Mowing lawn. Bucket on or off?

[Bmyers]

I mow the yard with a zero turn. When I'm mowing the rest of the areas with the tractor, the grapple is on and I use the grapple to move down limps and stuff out of the way while I'm mowing.

 

[Olive Farmer]

I think it depends on the job and the land. I always leave the bucket on as I find I use it for other things during the work, as others said, scooping litter, moving branches, also use it as a bin, and to carry loppers, chainsaw and other tools for hedge and ditch clearing.

If I am cutting in grass or scrub that is seeding I have to put the bucket up a bit as it bends the stalks down, which then spring up in front of the radiator, bashing the seeds off and into the radiator. These clog the grille and get sucked into the fins of the radiator itself. It makes the engine heats up fast and they are difficult to get out. I normally end up taking the front grille off the next day when the engine is cold and jet washing at low pressure from the front to push the seeds through the fins and into the engine bay, where I can rinse them away.

 

[TomRC]

I mow about 4 acres a week with my B2601 and 5' FDR1660 finish mower. With loader and bucket on it struggles to have power in medium gear to make it up slopes, with loader on but bucket off it does OK but not great going up slopes in medium, with loader and bucket off it does pretty good going up slopes in medium gear but front end becomes VERY LIGHT and I have to be VERY CAREFUL. Low gear does fine with loader and bucket on but would take until xmas to finish. Not too thrilled with any of the combo's currently. I see a bigger tractor or zero turn in my future!

 

[Benhameen]

I mow with a 5’ finish mower and the FEL stays off unless I need it. Much more maneuverable and I don’t see the need to haul around the extra weight. It’s super easy to remove/put on the loader after you done it a few times, 5 minutes tops.

 

[Deleted member 47704]

Neighbor had her coop'd up. He decided to let her out for some excercise.............

Oh, I thought that was Outdoors With the Morgans when they started.

 

[GeoHorn]

I’m not sure there’s sufficient commonality in areas-to-be-mowed between all of us for this to be of any usefulness…. As for me, I’ve never had my FEL off the tractor nor have I ever operated without either the bucket or the forks on it….depends upon whatever I was using last time around.

 

[VT_Kubota]

OFF I don't know about your ground but I find that with it off the machine is more maneuverable and less tippy feeling on the hills. Flat areas no worries plus you don't have to worry about hitting something you had not intended to with the bucket

I'm in northern Vermont ...There's not one flat spot on my entire property, and some of it is quite steep.

 

[VT_Kubota]

I leave the loader arms on but take the bucket off. Less work to just remove the bucket and still somewhat maneuverable.

I've never had the loader off, so that's what I was considering doing also.

 

[VT_Kubota]

Loader off , I've tried it with just bucket off for a few minutes.

Loader off so much faster moving around
Spring 2020 to spring 2021 I went a year with loader off lol

I don't think I could go that long without using my loader. The loader and the cab are two of the main reasons I bought my B2650. I'm trying to make my life easier as the years go by!

 

[VT_Kubota]

Thanks, everyone for your replies. I know I'll have to try it both ways to see what works for me. It helps to know what other's experiences are and the reasoning behind them. Now all I have to do is wait for my mower to be delivered!

 

[IanB]

This was my 1st year with a B2650 and 72" belly mower, tractor also came with FEL and ballast box. I started out just dropping the bucket off and leaving the FEL arms on, as it drove nicer for mowing and tracked nicer without the extra weight of the bucket on the front end, plus easier to get in close with the arms up while mowing.

Then I figured out how to remove the FEL arms completely, and again it worked much nicer as a mower without all the extra weight, less frequent sterring corrections required (easier to do straight lines), and I've left the FEL off for the rest of the season.

Once you figure it out, it's only a 5min job to remove/attach the FEL.

That being said, this thing is slow and cumbersome as a mower, I think I might sell the belly mower and pick up a zero turn mower for next year. I watch my neighbor's fly around on theirs like they are on go carts in comparison!

 

[mikester]

When I'm bush hogging the back forty I usually put on my grapple so I can move fallen branches without getting off the tractor. If I'm cutting new areas in tall grass it's nice to have the bucket on and kept low to catch any hidden surprises like rocks and ant hills.

 

[mcfarmall]

Loader off when mowing

 

[Bri-Guy-GA]

If I am mowing the loader is off. Takes me 2-3 minutes to put it back on and less to remove.

 

[Freeheeler]

That being said, this thing is slow and cumbersome as a mower, I think I might sell the belly mower and pick up a zero turn mower for next year. I watch my neighbor's fly around on theirs like they are on go carts in comparison!

Loader and backhoe stay on year round unless I'm using the box blade. I mow with a z-turn. I think you would be very happy with your plan for next year.

 

[VT_Kubota]

Thanks to all of you for your input and suggestions. I took everyone's advice and tried all three ways to see which one I liked the best. For those of you who are interested, here's what I found out.

The first time I mowed, I left the bucket on. It worked well, but I had to keep raising the bucket up high so that it wouldn't catch on my sheep fencing. Having the bucket on also made the tractor seem long when mowing. That extra length made it slightly more challenging to get around the few objects, (house, shed, woodpile, barn ...and 1 tree!) that I do have.

The next time I mowed, I removed the entire loader assembly. The tractor was much more maneuverable, but the front end was very light. My land is quite hilly, and if I raised the mower up, I had a difficult time steering without using the brakes. While mowing, this was less of an issue because the mower was resting on the ground, although the front was still very light especially on steep areas.

The loader assembly came off quickly and easily. Putting it back on was much more difficult. I had a hard time getting the pins to drop into place correctly. I was concerned about pinching the hoses and also worried that the loader would slide over and dent or scratch the hood of the tractor. No doubt I would get better at installing it with practice, but reinstalling it was a more difficult procedure than I would have liked. Removing the loader was my least favorite method of mowing, because of taking the loader off combined with having the front end so light.

The last two times I mowed, I removed only the bucket. It's so simple to take it off and reinstall that it only takes a minute or less for the process. Having the loader on the tractor gave me the extra weight that I needed to hold the front end down on the hills so that I could steer easily. Removing the bucket shortened up the overall length of the tractor making it easier to maneuver around objects. This was, by far, my favorite way to mow.

Everyone has their preferences, but for me, removing only the bucket was the best compromise between taking the entire loader off and leaving the bucket on. Overall I'm extremely happy with my rear mount mower and how that setup works on my hills. Now the mower is all put away for the winter and it's time to install the tire chains and the snowblower!