Mower suggestions

[torsinadoc]

I am looking at getting a finishing mower 84" but not sure if that is the correct size or best option for my property

We are moving to 13 acres. Maybe 5 trees to dodge. It has been a field that was either hayed or just brush hogged the last 2 years (3 times last year). It is under 1 ft tall at this time. The property is hilly and uneven in parts. I will be pulling with a 45-50hp tractor. Is it to large? I settled on 84 because it is wider than the tires. Also should I get it brush hogged a little shorter this spring then keep up the mowing?

 

[4570Man]

I think you will be fine with the size. I think you could handle a 9' if wanted. I have a Howse mower, and it is a great mower with a smoking fast tip speed.

 

[DK35vince]

I would recommend brush mowing it, then keep up with the finish mower.
Finish mowers don't do well in that deep of grass.

 

[4570Man]

I must have missed that part of your post. 1 foot high grass would be the max for a finish mower. Even to do that you are going to have to go very slow with the mower set at max height. A finish mower can't handle any saplings. I mean they could cut one or two, but a whole field would be too much.

 

[leonz]

I am looking at getting a finishing mower 84" but not sure if that is the correct size or best option for my property

We are moving to 13 acres. Maybe 5 trees to dodge. It has been a field that was either hayed or just brush hogged the last 2 years (3 times last year). It is under 1 ft tall at this time. The property is hilly and uneven in parts. I will be pulling with a 45-50hp tractor. Is it to large? I settled on 84 because it is wider than the tires. Also should I get it brush hogged a little shorter this spring then keep up the mowing?

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It all depends on the finish you want and how often you mow period.

The more often you mow the less effort it takes, the less fuel it takes and the less time it takes.

Mowing in a spiral patteer saves fuel and eliminates braking and turning around to mow long
swaths of uncut grass and with a flail mowr you can recut quickly living very small clippings.


If you have a hydrostatic drive mule your already behind th eight ball because
of fluid power losses.

If your buying new a Vrisimo or land pride flail mower will work very well for you and take
it down to 2 inch height each time you mow.

A rotary finish mower will not recut green grass. and it sill simply
leave it there to rot choking the other grasses a finish flail mower or a
vineyard flail mower with side slicer blades will leave very small clippings that will rot quickly.

A used towed flail chopper will be more than adequate for your needs and cost less than a new finish mower and will mow down to 2 inches in one pass with zero issues.

You have a lot of work to do long before you have to put up with a salesmans assurances that a towed rotary
finish mower will handle your grass and cut it very well-IT wont.

 

[4570Man]

I would consider a HST tractor an advantage for mowing. With a HST you can adjust the speed to to exactly match the ground conditions and can easily adjust the speed. With a geared the optimal speed always seems to fall between the gear ranges. When I mowed on a geared tractor I ran between 2-6 gear.

 

[torsinadoc]

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It all depends on the finish you want and how often you mow period.

The more often you mow the less effort it takes, the less fuel it takes and the less time it takes.

Mowing in a spiral patteer saves fuel and eliminates braking and turning around to mow long
swaths of uncut grass and with a flail mowr you can recut quickly living very small clippings.


If you have a hydrostatic drive mule your already behind th eight ball because
of fluid power losses.

If your buying new a Vrisimo or land pride flail mower will work very well for you and take
it down to 2 inch height each time you mow.

A rotary finish mower will not recut green grass. and it sill simply
leave it there to rot choking the other grasses a finish flail mower or a
vineyard flail mower with side slicer blades will leave very small clippings that will rot quickly.

A used towed flail chopper will be more than adequate for your needs and cost less than a new finish mower and will mow down to 2 inches in one pass with zero issues.

You have a lot of work to do long before you have to put up with a salesmans assurances that a towed rotary
finish mower will handle your grass and cut it very well-IT wont.

My goal is to cut the bottom 3-4 acres every 1-3 weeks depending on need. I would want the finish to be nice. The other 9ish acres could be cut less frequently 6-8 weeks. Im afraid that may be to long of interval to use finish mower. Maybe flail mower is a better option. I have looked into them.

The HST is preferred as my wife already stated she won't use a shuttle.

 

[TripleR]

I'll defer to leonz on flail as I know little about them, but they are tempting at times.

A 7' RFM will work if you mow frequently, but 12" in my experience with both our RFMs is a bit much even with our swinging tip blades. It can be done, but you need to go over it twice.

I haven't used our RFM in years and just live with a rotary cutter.

 

[leonz]

My goal is to cut the bottom 3-4 acres every 1-3 weeks depending on need. I would want the finish to be nice. The other 9ish acres could be cut less frequently 6-8 weeks. Im afraid that may be to long of interval to use finish mower. Maybe flail mower is a better option. I have looked into them.

The HST is preferred as my wife already stated she won't use a shuttle.

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Your lucky my wife wont even mow!!!!

Decide on how much money you can spend and then decide on the type of mower
ONLY AFTER you read the flail mower thread.

You could use a JD390 finish mower WITH side slicer knives and keep everything
2 inches tall and spend very little time mowing.

My father kept his 12 acres of pasture mowed at 2 inches with his JD290 flail
mower 7 foot finish flail mower using his Ford Jubilee gas tractor.