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Matt in Tongie
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2004-04-29          84685

My wife and I just bought a home with 11.08 acres. Approximately 4.5 acres is kept as a yard, 1 acre is wooded, and the reaminder is pasture. The yard I want to keep maintained well and I do have objects such as rocks and, firewood, and snow (occasionally)I'll need to mow. I decided that I want a set up so I can have a 60" rear mount mower and a loader. I've been looking at (on manufacturers' web sites) new compact tractors but I still can't determine what size I need. I hate dealing with salepeople and fear being told I need more than I do.

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blizzard
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2004-04-29          84688

I don't know of any CUT to mow (?) rocks firewood and snow.
Seriously, could you post more info about your conditions, like hills, wet/dry soils, is yard just to be mowed or is it 'golf green', how much woods and FEL use versus mowing, etc.
Did you mean move snow etc?
The threads on this forum have a lot of info you might use to get an idea of what to lok for...
bliz ....

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matt in tongie
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2004-04-29          84690

The yard is mostly flat with a slight taper in the back. The grass is grass. I'm currently mowing a small section around the house with my 22" push mower. The previous owners were using a 36" deck troy-bilt riding mower and they said it took them 7 hours to mow just the 4.5 acres of yard. A friend came down with his 35HP JD and a 60" finishing mower and did it in two hours. His tractor was to big to fit into all my tight areas and I know I can't afford what he paid for his new. I plan on using the loader for moving rock, firewood, and snow. ....

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DRankin
Join Date: Jan 2000
Posts: 5116 Northern Nevada
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2004-04-29          84691

What a perfect environment for a Deere 4115 and a 72" Mid Mount Mower.

You might could knock out the mowing in 90 minutes. And it will certainly handle every other task on your list.

If a 72 inch mower is too wide to fit between your trees, you should look at a Kubota BX 2230, a Deere 2210 or MF 2230. All have ample HP, entry level pricing and can be had with 54-60 inch mowing decks.


....

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Chief
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Posts: 4297 Southwest MiddleTennessee
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2004-04-29          84694

I second Mark's suggestion. If you are wanting to keep the price down and hydrostatic transmission drive is not a priority; the John Deere 790 is a VERY good choice for what you are thinking of. Very reliable and durable tractors. ....

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bmlekki
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2004-04-29          84704

Chief, does the 790 handle the moist hills ok with R4's? ....

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Chief
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2004-04-29          84706

I own a John Deere 4410 with R4's and cannot speak directly as to how they perform on the 790 but I can tell you traction wise they do well. The down side of the R4's is that the wheels do not allow for width adjustment of any consquence. The R1 ag wheels do. In any case, reguardless of tire type; the tractor can only tolerate a given amount of slope and I am not one to test the limits. ;o) I cut of extremely steep slopes but I cut perpendicular to the slope and ALWAYS cut steep slopes in 4WD to maximize traction AND braking if required.

The above having been said; for the most part, in answer to your question, the 790 should do as well as any tractor on most hills. Just follow a few straight forward safety rules and have the tractor set up properly which is the case with any machine. ....

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bmlekki
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2004-04-29          84711

There was a post earlier that was discussing the stability and they mentioned that the FEL threw the center gravity off... I wonder if I have to worry about not having enough weight in front and pulling the nose up...

Suitcase weights? FEL? Or am I worrying too much for a 35 degree angle? with a 72" finish 3pt mower..

Thanks for your thoughts... I should edit my equipment list.... I am very close to finally getting [my] 790...
....

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Chief
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2004-04-29          84714

Check with your dealer & operator's manuals about ballast recommendations but in my opinion; I think a FEL would pretty much balance out a 72" RFM. I have the 430 FEL and 72" MMM. The FEL in this configuration makes the tractor nose heavy, ESPECIALLY on slopes going nose down slope. I have slide a few times because of loss of rear tire traction. I eleviated this to a large degree by removing the FEL bucket when mowing. You will just have to experiement to see what configuration will work best for you and your circumstances. For the most part; I think you will be fine with the 419 FEL and 72" RFM. I would also suggest having the rear tires fluid filled. If your dealer is on the ball; they will insist upon it or rear wheel weights. ....

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beagle
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2004-04-29          84722

It sounds like the B7510 or B7800 could also be good choices for what you want to accomplish.

Second discussion today about mowing slopes and the safety hazards and considerations involved. Nobody has mentioned any effect of the lubrication consequences. I have wondered if operating on slopes in any way effects the availability of oil to the oil pump, or am I off base here? Any comments would be appreciated. ....

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plots1
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2004-04-29          84737

I think you'll be very happy with the 790 it's a hard workin machine with a wallet easy price tag. I got mine right before the Horse power cut but they only took a few, surely you won't notice any lack of a fine machine. ....

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DRankin
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2004-04-29          84755

Beagle.... I have worked on slopes that starved the HST but I have never run the engine "dry". ....

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TomG
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2004-04-30          84773

Probably could happen but I think you've got to trust engineering here. Wouldn't make much sense to design a tractor where the oil suction tube could be in the air on any reasonable slope. Doesn't sound like a great idea for an HST either--loosing power on a steep hill could be exciting. ....

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DRankin
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2004-04-30          84778

Tom... I am still trying to sort out this HST thing with my 4115. If the nose is pointing down about 45 degrees (like backing out of the hole I dug to remove my fuel oil tank) sometimes it just will not "go". So far it has only happened with the B/H attached.

The HST sounds like it is popping the relief valve and if I push the issue the engine dies. I have to jiggle with various throttle settings fast/med/slow to get the the wheels to turn.

Re-reading what I just wrote, it does not sound like oil starvation, does it?

The other bit of info is that I have trouble getting the wheels to spin (like when doing loader work.. pushing into the pile), especially in 4wd.

I could get them to spin with the original R-4s, but not with these big radials on the rear. Maybe I have too much rubber on the ground. Maybe my traction is matched ot my horsepower?

What thinketh thou? ....

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beagle
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2004-04-30          84789

Tom, being an engineer sometimes makes it difficult to trust engineering. At the same time, it seems only reasonable that this issue would have been adressed.

I want to go back to the parts manual and see where the oil pump intake is, and the hydrostat. I can't help that think that 45 degrees nose down would be an extreme condition, and maybe outside of the recommended operating conditions.

Normally, if you overload a hydrostat, you can hear the squeel from the pressure relief opening. If you starve it, short term I'm not sure what you would hear. Long term, I bet it would make quite a racket.

....

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TomG
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2004-05-01          84840

I think Brn's question about the 35-degree slope and 72" mower should be addressed before going on to my usual speculation and bumphf about HST's etc.

It's going to vary from tractor to tractor but some manufacturers publish recommended max operating angles. I seem to remember 25-degrees max for some tractors but could be 35. Recommendations likely would be pretty conservative but I think 35-degrees is definitely in the risk range and it's not an issue to take lightly. Most finish mowers run on the own wheels and wouldn't load the rear much--that is in when their down and haven't snagged anything. Always the chance of something unexpected happening on a slope though. The weight of a mower is centered pretty far behind the hitch and I suspect things could get pretty dramatic if it came up on a hill.

Keeping my bumphf uncharacteristically short maybe I should just say that I don't know and maybe more bumphf later. If oil starvation produced oil cavitation, I've heard that pumps can make a rattling or buzzing sound. Maybe Mark's tires do outmatch his HP/TX. You'd think that it could produce huge torque multiplication in low range (gears) and minimum motor displacement if that's how the TX is designed. An advantage of variable displacement motors is supposed to be high output torque at low speeds. Who knows? Wonder how the reversing is handled. Maybe somebody knows for sure! ....

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beagle
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2004-05-01          84863

Just an additional thought on starving Hydrostats. They are closed loop systems, the slave pump is there to make up for loses in the system. I don't believe it would take long for the system to starve itself.

I believe most HSTs are variable displacement pumps, with fixed displacements motors. I'm sure the different manufacturers have different variations. ....

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TomG
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2004-05-02          84946

Beagle: My impression of typical HST's in compacts is as you describe them--variable pump into a geared range section. That design may be why Mark seemed to be opening the relief valve. A design with a variable motor would probably offer greater torque amplification at its max volume than the low range on a geared range section and could keep the system pressure lower. Still bumphf on my part though. I've never gotten my mind around what a slave pump is and would appreciate a bit of description. ....

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