Finish mower vs bush hog?

[kiwiroo]

I have a 6' Frontier 2072R Rear discharge finish mower and it has no problem cutting super tall grass, although I try and keep it cut, and is really sturdy- I have a 3520 Deere hooked to it- At first I was a little skeptical buying it versus a bush hog but since I'm cutting mainly pastures and a berry field I don't have to worry about taking out bushes or large branches where a rotary would have the advantage. Plus my wife also likes the nice finish cut of it

[MODiesel]

For just 4ac, I'd go with the finish mower. I've got a ~15ac field that I've cut both ways -- with a 60in rotary cutter, and with a Woods RM990 90in finish mower. It could just be that particular mower, but I've cut the field with the RM990 when it's been as tall as 2ft high and never had a problem. The drive belt still looks like new, and the difference in cut quality is like night and day, even when I sharpen the rotary cutter blades.

Now mind you, this field is just grass. If I'm messing around with any sort of brush, or truly tall weeds, I won't use the finish mower as it's just not cut out for that. But if I want the field to look like a well-manicured yard, the finish mower is my choice.

[IslandTractor]

A medium duty flail can cost less than a finish mower but cuts much smoother than a bush hog. Check out the Caroni TM1900 from AgriSupply which could be run on a 30hp tractor.

[Diamondpilot]

I have a 28 HP tractor that is 24 HP at the pto. I have a brand new 6' Caroni rear discharge finish mower and love it. This was a step in the right direction for me coming from a piece of junk 5' King Kutter side discharge unit that cost me more than I paid for it in maintenance.

I also have a 25 year old or better used 5' Ford Bush Hog that is built like a tank. I have tried to mow my lawn with it in a pinch when the KK went tits up. It scalped the yard like mentioned before. If I were you I would get both. Buy a new finish mower like a Land Pride, Caroni, or Bush Hog, abut $1200-$1800 and then pick up a used $150 Bush hog like I did for the occasional tough job.

Chris

[EddieWalker]

I have a 35hp 4wd tractor that I use to pull my 7 ft landpride finish mower, or my 6ft rotary cutter. The difference is night and day.

I started out with the rotary cutter and really thougt I was getting a good cut. From a distance, it looks like a nice cut, but up close it starts to look pretty bad. It's very hard to keep the grass all the same level and you pretty much have to do it twice to farily even.

I use it for my rougher areas and where I haven't mowed for months, or even yearly. I don't like it, but it does the job it's designed for. The worse part is how much dust it throughs. Imaging a giant fan spinning on the ground and creating a dust clowd all day long.

Last year I bought the 7ft finish mower. Its a side discharge model, so I can't compare it to rear discharge mowers. The four wheels just float over the ground and the three blades do an amazing job of making everything look nice. It's twice as easy to pull as the rotary cutter, there is just about no dust and I can drive faster with it. The speed increase probably has allot to do with cutting shorter grass, but whatever the reason, I love mowing with it. I try to mow on the first of every month, so it's never a problem with the grass being to tall.

If you want nice grass and are willing to cut it on a semi regular basis, the finish mower is the way to go. If I could only have one mower, it woudl be my finish mower.

Eddie