 the amount of time spouse spends mowing. Kubota has ZTRs which we interviewed and considered but just couldn't understand the $4k premium for effectively the same machine as its competitive brand.

Please post back your experiences so we may all learn.

I had been looking at 54" wide riding mowers but the ZTR's were intriguing. They are just so expensive. I will need to look into this further. My thoughts were that I may be able to do lawn maintenance with a garden tractor and keep my BX for larger efforts.

cerlawson said:
Consider the hours used by the various attachments. Can you rent a machine to do what one of these might have to do, such as back hoe? If the back-hoe is seldom used and rental is an option, I'd trade in the whole affair for the same tractor with bucket and mower and the turf tires. For the mower, I'd look for a tow behind rather than belly mower for ease of attaching.

Mentally I cannot see myself parting ways with my backhoe. We've just done too much together.

Billdog350 said:
CERLAWSON beat me to it. I have the same exact advice to everyone. the BX backhoes aren't super productive...a mini ex will do a lot more work. I can rent a KX 121 for the weekend for $300 around here with a spare bucket and get a TON more work done than I ever would have with a BH on my B9200.

As far as the MMM, those are sweet, but even I have considered getting a rear mount mower for my B9200 so I don't have to keep removing it every time I want to go in the woods and drag a tree out or do some maintenance. Granted I do have the turf tires already.

If I had to remove the BH and remove a plate every time I wanted to put the mower on, I'd be looking for a different setup. Too much of a PITA.

The rear-mount mower is a possibility. Now that I have a quick-attach FEL I could just throw on a rear-mount mower (I have the Pats quick hitch) and be on my way pretty quickly.

Is looking behind you too tiresome? Is it painful to do intricate areas with the rear mount? Is it as good of a cut?

84cj · Oct 2, 2014

No hoe on my 1800. I do leave the fel and belly mower on all summer. I use both quite a bit and switching them doesn't make sense, so they stay on. In the fall aftter the last mowing, the mower and fel come off and the snowblower goes on.

D2Cat · Oct 2, 2014

My answer is get something dedicated for mowing.

I don't mow. My wife does. She enjoys being outside and the look of a nice mowed lawn. She has a 62" cut Grasshopper with a 29HP Kubota engine with electric lift deck. I make sure it's serviced. Gives me time to do many other things.

mikkeeh · Oct 2, 2014

I have a 48"zero turn...and my wife does all the mowing......She was mowing last week while I was sitting on the front porch "supervising". My neighbors wife came over kind of upset. "How dare you just sit and watch her do all the work....you should be hung!." I just smiled and replied "I am.......that's why she's mowing."

notnew2diy · Oct 3, 2014

Some will say, each implement should have it's own tractor.
Unfortunately, my wife doesn't buy that argument(frown).

Your "farm tires" will make less marks in your lawn by making wide sweeping vs. hairpin type turns.

I use a riding mower for trim work. A rear discharge 3pt finish mower for everything else. Takes a bit less than 3 hours for about 2.5 acres.

HTH.

BX25Owner · Oct 3, 2014

It appears that you have answered your own question. If you use the FEL and backhoe often it is definitely better to have a separate dedicated mower so you don't have to constantly remove and reinstall the backhoe and FEL.

Tattnall Guy · Oct 5, 2014

I've only had my bx25 for a month. Cut the grass three times. The turn radius is just awful on the tractor. What we do is I cut the wide open areas and the Dear Wife does the rest with the zero turn. Cuts our grass cutting time down to about a third. We cut about 3 1/2 acres.

ncridgerunner · Oct 5, 2014

Tattnall Guy said:
I've only had my bx25 for a month. Cut the grass three times. The turn radius is just awful on the tractor. What we do is I cut the wide open areas and the Dear Wife does the rest with the zero turn. Cuts our grass cutting time down to about a third. We cut about 3 1/2 acres.

+1 except I can't get my wife to do any mowing!

bearskinner · Oct 9, 2014

With the trees and low hanging branches I have on my property, I find a small (42") ride on mower is the way to go. My wife doesn't like driving the tractor, but LOVES the little 24HP ride on mower. Now I never have to mow

rob82 · Oct 9, 2014

Well I just went thru the same thing. Buy a belly deck for the bx25 or a stand alone. Well I went stand alone. Putting the deck on and off just seemed like a hassle. I went with a Toro 42" zero turn with a Kawasaki motor. $2900

ShaunRH · Oct 9, 2014

If you don't actually need the zero turn, the best finishing mower for large property is a multi-gang pull reel setup. You don't need to unhook a darned thing and just tow it around the property. You could use a standard self-propelled walk behind to clean up the few areas that are hard to get to with the multi-gang. You'd cut your mowing time in half and just leave everything else on the tractor. If you have an ATV, utility vehicle or strong golf cart you can pull the multi-gang.

Chucknbob · Oct 11, 2014

I guess I'm agreeing with the masses. I have a dedicated Dixon zero turn for mowing. I never use the Kubota for the lawn.

If you didn't have a real tractor, you may be better off with a little garden tractor/mower, but I doubt you'll find a use (other than mowing or pulling a little trailer around) for one. You can do both with a zero turn, plus they make mowing so much faster..... And fun.

Daren Todd · Oct 11, 2014

I use a 60" rear dishcharge finish mower behind the tractor to get the big stuff, and a little cheapy push mower i found at a pawn shop for the ditch, and the close up around the trees. Used to take 3 hours with a 46" cubby to do the 2 acres and 1 1/2 hrs of weedeating around the trees and ditch. Since i switched, it's taking 3 hours for all of it. Plus the push mower is easier on my back and shoulders on the ditch. Gonna fix the cubby this winter and save it for which ever of the kids ends up getting a house first

Use BX25 as residential lawn mower or buy dedicated mower

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