10' mower on 60 hp JD 4520?

[AKfish]

Well, bought the mower for $4,500. It was a '07. Will pick it up next week. Will report back. Mower seems big sitting in his shed. That would be one big, heavy mower for a 3 pt. I can see why they recommend 80 hp for 3 pt version. Mower was in real good shape with a little surface rust in some areas. I will remove rust and touch it up with rattle can. Has the ungraded air tires which I prefer for road travel.

Very good price! From the pics it looked to be a real straight, good condition mower. Looking forward to your report back.

Best of luck.

AKfish

 

[radman1]

Used the JD HX10 pull type mower today on JD 4520 with 50 pto hp. Mowed for 7 hours. Medium to tall grass in height from 2'-3'. Some 1" brush, roadsides, and some heavy alfalfa in deer plots. 95F heat, cab with A/C on. Mowed grass to a 3-4" height.

The mower is quite HD. I have a 15 HD batwing and this thing is built just as heavy. Has slip clutch (I will never get to use it with a 4520), front and rear chains. Has a CV pto shaft. Very heavy to put on pto of tractor. Tough to hold shaft, spin tractor pto, try to align shaft and tractor pto, pull back collar and push on pto shaft with one person. It was probably a 10 minute ordeal. Mowers are difficult enough to align the pto and shaft. Big mowers and heavy shafts really make it a job. On my 15' batwing, I consider it a 2 person job and almost a 2 person job on the 10' mower.

First it takes some power to crank the mower to just start the pto. Need to have tractor at 2/3-3/4 throttle or otherwise will nearly kill tractor. I wouldn't go any less hp with a 10' mower. I could bog down the engine in heavy grass but usually in those conditions, the cut was getting poor due to such heavy material and had to go slower anyway. In moderate grass, mowed at about 4 mph. In heavy grass, 2.5-3 mph. 1" Brush, weeds and sunflowers mowed easy compared to grass. Mowed over 2-3" diameter cedar trees and tractor didn't even notice.

Hot day, full sun, little wind and a/c on full and fairly tough cutting conditions. Tractor ran toward the high side of the green range on the temp gauge most of the day. As with all tractors, it ran hotter when going with the wind. Cooler into the wind. Cleaned radiator 2x but didn't seem to make much difference. I used almost a full tank of fuel in 7 hours. I had always considered the 4520 easy on fuel before this. This was probably the hardest I had used the tractor since I bought it less than 1 year ago. The low fuel light came on near the end and it would not have made 8 hours. JD says minimum 50 pto hp. I agree with that. Ideally 65-70 hp would be better. The 6 more hp of the 4720 may have been a better choice.

The 540 pto and CV shaft made for great turns. I could turn nearly as sharp as I wanted. Tractor tire would hit tongue of mower and still not cause chattering in the pto shaft. JD says the CV shaft can take 80 degree turns and I believe it. My 15' batwing has a 1000 pto with CV shaft but can't do the tight turns like this mower. This is because the 540 pto turns at nearly half the speed and can take tighter turns. Tight turning combined with nimble 4520 hst, makes for a very manueverable mower. Very easy to back into a small area. Not as easy as 3 pt mower but still worked much better than my 15' batwing and big tractor. I have a 6' pto mower. In all but extremely tight quarters, I now would prefer the 10' over the 6' because the wider cut makes mowing so much faster. Easier to mow next to trees and buildings with 10' because the tractor stays farther way. Usually I take the bucket off the FEL with 6' but with 10' it didn't seem to be much of an issue of getting too close.

I may need to put a restrictor in the rear hose to the lift cylinder. It lowers way to quickly. However, it raises fast if hit something. Scalping with 10' mower and relatively low cutting did not seem bad, even mowing roadsides which can have a fairly steep drop off. However, I am in a cab and probably didn't hear some of the episodes. It lifts high, probably 2'.

 

[Matt in Virginia]

I have a an old, 3pt 6' rhino mower on my JD 4520. I would like to use this kind of mower:John Deere HX10 10' pull type mower

Will it work? JD 4520 handles 6' with no problems. Mostly cutting mild to moderately heavy grass. I would prefer 3pt, but no way to lift a 10' mower with 4520. I have a 15' batwing on a much bigger tractor (125hp) but want my boys to start mowing and don't want then on something that big.

fwiw,
It is not a recommended combination according to Deere. Do believe the MX-8 is the largest they recommend on the 4720...fwiw & iirc.

Regards, Matt.

fwiw, I very may try the HX-10 on an 5085M. It was a combination the dealer recommended...

 

[radman1]

fwiw,
It is not a recommended combination according to Deere. Do believe the MX-8 is the largest they recommend on the 4720...fwiw & iirc.

Regards, Matt.

fwiw, I very may try the HX-10 on an 5085M. It was a combination the dealer recommended...

I would agree the 5000 series would be a better match. The start up is the most demanding part for the 4520. It takes a fair amount of torque to engage the mower. A MX 8 or 10 would be less HD and probably spin up easier. I don't think a 4520 is adequate for everyday use on the HX 10 mower. A MX 8 would probably be ideal in heavy mowing.

 

[trook]

FWIW, I believe the HX-10 requires a minimum of 50HP at the PTO whereas the MX-10 only requires 40HP at the PTO. I can't help but wonder how much better the MX-10 would work with the 4520. 10HP at the PTO is would be quite significant for the 4520!

 

[Matt in Virginia]

FWIW, I believe the HX-10 requires a minimum of 50HP at the PTO whereas the MX-10 only requires 40HP at the PTO. I can't help but wonder how much better the MX-10 would work with the 4520. 10HP at the PTO is would be quite significant for the 4520!

I should have noted that the HX-10 I am looking at is the partial mount(no top link) as opposed to the tow version. Do believe that changes the HP suggestions. Dunno though...

Regards, Matt Garrett
Chesapeake, Virginia

 

[Matt in Virginia]

I don't have the courage to turn them loose on a 2 year old, $90,000 tractor and $14,000 batwing.

fwiw & imho,
I would agree your children may be too young for a bigger machine. That said the FIRST tractor I ever drove, at 11 or 12, was a 180 horse 4840 with a 26 foot disc. NEVER had a problem but I have always driven like Hoke with Miss Daisy...:laughing:

On the flip side of that coin I had to stop driving the tractor so much because school took over with Debate(which entailed travel), Astronomy(more travel), Chess Club, Bonsai Club, Fencing and a few more... All that lead to my younger nephew trying to take over behind the wheel. In short he was/is a VERY different young man. He managed 90 minutes without his dad riding on top of him before he hit a small tree or fence post with an extended front right side wing. Which was stupid because that is the direction you develop a crink in your neck from watching. Leading edge. At any rate it bent the disc frame, not just the wing, and ultimately proved to be one of the straws that broke the camels back and lead to renting everything out...

Always pissed me off because THAT disc was the only new piece of major equipment that I got to wear the factory paint off the blades. Don't remember much paint on the new Brillion Cultipacker...(grin)

Moral of the story is you are likely right, however, a careful child is as safe with a 200 HP Tractor as he is a 60 HP Tractor. One who is less so can be dangerous with a hoe...

Regards, Matt.
757-581-6270

 

[radman1]

FWIW, I believe the HX-10 requires a minimum of 50HP at the PTO whereas the MX-10 only requires 40HP at the PTO. I can't help but wonder how much better the MX-10 would work with the 4520. 10HP at the PTO is would be quite significant for the 4520!

I looked at the specs of the HX10 vs MX10 pull types. About 300 lbs of weight difference. Most if not all of that is in the thicker double decks of the HX, deeper deck of HX by 2" and slightly heavier gear boxes. Both are the same width, same hitch, same rear wheels, same 4"x1/2" thick blades, ect. Not sure the MX 10 would handle much differently than the HX 10. The HX10 does have the CV pto shaft and a little different pto setup compared to MX. I really like the CV pto shaft of the HX for sharp turning. The CV shaft is standard on the HX but it can be bought with the conventional pto shaft. CV shaft is not available on the MX.

JD manual recommends starting the pto at 1500 rpm. I probably had the rpm closer to 1800-2000 to start the HX.

 

[AKfish]

I looked at the specs of the HX10 vs MX10 pull types. About 300 lbs of weight difference. Most if not all of that is in the thicker double decks of the HX, deeper deck of HX by 2" and slightly heavier gear boxes. Both are the same width, same hitch, same rear wheels, same 4"x1/2" thick blades, ect. Not sure the MX 10 would handle much differently than the HX 10. The HX10 does have the CV pto shaft and a little different pto setup compared to MX. I really like the CV pto shaft of the HX for sharp turning. The CV shaft is standard on the HX but it can be bought with the conventional pto shaft. CV shaft is not available on the MX.

JD manual recommends starting the pto at 1500 rpm. I probably had the rpm closer to 1800-2000 to start the HX.

Should work OK if you don't let things "grow out of hand"!

'Course, in order to keep the grass and such at a manageable height you'll need to give those boys more frequent lessons! :thumbsup:

In another year or so - they'll be off and runnin' without you!

AKfish