Hauling in a Short Bed

Hummmm Kubota you say! Worth looking into. Thanks for the heads up.

 

Yeah, you won't be hauling it in the bed though. Love mine!

Little man enjoys it too.

_DSC6811-Edit by Murphy Lege, on Flickr

 

Haha cute

 

Gentlemen,

I want to give you an update. Thanks to all your good advice and guidance I’ve been able to decide on the JD X350/42 straight from the authorized dealer”.

At 72” L and 50.5” W I should do just fine with the riding mower in my 2017 Tacoma DC OR SB if I have to. They do have a $200 discount on the X350 so I’ll get the extended warranty so the dealer will pick up and drop off for any significant repairs, otherwise I can handle the routine maintenance at home.

I’m also going to get a set of foldable rails since I have a snowblower also that I will need to haul for maintenance and will worry about buying and storing a trailer later (U-Haul trailer rental is a good interim solution if needed).

Now off to the options, I won’t get tte bagger because I don’t want to climb up a steep hill to dump it every time so I’ll get the mulching kit instead, but not the one touch options. Thoughts?

 

I was thinking of getting the mulching option but they told me to try it first and see how I liked the way it cut before spending any more money on it. At 18k rpm it cuts pretty small.

 

I’ve been reading a lot about it and as far as I can tell if you keep the blades very sharp you should get good results. I also read somewhere that there may be an error in the manual where they tell you to attach the blades upside down, not sure if that’s accurate. I’ll have to look for myself when I get it. Need to find a place to keep sharpening the blades, 3-4 times a season.

 

That reminds me I need to sharpen my second set on mine and change them out.

 

That’s what I’m here for! Glad I could be if some help!

 

I usually just go grab another set and throw on there though. They're cheap enough and you don't have to smooth out and rough spots on the old one's. lol

Lazy, I know but there's just something about those new blades. lol

 

So you’re not using mulching blades?

 

Nope, plus he told me at that speed it was going to sound like a Blackhawk trying to land in the yard with me. I guess 6 blades spinning at that speed is pretty loud.

Mulching kit is a $200 option on my ZTR.

 

6 blades, Sheesh!

 

Yeah, I've never seen the kit just what they told me. Idk how the hell the blades wouldn't hit each other on that. I kinda decided when they said $200 that I was out on that *upgrade* anyway.

 

What’s your recommendation for ramps to bring my riding mower up onto the short bed occasionally? Good to have around for snow blower too.
The riding mower is 580 lb and I’m just over 200 lb, so say 800 lb total weight driving up the ramps.
Are 7.5’ too short, too steep? Any specific brand or model?

 

You need curved ramps otherwise your deck will bottom out at the top

 

Ok, “Arched”, what about length?

 

I have 84 inch ramps

 

I have a 38” Toro zero turn that will fit on my 17’DCSB. I don’t think they still make that size, but I saw a 32” Toro Z this past spring.

 

1-ft x 7.5-ft 1,500-lb Capacity Arched Folding Aluminum Loading Ramp

I ended buying those from Lowes. Do you think they’ll hold?

 

I just picked up a brand new Cub Cadet XT2 LX2 42” and backed it right into the short Bed. It fit nicely in the truck. I backed my truck to the loading dock and we pushed the riding mower back onto the bed. The front tires sat on the bed itself, not on the tailgate, which was very comforting. I may have been able to turn the wheels enough to close the tailgate but didn’t try.

When I got home I hooked the strap hooks that came with the ramps to the holes by the tow ball and tightened the straps in place to hold the ramps tied against the truck and drive the mower right over the ramps. They held up very nicely.