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 | F350Lawman
Join Date: Jul 2003 Posts: 411 Goshen, NY 
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2004-05-05 85303
Well, despite the one bad review on the JD 261 mower I bought it along with a JD 45 7' back blade. They both appear to be in good mechanical condition, with some surface rust.
At $2000 for a new JD mower and amybe $600-800 ( I'm guessing) for new JD 45 7' blade, $750 for the pair used tax included seemed like a nice deal. A couple of cans of rust inhibitor and green/yellow paint and they will look pretty good as well.
I have been mowing (read- butchering) the lawn with a LX-5 rotary cutter so the 261 should be a big improvement. The 45 back blade will be for dragging muck out of the run-in sheds, some minor smoothing of the heavily travelled area of the horse pasture entrances, moving snow and maintaining my gravel drive of about 300'
Next things on the list are a Country Manufacturing dump wagon and perhaps a post hole digger. unlike last year I am working full time so I need tools to make the tracor jobs go quicker. Last year I had more time then money so I made do with the tractor and only the FEL and rotary mower. The dump cart will speed the process of getting the manure off of my makeshift manure wagon (cutdown horse trailer)
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 | kwschumm
Join Date: Feb 2003 Posts: 5764 NW Oregon 
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2004-05-05 85304
The 261 has to be an improvement over the LX5 for finish mowing. If it's not, at the price you paid you could still make money on it. Sure seems worth a try. ....
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| F350Lawman
Join Date: Jul 2003 Posts: 411 Goshen, NY
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2004-05-05 85305
Yeah, I can do OK with the LX-5 if I REALLY crawl..this weekend I rushed, oops!
The 261 with the rounded front edge, roller and extrat wheels should make life easier with better results.
The BB was really needed to spread some of the gravel I needed to have delivered as well. There was alocal guy selling new 6' BB fro $125 dollars ( I think they fell off a truck :0) but the used JD at $275 seemed much beefier. The cheappo one would ahve only been OK for snow, nothing else. ....
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| F350Lawman
Join Date: Jul 2003 Posts: 411 Goshen, NY
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2004-05-06 85339
Actually turn out even better, I ended up paying $600 for the pair, $400 for the mower and $200 for the blade.
If I get NAY use out of them it will have been money well spent. With both items still being sold by JD they should last for years. ....
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 | Murf
Join Date: Dec 1999 Posts: 7249 Toronto Area, Ontario, Canada
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2004-05-06 85345
Lawman, if the goal is to get a faster, better job from these new toys, errr, I mean TOOLs that you bought might I suggest you buy (or make) a hydraulic toplink.
The ability to easily and quickly adjust the toplink means you can vary the angle at which the cutting edge of the BB meets the ground. This in turn varies whether the blade wants to bite in deeper, to dig the manure out of the sheds, or pulls across the top of the ground to spread gravel or level ground out.
It's not much money but it SURE makes a difference.
Best of luck. ....
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| F350Lawman
Join Date: Jul 2003 Posts: 411 Goshen, NY
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2004-05-06 85415
Yes, the hydraulic top link would be great. Seems like in addition to making BB work easir it woul save me time adjusting when going from imlement to implement.
If I go for the hydraulic dump cart maybe I wll get the hydr. top link done at the same time.
the 261 mower worked great, right ut of the box. I just attached it, no adjustments and it cut great. much beeter than my old riding mower. tjis was under poor conditions, long, grass, soft wet earth, but the results were still very good. No gouging or marking at all.
Can't wait to use the BB, maybe tomorrow. ....
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 | Chief
Join Date: Jul 2003 Posts: 4297 Southwest MiddleTennessee
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2004-05-06 85424
Hi Scott! Great to read a post from you! I figured you must be busy with something new, like a job. ;o) I would suggest buying a set of Gator blades for the 261 mower. They are cheaper than the Deere blades and cut better. They seem to be made of a heavier & thicker stock of steel as well. They are supposed to be very good at cutting the grass up into small pieces. I put 5 hours in the seat today mowing on my property today and I must say it sure does look nice after being cut with the MMM finish mower. You got a FANASTIC deal on your mower and blade! Congrats! ....
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| F350Lawman
Join Date: Jul 2003 Posts: 411 Goshen, NY
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2004-05-07 85506
Hi there Chief,
Yeah, I am working full time again. Actually based more on my enjoying what I am doing and the people I work with more than the pure $$ and cents of it, although that factors in as well ;) No real time to post but the lack of time is also causing me to do some shopping to make my tractor time more productive.
Did my lawn and my neighbors with the 261 today, it cuts very well. The next cutting will go even better, this time both our lawns were long and wet. Thanks for the tip on the blades, I am sure I will twist these up before long. Right now they are rusty looking, but sharp and straight so I'll keep them for now. Checked the gear oil and it looked and smelled good. The JD mower is a 1984 model and the gear box says Curtis on it. Looks to be well maintained and tomorrow it will get a steel brushing, some rust inhibiting primer and a fresh coat of JD yellow.
I tried the JD 45 7' BB today and it was better than expected. The tracor pulled it fine ven with limited traction. I pulled some real nasty, thick stuff from in front of and inside the run-in sheds. I found out why JD doesn't rate the 790 for this size blade. With the extra length hanging out the side if yuo drop a wheel in a hole the edge of the blade catches the ground...of yuo stay in the throttle you will topple!. Don't ask :) Not really a problem for me as this BB will probably be used for snow, cleaning the sheds and a yearly spreading of driveway gravel, all on smoothe flat surfaces. the problem was that today after a wet winter the entrance to our fields is so rutted I dropped a wheel and got a little "tippy". I already carved much of those ruts away. The BB will also be painted tomorrow
How about you, any other new toys? ....
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| Chief
Join Date: Jul 2003 Posts: 4297 Southwest MiddleTennessee
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2004-05-07 85511
I got a trailer made for hauling firewood and such around the property. A friend welded it up for me out of channel iron, a narrowed down 5,500 lb. mobile home axle, and trailer light kit. Works great and is narrow enough to pull through the woods. Already tested it out with a couple of cords of oak and 60 50 lb. bags of 19-19-19. Aside from that, no new toys. ....
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| F350Lawman
Join Date: Jul 2003 Posts: 411 Goshen, NY
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2004-05-07 85514
I really need a trailer too. I have my cut down horse trailer that hauls the manure and it is great for rocks, wood, etc. The only downside is that it doesn't dump and being an "onroad" trailer it doesn't do well in mud. That Country manufacruring 2 ton hydraulic dump wagon at $1200 delivered + the cost of a hydraulic ram seems like the most practical solution. I don't really even mind shoveling the manure off of my present cart, it is the time factor and the trailers lack of ground clearance that stinks. At least those Country Manufacturing trailers have 0 tongue weight, better clearance and floataion tires. I keep a 600lb counterweight on most times so with the FEL I don't need any extra tongue weight to give me traction.
Even though it isn't highway rated I will probably use the trailer to offload some manure to friends nearby who always ask for it. They're all real close so evan at 15-20mph I am there in no time. ....
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| F350Lawman
Join Date: Jul 2003 Posts: 411 Goshen, NY
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2004-05-08 85555
Well the mower looks like a real steal at $400.... that is after some steel brushing, primer and JD yellow paint. The $200 BB doesn't look to bad either after the same treatment and JD green paint.
They worked great to start with, but now they look pretty good as well.
See pics# 12 & 13 ....
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| kwschumm
Join Date: Feb 2003 Posts: 5764 NW Oregon
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2004-05-08 85557
Those look great, you sure got one heck of a good deal! ....
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| F350Lawman
Join Date: Jul 2003 Posts: 411 Goshen, NY
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2004-05-08 85561
Thanks. They did come out pretty nice.
I actually got a better deal because they were JD products on a competitiors lot who, although he is a real nice guy, had nothing but bad to say about JD. Hard to charge too much for a product while yer' bashing it :) Hey, bash away,I'll bring my wallet ;)
I think Monday I may order the dump cart from Country Mnfg., I am still weighing alternatives but at $1200 + hydraulics it seems like the most economical solution to my manure moving needs. I would like to spread manure a couple of times a year but I am 99% sure I can borrow (read: trade my limited haying skills for) a big JD and spreader for those times. The dump cart can hold 2 tons so I would only have to go to the pile and dump it once very week or so. A couple of times a year I can load a borrowed spreader and fertilize the field. If I go with a spreader instead of the cart it's more to break and I will need to spread it often and worry about freezing up in the winter. ....
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| Murf
Join Date: Dec 1999 Posts: 7249 Toronto Area, Ontario, Canada
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2004-05-10 85660
It's amazing how nice things can look after just an 'aerosol overhaul', at those prices you really could not have gone wrong, but in fact it looks like you made a REALLY good deal. You had better go back there and poke around some more.
BTW, I really like your parking brake in picture # 10. LOL.
Best of luck. ....
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| F350Lawman
Join Date: Jul 2003 Posts: 411 Goshen, NY
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2004-05-10 85693
Yeah, that rock in picture 10 had me a lil' worried. The tractor was very new and I wasn't really sure how hard to push it. Now with about 110 hours on it I think nothing of stuff like that. The tractor has noticeably more "oomph" than it did when new as well. ....
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