Belly mower on a Fast-Hitch tractor

[SamsFarm]

I can not understand what possessed a person buying their new fast hitch Cub back in the day to buy a belly mower too.

When I first bought my 1968 fast hitch Cub almost 20 years ago, it came with the 54a grader blade, fast hitch plow, and the C3 belly mower.

The c3 mower and goofy mule drive, that severely limits the use of the fast hitch was on at the time I bought it, and I mowed a few times with it.

But...... Once I got my mitts on a fast hitch disk, and a set of cultivators. I quickly learned there was no way that I was going to take the time to swap between belly mower and cultivators and between the belly mower and fast hitch implements.

At that point the C3 belly mower was off, never to be put back on again!

I did not know it at the time, that back in the day there was multiple Fast-Hitch mowers available.

So, it just makes me wonder why anyone buying a fast hitch tractor with at least a plow and disk, would ever even consider the belly set-up when the fast hitch mower was available.

I wonder how the belly mower (with the fast hitch compatable gadgetry) compared in price to the fast hitch rear mount pto mowers back in the day!

[indy61]

Belly mower is a lot easier to maneuver on smaller areas with obstacles.

[Jim Becker]

I doubt that a lot of those mowers were bought when the tractor was new. Some were no doubt purchased by people with existing tractors that were no longer used for gardening. At one time there was an active market where tractor jockeys were finding used Cubs of any description then buying a new (matching) belly mower. They were being sold as ready to use mowers. If they happened to have a Fast-Hitch or other mounted equipment, so be it.

You know the sales pitch would work great on the unknowing prospect who had no idea what a task it is to mount/remove a belly mower.

[SamsFarm]

I know the person I got my 68 from.

It was his Dad's tractor, and my belief they was second owners. Bought it about the time it was 2 or 3 years old.

It was their "mow the grass, plow and disk the garden, and push the snow tractor.

I guess since they only plowed and disked the garden once a year, they just put up with removing the belly mower.

Hmm.... I wonder if they took that special mule drive off to use the disk in the centered position, or just left it on and ran around with the disk offset more to the right.
(I'll have to ask!)

[Jim Becker]

Mower, snow plow, plow, disk, and back to mower once a year isn't that bad. Mower, snow plow, plow, disk, mower, cultivator, mower, cultivator, mower, cultivator, and back to mower each year would get old after a few swaps between mower and cultivator.

[inairam]

I just took off a great woods 59 off a lowboy with a fast hitch to move it to one without. It was always in the way when I used the fast hitch.