Mowing Mowing Speed

   / Mowing Speed #1  

Frank_Nye

New member
Joined
Nov 12, 2004
Messages
6
Location
Shippensburg, PA
Tractor
Kubota G2000-S (4WS)
I am looking to buy a new mower and am curious about what you all think a good speed is to mow at.

My Kubota 1992 G2000-S is rated at having a top speed of around 9 MPH and sometimes I do have it floored (I mow about 6 acres) when I'm mowing.

I am looking to replace my tractor with a new one and have been looking at Deere, Simplicity, Cub and Kubota. Kubota has a new series coming out, the GR-2100 with a 21-hp diesel but it is only rated as having a top speed of 6.2 MPH and only comes with a 54 inch deck.

I can currently mow at up to 9 MPH with a 60 inch deck, although I don't think I really mow that fast most of the time. How fast do most of you think that you mow? My brother has a John Deere 335 and it is rated at a top speed of 7 MPH and when I have used his, I didn't seem to think it was slow.

Thanks for any opinions you all can provide.

Frank Nye
 
   / Mowing Speed #2  
Frank_Nye, Welcome to TBN Frank Mowing speed is a somewhat relative issue pertaining to ground condition and grass height or obstacles... In some of my cutting area ,I can go to Hi range which probably 5-7 Mph and it mows fine but in other areas that is too fast so I have go to low range and that is dreadfully slow...
Thats why I think I'm going to go to a ZTR for mowing...

But back to your question ,IMO if your used to mowing at speeds up to 7-9 and you get something smaller and slower that would not = Happiness unless you like seat time...
I mow as fast as I comfortably can /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif
 
   / Mowing Speed #3  
Mowing speed is directly proportional to the length of the wifes honey do list. The longer the list, the slower the tractor goes.
 
   / Mowing Speed #4  
Frank,

Welcome to TBN.

Besides mowing, what else do you need the tractor for?
Where I'm going with this is that for mowing, you won't believe how much faster a ZTR is over a tractor. I was using a Simplicity garden tractor and switched to a ZTR this spring. My mowing time was cut in less than 1/2. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
 
   / Mowing Speed #5  
Frank, as others have said the absolute speed is not always the real issue. I mow with 2 tractors at home and recently semi-retired my Cub Cadet to mow my office area. Much of my mowing at home is now done with a Ventrac 3000 & a 52" deck, some is done with a New Holland TC24D with a 60" deck.

What I have found is the New Holland with the 60" deck has the fastest ground speed but is the slowest tractor to mow with because of its size and turning radius.

The Cub Cadet, had a deck that I think was 56" and it mowed slightly faster than the New Holland.

The Ventrac 3000 has the smallest deck and the slowest top speed, and yet it is by far the fastest mowing tractor I have ever owned. In fact it mows our 4+ acres of grass in at least 60 minutes less than the Cub Cadet.

A ZTR would THEORETICALLY mow even faster, but my "lawn" is really a bumpy hilly tree filled conglomeration of land that would rattle your fillings out if you tried to mow it with a ZTR. In fact the guy up the road bought a ZTR to mow about 3 acres, he finds he has to run it at about 1/2 speed because his lawn is reclaimed pasture and bean field and just too rough to run the mower the way it was designed to be run. I gave a ZTR to a guy I work with as a gift, he replaced an aging JD lawn tractor. He told me that his mowing time was reduced by 2/3 and he can finish his yard in just under an hour. He also said the main reason is not faster top speed, but the ability turn and maneuver so much faster that the tractor wastes no time/space.

So the lesson I learned was finding the right machine to run as fast as possible on the terrain I have. The Ventrac 3000 was my solution, it handles hills so steep that conventional tractors spin their wheels just trying to climb, it turns nearly as tight as a ZTR, and its articulated & oscillating body absorbs bumps and contours without scalping the turf. I can take corners at full speed on open ground and spin circles around shrubs and planting beds that the other tractors could not do.

Many people would find no need for something like my Ventrac and I am not advocating the brand, but using it as an example to show how the right machine is not always the one with the largest deck or the fastest ground speed. In my case the fastest mowing machine is the one with the slowest top speed and smallest deck . . . but if I could fit in into my garage, I would have loved to have gotten the optional larger mowing deck to cut even faster.
 
   / Mowing Speed #6  
Frank,
The "right" mowing speed is unique to you, your conditions and circumstances. If you're mowing 6 acres on a regular basis, you're the pro. I mow 2 acres of lawn and clip 50 + acres of pasture. I know when I'm being shaken too hard and the quality of cut that I'm getting is not acceptable. On the other hand, if you're looking for opinions about equipment, you've come to the right place!

TK
 
   / Mowing Speed #7  
If quality of cut is important, 7 to 9 mph sounds too fast to me. The slower you go, the more chances the blade has to pull the grass vertical and cut it at a nice uniform height.

My JD 4100 with 60" is rated to cut 2.5 acres per hour, but my actual productivity is about 1 acre per hour on property that doesn't have than many obstacles. They must rate it at max speed or something.

- Rick
 
   / Mowing Speed #8  
<font color="blue"> They must rate it at max speed or something </font>

It's calculated using some speed -- not sure max speed -- but it is not considering overlap, re-tracing areas, etc. that you do when you cut. The number of acres per hour is determined from getting the full amount of cut constantly at some speed. Some may give you the max output along with a number based on 80% efficiency ... even that figure is hard to achieve.
 
   / Mowing Speed #9  
I think I'm mowing at 10.5mph.. or a tad higher..

Soundguy
 
   / Mowing Speed #10  
</font><font color="blue" class="small">( If quality of cut is important, 7 to 9 mph sounds too fast to me. The slower you go, the more chances the blade has to pull the grass vertical and cut it at a nice uniform height. )</font>

Rick,

If the blades can keep up, that's not too fast. My ZTR blade tips are rotating at 19000 feet/minute. If my math is correct, that's about 215 MPH. That's enough rotations to lift and cut several times before I can travel over it, even at 10 MPH.

Brian
 
 
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