First Choice brand Finish Mower

www,t r a c t o r b y n e t.com discussed First Choice quit a bit.

--->Paul

PS - I see the auto sensors kick in....

I've been thinking about buying a finishing mower for several years. I cut around my house with a riding mower, and everthing else with a 6' bush hog. The bush hog does a good enough job, but discharges the clippings to one side. I end up cutting over the windrow on the next pass, which means I am only cutting about 3 additional feet of new grass. I was thinking that if I had a rear discharge finishing mower, I wouldn't have this problem, that I would be cutting a full six foot swath on every pass. That would reduce the time I spend cutting grass on the tractor by half. I've never minded cutting grass, its just the not the only thing I want to do all the time.

A friend owns a farm implement business and will sell me a Caroni brand mower in the crate for $1,085. Price-wise, that seems like a good deal. But when I looked at the mower I noticed that it would be impossible to grease the spindles without taking the top plates off. I read a post in archives that said there were 17 bolts to remove to accomplish that. Seems like a bad design to me. The Caroni did not look as substantial as other mowers either. The bracing supporting the wheels screw directly into the deck - no box type frame. Seems that would be the first place rust would occur. The post I mentioned earlier also talked about Caroni's proclivity to bend the front wheel bracing on the tractor rear tires when lifting the deck. I think I've just about talked myself out of the Caroni.

A dealer in my area sells both the First Choice brand and Land Pride. The Land Pride sells for $1,395 for the 72" deck and the First Choice is $100 cheaper. I guess my choice is between those two. However, I wouldn't have a problem ordering one if I could save some money, and would definitely prefer assembling it myself.

All that said I have two more questions. The deck on the First Choice is huge, longer than any other mower I've seen. Does your mower have extra long blades? And is your mower quiet when it runs?

I've been thinking about buying a finishing mower for several years. I cut around my house with a riding mower, and everthing else with a 6' bush hog. The bush hog does a good enough job, but discharges the clippings to one side. I end up cutting over the windrow on the next pass, which means I am only cutting about 3 additional feet of new grass. I was thinking that if I had a rear discharge finishing mower, I wouldn't have this problem, that I would be cutting a full six foot swath on every pass. That would reduce the time I spend cutting grass on the tractor by half. I've never minded cutting grass, its just the not the only thing I want to do all the time.

A friend owns a farm implement business and will sell me a Caroni brand mower in the crate for $1,085. Price-wise, that seems like a good deal. But when I looked at the mower I noticed that it would be impossible to grease the spindles without taking the top plates off. I read a post in archives that said there were 17 bolts to remove to accomplish that. Seems like a bad design to me. The Caroni did not look as substantial as other mowers either. The bracing supporting the wheels screw directly into the deck - no box type frame. Seems that would be the first place rust would occur. The post I mentioned earlier also talked about Caroni's proclivity to bend the front wheel bracing on the tractor rear tires when lifting the deck. I think I've just about talked myself out of the Caroni.

A dealer in my area sells both the First Choice brand and Land Pride. The Land Pride sells for $1,395 for the 72" deck and the First Choice is $100 cheaper. I guess my choice is between those two. However, I wouldn't have a problem ordering one if I could save some money, and would definitely prefer assembling it myself.

All that said I have two more questions. The deck on the First Choice is huge, longer than any other mower I've seen. Does your mower have extra long blades? And is your mower quiet when it runs?