First mow with the Komander

I completed the first mow. Was pretty ragged at first. By the time I finished, the controls felt better. I did better at cutting closer to things with my old Toro Wheel Horse tractor. The Kubota will probably improve with my getting better with the controls.
The 15* bank was a bit hairy. With the old tractor I could hang my cheek off one side of the seat like a counter balance. The Kubota doesn't allow that and it's tough to stay in the seat. I stopped on the slope (this is a traverse slope, not up/down) and pulled on the roll bar to see if the rig was tippy. It was far from coming over. It felt well planted. I did have the front casters looking like they were off the ground going up a bank once. That was a little unnerving.
When I finished, the chain saw came out and several hours were spent cutting low branches. If the bank mowing becomes more comfortable, the roll bar may come off.
I miss having an engine and front housing to bust through branches and stuff. Now it's just my sweet ***** leading the charge and catching some nasty vines/branches/pickers.
The mulch deck did a nice cutting job. Not having a row of piled up cut grass after each pass was nice. Looked almost like it had been bagged.
The biggest adjustment will be the new cutting pattern. The old pattern accommodated the restrictions of a tractor's capabilities. With much less restrictions of the ZT, I need to figure out a more efficient cut path(s).
The Kubota has a heavy clunky feel to it in a yard with trees, bushes and beds. Like a bull in a china shop. I think that will diminish with my improvement and a good pattern.
I was very nervous that I spent a ton of money on something that wouldn't work out. I feel a little better now.

FISH...

I felt the same way. I came from a JD LX188 and the feelings you are having were nearly the same as mine. The learning curve I thought was going to be longer, it has surprised me how fast the ol' brain took over and the getting use to how things work are nearly second nature now. The thing I had to change was my trimming, what has made it easier for me being a larger mower is to do all my trimming first...Made all the difference to me knowing you don't have try and get so close to things like I did with my JD.

With all that being said, the amount of time this ting has saved me has been great. I have nothing but good to say about the cut. I have a couple acre field that has grown up (again) and just mowed it today with some morning dew still on it and this mower just powered through it, at full speed with full 54" cuts and it looked great. The only place I had to kind of go over again was an area that has these tall stringy weeds...which was minimal.

Hang in there man...it will come together.

Stay safe and have fun.

Mike

Hey fishbone! Thanks for sharing about your first experience with the Kubota Kommander. Do you have any pictures of your lawn and mower?

Hey Fishbone, I've been using the mulch kit with my hustler for a couple years now and have finally decided to take it off. I like how well it chops up the grass finer, as opposed to side discharge, but the problem I've had, particularly in this wet spring growth, is that it cakes up under the deck and then whenever I turn around for each pass or lift or stop the blades, it falls out in big clumps that seem to never disintegrate. Just makes a mess of the lawn. Whereas with side discharge the high airflow prevents grass from collecting under the deck and disperses the clippings pretty well.

I'm thinking of upgrading to the kommander and was wondering if your mulch kit/deck design performs better. Can you see if you have significant grass collecting under your deck, particular with wet grass?

I never thought of taking pics of my mower/lawn. LOL I'll see what I can do.

Only having mowed once, I am limited on making a mulch judgement.
Here are some observations in no special order;
On higher grass (5") the 3 1/2" setting allowed small gobs of cut grass laying around.
The overall cut was much more even than my Toro 48" garden tractor.
The Toro max height was to short. Kuboba 3 1/2" cut is much nicer giving a lush feeling.
Had no major grass clumps fall out at turns, stops, or deck raising.
The finished mow is an improve appearance over the Toro.
No more strips of side discharged cut grass to mat down and look like crap.

Very encouraging, thanks!

I just took the plunge with the Kommander 124e last Friday and had a similar experience as fishbone. I have a pretty flat yard, but with lots of low-hanging branches (dogwoods, magnolia, etc) and while I was alert enough to avoid any near-accidents on my first time mowing with a ZT, the ROPS was 1) inefficient and 2) presented more of a hazard than any kind of safety in my yard. I took it off the next day. If it was foldable, it'd stay.

That said, I found the cut to be immensely superior to my Gravely 816 rider. No clumping, nice clean & even cuts, even when I was testing at full speed (I do not have the mulching kit).

As with fishbone, the ZT requires one to think differently so as to avoid using the same mow pattern for a 4-wheel rider. It'll take a few weeks to figure this out. That said, I tried a 45 degree pattern just for grins & giggles--it looked great and still cut my mowing time in half.

Oh, and this thing is just so dang fun! My wife may just want to get out and mow on it!

The new pattern is hard to figure out. The mower can do such crazy turns and maneuvers, that choices are end less. I'm still trying to figure out the best way.