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Becoming a Land Baron............Well maybe? Need a finish mower

4K views 25 replies 13 participants last post by  VintageOkieDriver 
#1 ·
I recently purchased the one and a half acres next to my property and will now need to purchase a finish mower for my 1025R. I am seeking wisdom from the learned.I considered the deck for under the tractor but i would have to remove my duals and i really dont want another bad case of the puckers.Quality of a finish mower for me is paramount. Any good advise is appreciated.Thanks in advance.
 
#4 ·
Have an old Woods finish mower on an even older IH 244. I put it on my 1025r and worked just fine. It is a 5 foot - I think you can get away with a 6 foot as long as you are mowing a lawn, but get into heavier stuff and it may be a bit much. Five foot is plenty to cover your tracks.
 
#6 ·
Here's what I use. A Frontier GM1072E 3 pt finish mower. 72" wide. Works fine. The 1025R has enough PTO power handle it, provided you are just mowing lawn, as was mentioned earlier.

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#8 · (Edited)
I have had a 6 ft. Chinese made Agmate from Agri Supply for a few years. The best part about it was the price but everything has gone up these days.

When I bought it I had a JD855 with 19 PTO HP and it pulled it fine.

Never been disappointed with it but being a tinkerer I am always looking for a way to make things better. I changed the drive pulley to a larger one that came stock on the 5 ft. mowers to increase blade speed. This year I am going to replace all the driven pulleys to the smaller size to spin the blades even faster. It's on it's 5th season so I am going to replace all the spindle bearings while I have the pulleys off. The mower cuts fine out of the box but I figure if I can get the blades to spin faster I can mow faster with the same result.

With any mower the quality is a combination of blade alignment, blade height, blade speed, and travel speed. Most finish mowers do not have a blade speed that is equivalent to a regular mower blade speed. You usually have to travel a little slower to get the same or similar results that your would with a lawn tractor or zero turn.

A lot of people will encourage you to buy a dedicated zero turn. The only zero turn I owned would beat you to death and cover you in dirt. One nice thing about a finish mower is the comfort of the tractor ride and having all the dust and debris behind you.

If I were to replace what I have I would consider one of the 5 blade Caroni mowers if I could find one.

I would look for how the belts are adjusted. Both the Agmate and Caroni have two belts that tension with a simple movement of the gearbox. I have yet to need to adjust mine during normal use. Any design incorporating idler pulleys will have unnecessary parts. I prefer the rear discharge.

Search You Tube for finish mower. You will be hard pressed to find any accounts of anybody that is disappointed with any brand. Some will have features others don't but they all have a similar design and performance. Kind of like tillers. They all have the same Chinese gearbox.

Your 1025 will probably be limited to a 6 ft or smaller.
 
#11 ·
Thanks to everyone for all the great advice. I have some time before cutting season so i hope i can find one with all the shortages going on. I probably will go with a 5 footer because of some close trees and the advice of smaller pulleys to increase speed sounds like a good idea. Thanks again
 
#15 ·
The 5' Agmate already has the size pulleys I am switching to.
 
#12 ·
I’m a fan of the Frontier 1060E. It’s actually a Befco. I’ve beat the snot out of mine on a very rough pasture for 16 years. At one time it was my only mower on 7 acres. It has suffered all kinds of abuse and I’ve repaired it accordingly. Last spring I got a smoking deal on a never used one. When I update my tractor I will stick with the rear discharge RFM. The grass is often tall, thick, and wet, and not lawn quality after being run over by four tractor tires though it’s a nice cut and way faster than a rotary cutter. Even at full retail it’s cheaper than a MMM.
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#13 ·
My approach to the equipment is basically to do the research then have on the hands experience. I've owned both of the 5' Landpride finish mower. The FDR1660 is better for the 1025r but is still too heavy....definitely don't use quick hitch as you shift the mower 4' more to the real....the lift will get it off the ground but it's still little to heavy....I own the GM1060E and it at 375lbs and is exactly the correct weight...manuvering the tractor is easy and the weight does not throw it around Flatscatslop is right on target....the spindles are 1" and heavy....nauturally the deck is lighter and frame is lighter but with decent use no rough housing there should be no problem....I haven't tried the 72" model but the specs of weight are on these sheets. It's not so much about H.P. as the weight shifting the front and rear end around.....I owned one the box store brands and I think they are more lower end machines....years ago I did have a King Kutter and found it a little wanky on hook up and design....I've owned a First Choice many years back...it was a copy of the Landpride design....
 

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#21 ·
Don't have a land pride finish mower but just got a rotary cutter and can say the quality is top notch. No complaints here. Would definitely check them out. Seemed similar to Frontier in terms of quality but at 3/4 the cost. Not saving tons but hey every penny counts.

Good luck. Happy shopping!
 
#23 ·
I have an old version of the QH that has a stationary top hook. I do have an adjustable top link. I actually have an adaptor that my dealer fashioned from flat iron 16 years ago. It mounts on the mower and restricts the backward movement of the mower adaptor. I don’t have any photos at the moment. I need to build another one for my new mower. There are some adaptors that look like they function with the movable QH top hook.
 
#25 ·
Do you have any issues with the bottom two bushings being fixed without any vertical movement ? Did you need to change your pto drive live for a longer one to maintain the minimum overlap of the shaft ? My dealer said I need a longer drive line because the iMatch pushes the mower further away from the pto which decreases the overlap of the drive line shafts. $211
The quick hitch adapter they said I need is $621
Lots of money for what some here have had success with relatively simple adapters???
Photos of your adapter would be appreciated
Thanks for your reply
Kelly
 
#26 ·
I had the 60" Frontier and loved it.
 
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