[Tonyr]

What are the John Deere 60'' 7 iron side discharge decks like compared to toro's turbo force, hustler, exmark etc? My work is as you see in the pics,
http://lawnsite.com/showthread.php?t=113717

parks and rougher areas, no manicured lawns, so needs to process a lot of clippings and disperse evenly....need to cut rough areas and leave it nice, my toro does it, but need to cut really ferral stuff...pics show it all in the above thread link.

pros n cons of the j.d 7 iron side discharge?

do they cut stalky stringers clean, or 'say so' like most fabricated decks?

good in heavy going, or the same as other leading brands?

is clippings sprayed out even, or thrown out in clumps? or windrows?

I'm thinking maybe putting a side discharge deck on the 997 model I demoed, as the rear discharge is crap, but the machine is awesome....

BTW, pics of the demo are at....
http://lawnsite.com/showthread.php?t=113717

 

[John Gamba]

Tony
the blade speed is about 16,000 or 16500 if that matters. very slow but might work better on your turf then a fast speed. it does have a more open baffle then most.


Your Mate john

 

[Tonyr]

Thanks John.

makes ya wander why J.D chose a slower blade speed than others, I would imagine you don't have to mow slower, surely...

As long as it can do what my turbo force can do I'm in the market....so for the fun of it, just say we had a turbo force deck machine, and a 7 iron machine doing a jobs ranging from scruffy parks to over grown vacant blocks etc with grass 2ft tall, which deck would you think would perform best on equal sized machines?

I need a neat cut, but also a good even despersion of clipping, no clumps/windrows....and the min amount of grass on the easiest job is removing 2'' of bermuda leaf and seed head...

The 7 iron...how do they go at grass/weed stalks, the ones that many decks struggle with?

 

[2004F550]

We have one and the quality of the cut is great, we mow some tall stuff with it and in one pass it looks great, nothing left behind. Also, we have had no problems with clumping etc. Comapred to the 52" Ferris and a Turf tiger it is a much better deck i think

 

[Tonyr]

Thanks mate!

Would you have any pics by chance showing some heavy, stalky or extreme cutting?

I can't demo unless basically commited to buy, so trying to research as much as I can.

For e.g the Exmark ultracut is no good at what I do a lot of, the deck is too tightly baffled, my turbo force rates as OK, but stalky grass/weeds it struggles with, but gives great despersion etc.

Looking for a deck basically that can cut an acreage lawn, not mancured but neat, and range to heavy mowing, ferral stuff....needs to cut stalks and stringers neat....

 

[ALarsh]

Just curious- how many hours do you have on your toro?

Thanks

 

[Tonyr]

400

while the toro is good, once you drive the john deere 997 ztr, you won't want to ride the toro again lol. yes, the j.d is that much better to ride.

my toro dealer is 1.5 hours away, and they carry very few parts for this mower as it is the only one he sold, so repairs take a week min....

I have a commercial j.d dealer 20 mins away.

and a big dealer 4 hours away, who have mobile mechanics who will fix the machine pronto on site or at my home.

 

[John Gamba]

400

while the toro is good, once you drive the john deere 997 ztr, you won't want to ride the toro again lol. yes, the j.d is that much better to ride.

my toro dealer is 1.5 hours away, and they carry very few parts for this mower as it is the only one he sold, so repairs take a week min....

I have a commercial j.d dealer 20 mins away.

and a big dealer 4 hours away, who have mobile mechanics who will fix the machine pronto on site or at my home.

Tony

Have you tried the regular hustler deck.

2

I'm not sure about the mowing speed but i do think that the deere deck is in order for the weeds, i dont know if it will hold up to what you can put it threw.
Try with all your might to demo the deere, it sounds like its the mower for you.
John

 

[ALarsh]

400

while the toro is good, once you drive the john deere 997 ztr, you won't want to ride the toro again lol. yes, the j.d is that much better to ride.

my toro dealer is 1.5 hours away, and they carry very few parts for this mower as it is the only one he sold, so repairs take a week min....

I have a commercial j.d dealer 20 mins away.

and a big dealer 4 hours away, who have mobile mechanics who will fix the machine pronto on site or at my home.

Sounds good.. I'd hate to see you sell the big bad toro though.

 

[Tonyr]

Hi John,

I've demoed the 'old' hustler SD deck. good for lawn work etc, but it struggled with stalky grasses, it is a good deck, just not the best choice for the heavy rough stuff I do, imo. Like the ultracut etc, just not designed for the heavy weedy crap we cut.

but the new hustler deck XR-7, now that should be a pearla!

I want to buy a mower asap, this research is tiring me lol. the more I research the more I lose interest, soon I'll be back to lovin' me toro, ha ha ha!

I have a demo of hustlers diesel with 72'' rear discharge next wednesday all going well, so I'll let you know how that goes....but I doubt it will be the cadelac the j.d is though to drive, it is louder, looks huge, until I demo it I'm not that excited, kinda wish it was prettied up a bit like the j.d, exmark, toro etc. But I hold hope that the deck is a goer!

Did you know the j.d is promoted at being 31hp, but has only 27 available hp according to the specs? Gross 31hp, Net 27hp. That sucks!
Torque is...

1500 rpm - 63.3ft/lbs
2600 rpm - 55.7 ft/lbs


The Hustler kills it! more gross hp, more torque...

my only concern with hustler is no dealers near me, I'm buying from the main importer.
and if somethiung went wrong with the hydro deck system, be a nightmare.

 

[valleylawn79]

tony we found that the grasshopper with the big diesels cut thick stuff and sling it out pretty evenly. don'y know if they are available in your area. the front of the deck is like the scag deck. its front is angeled at a 45 degree angle. helps with vacumn and gives those wiry stalks time to stand back up. i saw one with a 28 hp kubota and a deck out front plow thru some heavy thick stuff. blade speed was around 17500-18000 i was told. the grasshopper has a ride second to none.

 

[Tonyr]

Thanks mate, yeah...pity we haven't got dealers in my state, they sound great, I've read up on them quite a bit.

 

[RKISTNER1]

My JD 7-Iron deck flips 2 90 deg. 54" deck 2 gators 1 high lift @ the shoot! grinds & disburse. luv my yellow seat.

 

[Tonyr]

thanks mate!

does the deck tend to bog down a bit in the heavy stuff...damp etc?

Does it cut stalky grass better than other decks?