How much HP does a 6' finish mower take?

[86turbodsl]

I just bought a 6' Land pride FRM2572 finish mower. Brought it home, hitched it up to my 30 HP tractor and it darn near kills the thing when I engage it. Land pride rates the mower at 15-50 HP. I've got the blades nice and sharp, the belt tightened to specs, greased up spindles, etc. It just sucks an enormous amount of power to run. Cutting hieght at 4" or so, and mowing at about 2-3mph. Does this sound right, or is something else going on here?

 

[Soundguy]

Hmm.. what ya trying to cut.. Finish mowers aren't made for much more than 'lawn' type grass. You get much over 6' grass and you can load a finish mower quite heavilly.

I work with alot of antique tractors.. a 6' finish mower is generally able to be pulled with a ford 9n/2n/8n.. 27 pto hp ( 1939-1952 ).

I'd guess ya got some thick stuff your cutting.. or an anemic tractor...

Soundguy

 

[86turbodsl]

It's just regular lawn grass, a little long since we didn't have a mower until now. I'm using my 1957 Oliver Super 55. It's supposed to be 30HP, but the previous owner thought it had been overhauled once. It's got about 4800 hours on the clock. Almost everyone who rebuilds these puts the larger pistons from the 550 in them, which is supposed to give about 35-40hp. It has no smoke and does not burn oil. I think it's healthy. Something wrong with the mower?

 

[638]

Are you engageing it down in the grass or up in the air?

ron

 

[Kyle_in_Tex]

30 PTO hp should pull it. I'm guessing your motor is tired and the grass is tall.

My friend pulls a 7 foot finish mower with 34HP.

 

[86turbodsl]

I'm engaging on the ground, generally before the grass I want to mow. The grass is tall, but not excessively in my opinion. Probably 6" or so. Mowing about 2-3 inches off.

 

[638]

Try raising it a little, just enough to get the blades out of the grass. It doesn't take much grass to make blades hard to start turning.

ron

 

[TrippleT]

You should be able to mow grass that high with no trouble. I have a 33 horse NH and mow much taller grass sometimes than two or three inches. Can you turn the thing with your hands, disconnected from the tractor of course? If so can you turn the PTO shaft on the tractor with it disconnected and not running?
I can't say for sure but something is wrong. Either with the mower or the tractor. Of course you know that but would see how easy the mower turns disconnect from the tractor on a surface that would be free turning.
A finish mower does load a bit if your mowing very high grass but that height should be a breeze.

 

[zzvyb6]

I have the same mower and have no trouble firing it up in 12" dry grass & weeds with 35+ hp. Check your blades for sharpness, proper direction, gearbox for oil and belt loop correctness. The thing should freewheel for some time after disengaging. If it stops quickly, you'll soon find out what's getting real hot.

 

[RoyJackson]

Try engaging the PTO at low RPM (1200-1500, transmission in neutral). Be prepared to blip the throttle (I'm assuming you have a hand and foor throttle).
If that stalls the tractor (at low RPM), you've got a problem with the tractor engine. If it doesn't stall, increase the RPM to PTO speed and put the tractor in gear.
Let us know what happens.
BTW, does the tractor start easily?