More Mower Questions

[BGL990]

I'm starting to think about getting some sort of mower for my tractor (40Hp JD990) but I'm not sure what style. I don't have any clearing of land to do per se, but there could be saplings an inch or so diameter occasionally. Mostly it's just field grasses and clover that have grown up a couple feet high (usually our neighbors cows keep the pasture mowed down, but they haven't been in the field much this year). I might also want to do a bit of "finish" mowing with it - ie. cut the pasture short in some areas to launch model rockets, land model planes, etc.

My understanding is that a rough-cut mower (Bush Hog style) will go through tons of stuff, but only gets down to maybe 5" high or so. A finish mower won't go through as much but makes a nicer cut and will cut lower to the ground. I don't know too much about flail mowers but have heard that long grass will wrap around the drum and plug them up.

So, what do you recommend? I'm not looking so much for brand recommendations but rather mower type recommendations.

Thanks,

 

[Soundguy]

You can cut alot closer than 5" depending on your make of mower.

With my 5' KK mower.. i can cut to about 2" on FLAT ground. on my 10' howse mower.. i can get down to 3", again.. on flat land.

Sounds like you want a mower to knock downt he initial grass.. then clip the black tops off as maintenance.. and occasionally sharpen the blades a tad to do a little rough/finish mowing. lots of us do that... I use the afore mentioned mowers.. the 5' KK occasionally gets the sharpened blades for some 'better cut'. The 10;' pretty much stays with the 1/8 flat as a 'shredder'.

In general.. even a light duty mower with handle 1" woody material, and occasional 1.5" and 2" green material as a matter of life. medium and heavy duty cutters generally will handle 2" material pretty regular.. and my 10' mower will cut down a 3" sappling 15' tall if i don't look back and catch it and run it over... mower doesn't even make noise.. just leaves lots of wood chips and shreds in the windrow...

Soundguy

 

[Bird]

According to their website specs, some of the medium duty Bush Hog rotary cutters will cut as close as 1.5" and the light duty ones 2".

 

[MMM]

You can set the front slightly higher than rear and with sharp blades, hardly tell the difference from finish mower. Different cutters have different min hight according to skirt , stump jumper or blade carrier design. I have cutter designed for heavy brush that doesn't cut verry close, maybe 3*and another old 4 bladed one that has adjustable skirt and no stump jumper, which will scour the ground clean. So I expect you will have to do some research.
Servis/Rhino, Bush Hog, Alamo are some high end companies. King Kutter, Big Bee, Howse deal more in the "affordable" end. Do a search here on cutter, mower, etc and you just might come up with a hit /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif. The subject has been beat to death.

 

[meledward23]

My opinion is you should purchase a Cheap low end model brush hog/Rotary Cutter. Dont spend a lot on it. From your description you wont be putting it to the test. (I have run mine over 12" logs that were buried in weeds, best wood splitter I ever bought). In your situation just knowking the grass down should work. Then if you decide there are areas that you want a closer cut you can look at a middle of the road finish mower. The finish mower I have can take an area that is 12" High and flatten it mostly. However, it takes two passess to look good and is not as efficient as a rotary cutter.

It does depend on the frwuency of cuts, and thickness of grass. There are some grassess two weeks in between cuts and a brush cuttter is the only thing to chop through. Other grassess six weeks and a finish mower will finish them.

 

[BGL990]

Thanks for the info and suggestions everyone. I'm really on the fence about getting anything new because it will probably see very very little use. It would just be nice to be able to mow a bit when I need to. I've been watching the papers and bargain hunter type publications around here, but used cutters of any kind seem to be pretty rare. One thing that does turn up once in a while is a used sickle mower for cutting hay. I can get a used one of those pretty cheap and I assume it would knock down the 3 foot high grass and weeds I've got right now (correct me if I'm wrong). Heck, maybe I should get a small square bailer too and package the stuff for the horses, but I guess that's a different topic /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

So what about the sickle mower? Anyone know if it will cut thick and tall grass/weeds/clover reasonably well, and how close of a shave you can get with one?

Thanks again,

 

[have_blue]

Brad,

Once the brush is cut, how often will you cut it?

If you plan to cut it 2-3 times a year, a RC is the only way to go. If you wish to cut it often and keep it up nice, a finishing mower (RFM) is probably the way to go. You can usually get a foot wider deck than a RC for about the same price. And, they are lighter and easier on the tractor.

If you get a RC, once you clear all the brush and trash, you may find yourself using it as a RFM anyway.

Not that a RC can't do a pretty good finish mowing job in a pinch. Keep the blade sharp, tilt the deck down an inch at the front, and you can usually mow smoothly to 2".

Forget about a sickle bar mower. Aside from being nice on ditches, they are a bottomless money pit. One little cutting or maintenance mistake and you will be out big bucks for repairs.

 

[Gatorboy]

<font color="blue"> ( My understanding is that a rough-cut mower (Bush Hog style) will go through tons of stuff, but only gets down to maybe 5" high or so. ) </font>

Even if this was true, 5" is plenty short for a pasture. That's only 2" higher than you would cut your own home lawn. For a model plane runway, you could just make a few passes in an area with your lawn mower.

 

[BB_TX]

I have posted this before, but I will do it again. Attached is a picture of my pasture that I cut with a 6' rotary cutter. Haven't really measured it, but I would guess between 2" - 3". I know Bird has also posted similar pictures of his cut with about the same results.

 

[Gatorboy]

Here's some pictures I have also posted before as well. But it gives one an idea of what they can do.

Rotary Cutter set at about 8": Pic 1 | Pic 2