Go Bottom54 quot belly mower for 4100
 | Craig Dashner
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2001-02-20 24429
I would like comments on the 54" belly mower for the 4100. Am looking to get one(the 60" is too $$$) and get rid of the 5' 3pt finish mower I have due to trees and manuverability. Is the 54" a well built unit? How easy is it to install/remove? I would prefer to take it off between usages. If it is as easy as the loader, I would be sold. Any comments are appreciated!Thanks
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| Bob Cambray
Join Date: Posts: 1
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2001-02-20 24433
I have the 54" mower with the mulching kit. Both work great. Deck very easy to disconnect and install but very heavy. You are able to turn the antiscalp wheels
which makes it pretty easy to maneuver as long as you are on solid ground. ....
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| Dave Wells
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2001-02-20 24435
Craig,
I have a 4100Hydro with 410FEL and the 54" Belly Mower, purchased July of 2000. I've cut the grass several times with it, and the mower seems to work exceptionally well - it's shaft driven, cuts the grass cleanly, I'm very happy with it. I also have the MCS (bagger with vacumn). It works exceptionally well also. My wife (who has some physical handicaps) uses the tractor also, so we decided to trade the manual dump bagger for the Hydraulic dump bagger. I haven't used the Hyd. Dump unit yet, but I suspect it will work as well as the other parts.
The belly mower is not difficult to install & remove. There's the PTO shaft (connects to the tractor's Mid-PTO), two pins in the back, and a front bracket which locks with a captive pin. You do need to rotate the Mower gage wheels 90degrees, and turn the tractor wheels all the way to the left to install/remove the mower deck. It's not as easy as removing the FEL, but let's face it, the hardest part about removing the FEL is getting off the tractor and unhooking the quick-connect hoses. I'd say it's not any more difficult than removing/installing a 3PT mower.
The Belly Mower is raised and lowered via the 3PT hitch. There are brackets that connect back to the 3PT. I understand that JD has a "clamp" kit that holds the belly mower locked against the frame so you can use the 3PT for other things without removing the mower. Of course, if you are planning on removing the mower deck between uses you may not need/want the clamp kit.
The mower certainly seems to be a solidly built unit. It has three blades, which are driven from the gear box via a V-Belt. The gear box is driven by the PTO shaft. All of the pulley's have grease zerks, which are accessible from the top without removing any guards or covers.
One criticism I'd have of the mower is that JD should have made the gage wheels the swivel type. I plan on modifying mine to make them that way, but I haven't decided the best way to do it yet.
One suggestion I'd make is that you get into the habit of ALWAYS turning off the PTO whenever someone approaches you while you're on the tractor. It's very easy to walk up to the tractor to talk to the operator and stick your foot under the edge of the mower deck. This isn't a flaw with the 54" deck per se, it's an inherent danger with ANY belly mower on ANY tractor. The left-hand blade is the "trimming" blade, and it comes up pretty close to the edge of the mower deck.
If you decide to get any of the belly mowers, I'd also suggest that you get the Deck Adjusting gage from JD. It's a little plastic doohickey (that's a technical term!) that let's you adjust the deck front-to-back and side-to-side very easily. It costs less than $10 and it's definitely worth it.
I hope this helps - let me know if I can answer any other questions.
Dave Wells ....
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| Jim Youtz
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2001-02-20 24459
I too have the 54 inch deck on my 4100. My complaints. I'd have to echo the comments of these other two gentlemen. They explained things very well. The only thing I can add is to say that removal and reattaching the deck is very easy on a hard concrete surface but very difficult on unlevel ground. Also, I have the mower deck lift-latch kit and I would highly recommend the purchase of this accessory (cost $75). It allows you to lock the deck in the raised position which using the 3 point hitch. You can also limit the mower's lowest point using this kit. Another nice feature is that you can pin the mower deck lift arms up when the mower is off so that they are not dragging in the dirt when plowing, tilling, ect... ....
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