I have very uneven lawn. Very bumpy and wavy. Can't touch it, it's wetland.
My Hustler Raptor 60 inch has ZERO suspension comfort. I am blessed, it at least comes with memory foam seat. That helps.
Well, I had torque forks installed.
For those who consider them.. It's a double edged sword.
Yes, they do make ride softer. Some.
But here's the drawback. It's a large deck, 60 inch. And, mower frame itself is quite long. This is what happens. When I go over a bump, front wheels go over it first. then, they drop down - and forks compress, like they should.
Well, as the result, the DECK now hits the bump apex with spinning blades.
So it sorta helped - and sorta made it worse.
I'd say, if you have pretty smooth lawn - sure, they do help. But if it's hillocky and bumpy like mine - maybe don't.
#2
mhavanti
urkroz,
Maybe you can drag a harrow around the yard in early spring or about this time to begin removing the tops of the humps. That should begin flattening out the property as well as fill in some of the low areas. You can use all kinds of things to drag around the yard as long as it is semi-heavy and flat. Your SD60 won't really care and it will give you an excuse to ride that beast rather than put it away.
Harrow, huh... I wish
Also, my Mr Mole Friend shotguns property with several dozen of mounds a week. If not a day. He just turned lower R tier into basically non stop mound playground.
Attachments
#4
mhavanti
This looks like there has been a war declared on your yard by the moles. Napalm may be in order.
#5
mhavanti
ukroz,
What height are you cutting at usually? Where are your anti-scalp wheels located? If you're cutting above 2 1/4" height, the anti-scalp wheels should be in the upper holes. However, with those huge dips, the anti-scalp wheels may need to be in the lower mounting hole.
In my mowing experiences with a big deck is the anti-scalp wheels and or rollers don’t do much good on small mounds and uneven rutted yards. I have a 60,48 and a 36 and many time have to use a undersized mower to get good results. I also have two yards I push mow by request and they turn out beautiful with a 21” mower...of course the customer pays more for this type service.
Those forks do sound good for level grounds though. I never heard of these...wondering if they make them for ExMark..
#7
mhavanti
Mowlife,
I've been trying to find someone that would allow me to put one of my Flex Forks on their Exmark, Toro, Husky or any other brand to see if there are any that will interchange with. I have been playing with manufacturing them for other folk's brands if there is a market for them.
I know I wouldn't do without mine and the suspension seat kit also.
Here is a video of the flex forks you may want to watch. There are two of them for a prep to install. There are also some videos showing tests of the flex forks and seat kit.
Well, moles are indestructible. I amy end talking to neighbor who has a guy who smokes them.. but they come back.
What you seeing pics is only hills and valleys. What you don't see is how rutted it is plus leveled mole mounds. So after 4 hrs of mowing this, it's pretty lousy feeling. This lawn was never graded. It is what is called "natural grade". They simply removed vegetation.
What is needs is dozer. Nuke it and pray moles got scared away. Also, rains will stop, so ruts don't develop.
Problem is - half of what you see is wetland, so it's illegal to disturb upper soil.
My plan is thus different. I'm getting tow behind flail mower and will tow it with ATV. ATV I already have and it is much more comfortable ride. Also, after spring rains and storms, I have large muddy puddles left and small pond formed. ATV will go there just fine. I already had to pull mower out of mud three times. It's no fun. Even with ATV lug tires on it, it still gets stuck.
#9
mhavanti
Does sound like an uphill battle. Only way I've found to rid myself of moles and the occasional skunk is to take away their bug supply. So, I spread bug killer 4 or 6 times a year. That has done it for me so far. More than likely I should have never said as that may stop working now. Hope not.
Maybe you could remove the top soil, disturb the hell out of the bottom soil, then replace the top soil and stay legal? lmbo
Or, any of the other tree huggers comes around, gqpurba;gvkjerpf the crap out of them and do whatever you need to do to your own property. One thing to always tell anybody telling you what you can't do to your property is: You can determine what happens to this property when you've bought it from me, paid all the taxes on it, paid for all improvements and I've released it to you. Otherwise, shove off and make sure you don't return without an invitation. In a friendly way of course. lol
Right. County does not talk to you. You get hefty bill in mail. Neighbor got $750 fine from them for taking care of blackberries. Removing them. It's "the green state", it's special in its attitude towards wetland and vegetation.
Spreading bug killer over about 5 acre? right... I'll keep sharpening dem blades.
#11
mhavanti
Sounds like it is way past time to vote all of those snowflakes out of office out there. Good luck in changing the way folks think about you actually owning what you're paying yearly taxes on. lol
Harrow, huh... I wish
Also, my Mr Mole Friend shotguns property with several dozen of mounds a week. If not a day. He just turned lower R tier into basically non stop mound playground.
Try uploading them "horizontally" first, then they should show up on your post vertically the correct way.
Click on "preview" prior to actually posting your post for verification.
Worth every penny for Flex Forks. Even if your back doesn't have fractures or bone no bone, the ride is much improved. At some point, there is rear suspension in my Raptor SD's future.
As I said in my OP, they do well on pretty much level surface. They do dampen small bumps and such. It's when you go over hills like mine, mole mounds, that's when they do bad service.
There are mowers with all 4 ends suspension. Toro has one. $16 K price tag. I ain't buying a car for mowing.
A hell of lot easier said than done. I would have to see it.
If you want suspension, better off buying one designed/comes with it in the first place.
#23
mhavanti
DK,
You're absolutely right. But then, I've never been one to take the easy road. Love to design and redesign mechanicals to make them bend to my needs rather than me bending to theirs. It will be fun regardless if I'm happy with the outcome on the first design. I'll just make sure everything is bolt in so I can remove it and do a different deal.
Did that on a couple of riders along with trailing arms and panhard bar. Can see that working again. We'll see.
