Quick, but fuel thirsty.

[prs]

I mowed about 6 1/2 acres of rolling field today. The grass was heavy fescue and orchard grass, wet with dew as well as soggy or succulent with internal water. The under turf ground is very wet. Mowing quality was good, no problems with the clippings fouling the rollers or under deck of the contour mower. No wind rows or clumps left behind.

This machine is easy to maneuver and cuts a LOT of grass quickly. One down side seems to be fuel consumption. I burned a full 5 gallons on that one field. Full throttle and not letting RPM drag down under 3,000. My 33 year-old JD 650 diesel will do at least twice that work on 5 gallons. Then again, the JD 650 would only get a little more than half that field finished in the time it took the Ventrac and contour mower. So, I bought time. And that striped field looks good.

I have a small meadow to mow and a steep bank area, but this excess water is going to have to drain away before that. Maybe I can figure out how to work a GO-PRO camera for those jobs.

prs

 

[Thomas]

If your happy w/performance what's little extra fuel.

 

[JackIL]

prs

The fuel consumption you experienced is reasonable for that engine and the type of conditions you were in. It is a small price to pay for the speed you can mow, the hills you can safely handle, and the quality of the work done.

Did you check the radiator screen? With a rear discharge deck out front of the tractor, it is easy for small clippings to be sucked up from the bottom. This is especially true when the turf and clippings are dry. You can monitor this by keeping a close eye on the temperature gauge. It will tell you a lot about what is on the radiator screen.

JackIL

 

[Raw Dodge]

That's about what my 31 Daihatsu would burn too, it likes it's fuel...especially when grunting. .i too was disappointed at first because compared to my Dixie chopper zero turn the ventrac burns twice - 3× the fuel with less power..but it's the nature of the beast..the 31 feels weak after running the dixies yanmar 3tn84 turbo ,50 hp at 2850rpm...78 ft lbs of torque swings that 72 inch deck with ease , cuts my 7 acres on about 1.5 gallons- 2 at the most..my ventrac. ..3.5-4 gallons on a normal cut. .

 

[prs]

I cleaned the radiator screen before and after this job. Not at all disappointed with the performance, just noting the fuel use.

Another thing I noticed in my after job clean-up was that the sight tube for the hy-tran fluid was empty. If I have a leak, anyone have a suggestion for initial places to check. Parked on clean concrete floor, so maybe if there is a leak I will see a drip. The machine was cool at time of this check (I always try to re-fuel and such when it is cool), but it was cool when I noticed fluid in the tube initially a week or so ago. There is a reservoir above the tube where you add or fill and that tank is empty, but I suppose it is an expansion/collection tank.

prs

 

[prs]

OK, No signs of leak on floor or anywhere on machine, no wetness, drips, or damp dust. I overlooked one aspect of the check procedure. I raised the main front hydraulic to max, but did not raise the AUX hydraulic. With both full up, the cold fluid level is just above the grommet where the sight tube disappears. This is shy of the correct level, but not by much. I will keep an eye on it for sure.

prs

 

[brucet47]

Were you running in high range or low? If running in low the HYD drive motors will increase your fuel consumption almost 2X. High drive does require a bit more force on the control lever when on slight grades, but is the most efficient way to move if grades or slopes aren't significant. When mowing my acreage I hit the hills or slopes first in low range, then shift to high for the remainder.

The mower is a mechanical function that requires the same amount of power per your speed. How you attain that speed via the HYD motors can make a huge difference in fuel used.

As is always the case operate in the range where you are comfortable! I used a lot more fuel during my early learning hours in the Ventrac seat. Operating in low range forgives a lot of sins. Experience is always the best teacher!

 

[prs]

So far, all of my work has been low range. I have tried high range for tramming on the driveway, but my land has no flat and very little gentle slope. With the gear drive CUT I typically mow in 5th (8 gear tranny), but some even in 2nd. Shifting the Ventrac from low to high is pretty time consuming and although I could stop and so shift for the downhill or across hill runs, it would probably be quicker to just stay in low range and keep on going. Time will tell.

prs

 

[Raw Dodge]

I've only had my 4231 in low range 3x, in a few yrs, when I was pushing logs with the slip scoop, and once towing my equipment trailer (about 4k lbs), never used low mowing, seems like you'd only need it on the steepest hills. I bought my machine with cable broken to the rear axle so switching to low requires you to put lever in low, then get off walk around back and reach in above the weights and manually push the link age putting the rear in low . switching back to high is easy, just flip the lever and both go to hi.., as the broken cable works fine in push mode.

 

[Spanky100]

I mowed about 6 1/2 acres of rolling field today. The grass was heavy fescue and orchard grass, wet with dew as well as soggy or succulent with internal water. The under turf ground is very wet. Mowing quality was good, no problems with the clippings fouling the rollers or under deck of the contour mower. No wind rows or clumps left behind.

This machine is easy to maneuver and cuts a LOT of grass quickly. One down side seems to be fuel consumption. I burned a full 5 gallons on that one field. Full throttle and not letting RPM drag down under 3,000. My 33 year-old JD 650 diesel will do at least twice that work on 5 gallons. Then again, the JD 650 would only get a little more than half that field finished in the time it took the Ventrac and contour mower. So, I bought time. And that striped field looks good.

I have a small meadow to mow and a steep bank area, but this excess water is going to have to drain away before that. Maybe I can figure out how to work a GO-PRO camera for those jobs.

prs

prs

How many hours did it take you to complete the 6.5 acre field ?

Knowing that we can divide the total fuel consumed (5 gallons) by the number of hours. ( example if you consumed 5 gallons of fuel in 3 hours that would be a fuel consumption rate of 1.67 gallons per hour ).

Enjoy the quick machine. Plus we always like pictures and videos.

Wayne