I mowed today. Check my Bio for photos of the mower mounted on the Mule and some commentary on how it went.

Gary

 

Gary,

Congratulations. It looks as if your mount will be a great success. I'm curious about how the whole unit steers. Does it require a lot more effort than it does without the mower attached? It's too bad that swisher doesn't make a 60 inch front mounted mower so that you could mow as wide as the mule is. Even without it though, it looks as if it will work very well.

Don Williams a.k.a. Librarianwhs

 

Don,

The steering felt just like it does without the mower. Those very large and fully articulated front wheels may be a large part of the reason. I have been advised to mow using 4WD but the steering is much tighter in 2WD. I am unsure why, other than not spinning wheels on hills in wet grass, that one would need 4WD; the mower is no heavier than a husky passenger.

With the Mule at 53" and the mower at 50" when I made two parallel adjacent mowing paths, there were only three visible tire tracks, if I had a 60" deck, I imagine that there would either be two regular and one double-wide or four tracks or I would waste 7" of mower width. I did notice that on a tight turn if I did not slow down, the mowing was uneaven. Swisher makes a 60" mower but it is designed only for towing.

Gary

 

The Mule is used all over the country by municipalities, education facilities, shopping malls, etc.
Someone in one of these places probably knows what setups work and which ones don't.
Interesting info in this thread, thanks for sharing.

 

I bought a Blackline for my Ranger XP this year. It has been very disappointing. Think of it as more of a toy than a tool. First problem was the receiver was so burred up the plow couldn't be connected without 15 minutes of filing. Next a fuse blew and in the process of replacing it the wire pulled out of the fuse holder's crimp connector. Then the plow bent the 1st time one side of the plow caught on some ice in my driveway. Finally, today the plow literally fell off my Ranger! Turns out one of the structural welds broke. Stay away from Blackline.

Familyman412000

 

Guys, new member here and am sure glad I found this post. I've got a 2005 Diesel Kawasaki 3010 Mule and was looking very hard at the Blackline Plow. Seems like I may have just saved myself alot of grief.

Librarianwhs, I am a little disappointed in Clinton County Motorsports after reading your post and the runaround you got from Blackline. I was just down talking to CCM last week and guess what they tried to steer me towards, (Blackline's the greatest thing since sliced bread). Even had a Blackline rep. there and when they tried to pull up the mount and 72" plow availability on the computer it showed them zero'd out and they put on a big show about not understanding how that could be. Took my name and number down and promised to call me with further info. but have never heard a thing from the CCM crew or the Blackline rep. Looking like it's going to be the OEM plow for my Mule. I checked the Blackline website and they list a mount and the plow, but now I'm very suspicious. I'll probably just steer clear of Blackline.

familyman412000, your experience with the off center strike on the plow blade was one of my major concerns with the system. Thanks for the post, looks like you also may have just saved me a whole lot of grief.

 

Trooper,

I'm sorry to hear about your experience at CCM. They have never steered me wrong and when I couldn't get a mount for the Blackline for my 610, they swapped it out for the Moose with a Warn 3.0 winch even money. I still think they are good guys to do business with. When was it that they had a Blackline factory rep there? They must have had some kind of event going on.


Don Williams a.k.a. Librarianwhs

 

Librarianwhs,
I was down there on 2/27 checking on what plows were available for my Mule. I was also checking to see if they knew of anyone in the area that had the OEM plow for a Mule that I might be put in contact with to see how well it was constructed and functioned. The parts guy stood directly in front of me and said that Blackline was the only one Jason would even think about using. There didn't appear to be any type of event going on, I think the rep. just happened to be making a sales call, when I stopped by. I live only a couple miles from CCM so they are really handy and I've been pleased with the level of service from Jason and the crew. I even agreed to participate in a corporate rep. Kawasaki Mule focus group for product improvement last fall, simply because they had been very pleasant to deal with. I'm just a little disappointed that CCM is still pushing a product line, when they are aware of misleading behavior, by the manufacturer, with "their" customers.

 

If you were in the focus group last year, then we have met. I was there too. I was the fat guy with the beard. I really enjoyed the focus group and am looking forward to hearing what Kawasaki's new product line will look like. I wonder, did you talk to Dave Copsey about the plows? Dave is head of the service dept., and is an excellent guy.


Don Williams a.k.a. Librarianwhs

 

librarianwhs,
I thought your name and "nametag" rang a bell, obviously from the focus group. I'm not sure who it was I spoke with a CCM (I'm terrible with names). When I got to the parts counter and explained what I was interested in, the kids at the counter called someone out of the shop, who they said, knew all about plows and those they had sold in the area, so it sounds like it probably was Dave.
I'll still probably deal with CCM due to prior dealings and convienience, but I will do so with caution and better reasearch, thanks to forum such as this one.