Mower Help

drich

New member

Equipment
B2601
Jun 18, 2017
11
0
1
Colorado
Hello all

I just bought a B2601 and needed to get a mower for it. I live here in Colorado and the grass is a bit different from what I'm used to being from Iowa. It is very dusty and the native grasses are pretty tough compared to the green grass of the midwest. As the funds were low from buying the tractor I found a land pride FDR 1660 for a good price. So I grabbed that and thought I would be good. Well I'm pretty sure I made the wrong choice. That mower really works the tractor hard even with the grass not being tall I thought and it not really that thick either. I checked under the deck when I was done and it was packed with dirt so bad and just one use. I had gone through the mower before I used it by cleaning and painting the under deck. Sharping the blades and servicing the gear box. I thought this was going to work out great. The mower must have to much lift and sucks up all that dust and mixes it with the moisture from the grass and weeds and makes mud.
So I listed it back on Craigs list and going to try something else. I'm thinking a Flail mower or a brush hog type. I'm I going to have the same problem with a brush hog mower? Do the flail mowers not pick up the dust as bad? I have to cut about 2 acres. Any thoughts would be great on what mower and size.
 

cerlawson

New member

Equipment
rotiller, box scraper,etc.
Feb 24, 2011
1,067
5
0
PORTAGE, WI
How's about looking around for properties boutthe same and ask to see their mower? I'd bet you will get some great advice and besides meet some new friends.
 

D2Cat

Well-known member
Lifetime Member

Equipment
L305DT, B7100HST, TG1860, TG1860D, L4240
Mar 27, 2014
13,727
5,392
113
40 miles south of Kansas City
Is this new property to you? Is this the first time you've cut it?

Before giving up on the mower you have, I would clean the stuff off the bottom and mow it again. You might discover it performs totally different the second time because the grass is shorter, less dust has built up. Try a few things different like different ground speed, be sure to have your PTO at 540 RPM. And make sure the blades are on with the cutting edge down!

That mower should perform fine on that grass.
 

Missouribound

Active member

Equipment
B2320, FEL, BOX BLADE, FINISH MOWER, QUICK HITCH
Jun 17, 2014
651
41
28
Missouri
The FDR is a finish / grooming mower. It sounds like you would have been better off with a rotary / brush hog type. That aside it should NOT be too much for your B2601. I have that mower on a B2320 and I hardly know it's there when cutting. It is heavy though but it is not too much for the tractor.
Like D2Cat said it should be just fine.
 

Caboose

New member

Equipment
B2650HST
Aug 16, 2016
81
0
0
Washington State
What was the quality/completeness of the cut like? Did it leave a lot of uncut or rough cut blades/stalks behind?
I have the same mower used on a B2650, so identical horsepower. The field I am mowing is still a little spotty and the soil is quite sandy and the first time I mowed, I had the same issue - picking up a lot of soil and creating mud. I cleaned it up and have mowed again since and am more happy with the results. It's still not a perfect cut, but, as others have mentioned, I think that may be a result of going too fast. I wasn't blazing around the field, but I may have been going faster than I should have for the height of the grass and how much I was trying to take off. I also made sure my PTO speed stayed as close to 540 as possible. It did bog down below that a few times, but again I believe that's because I was going faster than I should have.
The FDR1660 looks like a very good machine - I just need to zero in my practices with running it - you may or may not be in the same boat. I bought it vs. a brush hog style because I thought I would be using it to mow an area that I wanted a cleaner cut on - it seemed like a good middle ground between a belly mower and a brush hog. Fact is... I am continuing to mow the one area with a walk-behind and bagger so didn't really end up needing that cut quality as much as I thought. The FDR will likely be used for the pasture exclusively.

I'm interested in if/how your experience changes if you alter your ground speed a bit. It may be that you don't want to have to slow down, in which case a brush hog is probably in your future (and maybe mine, too).

Keep us posted.

Dean