Reel Mower

[CharlieTn]

I have been told that my tractor with Ag tires is not the best way to cut the acre or two of lawn I have. Previous owner used a garden tractor and it took him hours. I need to buy an ATV to get around the property and was wondering if anyone here has an opinion on gang reel mowers towed by an ATV. They seem to be priced close to a towed finish mower.

 

[have_blue]

Hi Charlie,

You say "lawn", which to me means you want a smooth cut. Depending on your budget and just how smooth you want it cut, there are several optons.

2 acres is not too big to mow with an ATV. There are several self-powered "pull-behind" mowers that work well. I would go for something at least 48" wide. Less than 48" will take awfully long to cut 2 acres.

Nothing cuts better than a gang reel mower, but there is a lot of blade sharpening! Last time I sharpened a reel, it took about 15 minutes for a light touch up. However, there may be 5-7 reels on a gang, and that would take a while! You would still need something more agile to trim around bushes with. A bonus that is often ignored is that most weeds can not survive repeated low cutting. Reel mowers are the champions at low cutting.

A rear finishing mower pulled and powered by your tractor is a great way to go, and costs about like an ATV pull-behind mower. Prices start at ~$1500 for a light duty one, and go on up to ~$3K.

Right now, I'm using my 6' brush hog as a finshing mower. I have it set to 2" height and keep the blades sharp. It does surprisingly well. You may want to give yours a try. Use it everywhere except your immediate yard, and you may be satisfied with the cut.

Ag tires are fine on your tractor until the ground gets soft. When it rains, you will either have to wait until the soil dries out thoroughly, or risk leaving some real ugly tracks.

There are "Turf" tires, which look sort of like huge ATV "wooly bugger" tires. These are real easy on your lawn. R4 "Industrial" tires are sort of in between ag tires and turf tires.

 

[CharlieTn]

Thank you,

I am leaning toward a reel mower but they are pricey too. I would have thought they would be an eonomical solution. I am not overly concerned with the sharpening. I will probably give the tractor and bush-hog a try. I guess wet ground is a good excuse to not to mow!

Charlie

 

[Dargo]

I have a 3 gang reel mower sitting in my woods rusting away. I bought them from a golf course that went out of business. I've been trying to give them away for years now. Want 'em? Free!

However, be aware that not only do you have to keep the blades sharp, but reel mowers will not cut more than a couple of inches of grass. If you don't mow at least every week, the reel mowers will just jam up and drag along. /forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif I don't always have the time to mow a minimum of once a week, so off into the woods they went. No kiddin', anybody who wants them; they are free. Heck, I'll even load them for you!

If you can't tell, I'm not a reel mower sort of guy. /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif

 

[RonR]

Saw a REAL gang mower on TLC yesterday. A sod farm was using a 60 foot PTO driven reel mower. I'm guessing it was 10 gangs of 6 ft ones. Said it would mow 50 acres/hour or almost a section in a day! It was pulled by a good sized JD 4WD with turfs--guessing 100+ HP.............

Enjoy.
ron

 

[pekabu]

Someone near us has a five or six gang mower that he pulls with his 4X4 S10. It's kind of funny watching him mow his lawn. Must be about two acres. Next time I will have to time him.

 

[CharlieTn]

Sure!! I would love em. How far away are you from Knoxville Tn? If the trip costs me less than a new one I would love to make it.

Many thanks

 

[AndyM]

<font color="blue"> Someone near us has a five or six gang mower that he pulls with his 4X4 S10. It's kind of funny watching him mow his lawn. Must be about two acres. Next time I will have to time him. </font>

I have a neighbor that does the same thing, but he uses a Toyota truck. I did a double take the first time I saw him driving in circles around his yard!

 

[Dargo]

I'm in Evansville, IN. I sharpened all the blades before the last time I used them, but that has been over 5 years ago. If you are serious, send me a PM with your email and I'll send you some pics of them before you drive up here. Although I haven't seen them in a year or two, I'm sure nobody has snagged them, and you are welcome to them. But, I'm also sure you'll have to clean them up, sharpen them, grease the spindles etc. However, my price stays firm at free. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[kayssupply]

My neighbor used an ATV to mow with for while. After he had it rebuilt the second time he bought a tractor and finish mower. The ATV got way too hot going at the ground speed it took to mow. He even put an electric fan on it but it still cooked. I used a grey market tractor with a finish mower for several years to mow with. The tall lug rice tires actually made the cut better because they don't mash down the grass before you cut it. When I went to turf tires, I had streaks that popped up after a day or so.