How much horsepower for different mowing situations

[thoner7]

I'm in the market again for a new [used] tractor. I have about 12 hilly acres of grass to maintain as lawn and pasture. I'd like to run an 8 foot finish mower and 6 foot or larger brush hog. The bush hog would be knee deep grasses, little to no Woody stuff. The finish mower would be lawn, but I may let it get long at times, like 9" high.

I'm looking at 4x4 tractors and most of the ones have 28-32 PTO horsepower. That doesn't seem like enough, as I'm always in a hurry. The 5 hp/foot rule....I'm not so sure that's accurate in my conditions, but idk.

I guess I'm wondering what my minimum should be while I shop around.

 

[Lnk]

I'm in the market again for a new [used] tractor. I have about 12 hilly acres of grass to maintain as lawn and pasture. I'd like to run an 8 foot finish mower and 6 foot or larger brush hog. The bush hog would be knee deep grasses, little to no Woody stuff. The finish mower would be lawn, but I may let it get long at times, like 9" high.

I'm looking at 4x4 tractors and most of the ones have 28-32 PTO horsepower. That doesn't seem like enough, as I'm always in a hurry. The 5 hp/foot rule....I'm not so sure that's accurate in my conditions, but idk.

I guess I'm wondering what my minimum should be while I shop around.

Unless your lawn areas are really flat, the 8' finish mower is going to scalp if cut at 2-1/2 inches. I know you say you are going to keep it long sometimes, what about other times? There is a reason mowrs for lawns top out at about 5'. So the question now is, how high are you going to cut your grass. Also, grass that is thick and green uses the most hp. The blackberries and small saplings don't require a lot to cut. If grass is your biggest problem, go narrower or go high hp.

Good luck.

Lnk

 

[ruffdog]

I think the 72" belly mower was matched good to the TC33D I had (high 20's pro hp).

 

[Overtaxed]

If the land is wide open, get a multi-deck mower (batwing), sharpen the blades, and go at it. It'll do a near finish level job in a real hurry when you're mowing 12' at a time. Or get a Batwing finish mower if you really wanna do it right, but they are rare, you'll have trouble getting one anything but new (and they're not cheap).

8' mowers, as others have said, the land has to be real flat. My land is hilly and with a 6' mower, I was scalping a lot. With the 12' batwing, I almost never scalp (because the deck is only 4' wide each).

 

[hiddentacocatneddih]

I mow 6 acres around my house. 4 acres with a 7 ft finish mower on a 45 hp tractor. I mow 2-3 times a.month and there are times my tractor loads up on tall thick grass. I wouldn't finish mow unless you plan on doing it often. My rotary cutter 5ft with lifting blades does almost as good a job just wind rows

My finish mower scalps quite a bit because my pasture is rolling hills.

If I go 3 weeks without mowing I have to raise my finish mower from 2.5 to 4.5 inches or Bush hog to do it at a reasonable speed.

 

[chim]

I have very little experience with a rotary mower. Had one for a few years and sold it after not using it as much as I thought I would.

I have been using finish mowers a lot since 1990 though. The weight of the deck is a consideration if your property isn't flat or you need to pick it up. My little Ford 1210 HST is happy with the 5' Caroni, and can't handle a 5' LandPride.

The L3200 HST handles a 6' LandPride OK on most of the property. Going up a couple hills goes better in second gear

The L4240 HST works fine with the Caroni 91" deck and there is only one place where I generally tap the HSTII lever into the lower range of 3rd gear. This is the best lawn mower I've had so far.

Our yard is not a nice even smooth one. This is the first year for the refurbished Caroni deck, and I was concerned about scalping. There is one place where it has scalped (that wasn't my own fault). It is where a large rock was removed. That spot is where a rock was removed and the backfill was left high. There are a few spots where the lawn gets a "crew cut" and the blades don't get down to the dirt.

The "my fault" scalps happen when I try to cut too close to the creek and get one set of wheels a little too close to the creek. That has happened with the 5' and 6' decks as well though.

My BIL has a Woods RD990 for his L4740 HST and it is quite a piece of equipment. The massive wheels are spaced differently front and rear and I believe that helps avoid scalping. Here are pics of his Woods deck.

 

[Gary Fowler]

I'm in the market again for a new [used] tractor. I have about 12 hilly acres of grass to maintain as lawn and pasture. I'd like to run an 8 foot finish mower and 6 foot or larger brush hog. The bush hog would be knee deep grasses, little to no Woody stuff. The finish mower would be lawn, but I may let it get long at times, like 9" high.

I'm looking at 4x4 tractors and most of the ones have 28-32 PTO horsepower. That doesn't seem like enough, as I'm always in a hurry. The 5 hp/foot rule....I'm not so sure that's accurate in my conditions, but idk.

I guess I'm wondering what my minimum should be while I shop around.

First off, for just 12 acres you dont need a 8 or 12 foot mower. A 6 foot will do just fine and not take a lot of time. Heavy grass will suck a lot of HP. I mowed my daughter in law's overgrown pasture last year. Some of the lowland had some really tough to cut grass that was over knee high. I had to shift down to around 6 mph with my 7 foot mower and my LS P7010 and sometime even have to stop to let it clear the grass out.
Weedy pastures with saplings, I could run in road gear if I could hang on.

I think your 32 HP tractor with a 6 foot mower (type of your choice) would work for you, not be terrible expensive (when they get wider than 6 foot the price takes a major jump) and not take a massive amount of your time

 

[leonz]

If it were me I would purchase a JD390 flail mower and a larger mule
and you would avoid the issue of needing 2 separate mowers.

A flail mower will also recut all the clippings for you on the second pass
where a rotary lawn mower or rotary cutter will not.

The JD390 is more than enough mower for your entire mowing needs.
A flail mower will have a full width rear roller that helps to prevent scalping
and it provides structural strength to the mower and they last for decades
as long as you take care of them.

My father used his JD290 and his ford jubilee to reclaim 12 acres of unmowed pasture
that had 12-15 foot goldenrod and heavy brush and he kept it mowed all summer and fall
long by mowing 4 acre blocks every 2 weeks with a 2 inch cut.

My case in point is that I have my fathers 40 year old Mathews Company Lawn Genie
Pick Up Mower with the original Briggs & Stratton 16 horsepower commercial
I/C engine with the cast iron sleeve piston jug.

 

[thoner7]

I did not think about scalping. The lawn near the house would do fine, but not further away.

I love the idea of flail mowers. I'm attracted to the small footprint. I wwasnt sure it would provide enough of a "finished" cut tho?

What type of HP do I need to run one of those lol

 

[RSKY]

It all depends on how much you want to spend, or how much you have to spend, and how much time you want to take with the mowing.

Your budget will determine what you buy. The amount of time you want to spend mowing will also determine what you buy. You have not stated a budget or time being allowed to mow. Without that information no determination of equipment is possible.

RSKY