Why not use a finish mower

[handirifle]

Everyone around here told me I needed a brush hog for my 3 acres. I mow it with a 20hp riding mower, mainly cause it doesn't get stuck as much in the wet, that my tractor would.

If not for the wet stuff, I would use a pull behind finish mower.

I have mowed it with a 15hp rider, but that takes too long.

Sounds like you've already knocked down the big stuff. get the finish mower and mow often.

 

[pennwalk]

It's not so much tall grass as thick grass that stops my finish mower. I deal with that by lifting the finish mower higher with the 3 point lift and by slowing down. You will still leave piles of grass.

Chris

 

[Zork]

I had a pasture that I knocked down with a bush hog, then mowed it for a few years with a rider but that took too long. I bought a 6 foot finish mower and that made cut time from 4+ hours on a rider to a little more than an hour with the finish mower. My finish mower used one belt in five years and that is with using it to mow leaves in the fall too.

Hmmmm...., I always thought my pasture was a lawn once I started using the rider after the tall heavy stuff was cut down.

 

[CJBOTA]

I have been mowing my 12 acre Orchard with a 84" Befco finish mower for 5 years and it looks more like a golf course then an orchard . Great results. Noe that I drive it with a MX5100 Kubota it gets done fast.

 

[cartod]

I used to always mow a 2 acre field with a 6' finish mower but because I would sometimes not get to it in time it would get too tall and really tax the mower. I went to a bush hog and now I am not a slave to the field anymore. I don't care if it gets a couple feet tall.

 

[coveredbridge]

I mowed 7 acres of pasture with a finish mower. and after a few years it looked like a park. All the blackberry and brush went away. to be replaced with well manicured fescue.. beautiful.. you dealer is full of crap. NOW that said. the first big rock you hit and roll up with your nice finish mower you will wad up a blade and smoke belts in a heartbeat.. Yep been there and done that.. Walk all over the field, or mow with your rotary cutter and find every rock or groundhog hole and get rid of them. then start mowing up high with your finish mower, and drive back over all of it to find any thing that will destroy your mower.. fix it. and mow on.. and enjoy the look.:thumbsup:

James K0UA

What he said.

 

[TripleR]

Pretty much what James k0ua and others said. We used a finish mower for a lot of years with our last one having swinging, very hard 6" blades at the end that would cut more substantial stuff and a bit taller than one with lawn mower type blades.

I am to the point where swapping equipment is a bear, so I just leave my rotary cutter on and mow more often for a pretty decent looking finish; not as good as an RFM, but not bad.

 

[rambler]

I would not encourage someone using a finish mower for a 'pasture' either, as a dealer.

Brush hogs are designed for the abuse & quick mowing and heavy mowing needed on something like a pasture.

Finish mowers are delicate implements, they don't handle thick heavy tall wet grass well, they don't handle rocks or branches or bumpy ground well, etc.

If you happen to have a golf course fairway that you are calling a 'pasture' and you plan to mow it regularly so the grass doesn't get too tall for what a finish mower is designed for, then it will work out fine for you.

--->Paul

 

[TripleR]

I would not encourage someone using a finish mower for a 'pasture' either, as a dealer.

Brush hogs are designed for the abuse & quick mowing and heavy mowing needed on something like a pasture.

Finish mowers are delicate implements, they don't handle thick heavy tall wet grass well, they don't handle rocks or branches or bumpy ground well, etc.

If you happen to have a golf course fairway that you are calling a 'pasture' and you plan to mow it regularly so the grass doesn't get too tall for what a finish mower is designed for, then it will work out fine for you.

--->Paul

"As a dealer" I probably wouldn't either and it seems those saying it is OK are using reasonable qualifiers, ie "you can do it if". Our pastures are not significantly different than our yard, but I have seen those that are; some I would hate to mow with anything.

We have two Caroni RFMs that are 20-30 years old or so and are still cutting with only one spun bearing and regular belt replacement and we have mowed stuff that would make you cringe.

Now I am not recommending it.

 

[eds01]

Yes, i've picked up on the qualifiers. And the point about being a slave to the field is also a good one. There will be times of year I just don't get to the mowing regularly so grass will get tall. I suppose then I'll have to first cut with a rotary cutter and the next mow can go back to a RFM.