Right now have an overkill mower for the size of lawn I have. I was looking at the 38" lawn mower from BCS and was wondering if anyone out there had one. Does it give a nice manicured look? Would be able to buy a diesel BCS with snowblower and 38" mower for what I could get for my garden tractor. I am also interested in getting the chipper/shredder at a later time. The main thing this would get used for would be for mowing a less than 1 acre lot with house. Thanks for your help if anyone is out there.
38" BCS Lawn Mower - any out there
- Thread starter Iowa2305
- Start date
milkman
Elite Member
- Joined
- Sep 22, 2001
- Messages
- 3,629
- Tractor
- BX2200, BCS 735
I have the 735 which is the predecessor of the 853, with a 40" three blade finish mower, where my yard is level, the mower does an excellent job, the blades run really fast. The deck on my machine does not swivel where it is attached to the tractor so when one of the tractor wheels drop in a hole where my yard is really rough then the mower deck dips accordingly. I mow two acres here and another acre and a half at my mothers so got another mower to do all that faster, but I still like to put the mower on the BCS and mow some of the smooth parts with the sulky attached, just fun to use. After twenty years, I still wouldn't part with my BCS.
otus_branch
Silver Member
I have the 38" BCS mower and love it. I run it with the bagger all the time, so mowing goes a little slowly, but I use the clippings as compost feedstock and garden mulch, so that's OK. I mow ~3 acres total with this setup (including plenty of trees and other obstacles), and it becomes nearly a full-day chore if I have let the grass grow too long (which I usually do).
The 38" mower deck can pivot a few degrees, so I have had next to no problems with scalping, even with the slopes and rough spots around garden beds, etc.
I have never owned a 0-turn or other fancy mower, so I don't have a lot to compare to, but I like the BCS.
-otus
The 38" mower deck can pivot a few degrees, so I have had next to no problems with scalping, even with the slopes and rough spots around garden beds, etc.
I have never owned a 0-turn or other fancy mower, so I don't have a lot to compare to, but I like the BCS.
-otus
otus_branch
Silver Member
I've got to correct a statement i made above: the 38" BCS grass mower does NOT, in fact, pivot (their brush hog, which I also own, does). Apparently I mow high enough to avoid scalping on my land. Lately, I have had the mower set at approx. 3", which is a middle-setting for this BCS model. I used to mow at the very highest setting (approx. 5"), but the lawn looked bad then even AFTER mowing. Three inches seemed to be a good compromise between appearance (it looks good to me, especially when I've let the grass grow to >8") and grass health (longer tops mean longer roots, and during this dry, drought-y summer my grass did OK).
-otus
-otus
farm23
Silver Member
Otus, is correct most grass like Fescue do best @ 3" and above. Perhaps Bermuda type should be cut short.
Has anyone had experience with cutting high cover crops and if a frail mower is required or will a regular lawn mower like the 38" handle tall cover crops.
Has anyone had experience with cutting high cover crops and if a frail mower is required or will a regular lawn mower like the 38" handle tall cover crops.
clarksvilleal
Bronze Member
- Joined
- Jun 6, 2007
- Messages
- 79
Farm -
I have chopped up sorghum-sudangrass hybrid and corn with the Flail mower, as well as large piles of leaves I blew into the garden and even stacks of branches/prunings (switching to hammer blades for the latter) that I was too lazy to shred in my chipper/shredder. At the end of the gardening season I run the flail over all the vegetable garden stuff that's left and chop that up too.
The flail did a superb job of thoroughly chopping all of these up so I could easily incorporate them with the tiller, and I expect them to quickly decompose. In addition, the stuff stays where it is with the flail - it doesn't get thrown out to the side as with a rotary. Next to the 30" tiller it's my favorite implement. I have a brand new 26" rotary that I never use gathering dust
. (I use a Kubota tractor with a 72" belly mower for the big grass mowing work.)
I haven't tried the 38" rotary, but I can't imagine it would do as well for those jobs.
Al
I have chopped up sorghum-sudangrass hybrid and corn with the Flail mower, as well as large piles of leaves I blew into the garden and even stacks of branches/prunings (switching to hammer blades for the latter) that I was too lazy to shred in my chipper/shredder. At the end of the gardening season I run the flail over all the vegetable garden stuff that's left and chop that up too.
The flail did a superb job of thoroughly chopping all of these up so I could easily incorporate them with the tiller, and I expect them to quickly decompose. In addition, the stuff stays where it is with the flail - it doesn't get thrown out to the side as with a rotary. Next to the 30" tiller it's my favorite implement. I have a brand new 26" rotary that I never use gathering dust
. (I use a Kubota tractor with a 72" belly mower for the big grass mowing work.)I haven't tried the 38" rotary, but I can't imagine it would do as well for those jobs.
Al
otus_branch
Silver Member
Regarding Farm23's question about using a BCS rotary mower for tall cover crops: I would say that with the grass mower/bagger setup (38"-dual blade), one is limited to 10"-12" tall grass or cover crops to successfully mow.
The 26" BCS rotary cutter (i.e.- brush hog) can handle cover crops up to 2 feet tall or more, but beyond that, it can bog down or clog up. I think in my and '23's neighborhood (Western NC), a winter rye crop allowed to grow into early June (which can easily reach 4'-5' tall by then) would require a flail mower or a sickle bar to mow successfully.
Al's point about the flail finely mulching the debris, and dropping the residue evenly across the mowing path is an important one. Any rotary mower will tend to leave clumps, alternated with bare spots. A flail mower for the BCS is on my wish list for precisely that kind of cover-crop mowing application (and perhaps as a general back-up grass mower).
-otus
The 26" BCS rotary cutter (i.e.- brush hog) can handle cover crops up to 2 feet tall or more, but beyond that, it can bog down or clog up. I think in my and '23's neighborhood (Western NC), a winter rye crop allowed to grow into early June (which can easily reach 4'-5' tall by then) would require a flail mower or a sickle bar to mow successfully.
Al's point about the flail finely mulching the debris, and dropping the residue evenly across the mowing path is an important one. Any rotary mower will tend to leave clumps, alternated with bare spots. A flail mower for the BCS is on my wish list for precisely that kind of cover-crop mowing application (and perhaps as a general back-up grass mower).
-otus
farm23
Silver Member
Thanks for the input outs. That is what I thought and I will also put a flail mower on my wish list.